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Prof. Sonja Kotz

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Prof. Sonja Kotz

Prof. Sonja Kotz — photo (c) IMERA

Prof. Sonja Kotz, a long-standing member of the ILCB International Advisory Board, is starting a sabbatical at Aix-Marseille Université this month.

Sonja Kotz is Professor of Neuropsychology and Translational Cognitive Neuroscience at Maastricht University (The Netherlands). Her research explores body-brain-behaviour dynamics related to temporal (when) and content (what) predictions in audition, speech, and music across the lifespan, as well as in clinical populations including Parkinson’s disease, stroke, psychosis, tinnitus, and dyslexia. In this research she uses a broad range of behavioural and neuroimaging methods (M/EEG, r/s/fMRI, TMS). She previously served as President of both the European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (ESCAN) and the Society for the Neurobiology of Language (SNL) and is a senior editor at several domain specific journals (Imaging Neuroscience, Neurobiology of Language).

Sonja Kotz collaborates extensively with many leading researchers in speech, music, and cognitive neuroscience at the ILCB and worldwide.

Multi-Interaction: A New Open-Access Approach for Studying Multimodal Communication and Interactions across Species

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Comparative studies of multimodal interactions currently suffer from a lack of consistent and standardized methods. To address this limitation, we introduce a unified framework supported by a new method for annotating, processing, and analyzing interaction data, while preserving key features such as interaction units, emitters, overlaps, and silences.

In this transcription of a hypothetical dyadic communicative interaction, the units emitted by individuals 1 and 2 appear along a temporal axis (a). The interaction can be divided into ‘states’ (orange boxes) to reflect any change when it occurs (i.e. a unit disappears or a new one appears; b). The states are then grouped into a single sequence after applying our transcription method, whereby each state corresponds to a cell with each units attached to their emitter (c).

Ultimately, this approach enables robust comparisons of interactions across different species.

Habib-Dassetto, L., P. Best, J. Cauzinille, et al.
2026. Animal Behaviour 234 (April): 123526  —  @HAL

Prof. Usha Goswami

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The ILCB is delighted to welcome Usha Goswami (University of Cambridge), a leading figure in cognitive developmental neuroscience and educational research. A member of the ILCB International Advisory Board, she was recently awarded the prestigious Doctor Honoris Causa by Aix-Marseille University.

Usha Goswami is Professor of Cognitive Developmental Neuroscience and Director of the Centre for Neuroscience in Education at the University of Cambridge. Her research has been instrumental in advancing our understanding of reading development and developmental dyslexia, particularly through a focus on the role of speech rhythm and phonological processing.Her work has received international recognition, including the Yidan Prize for Education Research (2019), and has had a major impact on both scientific knowledge and educational practice.

Usha Goswami is currently spending a three-month sabbatical at the ILCB/LPL, providing a valuable opportunity for exchanges with researchers and students. She has also just been awarded a new ERC Advanced Grant (2026–2030) on the early identification of dyslexia and developmental language disorder through speech production.