The central goal of the Language and Brain Laboratory is to advance our understanding of the human language processing mechanism, i.e., the cognitive and neurological mechanisms used by humans to decode and interpret linguistic inputs.
The research at the Language and Brain Laboratory is highly innovative and unique in its interdisciplinary approach to understanding human language processing, integrating Linguistics, Psychology and Neuroscience, and in the combination of methodologies it utilizes (ERPs and eye-tracker).
The facilities at the Language and Brain Laboratory are funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation and four “in-kind” contributors. Having testing rooms with different facilities and common space shared by students and researchers in one central location will facilitate collaboration among researchers from different disciplines and the training of students with different academic backgrounds in projects designed to explore the fundamental question of how the language processing mechanism works.
Dr. Masako Hirotani, Director
The core faculty members at the Language and Brain Laboratory are affiliated with the School of Linguistics and Language Studies (SLaLS) and the Institute of Cognitive Science (ICS) at Carleton University. The Language and Brain Laboratory is also affiliated with Carleton’s Centre for Applied Cognitive Research (CACR), Visualization and Simulation (VSIM) Centre, and Logic, Language, and Information Lab (LLI).
The Language and Brain Laboratory opened officially on June 14, 2010. You can read the story about the lab opening written by Lin Moody, which appeared at the Carleton Newsroom.