Language, as a system we use to communicate, represents the brain's biologically perfected machinery for converting thoughts (ideas, concepts, and reflections of both the outside world and our inner feelings) into words and sentences. Crucially, this process occurs in real time. How hundreds of billions of neurons within the dark of the skull control language and speech remains, in some respects, a mystery. To track such neural dynamics in time, we need to exploit physiological tools capable of following temporal patterns of neural activity on a fine-grain time scale. In parallel, it is necessary to begin to provide a real interdisciplinary academic background for scholars wishing to embark on this field of study. Unlike many similar efforts, this book has been conceived as a hands-on tool offering the reader the possibility to progressively acquire principles, techniques, and methods necessary to pursue interdisciplinary research in a fascinating field intersecting linguistic andneuroscience. It focuses on neurophysiological methods and applications useful to track the high speed and rapid temporal dynamics of neural activity involved in language and speech. The chapters in this book are organized into four parts. Part One discusses neural principles and tools for an effective approach to the field of investigation. Part Two looks at the issues and perspectives concerned with the use of a range of neurophysiological technologies to investigate the neural computations of language and speech processes. Part Three focuses on an in-depth exploration of the neural processes associated with the main types of linguistic information, ranging from phonemes and prosody to syntax, pragmatics, and figurative language. Lastly, Part Five explores the phenomena that goes beyond the segments of basic linguistic units. In the Neuromethods series style, chapters include the kind of detail and key advice from the specialists needed to get successful results in your laboratory
Cutting-edge and thorough, Language Electrified: Principles, Methods, and Future Perspectives of Investigation is a valuable resource that offers the necessary tool-box for all researchers and scientists interested in the challenging field of the neurophysiology of language and speech.

Includes cutting-edge methods and protocols Provides step-by-step detail essential for reproducible results Contains key notes and implementation advice from the experts

Inhalt
From Neurons to Language and Speech: An Overview.- How the Brain Works: Perspectives on the Future of Human Neuroscience Research.- How Do We Get the Brain to Tell Us about Language Computations and Representations? Designing and Implementing Experiments.- Software and Resources for Experiments and Data Analysis.- Principles of Statistical Analyses: Old and New Tools.- Fundamentals of Electroencephalography and Magnetoencephalography.- Event Related Potentials (ERPs) and Event-Related Fields (ERFs).- Neural Oscillations in EEG and MEG.- Human Intracranial Recordings for Language Research.- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Speech and Language Research.- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS).- Electromyographic (EMG) Responses of Facial Muscles during Language Processing.- Neurocomputational Properties of Speech Sound Perception and Production.- Neural Correlates of Morphology Computation and Representation.- Electrophysiology of Word Learning.- Neural Underpinnings of Semantic Processing.- Sentence Processing: How Words Generate Syntactic Structures in the Brain.- Pragmatics Electrified.- Electrophysiology of Non-Literal Language.- Neurological Evidence of the Phonological Nature of Tones.- Neurophysiological Underpinnings of Prosody.- Using Facial EMG to Track Emotion during Language Comprehension: Past, Present, and Future.- Eye-Tracking Methods in Psycholinguistics.- Neurophysiology of Language and Speech Pathologies.- Electrophysiological Correlates of Second Language Acquisition: From Words to Sentences.