Direct intracranial recordings of fronto-temporal pathways. (360G-Wellcome-102961_Z_13_A)

There is a great need for both better treatments for language disorders and more accurate prognosis of language recovery following stroke. To achieve this requires a better understanding of the cognitive abilities that support language and the critical neuronal circuit mechanisms and brain pathways involved. Animal models can be used to study neuronal mechanisms and pathways at the required level of detail that is not possible in humans. However, it was unclear which aspects of human language co uld be studied in animals. This programme of study harnesses exciting recent developments of the first of its kind primate models for understanding two key aspects of human language: how the brain extracts (1) meaning-related information from communication signals, and (2) the grammar of language. We aim to specify which abilities related to human language are also present in nonhuman primates, and to identify the neuronal circuit mechanisms underpinning these abilities. This project has the potential to reveal the fundamental cognitive abilities that underpin language, bridge the gap between studies in animal models, typical humans and language impaired patients, and provide an unprecedented level of scientific insight on brain pathways and neuronal circuit mechanisms that support language-related abilities.