European Research Office

RTN:LAB: Research and Training Network: Language And Brain
Framework 6, Human Resources and Mobility Programme, Marie Curie Research Training Network

Objectives
The Research and Training Network: Language and Brain (RTN:LAB) is composed of researchers dedicated to solving the mysteries of language organization in the brain. Our objectives are:

• to integrate and expand current knowledge of brain processes that lead to word recognition;
• to form a better understanding of how biological, perceptual, cognitive and environmental effects interact to form language systems in the brain;
• to establish an active long-lasting network of collaborations and personnel exchange between leading institutions in cognitive neuroscience and cognitive psychology;
• to overcome inter-disciplinary barriers by exchanging complementary skills between different groups.
  

Work plan
There are four complementary research themes that eventually will merge to suggest a multi-factorial explanation of language development.

1. Biological factors underlying the development of language.
2. Perceptual and cognitive aspects of word recognition.
3. Evaluation of environmental factors on language development.
4. Lifelong language development.

These four research themes will each involve four projects each, where we will use state-of-the-art experimental paradigms borrowed from psychology, neuropsychology, and neuroscience.

Relevance to the FP6 Marie Curie Research Training Networks objectives
Mobility: RTN:LAB will provide students and more experienced researchers with opportunities for collaboration across laboratories, between disciplines and between European states.
Gender: 33% of the RTN:LAB are women scientists, and we offer an attitude-change tutorial in gender and science issues as part of the training.
Less-favoured-areas (LFA): two research teams are from LFA (Hull and Oviedo) and the network joint training courses will be held there.
Ageing and health: special emphasis will be put on the normal and abnormal development of language systems over the life span, from developmental dyslexia to the effects of ageing and Alzheimer diseases on language functions.
Participating teams
The RTN:LAB is built on existing collaborations and co-ordinated by the University of York (University of the year 2003 in the UK), and includes Dundee, Edinburgh, Hull, London (the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and the Royal Holloway), Lyon, Rome, Parma, Münster, Nijmegen, and Oviedo.
University Contact for Further Information: Professor Andy Ellis, Tel: +44 (0) 1904 433140
Further details