Principal Investigators
- Dr. Derya Çokal | Institute for German Language and Literature I
- Prof. Dr. Klaus von Heusinger | Institute for German Language and Literature I
- Prof. Dr. Joseph Kambeitz | Psychiatry und Psychotherapy
- Prof. Dr. Dr. Kai Vogeley | Psychiatry und Psychotherapy
In cooperation with
We delve into the fascinating link between language and mental life. Discover how language function is emerging as a promising bio-social marker for mental state changes, particularly in psychosis. This is a unique collaboration between biological psychiatry, linguistics, and cognitive neuroscience that identifies linguistic signals of psychosis and their connection to brain dysfunction using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). To support our project, we have expanded our team by welcoming Annkathrin Böke, Alexander Ilgert, Marlen Boesch, and Martín Villalba.
Our research initiative involves a collaboration that combines the expertise of these three fields. By joining forces, we aim to identify linguistic signals within language that could serve as indicators of psychosis. Furthermore, we seek to establish meaningful connections between these linguistic markers and the underlying brain dysfunction associated with this condition. To achieve this, we employ the power of fMRI to reveal the intricate relationship between language and the brain.
At the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Cologne, we have implemented a new fMRI paradigm in which participants listen to short stories, while also linking resting-state data to speech data collected outside the scanner. We are currently analyzing our data and sharing our results.
This groundbreaking research is paving the way for a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of language in the brain and the role of language in psychotic thought.