Meldung

We recently published a new issue of the Charité NeuroScience (CNS) Newsletter, bringing you the latest on So to Speak.

If you are sitting in Berlin, holding a copy of this English newsletter, chances are that you’ve thought about language a time or two in your life. But have you ever sat down and really thought about language? Language. What does the word even mean? Spoken, written, implicit, explicit, digital, physical. There are so many modes of communication, it seems unnecessary to list them all here. In this issue, we do our best to delve deep into a few choice aspects, challenges, and basic principles of language and communication. What is communication, anyways?

As neuroscientists, of course, our first instinct is to wonder: how does language processing and production even occur [pg. 4], and how can we bypass the auditory pathway [pg. 5]?

What about when we add more people into the mix? Learn about why gossiping maybe isn’t that bad – and even has an evolutionary aspect [pg. 11], as does the wisdom (and madness) of crowds [pg. 6].

Speaking of crowds, how to communicate with many? Let’s ask a professional in the field of scientific publishing [pg. 24] about peer review, being bold, and more. But what if science isn’t published in your language? Or your mother tongue doesn’t even have the words to talk about science? Let us tell you about an initiative in Africa designed to make science accessible to many more, in their own African languages [pg. 18].

And you knew it was coming – it’s impossible in this day and age to talk about communication without touching on social media. How can a digital medium of humor become a vessel for misinformation [pg. 12]? In fact, let’s investigate how the mere digitization of communication can (re)shape our languages – and our brains – [pg. 15]. Most of us take these means of communication for granted, but how often does our internet culture exacerbate lack of accessibility [pg. 17]?

Embark with us in this journey to explore many ways to think about language and what does communication entails. We hope you enjoy it!

On a last note, Bettina, long-standing member of the CNS Newsletter family and editor- in-chief for the last four years, would like to say goodbye and a huge thank you to all readers and the amazing Newsletter team. While she will likely stick around for future issues, she will lay down chief duties, as the CNS Newsletter will remain in great hands!

Volume 14, Issue 03