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VERSION:2.0
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CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
X-WR-CALNAME:SCSB Lunch Series with Dr. Agata Wolna: Mapping the cognitive 
 and neural infrastructure of speech articulation
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Eastern Time (US & Canada)
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20261006T025055Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_50577286573433
DTSTART:20260213T170000Z
DTEND:20260213T180000Z
DESCRIPTION:Date: Friday\, February 13\,  2026\nTime: 12:00pm – 1:00pm\nL
 ocation: Simons Center Conference room 46-6011 + Zoom [https://mit.zoom.us
 /j/94786291788]\n\nSpeaker: Agata Wolna\,  Ph.D.\nAffiliation: Simons Post
 doctoral Fellow\, Fedorenko Lab\, BCS\n\n \n\n\n\nTalk title: Mapping the 
 cognitive and neural infrastructure of speech articulation\n\n \n\n\n\nAbs
 tract: Language production requires knowing what words mean and how to put
  them together to create sentences\, but it also critically relies on the 
 motor system to prepare and execute sequences of rapid mouth movements. Pa
 ul Broca’s report of an acquired selective articulatory deficit was a co
 rnerstone finding in the history of cognitive neuroscience\, and speech-mo
 tor deficits are commonly reported across developmental disorders\, includ
 ing autism. However\, despite extensive research on the neural bases of sp
 eech articulation\, key aspects of its brain basis and its relationship to
  other cognitive abilities remain debated. In this talk\, I will present t
 he results from a series of fMRI experiments in neurotypical adults\, aime
 d at understanding which brain areas support articulation and how they rel
 ate to other\, known systems. To do so\, I developed a functional localize
 r that quickly and reliably identifies a set of brain areas sensitive to s
 peech articulation\, and then systematically characterized these regions
 ’ functional profiles and their overlap with higher-level language areas
  and areas sensitive to general cognitive effort. I found that the articul
 ation system is largely distinct from both the language and the general-co
 gnitive networks\, and two small areas—one in “Broca’s area” and o
 ne in superior precentral gyrus—show sensitivity to articulatory effort.
 \n\n\n\nI will finish by describing an ongoing effort to perform a large-s
 cale behavioral evaluation of articulatory abilities—along with higher-l
 evel linguistic and general-cognitive abilities—in neurotypical individu
 als and individuals with autism\, with the hope to eventually link individ
 ual differences in articulatory performance to aspects of the neural organ
 ization of the articulation network.
GEO:42.362302;-71.091766
LOCATION:Simons Center Conference room\, 46-6011\, 46-6011
SUMMARY:SCSB Lunch Series with Dr. Agata Wolna: Mapping the cognitive and n
 eural infrastructure of speech articulation
URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.mit.edu/event/scsb-lunch-series-dr-agata-wol
 na
CATEGORIES:Conferences/Seminars/Lectures
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END:VCALENDAR