Joseph Devlin
The central question my research aims to answer is: Why is human language a unique ability in the animal kingdom? Although other animals certainly communicate, sometimes in fairly sophisticated ways, no other species uses such a rich, complex system, capable of conveying essentially infinite amounts of information. My research focuses specifically on the brain-basis of this difference. Interestingly, there is no single area of the human brain dedicated to language that differentiates us from other primates such as chimps. Instead, the differences may be related to how information is integrated across brain regions. My work aims to: i) determine how such information is represented and processed in human brains, ii) to identify how similar or different this processing is across species, and iii) to investigate potential differences in the wiring patterns in human brains that enable novel interactions which potentially give rise to human language.
Meet the researcher
Dr. Devlin investigates the neuroscience of language and communication. At one level, he investigates the basic brain mechanisms of language including speaking, listening and reading. In addition, he is interested in how language is used in the real world, investigating the psychology and neuroscience of communication. This has applications to marketing and business more generally, but also to government, health care, education and the charity sector, all of whom use basic marketing methods to influence behaviour.
On the web
Recent publications
- Engagement in video and audio narratives: contrasting self-report and physiological measures. External link Sci Rep, 10 (1), 11298-11298 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-68253-2
- The causal role of left and right superior temporal gyri in speech perception in noise, a TMS study External link Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01521
- Cognitive mechanisms underpinning successful perception of different speech distortions External link Journal of the Acoustical Society of America DOI: 10.1121/10.0001160
- View all publications by Joseph Devlin