The Department of Linguistics and the Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science are pleased to welcome Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky and Matthias Schlesewsky, University of South Australia, who will present a talk titled "Inter-individual differences in predictive coding during language processing." All are welcome!



ABSTRACT
Predictive coding provides a compelling theory of how the human brain processes information, with the potential to provide a unified explanation across a wide range of different cognitive domains. In spite of the prominence of predictive coding-based accounts in cognitive neuroscience, however, little is currently known about whether and how predictive coding mechanisms differ between individuals. In our laboratory, we have recently begun pursuing a research program that aims to systematically examine such inter-individual differences, with a particular focus on language processing as the cognitive domain of interest. Here, we will present what we have learned so far. Our results provide evidence for extensive inter-individual differences even in young, healthy adults. They further suggest that this variability is related to basic neurobiological influences on perceptual sampling and information processing (individual alpha frequency), as well as to the quality of an individual’s language model. We will discuss potential consequences of this variability for predictive coding architectures as well as implications for a lifespan-based perspective on the neurobiology of cognitive processing.