[Cas-allemps] REVISION: Mark your calendar! CAS Interdisciplinary Research Talk, November 29

[CAS Dean]

Dear colleagues,



I’m writing to invite you to the first presentation in the 2021-22 CAS Interdisciplinary Research Talk series. Much of our teaching and research in the liberal arts is multidisciplinary and collaborative, so the talks are meant to encourage conversation, interest, and understanding across divisional lines in the college. To further emphasize the interdisciplinary aspect of these talks, we are very excited to have two co-presenters from different disciplines for each talk this year.



What mouse brains can tell us about second language learning

Melissa Baese-Berk, Associate Professor, Linguistics

Santiago Jaramillo, Associate Professor, Biology



Monday, November 29, 3:30-5:00

Location: Zoom meeting (link pending)

CAS IR talks are approximately 40-50 minutes followed by a question-and-answer session.



Melissa Baese-Berk is an Associate Professor of Linguistics and the David M. and Nancy L. Petrone Faculty Scholar. Her work focuses on how people understand and produce language, and how people learn languages later in life.

Santiago Jaramillo is an Associate Professor of Biology in the Institute of Neuroscience. His research uses mice to investigate the neural mechanisms responsible for how the brain interprets the acoustic world.



Talk abstract: Learning a second language as an adult is notoriously challenging. In particular, learning to distinguish sounds that do not exist in your first language can be very difficult. Studies in humans have provided great insights into variables that influence learning these new sounds, yet reduced experimental access in humans limits our understanding of the brain processes that make this type of learning possible. Neuroscience work using animal models allows for a detailed investigation of the neural signals and changes in neural connections that underlie learning to distinguish novel sounds. In this talk, we present the first steps of our interdisciplinary work looking at what mouse brains can tell us about language learning. This work is designed to use insights from human behavioral work to investigate neural processes in mice, which in turn will provide hypotheses to be tested in additional human behavioral experiments.



This promises to be a fascinating talk and discussion. I hope to see you there. Please check the new CAS Interdisciplinary Research Talks webpage<https://cas.uoregon.edu/cas-interdisciplinary-research-talks> for Zoom link updates and upcoming presentations.



Best regards,



Bruce



Bruce Blonigen

Tykeson Dean

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