More than words: Effects of grammaticality and lexical surprisal in self-paced reading. New paper by @sophieslaats.bsky.social , Antje Meyer, and @andreaeyleen.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1016/j.co....

Closing Editorial For the Special Issue of Cortex: Neurocognitive Perspectives on Discourse and Connected Language. New publication by Brielle Stark, @andreaeyleen.bsky.social and Jamie Reilly. doi.org/10.1016/j.co...

Linguistic structure and language familiarity sharpen phoneme encoding in the brain. New paper by @tezcanfiliz.bsky.social , @sannetenoever.bsky.social, Fan Bai, Noémie te Rietmolen and @andreaeyleen.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1038/s420....

How bilingualism influences language processing in the developing brain: A systematic review of the neurobiological evidence. New paper by Chih Yeh , @carorowland.bsky.social & Sergio Miguel Pereira Soares doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2026.101262

Cognate effects on bilingual lexical–semantic processing in children: Insights from ERPs. New paper by Chih Yeh & al. With @carorowland.bsky.social , Sergio Miguel Pereira Soares. doi.org/10.3390/bs16020294

Disfluencies reduce the effect of uh… word surprisal during narrative comprehension. New paper by @laura-giglio.bsky.social , Peter Hagoort & Eleanor Huizeling doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2026.02.017

Patterns of Language and Visuospatial Lateralisation in Three-Year-Old Children. New paper by Josephine Quin-Conroy et al. with @profsimonfisher.bsky.social and @clydefrancks.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...

Search efficiency drives reference production across modalities, but colour is special. New paper by Merrick Giles, Paula Rubio-Fernandez, & Francis Mollica doi.org/10.1162/OPMI.a.337

Linguistic experience and processing speed differentially affect lexical retrieval and structural assembly during language production. New paper by @florian-hintz.bsky.social & Mohammad Momenian doi.org/10.3758/s13421-026-01861-x

Structural and functional brain asymmetry in relation to heterogeneous causes of situs inversus totalis. New paper by @meng-yun.bsky.social & al. with Nicole Ying Ting Ng, Else Eising, @profsimonfisher.bsky.social , @clydefrancks.bsky.social doi.org/10.1007/s00429-026-03098-5

We’re looking for English native speakers (age 18–35) to take part in a short and fun online, PAID language experiment! You can participate anytime, anywhere, if you: (read comments)

𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻: 𝗠𝗮𝘅 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗪𝟮) An exciting opportunity for outstanding researchers ready to lead an independent research group and shape the future of multimodal language research. Learn more and apply here: www.mpi.nl/career-educa...

Last week, InScience Film Festival visitors could dive into a showcase in human–robot interaction by Chinmaya Mishra and Tila Pronk to a fascinating talk by Koen de Reus on seal communication, and Selim Sametoğlu’s discussion on 'doomscrolling'. Read the full wrap-up here www.mpi.nl/news/mpi-res...

Neonatal auditory input affects vocal development in harbour seals. New paper by Teresa Raimondi & al. with Koen de Reus, Yannick Jadoul, @andrearavignani.bsky.social doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2024.0369

Biological underpinnings and genetic predisposition to schizophrenia within microrna-137 regulatory pathways across brain development. New paper by Carol Stella & al. with @luciadehoyos.bsky.social doi.org/10.1038/s41398-026-03859-0

New on MPI TalkLing: “The Average Brain Doesn’t Exist”. Lilit Dulyan explains why the idea of a single “typical” brain misses what makes our brains uniquely variable, and how researchers still make sense of all that diversity. 👇 www.mpi-talkling.mpi.nl?p=2854&lang=en

Abstracts open for MPAL 2026! 28–30 Oct 2026 | Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen + online 🗓 Submit by 15 May 2026 (midnight, anywhere). Theme: variation in child language acquisition. Join us, more info: www.mpi.nl/news/abstrac...

Moore perspective-taking: An experimental investigation of the acceptability of Moorean conjunctions. New paper by Peter van Elswyk & Paula Rubio-Fernandez doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2026.106485

In this new review in Nature Reviews Psychology our researchers Judith Holler and Anna K. Kuhlen argue that conversation is not simply one person speaking while another listens. It is more like a partnership between minds. www.mpi.nl/news/why-con...

Psycholinguistic perspectives on face-to-face conversation. New paper by @judithholler.bsky.social & Anna K. Kuhlen doi.org/10.1038/s44159-026-00538-1 rdcu.be/e4rlV

Common ground: Between formal pragmatics and psycholinguistics. New paper by Paula Rubio-Fernandez & Daniel W. Harris doi.org/10.1146/annurev-linguistics-041824-032410

Adults mark the communicative relevance of their gestures more for children than for other adults. New paper by @anitaslonimska.bsky.social @asliozyurek.bsky.social and Emanuela Campisi. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.....

Why does one song give you chills - but not your friend? Research shows genetics explain part of it, life experience does the rest. Even goosebumps have a backstory. www.mpi.nl/news/genetic... #science #music #art #emotion #genetics

Koen de Reus recorded 1,000+ hours of pup calls for his PhD at our Institute and Radboud University, with @pieterburen.bsky.social He discovered seal pups take turns when they ‘talk’ and even develop local accents. Surprisingly human! #LanguageEvolution #VocalLearning

Genetic underpinnings of chills from art and music. New paper by @giacomobignardi.bsky.social , @danielleadmiraal.bsky.social , Else Eising & @profsimonfisher.bsky.social doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1012002

The elusive lemma: On the representation of grammatical information in the mental lexicon. New paper by Antje Meyer. doi.org/10.1080/2327....

Foreign language learners show a kinematic accent in their co-speech hand movements. New paper by Hans Rutger Bosker & al. doi.org/10.1162/OPMI.a.321

Exploring auditory perception experiences in daily situations in autistic adults. Final version by Elena Sofia Silva, @lindadrijvers.bsky.social & James P. Trujillo doi.org/10.1177/13623613251391492

Fast and slow errors: What naming latencies of errors reveal about the interplay of attentional control and word planning in speeded picture naming. Final version by Christina Papoutsi & al. with Elli Tourtouri, @vipiai.bsky.social , Antje Meyer doi.org/10.1037/xlm0001472

Constructing language: A framework for explaining acquisition. Final version by @carorowland.bsky.social & al. doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2025.05.015

Children sustain their attention on spatial scenes when planning to describe spatial relations multimodally in speech and gesture. New paper by @ercenurunal.bsky.social , @dilaykaradoller.bsky.social & @asliozyurek.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/desc.70128

Language nonselective lexical access in bilinguals: Input modality matters. New paper by Kristi Hendrickson & al. with Zara Harmon doi.org/10.1017/S1366728925100928

Whole-exome sequencing in children with dyslexia implicates rare variants in CLDN3 and ion channel genes. New publication by Marianski, K., Talcott, J.B., Stein, J. et al. with @profsimonfisher.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1007/s004....

Consonant neutralization and vowel space area in Tashlhiyt Berber’s infant-directed speech. New publication by Abdellah Elouatiq, @chbergma.bsky.social , Evan Kidd, and @carorowland.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1177/0142...

Using all your fingers matters more than practice and typing shapes how we think. It boosts language learning, memory, even how we solve anagrams. Read our latest Talkling-blog: www.mpi-talkling.mpi.nl?p=2803&lang=en #typing #learningscience

Polygenic and developmental profiles of autism differ by age at diagnosis. Final version by Xinhe Zhang & al. with @everhoef.bsky.social , @bstpourcain.bsky.social doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09542-6

A scoping review on conversational memory and characteristics of conversations in Alzheimer's disease. Final version by Annick F. N. Tanguay & al. with @shariceclough.bsky.social doi.org/10.1044/2025_JSLHR-24-00780

Is rate-dependent perception affected by linguistic information about the intended syllable rate? Final version by Giulio G. A. Severijnen, Hans Rutger Bosker & James M. McQueen doi.org/10.3758/s13423-025-02746-x

Genomic investigations of spoken and written language abilities: A guide to advances in approaches, technologies, and discovery. Final version by @profsimonfisher.bsky.social doi.org/10.1044/2025_JSLHR-25-00152

De novo protein-coding gene variants in developmental stuttering. Final version by Else Eising & al. with Arianna Vino, @profsimonfisher.bsky.social doi.org/10.1038/s41380-025-03170-2

Developing language in a developing body: Genetic associations of infant gross motor behaviour and self-care/symbolic actions with emerging language abilities. Final ed. by Ellen Verhoef & al. @luciadehoyos.bsky.social @profsimonfisher.bsky.social @bstpourcain.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.70021

These three 2025 releases by our researchers explore language evolution, social interaction, and the predictive mind. Check the overview here: www.mpi.nl/news/mpi-boo...

On our evolutionary branch, a few genes got an update unique to humans. Some used to think those variants might have been difference that made all the difference: the key to becoming human. This month's Q&A with Barbara Molz @mpi-nl.bsky.social gets into new results that tell a different story. 🧪

New research by our Institute, published in Science Advances, shows that by tapping into large population databases - “biobanks” - researchers can identify individuals who still carry “archaic” gene variants, once thought lost, and study their real-world effects. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Evaluating the effects of archaic protein- altering variants in living human adults. New paper by Barbara Molz, Mikel Lana Alberro, Else Eising, Dick Schijven, @gokberkalagoz.bsky.social @clydefrancks.bsky.social @profsimonfisher.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1126/scia....

In our latest MPI TalkLing update, Christina Papoutsi and Ezgi Mamus explore how people born blind describe and interpret spatial experiences - revealing just how adaptable human language and cognition can be. Read the full interview here: www.mpi-talkling.mpi.nl?p=2784&lang=en

Exploring auditory perception experiences in daily situations in autistic adults. New paper by Elena Sofia Silva, @lindadrijvers.bsky.social & James P Trujillo doi.org/10.1177/13623613251391492

Functional characterization of pathogenic SATB2 missense variants identifies distinct effects on chromatin binding and transcriptional activity. New paper by Joery den Hoed & al. with Dick Schijven, @clydefrancks.bsky.social , @profsimonfisher.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.xhgg.2025.100537

IDLaS‐DE: A web‐based platform for running customized studies on individual differences in German language skills. New paper by Sandra Bethke, Janay Monen, Thijs Rinsma, Paul Trilsbeek, Antje S. Meyer & @florian-hintz.bsky.social doi.org/10.5334/joc.468

A scoping review on conversational memory and characteristics of conversations in Alzheimer's disease. New paper by Annick F. N. Tanguay & al. with @shariceclough.bsky.social doi.org/10.1044/2025_JSLHR-24-00780