Hoje realiza-se no Instituto de Ciências da Saúde
da Universidade Católica Portuguesa, em Lisboa, uma conferência dedicada ao tema "The Origins of Language", com Michael C. Corballis, professor de Psicologia da Universidade de Auckland (Nova Zelândia) que tem trabalhado sobre psicologia cognitiva, neurociência cognitiva, percepção visual, atenção e memória, evolução da linguagem e relação entre linguagem e gestualidade, é
autor de From Hand to Mouth: The Origins of Language and The Recursive Mind (Princeton University Press, 2002).
Apresentação
«Michael C. Corballis is professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
He received his MA from the University of Auckland and PhD from McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He taught at McGill from 1968 to 1977, before returning to take up a Chair in Psychology at the University of Auckland. Former President-elect of the International Neuropsychological Society, his publications in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience include five books, the most recent of which is From Hand to Mouth: The Gestural Origins of Language, published by Princeton University Press in 2002. In 2002 he was also appointed Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to psychological science.»
«My primary research interests are in cognitive neuroscience, including visual perception, visual imagery, attention and memory. My more specialised interests are in cerebral asymmetry of function and in how people recognise rotated shapes. I investigate these topics through the techniques of basic human experimental psychology, through brain imaging Electroencephalography (EEG) and Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and through the study of individuals who have undergone section of the forebrain commissures.
My secondary interest is the evolution of language, and in particular the theory that language evolved from manual gestures.» (Michael C. Corballis)
