On 27 October 2026, Stephanie Forkel will give an online seminar at Brainhack South Africa, entitled “Redefining language as an emergent function of the connected brain”. The talk will explore how distributed brain networks and individual differences shape language, with implications for understanding language difficulties and recovery. Join via Zoom from 09:00–10:00 CAT. Scan the QR code on the poster to register.

We’re nearly there — EMERGENCE South Africa is launching at University of the Witwatersrand! On 21 October 2026, we’ll bring together researchers, clinicians, students, and international partners for a full day on language, the brain, multilingualism, aphasia, clinical practice, and South Africa–Europe collaboration. A big thank you to Aline Ferreira Correia for leading the local organisation at Wits and helping shape the South African programme and collaboration. 📍 Universi

Next week, our team will be sharing several perspectives on aphasia at the Academy of Aphasia in Liège. On Sunday 4 October, Pedro Nascimento Alves will speak about how disruption to neurotransmitter circuits relates to different aphasia profiles and may help predict response to drug treatment. Later that day, Lena Tulner will present a poster looking beyond traditional aphasia labels, using functional decoding of stroke lesions to explore how patients differ. Our colleague M

Photo: @Lieke.Herraets@mpi.nl A fresh group photo from our September 2026 Theme 1 meeting bringing together colleagues across Language & Communication at the Donders Institute, MPI and CLS. A great snapshot of the people behind the science, collaborations, and community that make the theme what it is. More info: https://www.ru.nl/en/donders-institute/research/theme-1-language-and-communication

New Perspectives on Language and the Brain 21–22 October 2026 | University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg | Hybrid This October, the ERC-funded EMERGENCE programme will launch its South African research programme at Wits. The event will bring together researchers, clinicians, students, and partners to explore how language emerges from the brain, with particular attention to South Africa’s exceptional linguistic diversity and click languages. Expect new science, clinical p