The neuroscience of speech and language: the importance of early access to sound

Dr Paul Johns, Consultant Neuropathologist & Honorary Reader in Clinical Neuroanatomy at St George’s University Hospital NHS Trust and St George’s University of London will be our guest presenter for this paediatric webinar. Dr Johns will talk about the neuroscience of speech and language and the importance of early access to sound.

In this webinar, Dr Paul Johns will provide an update on the neuroanatomy of hearing and language, including an overview of the central auditory pathways, primary auditory cortex, cortical language areas and the main language-associated white matter pathways of the cerebral hemisphere.

He will then move on to discuss cerebral plasticity and the concept of critical and sensitive periods in the context of speech and language development. This theoretical framework will provide a deeper understanding of why early access to sound is so important in children with significant hearing impairment.

Register for this webinar here

Dr Paul Johns BSc, BM, MSc, FAcadMEd, FRSB, FRCPath is a consultant neuropathologist and senior lecturer in neuroanatomy at St George’s Hospital in London. He completed his specialist medical training at the National Hospitals for Neurology and Neurosurgery and UCL Institute of Neurology (Queen Square) and has been an NHS consultant since 2011. Dr Johns has a longstanding academic interest in structural, functional and clinical neuroanatomy, is the author of a popular undergraduate text book of clinical neuroscience and is regularly invited to speak on various aspects of brain structure and function at international courses and conferences.