Objective How can we understand one another? Our everyday conversations appear to revolve around our linguistic abilities. But creating mutual understanding involves more than formulating grammatically correct sentences. Recently, cognitive science has shown that mutual understanding relies on shared knowledge and beliefs, conceptual knowledge that is continuously adjusted as we interact. Yet, social neuroscience has mainly focused on how individuals respond to social stimuli without a social context. Consequently, the neural mechanism that underlies our ability to create mutual understanding with another person remains largely elusive. The proposed project addresses this interdisciplinary gap, testing the hypothesis that creating mutual understanding requires a neural mechanism that supports a continuous adjustment of conceptual knowledge. That hypothesis will be tested by sampling and interfering with neuronal activity in humans during live social interaction, at the University of California. First, I will investigate the neuronal implementation of mutual understanding through intracranial recordings from the human brain. The exquisite spatiotemporal precision of these recordings offers the unprecedented possibility to characterize how conceptual knowledge is mechanistically adjusted during social interaction. Second, I will investigate frontotemporal dementia, a neurological disorder known to disrupt access to conceptual knowledge. This unfortunate experiment of nature offers the unique opportunity to understand how progressive alteration in brain tissue and connectivity affects the ability to create mutual understanding. These studies will offer a neural- and system-level mechanism of human mutual understanding, which I will translate into testable accounts of communicative alterations in a range of neurological and psychiatric disorders, during the return phase at the Donders Institute and King’s College London. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesneurobiologynatural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligencemedical and health sciencesclinical medicinepsychiatrymedical and health sciencesbasic medicineneurologydementiasocial sciencespsychologycognitive psychology Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2014-GF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-GF) Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2014 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF-GF - Global Fellowships Coordinator STICHTING RADBOUD UNIVERSITEIT Net EU contribution € 260 929,80 Address HOUTLAAN 4 6525 XZ Nijmegen Netherlands See on map Region Oost-Nederland Gelderland Arnhem/Nijmegen Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 260 929,80 Partners (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all Partner Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement. THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA United States Net EU contribution € 0,00 Address FRANKLIN STREET 1111 12 FLOOR 94607 OAKLAND CA See on map Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 172 130,40