#1119 Anna Ivanova: Language and Large Language Models

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Jul 4, 2025

Join Anna Ivanova, an Assistant Professor at Georgia Tech, as she explores the intricate connection between language and cognition. Discover how advanced brain imaging techniques like fMRI reveal language processing in the brain. Ivanova discusses the capabilities and limitations of large language models, questioning whether they truly understand language like humans do. She also compares programming languages with natural languages, shedding light on how they activate different brain networks. This conversation dives deep into the fascinating world of language and AI!

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INSIGHT

Language Network Is Specialized

Language activates a distinct brain network separate from vision and audition.
It processes language specifically, not general abstract compositional tasks like math or music.

INSIGHT

Language Network Not for Categorization

Language areas are not recruited for non-linguistic tasks like feature-based categorization.
People can categorize objects without engaging the brain's language network.

INSIGHT

Distributed But Stable Language Network

The brain uses a distributed but stable network for language processing.
Broca's and Wernicke's areas form part of this language network, but it includes other regions too.

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Dr. Anna Ivanova is Assistant Professor in the School of Psychology at Georgia Tech. She is interested in studying the relationship between language and other aspects of human cognition. In her work, she uses tools from cognitive neuroscience (such as fMRI) and artificial intelligence (such as large language models).

In this episode, we talk about language from the perspective of cognitive neuroscience. We discuss how language relates to all the rest of human cognition, the brain decoding paradigm, and whether the brain represents words. We talk about large language models (LLMs), and we discuss whether they can understand language. We talk about how we can use AI to study human language, and whether there are parallels between programming language and natural languages. Finally, we discuss mapping models in cognitive neuroscience.

A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: PER HELGE LARSEN, JERRY MULLER, BERNARDO SEIXAS, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, FILIP FORS CONNOLLY, ROBERT WINDHAGER, RUI INACIO, ZOOP, MARCO NEVES, COLIN HOLBROOK, PHIL KAVANAGH, SAMUEL ANDREEFF, FRANCIS FORDE, TIAGO NUNES, FERGAL CUSSEN, HAL HERZOG, NUNO MACHADO, JONATHAN LEIBRANT, JOÃO LINHARES, STANTON T, SAMUEL CORREA, ERIK HAINES, MARK SMITH, JOÃO EIRA, TOM HUMMEL, SARDUS FRANCE, DAVID SLOAN WILSON, YACILA DEZA-ARAUJO, ROMAIN ROCH, DIEGO LONDOÑO CORREA, YANICK PUNTER, CHARLOTTE BLEASE, NICOLE BARBARO, ADAM HUNT, PAWEL OSTASZEWSKI, NELLEKE BAK, GUY MADISON, GARY G HELLMANN, SAIMA AFZAL, ADRIAN JAEGGI, PAULO TOLENTINO, JOÃO BARBOSA, JULIAN PRICE, HEDIN BRØNNER, DOUGLAS FRY, FRANCA BORTOLOTTI, GABRIEL PONS CORTÈS, URSULA LITZCKE, SCOTT, ZACHARY FISH, TIM DUFFY, SUNNY SMITH, JON WISMAN, WILLIAM BUCKNER, PAUL-GEORGE ARNAUD, LUKE GLOWACKI, GEORGIOS THEOPHANOUS, CHRIS WILLIAMSON, PETER WOLOSZYN, DAVID WILLIAMS, DIOGO COSTA, ALEX CHAU, AMAURI MARTÍNEZ, CORALIE CHEVALLIER, BANGALORE ATHEISTS, LARRY D. LEE JR., OLD HERRINGBONE, MICHAEL BAILEY, DAN SPERBER, ROBERT GRESSIS, JEFF MCMAHAN, JAKE ZUEHL, BARNABAS RADICS, MARK CAMPBELL, TOMAS DAUBNER, LUKE NISSEN, KIMBERLY JOHNSON, JESSICA NOWICKI, LINDA BRANDIN, GEORGE CHORIATIS, VALENTIN STEINMANN, ALEXANDER HUBBARD, BR, JONAS HERTNER, URSULA GOODENOUGH, DAVID PINSOF, SEAN NELSON, MIKE LAVIGNE, JOS KNECHT, LUCY, MANVIR SINGH, PETRA WEIMANN, CAROLA FEEST, MAURO JÚNIOR, 航豊川, TONY BARRETT, NIKOLAI VISHNEVSKY, STEVEN GANGESTAD, TED FARRIS, ROBINROSWELL, KEITH RICHARDSON, AND HUGO B.!

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