The interdisciplinary research symposium “Language and Dementia / Sprache und Demenz”

According to forecasts, more than 2.7 million people in Germany could be living with dementia by 2050. Dementia-related disorders are associated with a high level of suffering for those affected and place major challenges on family members and caregivers—particularly because over the course of the disease, linguistic and communicative abilities are strongly affected.

The interdisciplinary research symposium “Language and Dementia / Sprache und Demenz” addresses these challenges. Organized by the Göttingen Centre “Text Structures”, the symposium brings together renowned scientists and experts from Medicine, Nursing Science, (Medical) Ethics, Linguistics, and Literature Studies at Georg-August University Göttingen from November 2–4. The central goal and unique feature of this symposium is the thematic connection between dementia and language. Not only are language changes diagnostically relevant; language is the central medium for communication with and by people with dementia, just as language is the medium through which knowledge about dementia is prepared and presented in different discourses.

The symposium explores key questions: How does language change during the course of dementia—already before diagnosis? What role does language play in diagnostics, and how do linguistic changes affect social interactions? How can people communicate appropriately with individuals diagnosed with dementia? How is knowledge about dementia communicated in public—and what functions do fictional works serve in enabling a holistic perspective on the condition?

To discuss these questions, a range of disciplines and institutions come together: the Seminar for German Philology Göttingen, the Göttingen Center for “Text Structures” in cooperation with the Sign Language Lab, Philosophical Seminar, the Department of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, the Memory Outpatient Clinic of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, the Dementia Outpatient Clinic of the UMG, the UMG Dementia Commissioner, , the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE, Göttingen site), The University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HAWK),as well as renowned external guests. With the symposium, the foundation for interdisciplinary basic research will be laid. At the same time, within the framework of a public lecture, interest in and understanding of the condition will be fostered among a broad audience.

Program
01.11.2026

• 18:00 Get-together

02.11.2026

• 9:00-10:00 Registration
  

• 10:00-10:30 Opening and Welcome

Section I: Dementia from a Linguistic Perspective

• 10:30-11:15: Dr. Markus Tönjes (Univ. Göttingen): „Ich habe mich sozusagen verloren.“ – Ein linguistischer Überblick zum Zusammenhang von Demenz, Sprache und Kommunikation
  

• 11:30-12:15: Dr. Jeremy Bradley (LMU München): Demenz, Aphasie und Sprachtypologie
  

• 12:15-13:30: lunch break
  

• 13:30-14:15: Prof. Dr. Sarah Tune (Univ. Göttingen): Hören, Verstehen, Kommunizieren – Sprache im alternden Gehirn
  

• 14:15-15:00: PD Dr. Silva Ladewig (Univ. Göttingen): Multimodalität von Sprache: Zum Zusammenspiel von Lautsprache und Gestik
  

• 15:00-15:45: Prof. Dr. Cornelia Ebert (Univ. Frankfurt), Prof. Dr. Markus Steinbach (Uni. Göttingen): tba
  

• 15:45-16:30: Thomas Finkbeiner, Dr. Nina Meister, Dr. Patrick C. Trettenbrein (Univ. Göttingen): Gebärdensprachen in Gesellschaft und Gehirn: Perspektiven aus Deaf Studies, Linguistik und Neurowissenschaft
  

• 16:30-17:15 coffee break
  

• 17:15-18:00: Dr. Lisa Stockleben (Univ. Köln): Linguistische Marker bei Demenzen: Von Lautsprachen zu Gebärdensprachen
  

• 20:00: Öffentlicher Abendvortrag: Prof. Dr. Christina Knels (MSH Hamburg)
  Mehr als Worte - Was Linguistik zur Diagnostik und Therapie bei Demenz beitragen kann

03.11.2026
Section II: Dementia from a Medical Perspective

• 9:30-10:15: Prof. Wiltfang (UMG): Evidence for specific resilience of brain networks encoding for music memory “Alzheimer’s disease”: Is this finding relevant for innovative linguistic research in AD?

• 10:15-11:15: Dr. Marcos Morgado (UMG): CSF and blood biomarker supported diagnosis of preclinical Alzheimer’s dementia: Perspectives to analyze the pathophysiological relevance of non cognitive symptoms

• 11:15-12:00: coffee break

• 12:00-12:30: PD Dr. Björn Schott (UMG): Imaging the human memory system in pre-clinical Alzheimer’s disease: From detecting network dysfunction to predicting future decline

• 12:30-13:00: Prof. Dr. Claudia Bartels (UMG): Verschiedene Perspektiven auf Sprache als kognitive Domäne in der Demenzdiagnostik: Von Hörminderung über Sprache als früher kognitiver Marker zu frontotemporaler Lobärdegeneration

• 13:00-14:00: lunch break Sektion II: Demenz aus medizinischer Sicht (Fortsetzung)

• 14:00-14:30: Dr. Peter Herrmann (UMG): Differenzialdiagnose Demenz: Ein Syndrom, viele Ursachen

• 14:30-15:00: Dr. Anna-Lisa Fischer (UMG): tba (online via Zoom)

• 15:00-15:30: coffee break

• 15:30-16:00: Dr. Sezgi Canaslan (UMG): Tear Fluid as a Biomarker Development Platform: From CSF synSAA to Tear Biomarkers in Neurodegeneration

• 16:00-16:45: Dr. Tayyabba Saalem (UMG): Beyond the Brain: Rethinking Alzheimer’s Disease through Biofluid and Organoid Ecosystems

• 16:45-17:15: Prof. Dr. Inga Zerr (UMG): Erfahrungen mit modernen Therapieansätzen

• 20:00: Conference dinner

04.11.2026
Section III: Challenges in Caregiving

• 9:45-11:00: Prof. Dr. Shiney Franz (HAWK): Beziehungsgestaltung in der Versorgung

• 11:00-11:30: coffee break

• 11:30-12:00: Prof. Dr. André Posenau (HS Bochum): Zwischen Personenzentrierung und Komplexitätsdruck – Kommunikative Anforderungen an Pflegefachpersonen in der Demenzversorgung.

• 12:00-13:00: lunch break

Section IV: Medical Ethics

• 13:00-13:45: Dr. Julia Perry (UMG): Ethische Herausforderungen in Sprache und Kommunikation bei Alzheimer-Demenz und ihrer Früherkennung

Section V: Dementia in Fictional Contexts

• 13:45-14:30: PD Dr. Dennis Henkel (Univ. Köln): Der Demenzfilm – Geschichte, Motive, Framing

• 14:30-15:00: coffee break

• 15:00-15:45: Prof. Dr. Henriette Herwig (Univ. Düsseldorf): Darstellungsweisen von Kommunikation mit Menschen mit Demenz in Literatur und Film

• 15:45-16:30: Prof. Dr. Claudia Hillebrandt (Univ. Bielefeld): Demenz und Dichtung – eine taugliche Analogie? Zum Verhältnis von sprachlicher Kreativität und Demenz mit Bezug auf Arno Geigers „Der alte König in seinem Exil“

• 16:30-17:00: Concluding Discussion: Opportunities for Interdisciplinary Collaboration