Rethinking inner speech through linguistic active inference
Why do we talk to ourselves in the head? Our new theory might answer that.
Language, Inner Speech, and Neuroscience Lab
Welcome to the LISN Lab! 👋
We investigate how the brain speaks to itself through inner speech, and how language, embodied experience, and environment jointly shape human cognition.
Our mission is to decipher and empower the inner language of the mind to transform learning, healing, and growth.
Our research
We develop and test theories of how inner speech helps us manage uncertainty and guide thought and action, and how language and meaning emerge through embodied experience and interaction with our surroundings.
Our work has been published in leading journals including Psychological Review, Cognition, NeuroImage, and Journal of Memory and Language, and supported by competitive research funding, including the ESRC Future Research Leaders Award and the Royal Society APEX Award.
About our research
Our team
Our team brings together researchers and students with interests across language, psychology, neuroscience, and AI, combining experiments, computational modelling, and machine learning to understand human cognition.
Meet the teamNews & updates
Wait… you can actually hear your thoughts as words?
Same human brain. Completely different inner worlds.
The Surprising Ways We All Think Differently: What We Learned from ‘Jamming Out’ Our Inner Voices
I thought everyone thought like me – until I realised they don’t.
Join the lab
Interested in a PhD or contributing as a research assistant? Find out how to get involved and what to include when contacting us.