The importance of Lotmanian semiotics to sign theory and the cognitive neurosciences

Abstract

The following paper is based on a presentation given as the Juri Lotman Lecture at the University of Tartu conference “Creative Continuity: 50 years of Sign Systems Studies”, on December 5th, 2014. The focus of the current analysis is to bring to light important new directions in cognitive neuroscience and cognitive neurolinguistics and how Lotman’s work contributes to deepening our understanding of the complex relationship of language(s) and brain(s) and the ever present dynamic cultural context.

Keywords

• autocommunication
• collective memory
• future of semiotics
• Lev Vygotsky