Garrett Oyama, MS, CCC-SLP, host of the Beyond Words podcast, sits down with Neil Cohn, PhD, to explore how the brain understands pictures and what it really means to think about comics as a visual language. Drawing from Dr. Cohn’s research at the Visual Language Lab, they unpack how sequential images are organized, how we learn visual narrative patterns, and what behavioral and EEG research reveals about the brain systems that support comprehension of visual stories.
You’ll gain a deeper understanding of how visual narratives are processed in ways that parallel spoken and written language, and why studying pictures and comics offers powerful insight into how meaning is constructed across modalities. You’ll also leave with new ways to think about visual supports, graphic narratives, and picture-based materials, and how to use them more intentionally to support comprehension, learning, and communication.
You’ll gain a deeper understanding of how visual narratives are processed in ways that parallel spoken and written language, and why studying pictures and comics offers powerful insight into how meaning is constructed across modalities. You’ll also leave with new ways to think about visual supports, graphic narratives, and picture-based materials, and how to use them more intentionally to support comprehension, learning, and communication.
