The functional cortical organization of the human brain is unique, as is the brain's capacity to manage speech- and language-related processes. The variety of cognitive mechanisms associated with language processing has yet to be elucidated. Similarly, the neural architecture underlying natural language processing as it occurs in context – incorporating memory, emotion and metaphor – is still not fully understood. Working in collaboration with the Clinical Linguistics group, the Psycholinguistics group and the Translational Neuroimaging group at Philipps-University Marburg, we use a multi-modal and interdisciplinary approach to clarify the links between language and cognition. Combining brain imaging techniques and behavioural experiments, we seek to explain the human capacity to combine sensory-motor skills and abstract language processes as well as the mechanisms underlying the processing of „simple language" (Leichte Sprache).