Following the tradition of previous conferences, this book brings together selected revised papers representing an interdisciplinary approach to the study of language, music and gesture. The collection presents researches devoted to the study of music, language and gesture as three basic human semiotic systems. The volume includes articles distributed across six sections, which examine the cognitive mechanisms of music and language acquisition and their processing at different levels, rhythmic and prosodic interrelations between music and language, the role of gesture in the perception of music and in communication in general, as well as issues of representation of emotions in music. A unique feature of the presented collection is that the papers, combined into one volume, allow researchers and professional readers to get an idea of the diverse spectrum of interdisciplinary cognitive studies of the main semiotic systems in Russia and beyond. The book would be of great interest to a wide range of scholars and postgraduate students in a specific research area of basic human cognitive processes.

Tatiana Chernigovskaya is full professor at St Petersburg University, Head of the Department of the Problems of Convergence in Natural Sciences and Humanities, Director of Institute for Cognitive research, Doctor of Science in Human Physiology, Member of Russian Academy of Education, Member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Honorary member of the Semiotic Society of Finland. Invited lecturer in many European and North American Universities. The author of more than 380 publications. Gold medal of Russian Academy of Sciences for propagation of scientific knowledge winner (2017).

Polina Eismont is an Associate Professor at the Department of General Linguistics, St. Petersburg State University. Her research interests include Language Acquisition and Psycholinguistics, Text Linguistics, Cognitive Linguistics, Event Structure, Music Semantics, Syntax of Nulls. She obtained her Ph.D. from St. Petersburg State University in 2008. She is the author of more than 60 papers in domestic and international journals and the co-editor of two CCIS volumes “Language, Music, and Computing” (Springer Verlag, 2015, 2019).

Tatiana Alekseeva-Nilova is an Associate Professor at the Department of Theory and Methodology for Teaching Arts and Humanities, St. Petersburg State University. Her research interests include Psycholinguistics, Text Processing, Second Language Acquisition, Context Predictability, Reading and Visual Recognition. She obtained her Ph.D. from St. Petersburg State University in 2000. She is the author of more than 130 papers in domestic and international journals and the co-author of two online courses on Coursera. In the past 15 years, she has been coordinating the work of the St. Petersburg Seminar on Cognitive Research. She also organizes St. Petersburg Winter Workshops on Experimental Studies of Speech and Language, serving as a member of Program Committee.