|
[Vol.19 No.3 contents]
Japanese/English
Full Text of this Articlein Japanese PDF (120K) |
| ArticleTitle | Towards the Brain Science of Language |
| Language | J |
| AuthorList | Kuniyoshi L. Sakai |
| Affiliation | Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Komaba |
| Publication | Japanese Journal of Neuropsychology: 19 (3), 130-137, 2003 |
| Received | |
| Accepted | |
| Abstract | In this article, I will focus on our results of a CREST project of JST concerning language processing in the human brain, thereby updating recent advances made by functional neuroimaging and magnetic stimulation studies of language. First, I will provide the first experimental evidence that the neural basis of sentence comprehension is indeed specialized. Specifically, our recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study has clarified that the human left prefrontal cortex is more specialized in the syntactic processes of sentence comprehension than other domain-general processes such as short-term memory. Second, the distinction between syntactic and semantic processes will be clarified, based on our magnetic stimulation studies that elucidate syntactic specialization in the left prefrontal cortex. The current direction of research in the brain science of language is beginning to reveal the uniqueness of the human mind. |
| Keywords | language, universal grammar, sentence processing, language area, functional imaging |
Copyright © 2002 NEUROPSYCHOLOGY ASSOCIATION OF JAPAN All rights reserved
http://www.neuropsychology.gr.jp/