Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language

Language is a system of communication that allows the expression of thoughts, ideas, and feelings. The brain processes language in both hemispheres.
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...

Language and Cognition

Language and Cognition

Language serves as a bridge between ideas and communication, influencing how individuals perceive and interact with the world. Psychologists have long debated whether language shapes thought or vice versa. This discussion gained grip with Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1940s, who proposed that language determines thought, a concept known as linguistic determinism. They suggested that the vocabulary and structure of a language influence how its speakers think and perceive reality.

Organization of the Brain

Organization of the Brain

The brain is an integral component of the nervous system and serves as the center for processing sensory inputs, making decisions, and directing bodily actions. This complex organ is organized into three primary sections: the hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain, each responsible for a range of vital functions.
Hindbrain
The hindbrain, located at the base of the brain, plays a vital role in regulating automatic processes that sustain life. It includes the medulla oblongata, which is essential for...

Language Development

Language Development

Children master language quickly and with relative ease, supported by both biological predisposition and reinforcement. B. F. Skinner (1957) proposed that language is learned through reinforcement, while Noam Chomsky (1965) argued that language acquisition mechanisms are biologically determined.
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...

Convergent Evolution

Convergent Evolution

Evolution shapes the features of organisms over time, ensuring that they are suited for the environments in which they live. Sometimes, selection pressure leads to the rise of similar but unrelated adaptations in organisms with no recent common ancestors, a process known as convergent evolution.

Cerebral Hemispheres

Cerebral Hemispheres

The human brain, a complex organ, is functionally divided into two cerebral hemispheres—left and right. These hemispheres are interconnected by a structure of paramount importance, the corpus callosum. This substantial bundle of neural fibers is not just a bridge between the hemispheres but a crucial element for the brain's comprehensive functioning. It enables efficient communication between the two hemispheres, allowing each side of the brain to control and receive sensory and motor...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

HARMONY: A large-scale harmonized neuroimaging dataset for research on anxious misery disorders.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

Consensus recommendations for clinical functional MRI applied to language mapping.

Aperture neuro·2026

Same author

Right insular glioma in right-handed patient with bilateral language dominance: a multimodal guided awake craniotomy. Illustrative case.

Journal of neurosurgery. Case lessons·2026

Same author

Early Adulthood Signatures of Motherhood in Brain Aging.

Human brain mapping·2026

Same author

Brain Connectivity Modelling Through Joint Estimation of Parcels and Gradients.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

Scaling up polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography to image the whole macaque brain.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 25, 2026

Translational Brain Mapping at the University of Rochester Medical Center: Preserving the Mind Through Personalized Brain Mapping

Translational Brain Mapping at the University of Rochester Medical Center: Preserving the Mind Through Personalized Brain Mapping

Published on: August 12, 2019

Continuity, divergence, and the evolution of brain language pathways.

James K Rilling¹, Matthew F Glasser, Saad Jbabdi

¹Department of Anthropology, Emory University Atlanta, GA, USA.

Frontiers in Evolutionary Neuroscience

|February 10, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Evolutionary divergence, not just continuity, shaped human brain language pathways. The dorsal arcuate fasciculus pathway, crucial for syntax and semantics, was significantly modified in human evolution compared to primates.

Keywords:

arcuate fasciculus brain chimpanzee evolution extreme capsule language

More Related Videos

Dynamic Inter-subject Functional Connectivity Reveals Moment-to-Moment Brain Network Configurations Driven by Continuous or Communication Paradigms

Dynamic Inter-subject Functional Connectivity Reveals Moment-to-Moment Brain Network Configurations Driven by Continuous or Communication Paradigms

Published on: March 21, 2019

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) of Wernicke's and Broca's Areas in Studies of Language Learning and Word Acquisition

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) of Wernicke's and Broca's Areas in Studies of Language Learning and Word Acquisition

Published on: July 13, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 25, 2026

Translational Brain Mapping at the University of Rochester Medical Center: Preserving the Mind Through Personalized Brain Mapping

Translational Brain Mapping at the University of Rochester Medical Center: Preserving the Mind Through Personalized Brain Mapping

Published on: August 12, 2019

Dynamic Inter-subject Functional Connectivity Reveals Moment-to-Moment Brain Network Configurations Driven by Continuous or Communication Paradigms

Dynamic Inter-subject Functional Connectivity Reveals Moment-to-Moment Brain Network Configurations Driven by Continuous or Communication Paradigms

Published on: March 21, 2019

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) of Wernicke's and Broca's Areas in Studies of Language Learning and Word Acquisition

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) of Wernicke's and Broca's Areas in Studies of Language Learning and Word Acquisition

Published on: July 13, 2019

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Evolutionary Biology
Comparative Anatomy

Background:

The evolution of human language is often studied through evolutionary continuity with non-human primates.
Previous hypotheses suggested the ventral extreme capsule pathway, involved in auditory object recognition in macaques, is key to human language.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of evolutionary divergence in human brain language evolution.
To compare the modifications of dorsal and ventral language pathways in human evolution.

Main Methods:

Diffusion-weighted MRI was used to image 26 adult humans and 26 adult chimpanzees.
Probabilistic tractography was employed to track and compare the dorsal arcuate fasciculus and ventral extreme capsule pathways.

Main Results:

Comparative data reinforce the conclusion that the dorsal arcuate fasciculus pathway underwent more significant modification during human evolution than the ventral extreme capsule pathway.
The dorsal pathway appears more critical for higher-order language functions.

Conclusions:

Evolutionary divergence played a more critical role than continuity in shaping human brain language.
The dorsal arcuate fasciculus is likely the most essential pathway for human language, particularly syntax and lexical-semantics.