Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language01:10

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 Cognition01:27

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.
Neurons as Communicators of the Brain01:22

Neurons as Communicators of the Brain

Neurons, the fundamental units of the brain and nervous system, function as the primary transmitters of information throughout the body. Their ability to communicate through electrical and chemical signals is vital for every bodily function, from regulating the heartbeat to processing complex thoughts. Each neuron has three main components: the cell body (soma), dendrites, and an axon, each specialized to facilitate swift and efficient neural communication.
Cell Body
The cell body, also known...
Neuronal Communication01:28

Neuronal Communication

Neurons, the fundamental units of the brain and nervous system, communicate through complex electrochemical signals that underpin all cognitive and bodily functions. This communication is primarily facilitated by a process involving the generation and propagation of an action potential along the axon of the neuron. When the internal electrical charge of a neuron surpasses a certain threshold, an action potential is triggered. This rapid change in voltage travels swiftly along the axon to the...
Components of Language01:24

Components of Language

Language, whether spoken, signed, or written, consists of specific components: lexicon and grammar. The lexicon is the vocabulary of a language, comprising its words. Grammar is the set of rules used to convey meaning through the lexicon. For example, English grammar adds “-ed” to most verbs to indicate past tense. Words are formed by combining phonemes, which are the basic sound units of a language. Different languages have different sets of phonemes (e.g., “ah” vs. “eh”). Phonemes combine to...
Lateralization01:28

Lateralization

Brain lateralization refers to the division of mental processes and functions between the two hemispheres of the brain, a phenomenon that optimizes neural efficiency and underpins complex abilities in humans. This specialization allows each hemisphere to perform tasks where it has a comparative advantage, facilitating more refined cognitive capabilities across different domains.

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

Explaining Human Comparisons Using Alignment-Importance Heatmaps.

Computational brain & behavior·2026
Same author

Sub-second fluctuations between top-down and bottom-up modes distinguish diverse human brain states.

Current biology : CB·2026
Same author

Motivational neurobehavioral abnormalities under a naturalistic goal-conflict task in patients with premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

Frontiers in psychiatry·2026
Same author

Echocardiographically occult nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis with tumor cell-containing valvular vegetations in metastatic breast cancer.

Cardio-oncology (London, England)·2026
Same author

Author Correction: Temporal structure of natural language processing in the human brain corresponds to layered hierarchy of large language models.

Nature communications·2026
Same author

A predictive processing framework for joint action and communication.

Physics of life reviews·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 17, 2026

Translational Brain Mapping at the University of Rochester Medical Center: Preserving the Mind Through Personalized Brain Mapping
13:12

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

Published on: August 12, 2019

Not lost in translation: neural responses shared across languages.

Christopher J Honey1, Christopher R Thompson, Yulia Lerner

  • 1Department of Psychology and Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08540, USA.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|November 2, 2012
PubMed
Summary

The human brain processes information similarly regardless of language. Brain responses to a story were nearly identical between English and Russian speakers, showing language insensitivity in neural processing.

More Related Videos

Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques
08:05

Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques

Published on: June 30, 2020

Identification of Disease-related Spatial Covariance Patterns using Neuroimaging Data
14:27

Identification of Disease-related Spatial Covariance Patterns using Neuroimaging Data

Published on: June 26, 2013

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 17, 2026

Translational Brain Mapping at the University of Rochester Medical Center: Preserving the Mind Through Personalized Brain Mapping
13:12

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

Published on: August 12, 2019

Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques
08:05

Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques

Published on: June 30, 2020

Identification of Disease-related Spatial Covariance Patterns using Neuroimaging Data
14:27

Identification of Disease-related Spatial Covariance Patterns using Neuroimaging Data

Published on: June 26, 2013

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Science
  • Psycholinguistics

Background:

  • Understanding how the brain processes information across different languages is crucial for cognitive science.
  • Previous research has explored bilingualism and language processing, but direct comparisons of neural responses to identical content in different languages are limited.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the similarity of brain responses to the same narrative content presented in different languages.
  • To determine if the structural differences between languages affect neural processing of meaning.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to compare brain activity.
  • English and Russian speakers listened to a Russian narrative and its English translation.
  • Time courses of fMRI responses were directly compared between language groups.

Main Results:

  • Similar brain responses were observed in both English and Russian speakers when listening to the narrative across languages.
  • Neural responses were invariant to structural changes between the Russian and English versions of the story.
  • The similarity in brain responses across languages was comparable to the similarity within each language group.

Conclusions:

  • The human brain processes real-life information in a language-invariant manner.
  • Neural processing of meaning appears largely insensitive to the specific language used.
  • The developed methods could quantify cross-cultural and cross-linguistic meaning transmission.