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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 9, 2026

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

Language comprehension interrupted: both language errors and word degradation activate Broca's area.

Nan van de Meerendonk¹, Shirley-Ann Rueschemeyer, Herman H J Kolk

¹Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, The Netherlands.

Brain and Language

|August 13, 2013

Summary

The left inferior frontal gyrus (lIFG) helps resolve language errors and comprehension difficulties. This brain region activates to manage cognitive control when extra attention is needed, aiding language processing.

Keywords:

Cognitive control Language Left inferior frontal gyrus Plausibility violations Representational conflict Syntactic agreement violations Visual degradation

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Last Updated: May 9, 2026

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

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Published on: July 13, 2019

Examining Bilingual Language Control Using the Stroop Task

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Published on: February 26, 2020

Lexical Decision Task for Studying Written Word Recognition in Adults with and without Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment

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Published on: June 25, 2019

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Science
Psycholinguistics

Background:

The left inferior frontal gyrus (lIFG) is implicated in language processing and cognitive control.
Understanding the precise role of lIFG in resolving different types of linguistic challenges is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if cognitive control mechanisms in lIFG are activated by both language-specific errors and general comprehension difficulties.
To determine if lIFG implements a general conflict resolution mechanism applicable to various attention-demanding situations.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study involving participants reading sentences with syntactic and plausibility violations.
Presentation of sentences with degraded visual form to induce comprehension difficulties.
Localization of cognitive control processes using a Stroop task.

Main Results:

Both language violations and visual degradation elicited co-localized activation in the lIFG.
This activation pattern was similar to the conflict observed during the Stroop task.
Results suggest lIFG plays a role in general control adjustments.

Conclusions:

The lIFG implements general control adjustments to resolve situations requiring increased attention.
lIFG biases attention to manage representational conflicts from errors and compensate for reduced bottom-up information.