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Updated: Nov 5, 2025

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
Corticostriatal Regulation of Language Functions
David A Copland1,2, Sonia Brownsett3,4, Kartik Iyer5
1School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Queensland Aphasia Research Centre and UQ Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. d.copland@uq.edu.au.
Abstract:
The role of corticostriatal circuits in language functions is unclear. In this review, we consider evidence from language learning, syntax, and controlled language production and comprehension tasks that implicate various corticostriatal circuits. Converging evidence from neuroimaging in healthy individuals, studies in populations with subcortical dysfunction, pharmacological studies, and brain stimulation suggests a domain-general regulatory role of corticostriatal systems in language operations. The role of corticostriatal systems in language operations identified in this review is likely to reflect a broader function of the striatum in responding to uncertainty and conflict which demands selection, sequencing, and cognitive control. We argue that this role is dynamic and varies depending on the degree and form of cognitive control required, which in turn will recruit particular corticostriatal circuits and components organised in a cognitive hierarchy.
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