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Related Concept Videos

Language and Cognition01:27

Language and Cognition

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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.
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Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language01:10

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Language is a system of communication that allows the expression of thoughts, ideas, and feelings. The brain processes language in both hemispheres.
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A schema is a mental framework that helps individuals organize and interpret information. Schemata, formed from previous experiences, influence how we process new information: how we encode it, the inferences we make, and how we retrieve it. For instance, a schema for what a typical classroom looks like might include desks, a teacher's desk, a whiteboard, and students in such an environment. This expectation helps us quickly understand and navigate new classrooms without needing to analyze...
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Language01:16

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Language is a unique communication system that uses words and systematic rules to organize and transmit information. Unlike other forms of communication, which may involve postures, movements, odors, or vocalizations, language relies on symbols and grammar. This makes human communication distinct from that of other species, who also communicate but do not use language in the same way humans do.
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Components of Language01:24

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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.
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Language Development01:22

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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.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 20, 2025

Examining Online Syntactic Processing of Spoken Complex Sentences in Chinese Using Dual-Modal Interference Tasks
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Differential networks for processing structural dependencies in human language: linguistic capacity vs. memory-based

Keita Umejima1, Isso Nakamura2,3, Naoki Fukui4

  • 1Department of Basic Science, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

Frontiers in Psychology
|August 4, 2023
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study reveals distinct brain networks for processing language syntax. The nesting dependency engages syntax networks, while crossing dependency involves visual-spatial ordering regions in the brain.

Keywords:
MergefMRIfusiform gyrusinferior frontal gyruslateral premotor cortexorderingsyntax

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Linguistics
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Human language generation relies on the Merge operation, creating hierarchical structures.
  • Merge-generability is key to understanding linguistic dependencies.
  • Distinguishing core language systems from other cognitive functions is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the neural basis of Merge-generable dependencies in human language.
  • To differentiate brain regions involved in nesting versus crossing dependencies.
  • To explore the roles of the lateral premotor cortex and occipital-temporal regions in syntactic processing.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activity.
  • Participants performed a Subject-Predicate matching task involving nesting and crossing dependencies.
  • Cortical responses were analyzed to contrast neural activations for different dependency types.

Main Results:

  • Nesting dependencies activated syntax-related networks, including bilateral lateral premotor cortices (LPMCs) and inferior frontal gyri.
  • Crossing dependencies showed activation in visual-spatial processing areas: left fusiform/lingual/middle occipital gyri (L. FG/LG/MOG).
  • A double dissociation was observed, with LPMCs correlating with computational search costs (Σ operations) and L. FG/LG/MOG with ordering loads.

Conclusions:

  • Separate cortical networks are differentially employed for distinct types of linguistic dependencies.
  • LPMCs are associated with core syntactic computations (Merge), while occipital-temporal regions handle memory-based ordering.
  • These findings provide insights into the neural architecture of human language processing.