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Updated: May 22, 2025

Translational Brain Mapping at the University of Rochester Medical Center: Preserving the Mind Through Personalized Brain Mapping
Published on: August 12, 2019
Functional and structural brain asymmetries in language processing
Patrick C Trettenbrein1, Angela D Friederici2
1Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; International Max Planck Research School on Neuroscience of Communication: Structure, Function, and Plasticity (IMPRS NeuroCom), Leipzig, Germany; Experimental Sign Language Laboratory (SignLab), Department of German Philology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
Language processing shows left hemisphere dominance but also some bilateral function, particularly for meaning and sound. A core left-hemisphere network is crucial for syntax, supporting language evolution.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Linguistics
Background:
- Language lateralization to the left hemisphere is a classic example of biological asymmetry.
- Damage to the left hemisphere does not result in complete language loss, suggesting complex neural organization.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review functional and structural lateralization of neural substrates for various language aspects.
- To explore the equipotentiality of both hemispheres in language processing.
Main Methods:
- Review of neuroimaging research findings over recent decades.
- Analysis of functional and structural asymmetries in language networks.
Main Results:
- Most language processing aspects are functionally lateralized to the left hemisphere in adults.
- Both hemispheres show equipotentiality for processing meaning and sound.
- A core language network in the left hemisphere is critical for syntax and shows functional/structural asymmetry.
Conclusions:
- Language capacity and its neural basis are not monolithic.
- The left-hemisphere core language network, vital for syntax, is genetically influenced and may be a prerequisite for human language evolution.
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