Language in Our Brain by Friederici Angela D

Language in Our Brain by Friederici Angela D

Author:Friederici, Angela D. [Friederici, Angela]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: syntax; development; neurocognition; brain function; structure; cognitive neuroscience; comprehension; linguistics; biology; science; psychology; human; neurobiology; neurobiological
ISBN: 9780262036924
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: 2017-12-18T00:00:00+00:00


From Temporal to Frontal Cortex: Toward Higher-Order Computation

Both syntactic and semantic processes involve the inferior frontal cortex, which can be subdivided cyto- and receptorarchitectonically into different subparts (Amunts, Schleicher, Morosan, Palomero-Gallagher, and Zilles, 1999; Amunts et al., 2010). Within the inferior frontal cortex the frontal operculum and pars opercularis (BA 44) appear to subserve syntactic processes, and the pars triangularis (BA 45) and pars orbitalis (BA 47) seem to support semantic processes. For further language processing, the information thus has to be transferred from the temporal cortex to the inferior frontal cortex where the next processing steps take place.

Concerning syntax, the system now has to deal with higher-order structural aspects in order to establish the grammatical relations between the different phrases, which are delivered by the anterior superior temporal gyrus, the frontal operculum, and the most ventral portion of BA 44. More recently, it has been demonstrated that the frontal operculum is involved in assembling words independent of any syntactic structure and that the most ventral portion of BA 44 comes into play when building syntactic hierarchies is required, even at the lowest level of hierarchy (Zaccarella and Friederici, 2015a). In the case of more complex hierarchies, that is, for sentences with a non-canonical surface structure (e.g., object-first sentence), reordering of phrasal arguments in the hierarchy must additionally be achieved. This process is supported by Broca’s area in the inferior frontal gyrus (for a review, see Friederici (2011)). The studies on syntactic complexity reviewed in chapter 1 of this book indicated activation in BA 44 and in the posterior portion of BA 45. It appears that reordering of clearly marked phrases mainly involves the pars opercularis (BA 44), whereas the (re)computation of arguments that are moved from subordinate sentence parts recruits the posterior portion of BA 45 bordering BA 44.

Regarding sentential semantic aspects, the processing system now has to deal with the semantic and thematic fit between the different argument noun phrases and the verb. Semantic aspects in general activate more anterior portions of the inferior frontal gyrus, namely BA 47 and the anterior portion of BA 45, particularly when lexical processes are under strategic control (Rodd, Davis, and Johnsrude, 2005; Newman, Ikuta, and Burns, 2010) or when sentential semantic context is examined (Obleser, Wise, et al., 2007; Newman et al., 2010; Price, 2010).

In order to achieve these higher-order syntactic and semantic processes in the inferior frontal gyrus, the information on the basis of which these computations takes place must be transferred from the anterior temporal cortex to the inferior frontal cortex via structural connections (Hickok and Poeppel, 2004, 2007; Friederici, Bahlmann, Heim, Schubotz, and Anwander, 2006; Anwander, Tittgemeyer, von Cramon, Friederici, and Knösche, 2007; Friederici, 2009a; Weiller, Bormann, Saur, Musso, and Rijntjes, 2011). Two ventral fiber tracts connect the temporal and the frontal cortex: the uncinate fasciculus, which connects the more medio-ventrally located frontal operculum with the anterior temporal cortex and temporal pole, and the IFOF connecting the more laterally located BA 45 and BA 47 with the temporal and occipital cortex (Anwander et al.



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