The Margins of the Language Network in the Brain

Abstract

This review paper summarizes the various brain modules that are involved in speech and language communication in addition to a left-dominant "core" language network that, for the present purpose, has been restricted to elementary formal-linguistic and more or less disembodied functions such as abstract phonology, syntax, and very basic lexical functions. This left-dominant perisylvian language network comprises parts of inferior frontal gyrus, premotor cortex, and upper temporal lobe, and a temporoparietal interface. After introducing this network, first, the various roles of neighboring and functionally connected brain regions are discussed. As a second approach, entire additional networks were considered rather than single regions, mainly motivated by resting-state studies indicating more or less stable connectivity patterns within these networks. Thirdly, some examples are provided for language tasks with functional demands exceeding the operating domain of the core language network. The rationale behind this approach is to present some outline of how the brain produces and perceives language, accounting, first, for a bulk of clinical studies showing typical forms of aphasia in case of left-hemispheric lesions in the core language network and second, for widespread activation patterns beyond this network in various experimental studies with language tasks. Roughly, the brain resources that complement the core language system in a task-specific way can be described as a number of brain structures and networks that are related to (1) motor representations, (2) sensory-related representations, (3) non-verbal memory structures, (4) affective/emotional processing, (5) social cognition and theory of mind, (6) meaning in context, and (7) cognitive control. After taking into account all these aspects, first, it seems clear that natural language communication cannot really work without additional systems. Second, it also becomes evident that during language acquisition the core language network has to be built up from outside, that is, from various neuronal activations that are related to sensory input, motor imitation, nursing, pre-linguistic sound communication, and pre-linguistic pragmatics. Furthermore, it might be worth considering that also in cases of aphasia the language network might be restored by being trained from outside.

Engagement of Language and Domain General Networks during Word Monitoring in a Native and Unknown Language

“…In sum, the activation for the unknown language relative to the native language monitoring is associated with differences in phonological, lexical, syntactic, and semantic processing, as well as to the processing of the different prosodic features of Japanese. fMRI studies on prosody found right-literalized activation in the superior temporal, dorsolateral, and medial frontal, insular/fronto-opercular cortex, and cerebellum [42].…”

The degree of context un/familiarity impacts the emotional feeling and preaware cardiac-brain activity: a study with emotionally salient naturalistic paradigm using DENS Dataset

“…For both HF & LF, activity in the right Anterior Temporal Lobe (rATL) is observed. Anterior temporal lobes are generally involved in social cognition, theory of mind processing, social conceptual knowledge, semantic integration, and memory systems that are linked to reward and valence [49,22].…”

“…Furthermore, we observed connectivity in ATL regions for both high-familiar and less-familiar context stimuli. Anterior temporal lobes are generally involved in social cognition, theory of mind processing, social conceptual knowledge, and memory systems that are linked to reward and valence [22]. ATL is reported as the multimodal integration hub, which integrates information from different modal-ities, including internal body physiology, exteroceptive sensations, motivation and hedonic input, and social cognition to represent the context-sensitive conceptual knowledge and semantic meaning.…”

The Role of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex for Speech and Language Processing

“…Historically, language functions in the brain have been assigned, to ''Broca's'' and ''Wernicke's'' areas, areas connected via the arcuate fasciculus (Geschwind, 1970). Subsequently, updated models of the language network have been established, comprising various areas in the temporal lobe, inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), premotor, sensorimotor, supplementary motor, and temporoparietal cortex (Hickok and Poeppel, 2007;Hickok, 2009;DeWitt and Rauschecker, 2012;Poeppel et al, 2012;Bornkessel-Schlesewsky et al, 2015;Hertrich et al, 2016Hertrich et al, , 2020Skeide and Friederici, 2016). These areas are interconnected via dorsal and ventral pathways and the frontal aslant tract, with distinct functions each (Dick et al, 2014).…”