An over-arching goal in neurolinguistic research is to characterize the neural bases of semantic representation. A particularly relevant goal concerns whether we represent features and events (a) together in a generalized semantic hub or (b) separately in distinct but complementary systems. While the left anterior temporal lobe (ATL) is strongly…

Studies about bilingualism and second language acquisition (SLA) have a long tradition within linguistic and psycholinguistic research. The contributions from psycholinguistic research are crucial to the improvement of neurolinguistic models. This importance stems from the fact that psycholinguistic research is posing more specific questions than…

Event-related potential (ERP) studies have shown that emotional stimuli elicit greater amplitude late positive-polarity potentials (LPPs) than neutral stimuli. This effect has been attributed to arousal, but emotional stimuli are also more semantically coherent than uncategorized neutral stimuli. ERPs were recorded during encoding of positive,…

In a statement-response-reply format, a proposition concerning the study of semantics is made and debated in three papers by two authors. In the first paper, it is proposed that semantics is not the study of the concept of meaning, but rather a neurolinguistic issue, despite the fact that semantics is linked to context. It is argued that semantic…

Demonstrates what is to be understood by "procedural knowledge," at a time when researchers demand more process-oriented language courses to replace factual knowledge-oriented ones. The article presents a neurobiologically based model of the mental processes involved in the acquisition and use of language knowledge and discusses how pedagogical…

This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine brain-behavior correlations in a group of 16 children (9- to 12-year-olds). Activation was measured during a semantic judgment task presented in either the visual or auditory modality that required the individual to determine whether a final word was related in meaning to one…

Research is being conducted to determine the factors behind linguistic retardation in children. A first question raised was whether the linguistic system of the deviant child is qualitatively different from that of a normal child. A matching-up of deviant and normal children according to linguistic level suggests that the onset of base syntax may…

This paper examines the perceptual processes that underlie normal language acquisition with relation to perceptual dysfunctions in the aphasic child. Experiments are cited which seem to indicate that auditory dyfunctions may underlie language impairment. Experimental studies of the linguistic systems of the aphasic child seem to support the theory…

The cognitive processing strategies of two groups of French-English bilinguals were studied by means of an auditory Stroop test designed to evaluate cerebral hemispheric involvement. An "early bilingual" group were bilingual before the age of five, and a "late bilingual" group were bilingual after the age of ten. Stimuli were…

This book brings together the contributions of individual language scholars, linguists, anthropologists, psychologists, and neurophysicians. Each chapter focuses on the human cognitive processes involved in language activity and the impact of language diversity on them. The basic issue is how to correlate language diversity with the universality…