With the rise of bilinguals globally, extensive research has been conducted to understand how bilingualism affects cognitive functions differently from monolingualism, with significant implications for bilingual education, healthcare, and other fields. Specific to language processing, differences have been identified between second language (L2)…

Early childhood language experiences influence how a child's mind and brain process language and acquire literacy. For children growing up bilingual, their two languages interact in their minds, and these cross-linguistic influences can lead to unique neurocognitive mechanisms for language and reading compared to monolinguals. In this…

Heterogeneous effects of semantic distance in language production have sparked a debate on the central assumption of many language production models, namely that lexical selection is a competitive process. In the present ERP study, we manipulated semantic distance in the picture word interference (PWI) paradigm systematically within taxonomic…

How does the brain's response to speech change over the first months of life? Although behavioral findings indicate that neonates' listening biases are sharpened over the first months of life, with a species-specific preference for speech emerging by 3 months, the neural substrates underlying this developmental change are unknown. We…

Alteration of the organization of social and motivational neuroanatomical circuitry must have been an essential step in the evolution of human language. Development of vocal communication across species, particularly birdsong, and new research on the neural organization and evolution of social and motivational circuitry, together suggest that…

The present study examined the relationship between hand preference degree and direction, functional language lateralization in Broca's and Wernicke's areas, and structural measures of the arcuate fasciculus. Results revealed an effect of degree of hand preference on arcuate fasciculus structure, such that consistently-handed individuals,…

The papers in this special issue of "Language and Cognitive Processing" on the neural bases of language production illustrate two general approaches in current cognitive neuroscience. One approach focuses on investigating cognitive issues, making use of the logic of associations/dissociations or the logic of neural markers as key investigative…

Neural plasticity in speech acquisition and learning is concerned with the timeline trajectory and the mechanisms of experience-driven changes in the neural circuits that support or disrupt linguistic function. In this selective review, we discuss the role of phonetic learning in language acquisition, the "critical period" of learning, the agents…

We discuss the fruits of educational neuroscience research from our laboratory and show how the typical maturational timing milestones in bilingual language acquisition provide educators with a tool for differentiating a bilingual child experiencing language and reading delay versus deviance. Further, early schooling in two languages…

Gray matter volumes of Heschl's gyrus (HG), planum temporale (PT), pars triangularis (PTR), and pars opercularis were measured on MRI in 48 healthy right-handers. There was the expected leftward PT asymmetry in 70.8%, and leftward PTR asymmetry in 64.6% of the sample. When asymmetry patterns within individuals were examined, there was not one…

The conference proceedings of scientists specializing in language processes and neurophysiological mechanisms are reported to stimulate a cross-over of interest and research in the central brain phenomena (reception, understanding, retention, integration, formulation, and expression) as they relate to speech and language. Eighteen research reports…

Autopsy analysis of eight dyslexic brains found that the ordinary asymmetry in a language-relevant area of the temporal lobe was missing. The greater development of the right side may reflect an increase in the total number of neurons involved in language processing, resulting in changes in interhemispheric interactions. (JDD)

Although interest in the language sciences was previously focused on newly created sentences, more recently much attention has turned to the importance of formulaic expressions in normal and disordered communication. Also referred to as formulaic expressions and made up of speech formulas, idioms, expletives, serial and memorized speech, slang,…

An article prepared for Forum Lectures of the Voice of America, which discusses the development of language in animals, and the influence of the brain. (JM)

The traditional view of development is stage-like progress toward increasing complexity of form. However, the literature cites many examples in which children do worse before they do better. A major challenge for developmental theory, therefore, is to explain both global progress and apparent regression. In this article, we situate U-shaped…