Language, mind and brain

Angela D. Friederici; Noam Chomsky; Robert C. Berwick; Andrea Moro; Johan J. Bolhuis

doi:10.1038/s41562-017-0184-4

Language, mind and brain

Angela D. Friederici, Noam Chomsky, Robert C. Berwick, Andrea Moro, Johan J. Bolhuis

Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
University School for Advanced Studies IUSS - Pavia, I-27100, Pavia, Italy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

© 2017 The Publisher. Language serves as a cornerstone of human cognition. However, our knowledge about its neural basis is still a matter of debate, partly because 'language' is often ill-defined. Rather than equating language with 'speech' or 'communication', we propose that language is best described as a biologically determined computational cognitive mechanism that yields an unbounded array of hierarchically structured expressions. The results of recent brain imaging studies are consistent with this view of language as an autonomous cognitive mechanism, leading to a view of its neural organization, whereby language involves dynamic interactions of syntactic and semantic aspects represented in neural networks that connect the inferior frontal and superior temporal cortices functionally and structurally.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	713-722
Number of pages	10
Journal	Nature Human Behaviour
Volume	1
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-017-0184-4
Publication status	Published - 1 Oct 2017

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s41562-017-0184-4Final published version, 1.67 MBLicence: Taverne

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Language, mind and brain

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