The Neuroscience of Language On Brain Circuits of Words and Serial Order

How is language organized in the human brain? The Neuroscience of Language, published in 2003, puts forth a systematic model of language to bridge the gap between linguistics and neuroscience. Neuronal models of word and serial order processing are presented in the form of a computational, connectionist neural network. The linguistic emphasis is on words and elementary syntactic rules. Introductory chapters focus on neuronal structure and function, cognitive brain processes, the basics of classical aphasia research and modern neuroimaging of language, neural network approaches to language, and the basics of syntactic theories. The essence of the work is contained in chapters on neural algorithms and networks, basic syntax, serial order mechanisms, and neuronal grammar. Throughout, excursuses illustrate the functioning of brain models of language, some of which are accessible as animations on the book's accompanying web site. It will appeal to graduate students and researchers in neuroscience, psychology, linguistics, and computational modeling.

Preface; 1. A guide to the book; 2. Neuronal structure and function; 3. From classic aphasia research to modern neuroimaging; 4. Words in the brain; Excursus E1: explaining neuropsychological double dissociations; 5. Regulation, overlap and web tails; 6. Neural algorithms and neural networks; 7. Basic syntax; 8. Synfire chains as the basis of serial order in the brain; 9. Sequence detectors; 10. Neuronal grammar; 11. Neuronal grammar and algorithms; Excursus E2: basic bits of neuronal grammar; Excursus E3: a web response to a sentence; 12. Refining neuronal grammar; Excursus E4: multiple reverberation for resolving lexical ambiguity; Excursus E5: multiple reverberations and multiple center embeddings; 13. Neurophysiology of syntax; 14. Linguistics and the brain; References; Abbreviations; Author index; Subject index.