The Neurocognition of Language [Paperback]

Colin M. Brown (Editor), Peter Hagoort (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198507933 | ISBN-13: 978-0198507932 | Publication Date: June 7, 2001 | Edition: 1

The Neurocognition of Language is the first critical overview of the cognitive neuroscience of language, one of the fastest-moving and most exciting areas in language research today. And it is a necessity for anyone requiring a summary of our current understanding of the relation between language and the brain. It brings together human language experts who discuss the representations and structures of language as well as the cognitive architectures that underlie speaking, listening, and reading. In addition to valuable reviews of existing brain imaging literature on word and sentence processing and contributions from brain lesion data, this book provides a basis for future brain imaging research. It even explains the prospects and problems of brain imaging techniques for the study of language, presents some of the most recent and promising analytic procedures for relating brain imaging data to the higher cognitive functions, and contains a review of the neuroanatomical structure of Broca's language area. Uniquely interdisciplinary, this book offers researchers and students in cognitive neuroscience with state-of-the-art reviews of the major language functions, while being of equal interest to researchers in linguistics and language who want to learn about language's neural bases.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is a comprehensive review of language theory, nicely integrated wtih evidence of subvervient neural architecture gleaned from neuroimaging. It is a valuable resource for someone seeking an integrated overview of neurocognitive theories of language." --Brown

About the Author

Colin M. Brown and Peter Hagoort, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Wundtlaan 1, NL-6525 XD Nijmegen, The Netherlands Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] [e-mail] [e-mail]

Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1 edition (June 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198507933
• ISBN-13: 978-0198507932
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,514,886 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Reference to Have, November 15, 2010

By 

Stephen Pellerine (In a bookshelf somewhere) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Neurocognition of Language (Paperback)

I have had this book for several years now and find myself opening its pages a couple of times a year. I especially enjoy the modest and humble introduction stating that we know a lot, but have a lot more to learn regarding the brain and cognition. There is a interdisciplinary plea here to merge the cognitive neurosciences and linguistics and I believe for the most part a plea that is still unanswered till this day. Now with funding being cut for research I wonder when the neurosciences and linguistics/education proper will ever merge.

The book discusses how language is currently mapped in the brain and what this can inform. Techniques such as the fMRI is discussed linking its values as a research tool. You will learn about the basic principles of Haemodynamic imaging methods and the how/why they work based on observations made rooted in blood supply; and differences between PET and fMRI imaging. For a linguist representational structures of the language faculty are presented in light of interactions based on Chomskyan theories. I appreciated the discussion pertaining to the dimensions (short-term) and kinds (explicit/implicit) of memory.

The main sections, briefly, are as follows:

1.Introduction

Cognitive Neuroscience of Language
Neuro Imaging
Language Faculty

2.Cognitive Architecture of Languages

Spoken Language
Listening to Language
Written Language

3.Neurocognitive architecture of Language

Neural architecture of words
Clues to the functioning of words (neural architecture)
Neurocognition of syntactic processing

4.Language from a Neurobiological Perspective

Broca's Area
Imaging
Current Approaches to Mapping

This book is a gem and a well informed, well researched, volume addressing these sections as outlined above. For any serious linguist interested in cognition and/or the neurology of cognition based on what we knew in 2000. This book is highly relevant. Of course you will need to be updated with current academic literature via journals, but I think the age on this book is not relevant considering the breadth of fundamental time honored considerations it addresses. Excellent academic reference.