RESEARCH PAPER : Neurolinguistics

LINGUISTICS - ASSIGNMENT 2

NEUROLINGUISTICS

     Neurolinguistics (or Neurological Linguistics) is an area of expertise which explores the
inter-relationship between the human brain and human language / communication. It is one of
the most important part of Linguistics, and falls under the category of Macro Linguistics. It is an
inter-disciplinary subject which is linked to a number of closely related subjects like neurology,
psycholinguistics, cognitive science, etc. Neurolinguistics is thus, quite a vast and diverse area of
academics. Brain mechanics, language production and comprehension, language processing, and
its related problems and ailments are some of the major concepts covered under neurolinguistics.

     In simple terms, Neurolinguistics can be defined as “the study of the neural mechanisms in the
human brain that control the comprehension, production, and acquisition of language”.
Neurolinguistics is primarily centred around the human brain and its processing of human
language. The mechanisms of the brain involved in language production, storage, processing and
comprehension are examined and analysed, alongside the various problems and aliments
associated with it such as dyslexia, aphasia, etc. It is a complex subject which investigates and
throws light upon several vital aspects of human brain and language, such as language
information processing in the brain, relation of brain structures to language acquisition and
learning, and contribution of neurophysiology towards curing of speech and language maladies.

     Neurolinguistics chiefly seeks to explain how language is dealt with in the brain: i.e., in which
part(s) of our brain is languages actually stored and processed; how our brain stores the
information of the various different languages that we speak, understand, read, and write; what
happens in the brain when we acquire the knowledge of a new language; what happens in the
brain as we use language in our everyday lives, etc.

     So, it can be said that the chief goal of Neurolinguistics is to understand and expound upon the
neurological bases of language and speech in the human brain. The human brain is composed of
around 10 billion neurons. The highest level of the brain is the cerebral cortex (which is found
only in higher mammals). Humans brains have the highest proportion of cortex. Language
representation and processing resides in the brain. The human brain has two cerebral
hemispheres: right and left. The left hemisphere is the one which is primarily responsible for
language skills, but the right hemisphere too plays a significant role. Neurolinguistics aid to
characterize the mechanisms and processes of brain, which are involved in the use of language.



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Some of the most important facets of Neurolinguistics research are as follows:

Localization and Lateralisation of Language in the Brain:

     Different human cognitive abilities and behaviours are believed to be localised in specific parts
of the brain. Most of the research work in Neurolinguistics is carried out in order to examine the
locations of language storage and processing in the brain. There are specific modules within the
brain in which language is said to be localised. Any cognitive function that is localised primarily
in one side of the brain is said to be lateralisation. Language is said to be lateralised to the left
hemisphere as, generally, most of the human beings are left lateralised.

     The early studies of scientists like Broca and Wernicke have already done a considerable
amount of research in this area and have come up with some creditable results. Presently, it is
theorised that language is localised to the cortex region of the brain, especially the Broca’s Area
and Wernicke’s Area.

     Broca’s area is the frontal lobe i.e., the area in the left hemisphere where the frontal, parietal and
temporal lobes meet. It controls syntax. Wernicke’s area is the temporal lobe i.e., the parital or
temporal region in the left hemisphere. It controls semantics.

     However, recent researches have starting pointing out the right hemisphere plays a significant
complementary role in language processing; especially in recognising intonations, understanding
witty things, etc. Queries for forthcoming researchers include what path does language
information follow while travelling through the brain as it is processed, whether or not particular
areas specialize in processing particular type of information, how different brain regions interact
with one another in language processing, and how the activity of the brain differs when
producing or perceiving a new language other than first language.

Timing of language processes:

     Another important area of Neurolinguistics is the analysis of the timing of language processing.
Electrophysiological techniques are made use of to analyse the rapid processing of language with
respect to time. In the temporal lobe, there is a certain pattern or order in which specific patterns
of brain activity occur. These reflect the computational processes which the brain undergoes
during language processing. The different responses of the brain are theorised to be the products
of the different steps of language processing occurring in the brain.

Language Acquisition:

     Yet another topic examined under Neurolinguistics is the relationship between brain structures
and language acquisition. Extensive research in language acquisition has shown that infants
generally go through predictable, similar stages (such as babbling) in the process of acquiring
their first language. A good amount of Neurolinguistics research is aimed at finding correlations
between stages of language development and stages of brain development. There are also
investigations underway about the physical changes in the brain (in adults) when acquiring a
second language. These investigations have observed that language acquisition leads to an
increase in grey and white matter in the brain of the learner, irrespective of age.

     Also, extensive studies and experimentation have proven that language ability does not equal
general cognition. That means to say that the ability to understand and learn languages is not
related or dependent on other general cognitive skills or abilities. A patient with severe cognitive
defects can still be a multi-linguist, and a person with impaired language learning ability may
possess no other cognitive defect.

Language Pathology:

     Careful consideration, examination and analysis of language-based disorders such as aphasia and
dyslexia, makes up a sizable chunk of the bulk of knowledge in Neurolinguistics. The cause,
consequence and possible cure of such disorders are methodically explored under
Neurolinguistics. Special attention is given to examine the relation between the disorders and the
physical structure of the brain.

     One such disorder is Aphasia. It is any language disorder due to brain damage caused by any
disease or trauma. People affected by this are often selectively language impaired i.e., they may
either have trouble in pronouncing words and forming sentences or have comprehension
problems with lexical faults. But they do not necessarily have cognitive or intellectual
impairments. This disorder is often seen as an evidence for localisation of language.

     Besides these, Neurolinguistics as a science tries to delve deep and offer plausible explanations
to probing questions like:
*What is unique about human brains that it makes human language possible?
*Why is our communication system so elaborate and different from that of other animals?
*Does language use the same kind of neural processing as used by other systems, such as music or
mathematics?
*How does a bilingual person switch between languages without one interfering with the other?
*In what way is the brain of a dyslexic person different from the brain a normal person?


     Neurolinguistics is also multifaceted. It is linked to almost every other major areas of linguistics.
Each and every sub field of linguistics requires the support of Neurolinguistics research in one
way or other. For example, the subfield “Phonetics” is related to Neurolinguistics as it is
necessary to analyse how the human brain recognises and responds to speech sounds and how it
separates speech from unnecessary background sounds. Then, “phonology” requires the help of
Neurolinguistics to examine how a particular language is represented in the brain.
Neurolinguistics aid the subject of “Morphology” by shedding light on how the brain stores and
accesses known words. The themes of “syntax and semantics” are supported by Neurolinguistics
as it explains how the brain combines words into sentences; and how the structural and semantic
information of language is used in the brain to understand sentences.

     In Neurolinguistics, a vast amount of effort is put into testing and reviewing the various theories
put forth by theoretical linguists and psycholinguistics. Generally, theoretical linguists bring
forth various models to explain the structure and pattern of language and how language
information is classified or organized; while psycholinguists propose models and algorithms to
explain how language is processed in the mind. Neurologists analyse the functioning and activity
of the brain to deduce how the corporal configurations of the human brain carry out those
algorithms proposed by the psycholinguistics. Neuro-linguists can also make new predictions
and discoveries about the structure and organization of language in the brain, based organizing
knowledge about the functioning of the brain, by "generalizing the knowledge of neurological
structures to language structure".

     It can thus be summed up that Neurolinguistics is a broad sphere of study of the human brain and
language; which includes language and speech processing, lateralization of language-related
functions and speech and language impairments. All of these concepts together make
Neurolinguistics a thought-provoking and all-encompassing subject, and a suitable domain for
further research and information exchange with other inter-related disciplines.