Neurobiological representation of words and their meanings in the brain

作者：Gonzalez Alvarez Julio

来源：Salud i Ciencia, 2012, 19(2): 126-129.

• cerebral cartography
• cerebral cortex
• magnetic resonance imaging
• semantics
• psycholinguistics
• language

For a long time neuropsychological research has been the major source of evidence for understanding how language is organized in the human brain. However, modern electrophysiological and neuroimaging techniques provide new data on language processing in the intact brain, showing that language-related processes seem to be much more widely distributed than previously assumed. %26lt;br%26gt;This article reviews recent evidence about the neurobiological organization of words and their meanings. Current data suggest that words are laid down cortically as neuron webs with different cortical topographies reflecting their meaning, or more precisely, aspects of their reference. For example, different subcategories of action words elicit differential brain responses. We found that reading odour-related words, such as %26apos;cinnamon%26apos;, %26apos;garlic%26apos;, or %26apos;jasmine%26apos; elicits activation in the primary olfactory cortex; and reading taste-related words, such as %26apos;salt%26apos; or %26apos;honey%26apos; activates gustatory brain regions. These and other data indicate that word meaning is not confined to just meaning-specific brain regions; rather, it seems likely that semantic representations are distributed in a systematic way throughout the entire brain embodying sensorial and motor information.

• 出版日期2012-6