Exploring the neurobiological foundations of language, this book argues that distinct brain differences among species may explain the unique human ability to communicate. It delves into how these biological variations influence language development and processing, providing insights into the interplay between brain structure and linguistic capabilities. Through a detailed examination, it highlights the significance of these differences in understanding the evolution of language in humans.
This work explores the acquisition and representation of structured and unstructured information, beginning with the cognitive processes involved in language and rule formation. It examines how words function as mental computation programs and the role of prosodic and morpho-syntactic elements in first language acquisition. The application of rules during language comprehension is analyzed in both adults and children, alongside insights into rule-related knowledge in avian song systems. The text further investigates how structure is represented and learned in perceptuo-motor event sequences and the ontogenetic changes in rule formation under unpredictable environmental conditions. The second section delves into the perception and representation of visual-spatial and temporal information. It presents new findings on motion perception and imagery derived from functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, as well as the recognition memory of objects and spatial locations, highlighting the differences between figural and verbal representations. Additionally, it addresses the processing of temporal versus spatial information and examines spatial representations in small-brained insect navigators, including ant algorithms. The study of memory in insects, particularly honeybees, is also discussed, focusing on elementary and configural forms of memory. The work concludes with a list of contributors and a register.
Language comprehension and production is a distinctly human ability, yet the evolution of language remains poorly understood due to the distant timeline of our ancestors. This gap hinders progress in establishing a biological foundation for theories of language evolution. However, advancements over the past two decades have significantly enhanced our understanding of language as a species-specific biological system. New experimental techniques have facilitated the exploration of language and its use through a natural science lens. This book offers an overview of experimental research focused on language comprehension. A biological perspective unites the contributors, who share the belief that empirical research, informed by adaptable theories, can deepen our understanding of the language system. Each of the nine chapters addresses different aspects of language comprehension, including input processes, word recognition, sentence processing, and text processing. The contributors discuss structural representation and access to this representation, with one chapter dedicated to the neurobiological foundations underlying various components of the language comprehension process. This comprehensive exploration highlights the intricate interplay between biology and language understanding.
Der Band gibt erstmals einen vollständigen und systematischen Überblick über den Forschungsbereich des Sprachverstehens. Fünfzehn Experten mit internationalem Renommee beleuchten die unterschiedlichen Subprozesse, die Sprachverstehen ermöglichen. Vom sprachlichen Input, über die Prozesse des Worterkennens, die Verarbeitung von Wörtern hinsichtlich ihrer semantischen und morphologischen Struktur bis hin zur Textverarbeitung werden alle Prozesse systematisch abgehandelt. Darüber hinaus werden die neurobiologischen Grundlagen dieser Prozesse unter Einbeziehung der Befunde von Studien, die mittels neuer bildgebender Verfahren durchgeführt werden, dargestellt.