fMRI of Language Systems

Language refers to the uniquely human capacity for communication through productive combination of symbolic representations. Functional neuroimaging studies have in recent decades greatly expanded our knowledge of the brain systems supporting language, producing a dramatic reawakening of interest in this topic and a call to revise and extend the nineteenth century neuroanatomical model formulated by Broca, Wernicke, and others. This chapter presents some theoretical issues regarding functional imaging of language systems, a model of the functional neuroanatomy of language based on recent empirical results in several selected processing domains, and a survey of language mapping paradigms in common clinical use. A central theme is that interpretation of fMRI language studies depends on an informed analysis of the cognitive processes engaged during scanning. This analytic approach can help avoid common pitfalls in task design that limit the sensitivity and specificity of language mapping studies and should encourage the development of a standardized methodological and conceptual framework for such studies.