The neurobiological models of language: An updated review

What is it about?

In this article, 3 types of contemporary neurobiological language models are reviewed and compared for the first time. (1) The declarative/procedural model was based on the anatomical lesion studies on semantics and grammar as the respective declarative and procedural memories. This model has not considered the episodic association of words by meanings into various sentences. (2) The electrophysiological N400/P600 studies of language suggest that the change in N400 is usually related to the semantic mistakes while the change in P600 is frequently related to the syntactic/thematic mistakes, generating many related hypotheses. However, none of these relevant hypotheses has considered the differentiation between the syntactic and episodic associations of words. (3) The semantic/syntactic/episodic model recently proposed by Cai extended the declarative/procedural model while integratively suggesting that the episodic association of words by meanings into sentence would moreover require the participation of reticular formations. This model explains the N400/P600 neurophysiological phenomena of language with the reticular dopaminergic/noradrenergic systems. Comparative review of these neurobiological language models would greatly improve their comprehensions, influences, and applications.

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Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Comprehensive review of contemporary neurobiological models of language, and compare the advantages and disadvantages of them.

Perspectives