aaron wrightcognitive scientist, artist

extended language network

language-selective brain areas whose contributions to language remain to be discovered.

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Language neuroscience has largely focused on core left frontal and temporal areas, but many other cortical, subcortical, and cerebellar areas have been implicated in linguistic processing. This project asks which of those areas respond reliably and selectively to language, and what their contributions may be.

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Using fMRI data from 772 participants performing an extensively validated language localizer, this work delineates areas that respond reliably to language across written and auditory modalities and evaluates their selectivity relative to a demanding non-linguistic task. The newly identified extended language-selective network includes areas around the temporal poles, medial frontal cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum.