Are nonlinguistic functions in "Broca's area" prerequisites for language acquisition? FMRI findings from an ontogenetic viewpoint.
There is incomplete consensus on the anatomical demarcation of Broca's area in the left inferior frontal gyrus and its functional characterization remains a matter of debate. Exclusive syntactic specialization has been proposed, but is overall inconsistent with the neuroimaging literature. We examined three functional MRI (fMRI) datasets on lexicosemantic decision, tone discrimination, and visuomotor coordination for potential overlap of activation. A single site of convergent activation across all three paradigms was found in the left inferior frontal lobe (area 44/45). This result is discussed in the context of animal and human studies showing inferior frontal participation in visuomotor and audiomotor functions as well as working memory. We propose that Broca's area involvement in lexical semantics and syntax emerges from these nonlinguistic functions, which are prerequisites for language acquisition.
Müller
Ralph-Axel
RA
Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, 6363 Alvarado Ct., #225 E, San Diego, CA 92120-1863, USA. amueller@sciences.sdsu.edu
Basho
Surina
S
D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D010153:Paired-Associate Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D010897:Pitch Discrimination / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011932:Reading; D012660:Semantics; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology