title: Common molecular basis of the sentence comprehension network revealed by neurotransmitter receptor fingerprints.
abstract: The language network is a well-defined large-scale neural network of anatomically and functionally interacting cortical areas. The successful language process requires the transmission of information between these areas. Since neurotransmitter receptors are key molecules of information processing, we hypothesized that cortical areas which are part of the same functional language network may show highly similar multireceptor expression pattern ("receptor fingerprint"), whereas those that are not part of this network should have different fingerprints. Here we demonstrate that the relation between the densities of 15 different excitatory, inhibitory and modulatory receptors in eight language-related areas are highly similar and differ considerably from those of 18 other brain regions not directly involved in language processing. Thus, the fingerprints of all cortical areas underlying a large-scale cognitive domain such as language is a characteristic, functionally relevant feature of this network and an important prerequisite for the underlying neuronal processes of language functions.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Juelich, Germany; Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, University Hospital Aachen, RWTH Aachen University, Germany. Electronic address: k.zilles@fz-juelich.de.
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zilles
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Juelich, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Neuropsychology, Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address: mareike.bacha-trams@aalto.fi.
authors.forename: Maraike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bacha-Trams
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Juelich, Germany. Electronic address: n.palomero-gallagher@fz-juelich.de.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Palomero-Gallagher
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Juelich, Germany; C. & O. Vogt Institute for Brain Research, Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Germany. Electronic address: k.amunts@fz-juelich.de.
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Amunts
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Neuropsychology, Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address: friederici@cbs.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Angela D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Friederici
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D017981:Receptors, Neurotransmitter / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D017981:Receptors, Neurotransmitter
keywords: Brain mapping; Human cerebral cortex; Language; Transmitter receptors