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The
language-ready brain |
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Peter Hagoort Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics Our capacity for language is deeply rooted in our biological make-up.
We all share the capacity to acquire language within the first few years of
life, without any formalized teaching programme.
Despite its complexity we master our native language well before we can lace
our shoes or perform simple calculations. This is all based on the universal
availability of a language-ready brain. I will discuss the brain organization
underlying our remarkable capacity for language. Three components need to be
in place for this system to work. These are a Memory (M) component, a
Unification (U) component and a Control (C) component. I will present
evidence from neuroimaging studies specifying the
neurobiological infrastructure of the MUC model. Which brain areas are
recruited? Why are they crucial? How is their interplay? These are the sorts
of questions that I will address. |