Three neural networks that support syntactic processing in language

Abstract

Elucidation of language disorders is one of the fundamental issues in clinical neuroscience. We used magnetic resonance imaging and a syntactic task in Japanese to examine the behavior and brain structures of patients with a left frontal glioma. We successfully showed that they had different types of language disorders (particularly agrammatic comprehension) dependent on the location of the glioma. Moreover, we describe three neural networks that support syntactic processing, including an extensive network within the cerebellum and both hemispheres of the brain.