Neurolinguistics; Brain and Language

Today we're going to talk about the relationship between the brain and language, and neurolinguistics. Before we dive into the deep waters of this vast and ever-evolving subject, let's start simply. What is this neurolinguistics? Neurolinguistics is a relatively new and promising scientific discipline that originated in the middle of the 20th century and has been actively developing for the last 40-50 years, examining the relationship between language and the structure and functioning of the brain. Looking at the origin of the word, we can see that it comes from the root of the Greek and Latin languages (Greek νε ̃υρoν - nerve and Latin lingua - tongue). In essence, neurolinguistics means the representation of language in the brain. If we expand a little more, it is a discipline that shows where the processes about language or more than one language, which we read, write, speak, interpret and restructure within our brains with certain semantic patterns. How are they carried out in our brains and what kind of changes are caused in our brains by each new connection formed with language.

So, what is the brain, what is its structure and how does it work? The brain is a complicated organ that regulates our body's cognition, memory, emotion, touch, motor skills, vision, respiration, temperature, and hunger. The central nervous system, or CNS, is made up of the brain and the spinal cord that extends from it. The average adult's brain weighs roughly 3 pounds and is 60% fat. Water, protein, carbs, and salts make up the remaining 40%. The brain is not a muscle in and of itself. It is made up of blood vessels and nerves, as well as neurons and glial cells. Throughout the body, the brain transmits and receives chemical and electrical messages. Different impulses govern various processes, which your brain interprets. Some, for example, make you weary, while others make you experience discomfort. Some messages are stored in the brain, while others are sent to distant extremities via the spine and the body's enormous network of nerves. The central nervous system relies on billions of neurons (nerve cells) to do this [1].

Now that we have an accurate idea of the brain. The other question we need to answer is that where is the language in our brain?

When reading, you must first recognize the words and then perceive them by identifying context and meaning. Many parts of the brain are involved in this intricate process. Text detection is often accomplished via the optic nerve and other nerve bundles carrying information from the eyes to the visual cortex at the rear of the brain. When reading in Braille, you employ the sensory cortex at the top of your brain. When you listen to someone else read, you engage the auditory cortex, which is located near your ears. A network of brain areas in your back and midsection assist you understand the text. These include the cerebellum, basal ganglia, insular cortex, Wernicke's region, the angular gyrus in the parietal lobe, and the top rear section of the temporal lobe [2].

Considering that an idea is slowly forming in our minds, let's take a look at some general questions about neurolinguistics, the relationship between the brain and language. Is the place of language in the brain different in humans and animals? Are the language and communication styles in animals very different from us humans? Is the processing of language in the brain the same as music and math, or is it similar or completely different? How does a newly learned word take a place in our brain? What changes happen in our brain when we try to remember a proper name or word? When we start to learn new languages in addition to our mother tongue, does our brain establish a relationship between these languages? Is the left side of our brain really the "language side"? Is the brain functioning of an alphabet with symbolic letters, such as Chinese and Japanese, different? What are the differences between the brain of someone who is dyslexic and the brain of someone who is not dyslexic? Of course, we cannot answer all these questions here, but we can explain a few of these questions in order to have additional information about the concept.

So, does music and language depend on the same brain systems? Well, not completely but yes! According to Georgetown University academics, music and language share some of the same brain foundations. The authors, Robbin Miranda and Michael Ullman of Georgetown University, discovered that musical "rules" use the same region of the brain as rules (grammar) for language, and that memory for musical melodies uses the same part of the brain as memory for words. In the context of this experiment, adhering to musical "rules" refers to a song's key structure. People may memorize words and their meanings in language as well as well-known tunes in music thanks to a brain system located in the temporal lobes. The other system, which is based in the frontal lobes, aids in our unconscious acquisition and application of the principles that govern both language and music, such as the principles of syntax in sentences and harmony in music. While it has been discovered that the processing of rules relies on a shared set of frontal lobe structures in language and music, memorization of random information, such as words and melodies, is vital for both languages and music [3]. 

Well, now we have a whole different perspective on language, its relationship with other components and its place in brain, so let's try to explain how does a newly learned word is processed in our brains?

When we look at a word we know, our brain interprets it as an image rather than as a string of characters that needs to be digested. According to a recent study, the brain learns words fast by training neurons to react to the entire word rather than just a portion of it. Hearing words and becoming familiar with their sounds is obviously an essential component of learning a language because we begin speaking before we can read. However, our brains also need to "see" words in order to read, and especially to read fast [4]. At least, Maximilian Riesenhuber and his colleagues from Georgetown University Medical Center's Department of Neuroscience discovered this in an intriguing brain-mapping study that was published in the Journal of Neuroscience. 

Bibliography:

[1] Brain Anatomy and How the Brain Works. (2021, July 14). Brain Anatomy and How the Brain Works | Johns Hopkins Medicine. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/anatomy-of-the-brain

[2] Abbott, D. (2016, September 25). What brain regions control our language? And how do we know this? The Conversation. http://theconversation.com/what-brain-regions-control-our-language-and-how-do-we-know-this-63318

[3] Georgetown University Medical Center. "Music And Language Are Processed By The Same Brain Systems." ScienceDaily 28 September 2007. 25 November 2007 <http://www. sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2007/09/070927121101.htm>.

[4] Georgetown University Medical Center. "After learning new words, brain sees them as pictures." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 24 March 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150324183623.htm>.