Functional imaging and language: evidence from positron emission tomography

Positron emission tomography (PET) provides an unprecedented opportunity to study the organization of cognitive functions in the working brain of normal individuals. A number of PET experiments, based on well-established paradigms derived from cognitive psychology, have investigated several aspects...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of clinical neurophysiology Vol. 11; no. 2; p. 175
Main Authors Liotti, M, Gay, C T, Fox, P T
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.03.1994
Subjects
Animals
Brain - diagnostic imaging
Brain - metabolism
Cerebrovascular Circulation
Humans
Language
Mental Processes - physiology
Phonetics
Photic Stimulation
Semantics
Speech - physiology
Tomography, Emission-Computed
Visual Perception
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Summary:Positron emission tomography (PET) provides an unprecedented opportunity to study the organization of cognitive functions in the working brain of normal individuals. A number of PET experiments, based on well-established paradigms derived from cognitive psychology, have investigated several aspects of language processing. These studies show that word processing is carried out by a distributed network of cortical areas with functional specificity. Results of this research sometimes confirm--sometimes clearly contradict--classic axioms of language organization. This article illustrates some of the methodological issues in PET research, then provides an overview of the most relevant studies using PET. Integrated with other functional imaging methodologies and with behavioral data from cognitive psychology and lesion studies, PET will certainly continue to represent a precious tool to enhance our knowledge of the functional organization of language.
ISSN:0736-0258
DOI:10.1097/00004691-199403000-00003