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Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Untersuchung von Sprachverarbeitung im Gehirn mit den neuen bildgebenden Methoden

Potentials and limits of the new imaging techniques in exploring language processing in the brain

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Abstract

The new imaging methods, PET and functional MRI, in particular, are claimed to visualize the working of the healthy human brain. Cognitive faculties which cannot be studied in animal models are the key issue of neuroimaging with language processing one of the central topics. The neurobiological basis of the imaging methods is the regional blood flow which is discreetly modulated by the activity in neuronal networks. Since differences in blood flow are very small, two (or more) clearly defined cognitive conditions have to be designed and contrasted with one another. Studies on the, at first view, relatively simplistic topic of single word processing revealed that the mode of presentation (visual or auditory) and the work load (repetition or picture naming or word generation) defines which areas are activated. Also, words have a semantic context which leads to categorization. This results in co-activation of areas probably not primarily involved in language processing. Using pseudo-languages in the attempt to observe language processing per se is probably not an option, since the brain is searching for meaning and significance, which often results in increased and distributed activation as compared with the use of a learned language. However, numerous well designed experiments have provided additional insight in the modular distributed network in the brain which participates in language processing.

Taken together, activation images do not show the reality of how the brain works, rather they provide hints on which brain areas are involved in the processing of single aspects of a defined task.

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  1. Cordula Nitsch
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Nitsch, C. Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Untersuchung von Sprachverarbeitung im Gehirn mit den neuen bildgebenden Methoden. Z Literaturwiss Linguistik 39, 85–110 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03379543

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