Elsevier

Brain and Language

Volume 89, Issue 2, May 2004, Pages 329-336
Brain and Language

Are nonlinguistic functions in “Broca’s area” prerequisites for language acquisition? FMRI findings from an ontogenetic viewpoint

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0093-934X(03)00346-8Get rights and content

Abstract

There is incomplete consensus on the anatomical demarcation of Broca’s area in the left inferior frontal gyrus and its functional characterization remains a matter of debate. Exclusive syntactic specialization has been proposed, but is overall inconsistent with the neuroimaging literature. We examined three functional MRI (fMRI) datasets on lexicosemantic decision, tone discrimination, and visuomotor coordination for potential overlap of activation. A single site of convergent activation across all three paradigms was found in the left inferior frontal lobe (area 44/45). This result is discussed in the context of animal and human studies showing inferior frontal participation in visuomotor and audiomotor functions as well as working memory. We propose that Broca’s area involvement in lexical semantics and syntax emerges from these nonlinguistic functions, which are prerequisites for language acquisition.

Section snippets

Where?

“Broca’s area” has been traditionally considered a language area, usually with the assumption of a specific or even exclusive linguistic involvement. More recent evidence, which will be discussed in this paper, has undermined this functionally narrow characterization. However, an area’s functional roles cannot be determined unless there is a clear anatomical delineation. Unfortunately, consensus with regard to “Broca’s area” is incomplete. Broca (1861, p352f) described damage in his landmark

Methods

Nine subjects (4 female, 5 male) aged 21–30 years participated in the semantic decision study. Seven of these subjects (4 female, 3 male) also participated in the tone discrimination study. A separate group of 7 men aged 23–46 years participated in the visuomotor study. All subjects were right-handed native speakers of English with no history of developmental, psychiatric, or neurologic disorders.

MR scanning was performed on a GE Signa 1.5 T system using a custom-made headcoil. Echo-planar

Results

For semantic decision, activation clusters were found in the superior frontal lobe (areas 8 and 9), the middle and superior temporal gyri (areas 21 and 22), and the inferior and middle frontal gyri (areas 44–46). Tone discrimination was associated with bilateral activation in the superior and middle temporal gyri (areas 22 and 21), the inferior frontal gyri (areas 44 and 45) and the medial frontal lobe (area 6). For visuomotor learning, activation was identified in bilateral supplementary

Discussion: How, when, and why is “Broca’s area”?

Our findings corroborate that area 44 of the left hemisphere, arguably the core of “Broca’s area,” participates in a great diversity of cognitive functions even beyond the language domain, consistent with previous large-scale reviews (Cabeza & Nyberg, 2000). What could explain left inferior frontal activation in diverse cognitive and perceptuo-motor domains? One possibility concerns the limited spatial resolution in fMRI. Left inferior frontal cortex might contain neuron groups with unrelated

Acknowledgments

Supported by the National Institutes of Health (1R01-NS43999, 1R01-DC6155). Thanks to Liz Bates for support and inspiration.

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