Neural Systems Underlying Speech and Lexical Processing

Classical models of brain-behavior relations suggest a structural/functional dichotomy with posterior brain structures ‘specialized’ for the receptive aspects of language such as speech perception and lexical/semantic access, and anterior structures ‘specialized’ for expressive aspects of language such as speech production. Research based on lesion studies and neuroimaging challenge this model, and suggest that both anterior and posterior brain structures underlie speech perception and lexical/semantic access. Consideration is given to potential differences in the functional architecture of these structures in speech and lexical processing. One possibility consistent with the data is that the functional architecture of the anterior and posterior systems appear to differ with the posterior system largely involved in the activation of the systems underlying the sound structure and meaning structure of language and the anterior system largely involved in using this information in order to arrive at a linguistic decision.