The Languages of the Brain

Front Cover
Albert M. Galaburda, Stephen M. Kosslyn, Yves Christen
Harvard University Press, Dec 15, 2002 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 418 pages

The only way we can convey our thoughts in detail to another person is through verbal language. Does this imply that our thoughts ultimately rely on words? Is there only one way in which thoughts can occur? This ambitious book takes the contrary position, arguing that many possible "languages of thought" play different roles in the life of the mind.

"Language" is more than communication. It is also a means of representing information in both working and long-term memory. It provides a set of rules for combining and manipulating those representations.

A stellar lineup of international cognitive scientists, philosophers, and artists make the book's case that the brain is multilingual. Among topics discussed in the section on verbal languages are the learning of second languages, recovering language after brain damage, and sign language, and in the section on nonverbal languages, mental imagery, representations of motor activity, and the perception and representation of space.

 

Contents

PARTI Verbal Representation
15
The Neurological Organization of Some
43
Brain Organization for Syntactic Processing
57
Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Phonological
69
Section 1
80
Can Mental Content Explain Behavior?
91
Deference and Indexicality
102
How Is Conceptual Knowledge Organized in
110
Can the Human Brain Construct Visual Mental
215
Making Area V1 Glow in Visual Imagery
226
Core Systems
239
Section 4
259
Visual and Motor Representations
269
Naturalization of Mental States
307
Section 5
333
Representations in the World
339

Discourse Structure Intentions and Intonation
127
Section 2
143
In Praise of Functional Psychology
166
Verbal and Nonverbal Representations
179
Section 3
191
Nonverbal Representation
199
Eliciting Mental Models through Imagery
363
Creation Art and the Brain
376
Section 6
394
Contributors
403
Copyright

Other editions - View all

The Languages of the Brain
Emily Fisher-Landau Professor of Neurology (Neuroscience) Albert M Galaburda,Albert M. Galaburda,Stephen Michael Kosslyn,Stephen M. Kosslyn,Yves Christen
Limited preview - 2002

Common terms and phrases

ability action activation adults ALFONSO CARAMAZZA Alpert animals aphasia areas arthritis associated auditory behavior Berthoz Broca's Broca's aphasia Broca's area Caramazza category-specific deficits cerebral Changeux Cognitive Neuropsychology Cognitive Neuroscience concept condition cortex cortical critical period hypothesis cues Dehaene Démonet discourse dorsomedial environment example experiments fMRI fractal frontal lobe functional geometric Grosz guage gyrus hemisphere human brain impairment involved Jean-Pierre Changeux knowledge Kosslyn learners learning lesions lexical linguistic Mazoyer mechanisms Mehler Mellet memory mental imagery mental images mental model mental representation modules motor navigation neural neuroimaging neurons nonverbal objects organization parietal parietal lobe patients pattern perception performed phonological positron emission tomography processing properties Psychology rCBF regions relations represent role scanning second language semantic sentences sexual orientation spatial speakers specific Spelke STEPHEN KOSSLYN stimuli structure subjects syntactic task temporal thought tion types verbal language words Zurif

About the author (2002)

Albert M. Galaburda is Emily Fisher-Landau Professor of Neurology (Neuroscience) at Harvard Medical School. Stephen M. Kosslyn is John Lindsley Professor of Psychology in Memory of William James, Emeritus, at Harvard University and Director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. Yves Christen is Vice President of Fondation Ipsen in Paris.

Bibliographic information

TitleThe Languages of the Brain
Volume 6 of Mind/Brain/Behavior Initiative
EditorsAlbert M. Galaburda, Stephen M. Kosslyn, Yves Christen
Editionillustrated
PublisherHarvard University Press, 2002
ISBN0674007727, 9780674007727
Length418 pages
Subjects ›  ›  › 

Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics / Psycholinguistics / Language Acquisition
Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics / Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics
Medical / Neuroscience
Psychology / Cognitive Psychology & Cognition
Psychology / General
Psychology / Neuropsychology
Social Science / Body Language & Nonverbal Communication
  
Export CitationBiBTeX EndNote RefMan