Linguistic and NonLinguistic Functions of Frontal Cortex

描述(由申请人提供)：人类的语言能力与我们拥有的许多其他非语言认知能力之间是什么关系？在过去的十年里，我们的研究团队通过专注于语言和非语言过程似乎“相遇”的一个地方(确切地说)：布罗卡的区域来探索这个重要的问题。长期以来，布罗卡区一直被描述为某些语言专门化的场所，它与额叶皮质的其他部分可能比通常认为的更有共同点。在大量关于前额叶皮质调节功能的文献的启发下，我们开发了一个框架来考虑Broca区-前额叶皮质的一部分-在语言处理中的作用。我们认为，Broca的区域在许多类型的表征(包括语义、语音和句法)之间的竞争性互动中起到了偏向作用。因此，Broca的区域和语言功能之间的关系不能通过研究单个领域(如句法)来捕捉，而需要我们的研究计划中所代表的广泛的、跨学科的方法，我们的研究团队的不同专业知识也是例证。在接下来的几年里，我们希望继续我们对前额叶皮质语言和非语言功能的多方法研究。本研究计划的主要目标如下：(1)继续研究LIFG在语言加工中的作用；(2)更好地表征LIFG在工作记忆中的作用；(3)评估工作记忆、语言和认知控制之间的关系及其对LIFG的依赖性质；以及(4)开发新的工具来推断因果结构-功能关系。这个研究项目与精神健康障碍(特别是注意力障碍)和语言障碍相关，因为它突出了这两个看似不同的功能之间的重要联系。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): What is the relationship between the human faculty for language and the many other, nonlinguistic cognitive abilities we possess? For the past decade, our research team has explored this important question by focusing on a place (quite literally) where linguistic and nonlinguistic processes seem to "meet": Broca's area. Long described of as the seat of some linguistic specialization, Broca's area may have more in common with the rest of prefrontal cortex than is typically thought. Motivated by an extensive literature on the regulatory functions of prefrontal cortex, we have developed a framework for considering the role of Broca's area - a part of prefrontal cortex - in language processing. We argue that Broca's area functions to bias competitive interactions among representations of many types (including semantic, phonological, and syntactic). As such, the relationship between Broca's area and linguistic function cannot be captured by studying a single domain (such as syntax) but rather requires the broad, interdisciplinary approach represented in our research program and exemplified by the divergent expertise of our research team. In the coming years of this research program, we hope to continue our multi-method investigations of linguistic and nonlinguistic functions of prefrontal cortex. The major aims of the research plans outlined in the current proposal are as follows: (1) to continue our investigations of the role of LIFG in language processing; (2) to better characterize the role of LIFG in working memory; (3) to evaluate the relation between working memory, language, and cognitive control and the nature of their dependence on LIFG; and, (4) to develop new tools for inferring causal structure-function relations. This research program has relevance to disorders of mental health (specifically, attentional disorders) and to disorders of language, by virtue of the fact that it highlights the important links between these two seemingly disparate functions.