Reconciling time, space and function: A new dorsal–ventral stream model of sentence comprehension

Abstract

We present a new dorsal-ventral stream framework for language comprehension which unifies basic neurobiological assumptions (Rauschecker & Scott, 2009) with a cross-linguistic neurocognitive sentence comprehension model (eADM; Bornkessel & Schlesewsky, 2006). The dissociation between (time-dependent) syntactic structure-building and (time-independent) sentence interpretation assumed within the eADM provides a basis for the division of labour between the dorsal and ventral streams in comprehension. We posit that the ventral stream performs time-independent unifications of conceptual schemata, serving to create auditory objects of increasing complexity. The dorsal stream engages in the time-dependent combination of elements, subserving both syntactic structuring and a linkage to action. Furthermore, frontal regions accomplish general aspects of cognitive control in the service of action planning and execution rather than linguistic processing. This architecture is supported by a range of existing empirical findings and helps to resolve a number of theoretical and empirical puzzles within the existing dorsal-ventral streams literature.