The DOI matches its Crossref record; 51 of the 51 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The brain differentiates human and non-human grammars: functional localization and structural connectivity.
Open accessAbstract
The human language faculty has been claimed to be grounded in the ability to process hierarchically structured sequences. This human ability goes beyond the capacity to process sequences with simple transitional probabilities of adjacent elements observable in non-human primates. Here we show that the processing of these two sequence types is supported by different areas in the human brain. Processing of local transitions is subserved by the left frontal operculum, a region that is phylogenetically older than Broca’s area, which specifically holds responsible the computation of hierarchical dependencies. Tractography data revealing differential structural connectivity signatures for these two brain areas provide additional evidence for a segregation of two areas in the left inferior frontal cortex.
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“In addition, the deep frontal operculum was shown to be segregated from the inferior frontal gyrus during processing of syntactic sequences [25].”
From Broca's Region: Novel Organizational Principles and Multiple Receptor Mapping (2010) · cites this paper as [25]
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“Indeed, functional representations of hierarchically and nonhierarchically structured sentences [25] correlate with the clustering based on receptor architecture:”
From Broca's Region: Novel Organizational Principles and Multiple Receptor Mapping (2010) · cites this paper as [25]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
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“Whereas the deep frontal operculum (where op8 and op9 are located) was activated during the processing of nonhierarchically and hierarchically structured sequences, areas 44 and 45 were only activated during the processing of hierarchically structured sequences that mimicked the structure of syntactically complex sentences in natural languages [25].”
From Broca's Region: Novel Organizational Principles and Multiple Receptor Mapping (2010) · cites this paper as [25]
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“Whereas the deep frontal operculum (where op8 and op9 are located) was activated during the processing of nonhierarchically and hierarchically structured sequences, areas 44 and 45 were only activated during the processing of hierarchically structured sequences that mimicked the structure of syntactically complex sentences in natural languages [25].”
From Broca's Region: Novel Organizational Principles and Multiple Receptor Mapping (2010) · cites this paper as [25]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Friederici, A. D., Bahlmann, J., Heim, S., Schubotz, R. I., & Anwander, A.
- Affiliations
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (DE)
- Forschungszentrum Jülich (DE)
- Max Planck Society (DE)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2006-02-06
- Volume
- 103
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 2458-2463
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- OpenAlex
- W2119345145
- Semantic Scholar
- 343006fa4266238f62f5f5eb559810aaec71c48a
- Cited by
- 734
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 34 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 66 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 29 · 2017: 54 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 89 · 2014: 36 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 43
- FWCI
- 20.87
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (submittedVersion)
- Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- JuSER (Forschungszentrum Jülich) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Language Development and Disorders
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Music Perception
- Keywords
- human language, Broca's area, structural connectivity, functional localization, non-human primates, transition probabilities, hierarchical dependencies, inferior frontal cortex, language evolution
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Behavior, Brain Mapping, Female, Frontal Lobe, Humans, Language, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male
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