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Cited by 131Neurobiology of Language and BilingualismAction Observation and SynchronizationReading and Literacy Development

The Contribution of the Parietal Lobes to Speaking and Writing

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Brownsett, Sonia L. E., Wise, Richard J. S.·2010·Cerebral Cortex
DOI 10.1093/cercor/bhp120PMC PMC2820696
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Abstract

The left parietal lobe has been proposed as a major language area. However, parietal cortical function is more usually considered in terms of the control of actions, contributing both to attention and cross-modal integration of external and reafferent sensory cues. We used positron emission tomography to study normal subjects while they overtly generated narratives, both spoken and written. The purpose was to identify the parietal contribution to the modality-specific sensorimotor control of communication, separate from amodal linguistic and memory processes involved in generating a narrative. The majority of left and right parietal activity was associated with the execution of writing under visual and somatosensory control irrespective of whether the output was a narrative or repetitive reproduction of a single grapheme. In contrast, action-related parietal activity during speech production was confined to primary somatosensory cortex. The only parietal area with a pattern of activity compatible with an amodal central role in communication was the ventral part of the left angular gyrus (AG). The results of this study indicate that the cognitive processing of language within the parietal lobe is confined to the AG and that the major contribution of parietal cortex to communication is in the sensorimotor control of writing.

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  • Handwriting activated bilateral inferior parietal lobules, irrespective of word complexity.

    “In contrast, Brownsett and Wise [48] studied English speakers via PET and found that handwriting activated bilateral inferior parietal lobules, irrespective of word complexity.”

    From The Neuroscience Behind Writing: Handwriting vs. Typing—Who Wins the Battle? (2025) · cites this paper as [48]

    The Discussion reports bilateral parietal activity during both narrative writing and repeated writing of /w/s, but locates that content-independent activity in the superior parietal cortex and intraparietal sulci. The Results (Main Effect of CONTENT) instead associate bilateral inferior parietal activation with repetitive meaningless gestures relative to narrative production, so the claim that inferior parietal activation was irrespective of word complexity is not supported. (LLM, conf=0.87)

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  • Parietal and central brain areas have been associated with attentional mechanisms and cognitive processes in visual perception and language.

    “These brain areas have been associated with attentional mechanisms and cognitive processes in visual perception (Pfurtscheller et al., 1994; Vilhelmsen et al., 2019) and language (Brownsett and Wise, 2010; Benedek et al., 2014), and have strong links to sensorimotor cortex (Velasques et al., 2007).”

    From Handwriting but not typewriting leads to widespread brain connectivity: a high-density EEG study with implications for the classroom (2024) · cites this paper as Brownsett and Wise, 2010

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Brownsett, S. L. E., & Wise, R. J. S.
Affiliations
Imperial College London (GB)
Corresponding author
Brownsett, Sonia L. E.
ORCID
Brownsett, Sonia L. E.
Venue
Cerebral Cortex
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2009-06-16
Volume
20
Issue
3
Pages
517-523
ISSN
  • 1047-3211 (ISSN-L)
  • 1460-2199
DOI
10.1093/cercor/bhp120
PMC
PMC2820696
OpenAlex
W2116204290
Cited by
131
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 11
FWCI
2.91
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc
Locations
  • Cerebral Cortex (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • QUT ePrints (Queensland University of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Wellcome Trust
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Reading and Literacy Development
Keywords
parietal lobe, language processing, speech production, writing, angular gyrus, somatosensory cortex, sensorimotor control, narrative generation, cross-modal integration
MeSH terms
Adult, Aged, Brain Mapping, Female, Humans, Language Tests, Functional Laterality, Male, Memory, Middle Aged, Parietal Lobe, Speech, Verbal Learning, Writing, Positron-Emission Tomography

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