Language processing refers to the way human beings use words to communicate ideas and feelings, and how such communications are processed and understood. Thus it is how the brain creates and understands language. Most recent theories consider that this process is carried out entirely by and inside the brain.
This is considered one of the most characteristic abilities of the human species - perhaps the most characteristic. However very little is known about it and there is huge scope for research on it.
Most of the knowledge acquired to date on the subject has come from patients who have suffered some type of significant head injury, whether external (wounds, bullets) or internal (strokes, tumors, degenerative diseases).
Studies have shown that most of the language processing functions are carried out in the cerebral cortex. The essential function of the cortical language areas is symbolic representation. Even though language exists in different forms, all of them are based on symbolic representation.
Read more about Language Processing: Neural Basis For Language, Wernicke's Area, Broca's Area, Arcuate Fasciculus, Cortical Thickness and Verbal Fluency, Aphasia
Famous quotes containing the word language:
“Denotation by means of sounds and markings is a remarkable abstraction. Three letters designate God for me; several lines a million things. How easy becomes the manipulation of the universe here, how evident the concentration of the intellectual world! Language is the dynamics of the spiritual realm. One word of command moves armies; the word liberty entire nations.”
—Novalis [Friedrich Von Hardenberg] (1772–1801)