There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
Vocabulary acquisition is such a major aspect of language learning in children, but
also in adults when learning a foreign language, that a dedicated vocabulary learning
device may exist within the language organ. To identify the relevant brain systems,
we performed regional cerebral blood flow measurements in normal subjects while they
were learning a list of neologisms or a list of word-nonword pairs. Structures implicated
in phonological short-term memory (Broca's area, left temporo-parietal junction) were
steadily activated during nonwords learning, while the left temporal lobe neocortical
and paralimbic structures (parahippocampal region), associated with long-term memory,
contributed to learning in a time-dependent manner, with maximal activation at the
beginning of the process. The neural system specifically activated when learning new
vocabulary was strongly lateralized to the left hemisphere. This evidence refines
current models of memory function and supports theories which emphasise the importance
of phonological competence in hemispheric dominance for language.