The Neuroscience of Word Meaning

This book investigates how word meanings are represented and processed in our brains, linking perception, action, emotion, and abstract cognition. Offering a comprehensive overview of the field, it serves as a valuable resource for students, professors, and researchers spanning psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, philosophy, and anthropology.

Words are among the basic building blocks of language, allowing us to share a tremendous range of ideas. This book summarizes research on how words are represented, organized, and processed in our brain, offering a fascinating window into the neural basis of language. It begins with a foundational overview of linguistics and neuroscience, including neurons, networks and functional areas. It then delves into key topics and theories. It explores such questions as How do the meanings of words for objects and events relate to the brain regions involved in perception and action? Are different semantic categories of words, like those for animals and tools, segregated in the brain? What are the neural substrates of abstract words? The book describes how different theories answer these questions, and how numerous experiments help adjudicate between them. It also includes learning objectives, chapter summaries, and over 60 figures.