ABSTRACT
The broad definition of neurolinguistics is that it is the study of language in relation to the brain. This makes it truly interdisciplinary, involving, for example, neuroscience, psychology, linguistics, speech pathology and biology. It also involves the use of a multitude of research methods, such as experimental research, neuroimaging, simulation of brain processes and video recording of spoken interaction. Traditionally, the study of people with brain damage, especially acquired brain damage, which causes a language disorder, has dominated the field. Neurolinguistics can, however, also be about how the brain and human language and communication developed during evolution and how they develop in children and adults; it can also be about making computer simulations of linguistic processing by the brain; and it can be about localizing activity in parts of the brain involved in language processing by using neuroimaging methods. Neurolinguists can be focused on any of these aspects or on combinations of them. This overview will begin with some of the historical developments of neurolinguistics; it will then give examples of how research in different areas of neurolinguistics is pursued. Methods in neurolinguistics will be described and research dealing with different aspects of linguistics – phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, multilingualism and reading and writing processes – will be presented. Finally, current trends and future trajectories in neurolinguistics are outlined.
