Grodzinsky Yosef
Department of Linguistics and Department of Neurology/Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, QC, CANADA.
Lang Linguist Compass. 2010 Aug;4(8):605-622. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-818X.2010.00222.x.
What is the best way to learn how the brain analyzes linguistic input? Two popular methods have attempted to segregate and localize linguistic processes: analyses of language deficits subsequent to (mostly focal) brain disease, and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) in health. A recent Compass article by Fedorenko and Kanwisher (FK, 2009) observes that these methods group together data from many individuals through methods that rely on variable anatomical landmarks, and that results in a murky picture of how language is represented in the brain. To get around the variability problem, FK propose to import into neurolinguistics a method that has been successfully used in vision research - one that locates functional Regions Of Interest (fROIs) in each individual brain.In this note, I propose an alternative perspective. I first take issue with FK's reading of the literature. I point out that, when the neurolinguistic landscape is examined with the right linguistic spectacles, the emerging picture - while intriguingly complex - is not murky, but rather, stable and clear, parsing the linguistic brain into functionally and anatomically coherent pieces. I then examine the potential value of the method that FK propose, in light of important micro-anatomical differences between language and high-level vision areas, and conclude that as things stand the method they propose is not very likely to bear much fruit in neurolinguistic research.
了解大脑如何分析语言输入的最佳方法是什么？有两种流行的方法试图分离和定位语言处理过程：对（大多为局灶性）脑部疾病后出现的语言缺陷进行分析，以及对健康人群进行功能磁共振成像（fMRI）研究。费多伦科和坎维舍（FK，2009年）最近在《指南针》上发表的一篇文章指出，这些方法通过依赖可变解剖标志的方法将来自许多个体的数据归为一组，这使得大脑中语言表征的情况变得模糊不清。为了解决变异性问题，FK提议将一种在视觉研究中已成功使用的方法引入神经语言学——即在每个个体大脑中定位功能感兴趣区域（fROI）的方法。在本笔记中，我提出另一种观点。我首先对FK对文献的解读提出质疑。我指出，当用合适的语言学视角审视神经语言学领域时，呈现出的图景——虽然极其复杂但饶有趣味——并非模糊不清，而是稳定且清晰的，将语言大脑解析为功能和解剖上连贯的部分。然后，鉴于语言区域和高级视觉区域之间重要的微观解剖差异，我考察了FK所提议方法的潜在价值，并得出结论：就目前情况而言，他们提议的方法在神经语言学研究中不太可能取得太大成果。
