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Broca’s Area Is Not a Natural Kind
Name
nihms-1568775.pdf
Description
Accepted version
Size
1.02 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
30d9ab4bb54ac620857bd95db347a3e7
Author(s)
Fedorenko, Evelina
Blank, Idan A
Date Issued
2020
Journal
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Citation
Fedorenko, Evelina and Blank, Idan A. 2020. "Broca’s Area Is Not a Natural Kind." Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 24 (4).
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd Theories of human cognition prominently feature 'Broca's area', which causally contributes to a myriad of mental functions. However, Broca's area is not a monolithic, multipurpose unit – it is structurally and functionally heterogeneous. Some functions engaging (subsets of) this area share neurocognitive resources, whereas others rely on separable circuits. A decade of converging evidence has now illuminated a fundamental distinction between two subregions of Broca's area that likely play computationally distinct roles in cognition: one belongs to the domain-specific 'language network', the other to the domain-general 'multiple-demand (MD) network'. Claims about Broca's area should be (re)cast in terms of these (and other, as yet undetermined) functional components, to establish a cumulative research enterprise where empirical findings can be replicated and theoretical proposals can be meaningfully compared and falsified.
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
10.1016/J.TICS.2020.01.001
