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Functional neuroanatomy of language without speech: An ALE meta-analysis of sign language.


ABSTRACT: Sign language (SL) conveys linguistic information using gestures instead of sounds. Here, we apply a meta-analytic estimation approach to neuroimaging studies (N =?23; subjects = 316) and ask whether SL comprehension in deaf signers relies on the same primarily left-hemispheric cortical network implicated in spoken and written language (SWL) comprehension in hearing speakers. We show that: (a) SL recruits bilateral fronto-temporo-occipital regions with strong left-lateralization in the posterior inferior frontal gyrus known as Broca's area, mirroring functional asymmetries observed for SWL. (b) Within this SL network, Broca's area constitutes a hub which attributes abstract linguistic information to gestures. (c) SL-specific voxels in Broca's area are also crucially involved in SWL, as confirmed by meta-analytic connectivity modeling using an independent large-scale neuroimaging database. This strongly suggests that the human brain evolved a lateralized language network with a supramodal hub in Broca's area which computes linguistic information independent of speech.

SUBMITTER: Trettenbrein PC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7814757 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Functional neuroanatomy of language without speech: An ALE meta-analysis of sign language.

Trettenbrein Patrick C PC   Papitto Giorgio G   Friederici Angela D AD   Zaccarella Emiliano E  

Human brain mapping 20201028 3


Sign language (SL) conveys linguistic information using gestures instead of sounds. Here, we apply a meta-analytic estimation approach to neuroimaging studies (N = 23; subjects = 316) and ask whether SL comprehension in deaf signers relies on the same primarily left-hemispheric cortical network implicated in spoken and written language (SWL) comprehension in hearing speakers. We show that: (a) SL recruits bilateral fronto-temporo-occipital regions with strong left-lateralization in the posterior  ...[more]

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