Syntax in the brain

Syntax determines how words are grouped together to form phrases and sentences. Two frontotemporal syntactic networks, which connect the classical language regions in the left hemisphere, that is, Broca's and Wernicke's areas, can be described. One network involves the ventral inferior frontal cortex and the anterior temporal cortex connected via ventrally located fiber bundles and appears to support local phrase structure building. The other network involves posterior Broca's area and the posterior temporal cortex connected via dorsally located fiber bundles and subserves the processing of syntactically complex structures. Thus, syntax is reflected in two neuroanatomical networks with different functional roles.

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