Toward a neural theory of language: Old issues and new perspectives

The cognitive neuroscience of language is an exciting interdisciplinary perspective that suffers from unresolved epistemological and methodological issues. Despite the impressive amount of neural evidence accumulated until now, the field of research results fragmented and it is quite difficult to reach a unit of analysis and consensus on the object of study. This frustrating state of the art results in a detrimental reductionism consisting in the practice of associating linguistic computation hypothesized at theoretical level with neurobiological computation. However, these two entities are at the moment ontologically incommensurable. The problem lies in the fact that a theory of language consistent with a range of neurophysiological and neuroimaging techniques of investigation and verifiable through neural data is still lacking. In this article, I focus on the main issues, questions, and concerns that prevent the integrated study of language and brain and I explore a feasible way for linguistics to pursue a theory susceptible of neuroscientific testability in the light of recent neurocognitive models and of data on the functional-anatomic organization of language in the brain. Finally, I discuss a possible interdisciplinary program in order to achieve a theory capable of predictions on the real-time neural constrains characterizing the biological bases of language.

► I explore the intersections between research in linguistics and cognitive neuroscience.
► The research in this field results fragmented with no unit of analysis and consensus on the object of study.
► I investigate the main issues, questions, and concerns that prevent the integrated study of language and brain.
► I discuss a feasible way for linguistics to pursue a theory susceptible of neuroscientific testability.
► I propose an interdisciplinary program to achieve a theory capable of predictions on the neurobiological basis of language.