Core linguistic computations: How are they expressed in the mind/brain?

Over the last half century, linguists have introduced very detailed formal models of language knowledge, acquisition and use, and have proposed refined typologies of the kinds of mental computations involved in language. These models, in turn, capture and systematize observations and ideas developed in centuries of rational reflections on language. It is in the mutual interest of both linguists and cognitive neuroscientists to bridge the gap between mind and brain in this domain, and make substantial progress in connecting abstract models of linguistic competence and performance, and the study of the neural implementation of the computing mechanisms.In this paper I would like to offer a concise tutorial on some core ideas and analytic devices introduced in formal linguistics to deal with linguistic computations and language variation, with special reference to parametric and minimalist models. Then, I would like to conclude by phrasing some questions that current ideas on mental linguistic computations raise for the brain sciences.