ED ITORIAL
Language and the brain
L
anguages—exquisitely structured, complex, and
diverse—are a distinctively human gift, at the
very heart of what it means to be human. As such,
language makes for both a particularly important
and difficult topic in neuroscience. A dominant
early approach to the study of language was to
treat it as a separate module or organ within
the brain. However, much modern empirical work has
demonstrated that language is integrated with, and in
constant interplay with, an incredibly broad range of
neural processes.
Unlike other areas of neuroscience investigation
(e.g., vision, motor action) that have relied heavily on
invasive techniques with animal models, the study of
language lacks any such model.
Furthermore, in language, the
relationship between the form
of a signal and its meaning is
largely arbitrary. For example,
“…one cannot
the sound of “blue” will likely
have no relationship to the prop-
understand the
erties of light we experience as
blue nor to the visual written human brain without
form “blue,” will sound different
across languages, and have no understanding
sound at all in signed languages.
No equivalent of “blue” will the contributions
even exist in many languages
that might make fewer or more of language…”
or different color distinctions.
With respect to language, the
meaning of a signal cannot be
predicted from the physical properties of the signal
available to the senses. Rather, the relationship is set
by convention.
At the same time, language is a powerful engine of
human intellect and creativity, allowing for endless re-
combination of words to generate an infinite number
of new structures and ideas out of “old” elements. Lan-
guage plays a central role in the human brain, from how
we process color to how we make moral judgments. It
directs how we allocate visual attention, construe and
remember events, categorize objects, encode smells and
musical tones, stay oriented, reason about time, perform
mental mathematics, make financial decisions, experi-
ence and express emotions, and on and on.
Indeed, a growing body of research is documenting
how experience with language radically restructures
CREDITS: (PHOTO) ASA MATHAT
SCIENCE sciencemag.org
the brain. People who were deprived of access to lan-
guage as children (e.g., deaf individuals without access
to speakers of sign languages) show patterns of neu-
ral connectivity that are radically different from those
with early language exposure and are cognitively dif-
ferent from peers who had early language access. The
later in life that first exposure to language occurs, the
more pronounced and cemented the consequences. Lera Boroditsky
Further, speakers of different languages develop dif-
is an associate
ferent cognitive skills and predispositions, as shaped
professor in the
by the structures and patterns of their languages. Ex-
Department of
Downloaded from http://science.sciencemag.org/ on October 4, 2019
perience with languages in different modalities (e.g.,
spoken versus signed) also develops predictable dif- Cognitive Science
ferences in cognitive abilities outside the boundar- at the University
ies of language. For example, of California,
speakers of sign languages de- San Diego, CA, USA.
velop different visuospatial at- lera@ucsd.edu
tention skills than those who
only use spoken language. Ex-
posure to written language also
restructures the brain, even
when acquired late in life. Even
seemingly surface properties,
such as writing direction (left-
to-right or right-to-left), have
profound consequences for how
people attend to, imagine, and
organize information.
The normal human brain that
is the subject of study in neuro-
science is a “languaged” brain.
It has come to be the way it is
through a personal history of language use within an in-
dividual’s lifetime. It also actively and dynamically uses
linguistic resources (the categories, constructions, and
distinctions available in language) as it processes incom-
ing information from across the senses.
Put simply, one cannot understand the human brain
without understanding the contributions of language,
both in the moment of thinking and as a formative force
during earlier learning and experience. When we study
language, we are getting a peek at the very essence of
human nature. Languages—these deeply structured cul-
tural objects that we inherit from prior generations—
work alongside our biological inheritance to make
human brains what they are.
–Lera Boroditsky
10.1126/science.aaz6490
4 OCTOBER 2019 • VOL 366 ISSUE 6461 13
Published by AAAS
Language and the brain
Lera Boroditsky

Science 366 (6461), 13.

DOI: 10.1126/science.aaz6490

Downloaded from http://science.sciencemag.org/ on October 4, 2019

ARTICLE TOOLS http://science.sciencemag.org/content/366/6461/13

RELATED http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/366/6461/48.full
CONTENT
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/366/6461/50.full
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/366/6461/55.full
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/366/6461/58.full
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/366/6461/62.full
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/366/6461/33.full
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/366/6461/83.full
PERMISSIONS http://www.sciencemag.org/help/reprints-and-permissions

Use of this article is subject to the Terms of Service

Science (print ISSN 0036-8075; online ISSN 1095-9203) is published by the American Association for the Advancement of
Science, 1200 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20005. The title Science is a registered trademark of AAAS.
Copyright © 2019 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of
Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works