Language in the Brain

Fred C.C. Peng is a behavioural neuroscientist in the Department of Neurosurgery and the Neurological Institute at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan. As an anthropologist specializing in linguistics, he did post-doctoral work in the basic sciences and medical sciences.

• Introduction; I. What Is Language?; 1.A Brief History of Linguistics: What Went Wrong?; 2. Historical Perspective from the Point of View of Semiotics; 3. Historical Perspective from the Medical and Paramedical Point of View; II. What Can Be Done about the Current Situations?; 4. A Mild Proposal; III. The Individual Aspect of Parole; 5. Language Behavior and Body Movements; 6. The Physical Basis of Life; 7. Embryonic Development of the Nervous System; 8. Fetal Development of the Nervous System; 9. Phylogenic and Ontogenic Origin of the Complexity of Neuronal Circuitry; 10. Species-Specific Function of the Human Vocal Apparatus; 11. Structural Divisions of the Nervous System; IV. The Individual Aspect of Langue; 12. Language in the Brain is Memory-Governed; 13. Language in the Brain is Meaning-Centered; 14. Language in the Brain is Multifaceted; 15. Language in the Brain is Stratified; 16. Evolution of Language: What Evolved?; 17. Cerebral Dominance and Cerebral Laterality; Fact or Fiction?; V. Production and Reception; 18. Construction of Meaning: Mapping of Content onto Expression; 19. Reconstruction of Meaning: Coupling of Expression and Content; VI. Summary and Conclusion.

"Peng explores the question "What is language?" from the perspective of neurolinguistics, which is based on neuroanatomy and neurophysiology... For linguists, neuroscientists, and academics researching any aspect of language and the brain." Book News: SciTech Book News, March 2006"