Behavioral and Brain Sciences

Table of Contents - 1999 - Volume 22, Issue 02  


Open Peer Commentary
Pulvermüller: Brain's language

What else should a neurobiological theory of language account for?

Vitor Geraldi Haase a1 and Rui Rothe-Neves a2
a1 Department of Psychology, FAFICH, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, CEP 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, MG-Brazil haase@fafich.ufmg.br
a2 Ph.D. Program in Linguistics, FALE, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, CEP 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, MG-Brazil poetree@dedalus.lcc.ufmg.br

Abstract

We critique five points that impede the target article's far-reaching efforts toward formulating a neurobiological theory of language. Neurolinguistics amounts to no more than neurology in linguistics in this account, because it assumes “perceptual representational isomorphism,” processing autonomy and “meaning,” thereby aiming primarily at justifying modular concepts in terms of associative principles.