Broca's Region

Paul Broca, the discoverer of Broca's region, was one of the first scientists to equate a significant piece of behaviour - articulated language - with a piece of neural tissue. Broca's is arguably the most famous region in the human brain. For over a century it has been the focus of much intense research, and recent advances in neuroimaging and more traditional, lesion-based methods have related it not only to language, but also to other higher cognitive abilities, such as working memory. Despite all the attention paid to Broca's region, there is no volume devoted exclusively to it, so Grodzinsky and Amunts are bringing together scientists from several disciplines in which Broca's region plays a central role. The proposed volume will create a coherent, novel picture of the state of contemporary knowledge on the structure and function of the region and its implications for our general understanding of the human brain. Contributors include experts on frontal lobe function, anatomists studying microstructure, evolutionary neuroanatomists, linguists working on synactic and phonological-rule systems, fMRI and PET imagers, experts on memory and rehabilitation, and physiologists studying motor neurons. The volume will appeal to researchers and students in psychology, neurology, anatomy and linguistics.