Nina F. Dronkers
Director, Center for Aphasia and Related Disorders, VA Northern California Health Care System and
Departments of Neurology and Linguistics, University of California, Davis, USA

Abstract: Classic descriptions of the brain areas involved in language have focussed on those in the left cerebral hemisphere known as Broca's area, Wernicke's area and the connecting bundle of fibers between them, the arcuate fasciculus. These descriptions have served a useful clinical purpose over the last century, but recent advances in the study of language and in neuroimaging have found additional areas that contribute to language processing. This presentation discusses findings from our work with aphasic patients examining the relationship between specific speech and language disorders and the brain lesions underlying these deficits. Techniques used to define these relationships using structural neuroimaging will be discussed. It will be shown that numerous brain areas help to subserve language, that traditional language areas may serve somewhat different functions than originally described, and that the identification of very specific behavioral deficits and their neuroanatomic correlates can lead to effective mapping of language functions in the brain.