Biological perspectives on language.

Profoundly influenced by the analyses, of contemporary linguistics, these original contributions bring a number of different views to bear on important issues in a controversial area of study. The linguistic structures and language-related processes the book deals with are for the most part central (syntactic structures, phonological representations, semantic readings) rather than peripheral (acousticphonetic structures and the perception and production of these structures) aspects of language. Each section contains a summarizing introduction.

Section I takes up issues at the interface of linguistics and neurology: The Concept of a Mental Organ for Language; Neural Mechanisms, Aphasia, and Theories of Language; Brain-based and Non-brain-based Models of Language; Vocal Learning and Its Relation to Replaceable Synapses and Neurons.

Section II presents linguistic and psycholinguistic issues: Aspects of Infant Competence and the Acquisition of Language; the Linguistic Analysis of Aphasic Syndromes; the Clinical Description of Aphasia (Linguistic Aspects); The Psycholinguistic Interpretation of Aphasias; The Organization of Processing Structure for Language Production; and The Neuropsychology of Bilingualism.

Section III deals with neural issues: Where is the Speech Area and Who has Seen It? Determinants of Recovery from Aphasia; Anatomy of Language; Lessons from Comparative Anatomy; Event Related Potentials and Language; Neural Models and Very Little About Language.

David Caplan, M.D. edited Biological Studies of Mental Processes (MIT Press 1980), and is a member of the editorial staff of two prestigious journals, Cognition and Brain & Behavorial Sciences, He works at the Montreal Neurological Institute. Andre Roch Lecours is Professor of Neurology and Allan Smith Professor of Physiology, both at the University of Montreal. The book is in the series, Studies in Neuropsychology and Neurolinguistics.

David Caplan is Associate Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, Adjunct Associate Professor in the Departments of Neurology and Communication at Boston University, Associate Neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT.