Preface

Language is the most versatile and fascinating of all human cognitive functions, constituting a field of interest in very different areas, from Linguistics to Speech Therapy, from Philosophy to Computational Sciences, including Psychology, Neurology, Biology, and Social Sciences. The current multidisciplinary approach that has been used in the study of Language, with the emergence of related disciplines such as Neurolinguistics, Psycholinguistics, Neuropsychology and Biolinguistics has allowed a breakthrough in our knowledge on linguistic processing and its neuroanatomical bases. Based on this premise, our intention was to gather in this E-book a few of the various perspectives by which Language can be studied, so that students and professionals from different areas can benefit from the most recent advances made in this field. To accomplish this objective, we begin with an overview on language processing in normal individuals, followed by an exposition of language dysfunctions that may occur in individuals with cerebral injuries, and finish with the latest findings about the neuroanatomical substrate of this function. The scope of this E-book is to provide the reader with an update on the following topics: - New cognitive models of comprehension and production of normal language - Classical aphasias: new concepts - New perspectives on the understanding of aphasic symptoms - Interface between language and other cognitive functions - Functional neuroimaging and language - Other language disturbances: beyond the aphasias. This E-book was fully written by a Neurologist (M.R.) and a Speech Therapist (L.L.M.), and our purpose is that the issues presented here may be of interest both for teachers and researchers in Neurosciences and Linguistics as well as for professionals who treat patients with disorders of language and communication, such as Neurologists, Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Neuropsychologists, Speech Therapists, and Occupational Therapists, among many others.