Getting language right: Relating individual differences in right hemisphere contributions to language learning and relearning

• Published in: Brain and language 2023-04, Vol.239, p.105242-105242, Article 105242
• Main Authors: Prat, Chantel S., Gallée, Jeanne, Yamasaki, Brianna L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Brain; Brain injury; Functional Laterality; Humans; Individual differences; Individuality; Language; Language aptitude; Language Development; Language learning; Laterality; Right hemisphere
• ISSN: 0093-934X; 1090-2155
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2023.105242

•The right hemisphere (RH) represents contextually rich multimodal events in memory.•The left hemisphere (LH) develops feature-based, encapsulated processing modules.•RH novelty detection guides attention to changing features, which informs the LH.•The LH learns to relate feature manipulation to meaning or outcomes.•The implications of RH involvement in language vary as a function of learning stage. Language, or the diverse set of dynamic processes through which symbolic, perceptual codes are linked to meaning representations in memory, has long been assumed to be lateralized to the left hemisphere (LH). However, after over 150 years of investigation, we still lack a unifying account of when, and for whom, a particular linguistic process relies upon LH or right hemisphere (RH) computations, or both. With a focus on individual differences, this article integrates existing theories of hemispheric contributions to language and cognition into a novel proposed framework for understanding how, when, and for whom the RH contributes to linguistic processes. We use evidence from first and second language learning and language relearning following focal brain damage to highlight the critical contributions of the RH.