The extended language network: A meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies on text comprehension

Language processing in context requires more than merely comprehending words and sentences. Important subprocesses are inferences for bridging successive utterances, the use of background knowledge and discourse context, and pragmatic interpretations. Relevant for the diagnosis of non-aphasic language deficits, the functional neuroanatomy of these higher level language processes was investigated in four meta-analyses of 23 neuroimaging studies. The analyses used replicator dynamics based on activation likelihood estimates. Independent of the baseline, the anterior temporal lobes were active bilaterally. Coherence building engaged the fronto- and parieto-medial cortex. The right hemisphere contributed to specific subprocesses, such as metaphor comprehension. These results are important for a comprehensive, neurolinguistic theory of comprehension