Perhaps as many as 80% of the words in the English language are considered to have multiple meanings, yet toddlers learn to differentiate between bottle caps and baseball caps and, more subtly, between being right (correct) and the direction right.
Examples like that on how the brain processes language are what Northeastern University associate psychology professor Jonathan Peelle writes about in his new book, “The Neuroscience of Language.” The book caters to a general audience and provides a wealth of facts and rabbit holes for further reading.
Peelle researches how the brain supports communication, which he defines broadly as “transferring ideas from one brain to another.” In the book, he follows the chain of communication from speaker to listener and describes the fundamentals of auditory processing. He addresses other modes, too, including gestures and sign language.
His goal was to write a book that would appeal to students and other readers regardless of previous knowledge.
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Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University
