Subcortical organization of languages in bilingual brain

One of the most important and least studied issues in neurolinguistics is the subcortical organization of languages in the bilingual brain. In this paper, the linguistic disorders and patterns of recovery in three aphasic patients with subcortical lesions in striatocapsular area have been studied. It was concluded that in bilinguals, languages might be lateralized in subcortical areas of the left hemisphere and that these subcortical structures might be more involved in speech production than comprehension. It was also suggested that the first language might have more subcortical representation than the second language and the subcortical organization of languages in bilingual brain can change according to the age of acquisition of second language.

from the Journal of Neurolinguistics