ABSTRACT
T he scientific mapping between brain and language behavior is now proceeding at anexceptionally rapid pace. This venture, though, is far from new; it has deep rootsplanted in the early nineteenth century (Dax, 1865; Harlow, 1868). In its infancy, research on linking brain and language function was limited to neuroanatomical studies. Early investigations focused on postmortem brains of adults who exhibited language disorders due to acquired brain damage. In recent years, this research has been dramatically expanded within the field of cognitive neuroscience. This branch of study concentrates on the structure and function of the brain underlying cognitive behavior, including perception, attention, memory, executive functions, and language. From among these topics of interest, the study of brain-language relations is the least developed (Brown & Hagoort, 1999). In the area of child language, research concerning brain and language functions is particularly sparse. Even so, there is a growing body of literature on this subject and it appears promising. Yet, we pose the question: What is the benefit of knowing which brain structures are responsible for typical and atypical language performance? The present chapter addresses this question by considering a number of critical and multifaceted aspects of neurobiology in normal and disordered child language development.
