ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews A. R. Luria's influence on current concepts of those aspects of language and communication most influenced by the frontal lobe will be reviewed. The influence of Luria's concepts on contemporary investigations of the frontal lobes and frontal language disorders will be obvious. In the Lev Vygotsky/Luria approach, the term "inner speech" indicated a transition state between the preliminary thought or idea and the extended verbal phrase, a linkage between personal thinking and formal communication. Luria differentiated the nominative, semantic, and syntactical aspects of language, the commonly accepted functions of language, from its pragmatic or directive role. Luria described a third functional unit, responsible for programming, regulating, and verifying mental activity, located primarily in the frontal lobes anterior to the precentral gyrus. Luria emphasized the importance and diversity of prefrontal function, using discrete terms such as planning, intending, programming, regulating, and verifying.
