ABSTRACT
Pragmatics is perhaps the broadest area of neurolinguistics, since it deals with language use in context. It has been debated in neurolinguistics whether pragmatics should be seen as part of linguistics, that is, whether language use is part of language, or whether it should rather be seen as connecting language with context. Introducing pragmatics in neurolinguistics includes a widening of the scope of relevant objects of study and relevant methods to include some of those that are central to pragmatics and can be informative with respect to main research questions of pragmatics. Since the 1990s, there have been studies relating pragmatics and neurolinguistics and some reviews and pleas for more research in the intersection between these areas. These studies have, in many cases, been initiated by persons active in clinically oriented research on language disorders. They include studies of aphasia with left-hemisphere damage (LHD), communication disorders with right-hemisphere damage (RHD) and etiologies, like traumatic brain injury, schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease.
