A study of the neurobiological basis to explain the theories of semantic processes (2002-2022)

Abstract

The study of language, specifically semantic development, has considered the lateralisation of one hemisphere since its discovery by neurologists Paul Broca and Carl Wernicke in the 19th century. However, research conducted in the last decade, based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), found that language production and comprehension not only involve the left side of the brain but the eloquent areas may also form a large part of the brain mass. This study presents a brief historical account of the neurobiological study of the semantic processes of homo sapiens, with emphasis on the development of changes in the study of semantic processes theory from 2002 onwards. This work considers the latest research completed by the University of Berkeley (Lescroart and Gallant, 2019), which point out the location of semantic maps in the brain, as well as the most recent studies on the construction of figurative meaning in relation to cultural and social processes.