Neurobiological Systems Involved in Language Learning
Language learning involves many different processes, such as extracting implicit knowledge about how sequences of sounds and words combine, learning novel mappings between words and referents, and consolidating learned knowledge to make it readily accessible(Box 4). Were view here how neurobiological learning systems are involved in some of these different aspects of language learning, and how these map onto conventional knowledge about the roles of these systems(as outlined in Boxes 2 and 3). Although we describe differences in the structure and function of the striatum and hippocampus,these structures are connected to each other as well as to the cortex and other subcortical structures(Figure2). Functional interactions between these regions have been described during learning [39]. Consequently, changes in functional neural activity in one of these regions during language learning do not imply that this regionissolely responsible for that type of learning,but rather that this might reflect alocal change with in a hub of a broader learning network.