What is the neurobiological basis of our ability to create complex messages with language? Results frommultiple
methodologies have converged on a set of brain regions as relevant for this general process, but the computational
details of these areas remain to be characterized. The left anterior temporal lobe (LATL) has been a consistent
node within this network, with results suggesting that although it rather systematically shows increased
activation for semantically complex structured stimuli, this effect does not extend to number phrases such as
‘three books.’ In the presentwork we used magnetoencephalography to investigate whether numbers in general
are an invalid input to the combinatory operations housed in the LATL or whether the lack of LATL engagement
for stimuli such as ‘three books’ is due to the quantificational nature of such phrases. As a relevant test case, we
employed complex number terms such as ‘twenty-three’,where one number termis not a quantifier of the other
but rather, the two terms form a type of complex concept. In a number naming paradigm, participants viewed
rows of numbers and depending on task instruction, named them as complex number terms (‘twenty-three’),
numerical quantifications (‘two threes’), adjectival modifications (‘blue threes’) or non-combinatory lists
(e.g., ‘two, three’). While quantificational phrases failed to engage the LATL as compared to non-combinatory
controls, both complex number terms and adjectival modifications elicited a reliable activity increase in the
LATL. Our results showthat while the LATL does not participate in the enumeration of tokens within a set, exemplified
by the quantificational phrases, it does support conceptual combination, including the composition of
complex number concepts.