The Role of the Anterior Temporal Lobe in Sentence Processing

There are numerous computations necessary for successful sentence comprehension, including phonological, semantic, syntactic, and combinatorial processes. Although Broca's area has long been the focus of sentence-level research, the anterior temporal lobe (ATL) has emerged as a strong candidate for supporting sentence processing because there is ample evidence that the ATL is sensitive to the presence of sentence structure. This chapter focuses on how the ATL may contribute to sentence comprehension, in particular in relation to basic syntactic and combinatorial semantic operations.