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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 July 2009
Language has been assumed to be housed in two small areas in the language-dominant hemisphere. However, because words can refer to actions and objects usually perceived through all modalities, it seemed possible that additional cortical areas may contribute to word processing. Recent investigations of brain activity during word processing indicate that areas outside the language regions do indeed participate in the processing of words. Individual words appear to be organized in the cortex as distributed cell assemblies that comprise neurons in both hemispheres, in the language areas and outside. The areas outside may reflect semantic word properties.