One, two, or many mechanisms? The brain's processing of complex words

The heated debate over whether there is only a single mechanism or two mech anisms for morphology has diverted valuable research energy away from the m ore critical questions about the neural computations involved in the compre hension and production of morphologically complex forms. Cognitive neurosci ence data implicate many brain areas. All extant models, whether they rely on a connectionist network or espouse two mechanisms, are too underspecifie d to explain why more than a few brain areas differ in their activity durin g the processing of regular and irregular forms. No one doubts that the bra in treats regular and irregular words differently, but brain data indicate that a simplistic account will not do. It is time for us to search for the critical factors free from theoretical blinders.