A neural correlate of syntactic encoding during speech production

Spoken language is one of the most compact and structured ways to convey in formation. The linguistic ability to structure individual words into larger sentence units permits speakers to express a nearly unlimited range of mea nings. This ability is rooted in speakers' knowledge of syntax and in the c orresponding process of syntactic encoding. Syntactic encoding is highly au tomatized, operates largely outside of conscious awareness, and overlaps cl osely in time with several other processes of language production. With the use of positron emission tomography we investigated the cortical activatio ns during spoken language production that are related to the syntactic enco ding process. In the paradigm of restrictive scene description, utterances varying in complexity of syntactic encoding were elicited. Results provided evidence that the left Rolandic operculum, caudally adjacent to Broca's ar ea, is involved in both sentence-level and local (phrase-level) syntactic e ncoding during speaking.