Dual stream language processing models

Last revised by Elmira Hassanzadeh on 30 Apr 2022

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Hassanzadeh E, Knipe H, Dual stream language processing models. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 19 Apr 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-92909

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-92909

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/92909

rID:

92909

Article created:

6 Sep 2021, Elmira Hassanzadeh

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Elmira Hassanzadeh had no recorded disclosures.

View Elmira Hassanzadeh's current disclosures

Last revised:

30 Apr 2022, Elmira Hassanzadeh

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Elmira Hassanzadeh had no recorded disclosures.

View Elmira Hassanzadeh's current disclosures

Revisions:

3 times, by 2 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Central Nervous System

Sections:

Anatomy

Tags:

neuroanatomy, hearing, snippet

The dual stream language processing models (dorsal and ventral) have replaced the historic model that only included the Broca's and Wernicke's areas and the arcuate fasciculus ¹.

Function

The dorsal stream is responsible for phonological processing and language production (sound/sign to action). The ventral stream is responsible for orthographic and semantic processing (sound/sign to meaning). The two pathways overlap both in anatomical representations and function ^1-3.

Relation

The ventral pathway is active in both cerebral hemispheres during visual, auditory and possibly tactile language input; the dorsal pathway, on the other hand, is specialized in speech output in the dominant hemisphere ^1,2.

The white matter tracts play a crucial role in language processing and oftentimes damage to these structures results in a permanent speech disorder. However, because of neuroplasticity the function of a damaged cortical area is, at least partially, recovered by its neighbors ³.