Figure 1.

(A) The language system: a set of brain regions that are robustly and consistently activated by linguistic input (see (Fedorenko and Thompson-Schill, 2014); Fedorenko and Thompson-Schill, for further discussion of how to define the “language system/network”). A probabilistic activation overlap map for the contrast between sentences and sequences of pseudowords (adapted from Fedorenko et al., 2010). Warmer colors indicate greater proportions of subjects showing a reliable sentences > pseudoword lists effect. (B) Activation maps for four sample subjects tested on the sentences > pseudoword lists contrast across two independent scanning sessions, between 1 and 6.5 months apart. (For subjects 2 and 4, non-overlapping sets of materials were used across the two sessions). (C) Activation maps for two sample subjects for a contrast between sentences and pseudoword lists presented visually with a memory-probe task (participants had to decide after each sentence or pseudoword sequence whether the probe word/pseudoword appeared in the preceding stimulus), and a contrast between sentences and pseudoword lists (with non-overlapping materials) presented auditorily with a passive listening task. (D) Activation maps for two sample English-Spanish bilingual subjects for a contrast between sentences and pseudoword lists in the two languages. (The materials across the two languages were not related to each other in any way, so the similarity is not likely to be due to similar semantic content).