The study of brain function during the understanding of conventional and unconventional metaphors

Javaheri, Ladan; Gheitury, Amer; Khodamoradi, Mehdi; Moradkhani, Shahab

doi:10.22059/jolr.2023.353638.666822

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

¹ Department of English Language and Linguistics, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran

² Substance Abuse Prevention Research Center, Health Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical ‎Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran

³ Department of English Language and Linguistics, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22059/jolr.2023.353638.666822

Abstract

The present era is the era of science's control over human beliefs. Man's need to know the nature of himself and the world around him has led him to believe in phenomena based on objective evidence, and this has caused cognitive science to become the favorite field of many scholars today. One of the main fields of cognitive sciences is linguistics, which is based on the study of language. Since language can be considered as a tool to represent the mind; therefore, cognitive linguistics goes beyond the study of the apparent structure of language and investigates very complex fundamental operations that play a major role in the development of language grammar, conceptualization, speaking and thinking. The theoretical approach of this field is based on experimental observations and scientific experiments of psychology and neuroscience, and its purpose is to understand how linguistic information is represented in the mind, to learn language and to understand and use it. In recent decades, the analysis and explanation of metaphor understanding processes has been the focus of many linguists. One of the main challenges in this direction is to find a solution that can explain the processes involved in understanding different types of metaphor. In this research, considering the mechanism of language understanding in the brain, we examined two different groups of conventional metaphors and unconventional metaphors. This research is descriptive-analytical and based on the articles, books and research done in the field of brain connection with metaphor understanding process. The results of this research show that understanding conventional metaphors causes activity in the left middle temporal gyrus, the right fusiform part and the inferior frontal gyrus. While, the fusiform part of the right side is related to the integration of visual and semantic information. On the other hand, unconventional metaphors continuously activate the left fusiform gyrus and the right precone.

Keywords

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Language Research

The study of brain function during the understanding of conventional and unconventional metaphors

References

References

Volume 13, Issue 2 - Serial Number 25
May 2023
Pages 23-53

The study of brain function during the understanding of conventional and unconventional metaphors

References

References

Volume 13, Issue 2 - Serial Number 25May 2023Pages 23-53

Volume 13, Issue 2 - Serial Number 25
May 2023
Pages 23-53