Neurolinguistics in China

Abstract

Neurolinguistics is a nascent interdisciplinary field that studies language and the human brain at the frontier of modern scientific research. The emergence of neurolinguistics in China is a recent development, only established as a distinct discipline in the mid- to late 1990s. That said, over the past two decades Chinese neurolinguistics has achieved notable progress, which has been driven by advances in scientific research, the development of research teams, and disciplinary integration in China. Chinese neurolinguistics research has yielded new insights into Chinese syntax, semantics, and phonology; the Chinese mental lexicon; language acquisition and decline; second language learning; and neural mechanisms of language processing in atypical populations. In the future, Chinese neurolinguistics should give more focus to incorporating the latest developments in global research, especially in the areas of linguistic theory, artificial intelligence (AI), and human brain projects. The discipline should also adopt new research methods and techniques, and establish a professional development scheme for researchers. This will support the long-term development of neurolinguistics in China.