The Linguist

trauma to the head. Broca's patient had suffered damage to the left hemisphere's frontal lobe. As a result, he lost the ability to utter anything more than single syllables. Further case studies confirmed that such harm drastically affected speech production, though comprehension seemed to be unchanged. Wernicke's patient had damage to the left hemisphere's temporal lobe. Consequently, he comprehended little but was able to produce speech, albeit in an irrelevant and garbled way. Taken together, this pioneering work led to 'localisationism' – the theory that different areas of the brain perform particular functions. As Language and the Brain: A slim guide to neurolinguistics outlines, this is still largely held today. The brain is primed to recognise phonemes among ambient noise via the auditory system (ear drum, viscous fluid, cochlea). Memory informs the brain and allows it to anticipate likely sequences of meaningful sounds. The length and frequency (Hz) are analysed by the auditory cortex. Junctures are inferred. The interval between sound perception and neural representation is a tenth of a second. This "cascade of brain activity", from phonology to semantics to morphology, results in recognisable lexical items. Modern medical science allows the mapping of such activities by, for example, tracing active neurons (nerve cells) which require more glucose from the blood stream. Jonathan Brennan lectures in Linguistics and Psychology at the University of Michigan, and is a well-informed guide on current research and practice in neuroscience. There are frequent references to DTI, EEG, fMRI and other tools, as well as to brain geography and perspective (e.g. saggital, coronal, axial). The book features many charts, photographs and flow diagrams, in addition to colour plates indicating spectral and temporal aspects of neurograms (i.e. the electrical impulses of neurons as they receive, process and deliver the "speech envelope"). Slim though it is, Language and the Brain is a densely written book on what will always remain a massively complex subject. I had hoped that it would be rather more about -linguistics and a little less about neuro-. As it is, it reads like a textbook aimed at clinicians and possibly speech therapists. Graham Elliott MCIL Our brains are a mixture of fat, water, protein, carbohydrates and salts. A dull pinkish-white with a jelly-like consistency, an adult one weighs about 3lb (1.4kg). Through this unprepossessing and convoluted organ, everything that you know – and a fortiori about language – is mediated. In the late 19th century Paul Broca and Carl Wernicke carried out research independently of each other into aphasia: language impairment caused by a stroke or external 26 The Linguist Vol/61 No/5 thelinguist.uberflip.com REVIEWS In recent years, the field of applied linguistics has focused increasingly on minority groups and vulnerable communities, a trend which is clearly reflected in the essays making up this interesting and wide-ranging collection. As its title suggests, the book concentrates on the challenges and risks currently faced by linguistics researchers. It is divided into four sections (Communities, Policy, Research and Education) though much of the content comes under more than one of these headings. The challenges are numerous. By way of example, two of the articles discuss the issues faced by deaf people in Ireland and Canada respectively, and the efforts made over the years to secure official recognition for their sign languages. The most difficult problem has been to overcome government indifference towards both sign languages in general and the work of activists seeking to improve their status. In Canada, the challenge is twofold, since both deaf people and minority communities are involved. Politics is also an issue in chapters on policies designed to address language learning by immigrants, and on the difficulties faced by educationalists trying to reverse the downward slide of foreign language learning in the UK, which has been exacerbated by the nationalistic undertones of Brexit. Serious vulnerabilities are explored in relation to extremist discourse on far-right and manosphere websites. Here the risks are varied. The researcher could be open to retaliatory measures if her identity became known to the persons responsible for maintaining these sites, while the use of aggressive and bigoted language, and frequent references to sexual violence, can undermine the linguist's mental wellbeing. Physical danger is also a real risk, we are told, for applied linguists working to help indigenous communities (specifically in Colombia and Guatemala) to preserve and strengthen their own languages in the face of open hostility from local governments, among others. Overall, this book is an excellent resource for discovering the valuable work being performed by applied linguists around the world, often in very demanding conditions. Ross Smith MCIL Vulnerabilities, Challenges and Risks in Applied Linguistics Eds Clare Cunningham and Christopher J Hall Multilingual Matters 2021, 264 pp; ISBN 9781788928229 Paperback, £29.95 Language and the Brain Jonathan R Brennan OUP, 2022 224 pp; ISBN 9780198814764 Paperback, £14.99

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