Recent research led to the identification of those parts of the brain that are involved in the process of choosing appropriate words during speech. Research team led by Tatiana Schnur, assistant professor of psychology at Rice wanted to determine whether the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG), was necessary for resolving the competition for choosing the correct word.

Research team compared brain images of 16 healthy volunteers and 12 volunteers who suffer from aphasia, an acquired language disorder as a result of stroke. This comparison showed that two parts of the brain, the LIFG and the left temporal cortex, responded to increased conflict among words competing for selection during speech.

Researchers said that only the LIFG was found to be necessary to resolve the competition for successful word production.

Tatiana said that the LIFG includes Broca's area, named after the 19th-century French scientist Paul Pierre Broca, which is responsible for aspects of speech production, language processing and language comprehension.

Tatiana added that her team's findings may be helpful in gaining a deeper understanding of the speech problems that are often faced by stroke patients.