WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Parts of the human brain think about the
same word differently, at least when it comes to prepositions,
according to new language research in stroke patients conducted
by scientists at Purdue University and the University of Iowa.
People who speak English often use the same prepositions, words
such as "on," "in," "around" and "through," to indicate time as
well as location. For example, compare "I will meet you 'at' the
store," to "I will meet you 'at' 3 p.m." These examples show how
time may be thought of metaphorically in terms of space. Just
because it's the same word, however, doesn't mean the brain
thinks about it the same way, said David Kemmerer, an assistant
professor of psychological sciences and linguistics at Purdue's
College of Liberal Arts. "There has been a lot of cognitive
neuroscience research about how the brain processes language
pertaining to concrete things, such as animals or tools," said
Kemmerer, who also is an adjunct faculty member at the
University of Iowa's De