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Abstract

Communicative compentence requires the interpretation of ut- terances in light of background knowledge, comprehension goal and context information .In addition to aphasic language disor- ders so-called non-aphasic communication deficits have been described .These deficits manifest themselves whenever non-li- teral meanings are relevant or when the global context or structure needs to be derived .In neuropsychological research the focus has been on the frontal lobes and the right hemisphere. Recent neuroimaging studies have accumulated evidence for both of these brain regions to be involved during most aspects of complex language comprehension .In particular the anterior temporal lobes and the fronto-medial cortex play a specific role for the integration and interpretation of verbal information .Cli- nical diagnosis of brain damaged patients should therefore inclu- de an assessment of contextual language processing in addition to the evaluation of aphasic language deficits.