ArticleeLife2020
Computer code comprehension shares neural resources with formal logical inference in the fronto-parietal network.
Article in eLife, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed.
- Preserved topography, lateralization, selectivity, and functional connectivity of the language network in older brains.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Preserved topography, lateralization, selectivity, and functional connectivity of the language network in older brains.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Article
- Learning to Program "Recycles" Preexisting Frontoparietal Population Codes of Logical Algorithms.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025Article
- Article
- Constructed languages are processed by the same brain mechanisms as natural languages.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Constructed languages are processed by the same brain mechanisms as natural languages.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Constructed languages are processed by the same brain mechanisms as natural languages.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Review
- Dissociating language and thought in large language models.Trends in cognitive sciences · 2024Review
- The language network as a natural kind within the broader landscape of the human brain.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2024Review
- Computer programmers show distinct, expertise-dependent brain responses to violations in form and meaning when reading code.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Functional characterization of the language network of polyglots and hyperpolyglots with precision fMRI.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2024Article
- Functional characterization of the language network of polyglots and hyperpolyglots with precision fMRI.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- The Language Network Reliably "Tracks" Naturalistic Meaningful Nonverbal Stimuli.Neurobiology of language (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2024Article
- The human language system, including its inferior frontal component in "Broca's area," does not support music perception.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2023Article
- Article
- Differential Tracking of Linguistic vs. Mental State Content in Naturalistic Stimuli by Language and Theory of Mind (ToM) Brain Networks.Neurobiology of language (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2022Article
- The Language Network Is Recruited but Not Required for Nonverbal Event Semantics.Neurobiology of language (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2021Article
- Comprehension of computer code relies primarily on domain-general executive brain regions.eLife · 2020Article
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4 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Despite the importance of programming to modern society, the cognitive and neural bases of code comprehension are largely unknown. Programming languages might 'recycle' neurocognitive mechanisms originally developed for natural languages. Alternatively, comprehension of code could depend on fronto-parietal networks shared with other culturally-invented symbol systems, such as formal logic and symbolic math such as algebra. Expert programmers (average 11 years of programming experience) performed code comprehension and memory control tasks while undergoing fMRI. The same participants also performed formal logic, symbolic math, executive control, and language localizer tasks. A left-lateralized fronto-parietal network was recruited for code comprehension. Patterns of activity within this network distinguish between 'for' loops and 'if' conditional code functions. In terms of the underlying neural basis, code comprehension overlapped extensively with formal logic and to a lesser degree math. Overlap with executive processes and language was low, but laterality of language and code covaried across individuals. Cultural symbol systems, including code, depend on a distinctive fronto-parietal cortical network.
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