A Model of Linguistic Consciousness in Neurolinguistics at the Intersection of Disciplines

Abstract

Contemporary neurolinguistics views language not as a function of isolated brain regions but as the outcome of coordinated activity across interconnected neural networks. This perspective provides a basis for examining the neurobiological foundations of linguistic consciousness. The aim of this study is to provide a theoretical account of linguistic consciousness at the intersection of scientific approaches by relating psycholinguistic conceptions of linguistic consciousness to current neurolinguistic accounts of language networks, semantic-syntactic integration, sensorimotor coupling, and cognitive control. The study is theoretical and conceptual in nature. It employs a descriptive-analytical review of the literature, comparative analysis, and theoretical synthesis. These methods make it possible to systematize the relationship between the psycholinguistic content of linguistic consciousness and the neurobiological mechanisms involved in language processing. Theoretical analysis and conceptual synthesis resulted in an integrative model that describes the neurolinguistic organization of linguistic consciousness across five interconnected levels. The first level concerns perceptual input and encompasses the initial sensory processing of linguistic signals. The second level involves the core language network, comprising specialized brain regions engaged in language processing. The third level includes sentence-structure building, semantic and syntactic integration, and the prediction of upcoming linguistic elements. The fourth level concerns sensorimotor systems that link speech perception with articulatory processes. The fifth level comprises mechanisms of cognitive control and pragmatic regulation associated with working memory, attention, inner speech, and communicative intention. The distinctive feature of the proposed model lies not in identifying previously unknown neural mechanisms, but in bringing together mechanisms of language processing that have been described separately across different research traditions and organizing them within a unified conceptual account of linguistic consciousness. From this perspective, linguistic consciousness is understood as a dynamic system arising from the interaction of language perception, processing and integration, speech organization, and conscious control. The scientific contribution of the study lies in linking the psycholinguistic concept of linguistic consciousness with contemporary network-based approaches in neurolinguistics. The proposed model may provide a theoretical basis for formulating testable hypotheses in future empirical research on aphasia, multilingualism, second-language acquisition, inner speech, and metalinguistic control.