The Role of the Temporal Lobes in Semantic Processing

Semantic cognition, our ability to understand the world, relies on two key processes: the storage of conceptual knowledge and the controlled retrieval of that information. Converging evidence from clinical studies, neuroimaging, and neurostimulation implicates the bilateral anterior temporal lobes (ATL) as a crucial “hub” for storing multimodal semantic representations, integrating information from various sensory and linguistic systems. In contrast, the posterior middle temporal cortex (pMTC), particularly in the left hemisphere, is part of a distinct network responsible for the controlled retrieval of semantic information relevant to specific tasks or contexts. This chapter reviews the evidence for this functional dissociation within the temporal lobes.