REVIEW article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychology of Language
Neuropragmatics: From classical Pragmatics to Neurocognitive Models of Pragmatics in Dialogue
Angélica Gutiérrez Cisneros 1
Alice Foucart 2
Angèle Brunellière 1,3
1. UMR 9193 - SCALab - Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, Universite de Lille, Lille, France
2. CINC - Centro de Investigación Nebrija en Cognición, Universidad Antonio de Nebrija, Madrid, Spain
3. CNRS, Centrale Lille, UMR 9189 - CRIStAL, Inria Centre de recherche Lille Nord Europe, Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France
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Abstract
Over the past thirty years, there has been significant development in the understanding of the brain mechanisms underlying pragmatic processing. The primary purpose of the present review is to delve into the origins of neuropragmatics, defined as the study of the neural basis of pragmatic processing, tracing its development from the foundations of traditional pragmatics. Moreover, this review aims to deepen the understanding of the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying pragmatic processing. Throughout this review, the topic of neuropragmatics is addressed through diverse theoretical frameworks modelling how the pragmatic information is treated. Then, the neural substrates and neurophysiological correlates of pragmatic processing are outlined, with particular interest in the study of speech acts which emerged more recently at the brain level. Lastly, we discuss promising directions to address the questions that remain unresolved in the field of Neuropragmatics, which have huge impacts on methodological and societal aspects.
Summary
Keywords
Cognitive approach, neural substrates, neurocognitive models, Neuropragmatics, Speech Acts, temporal dynamics
Received
12 November 2025
Accepted
13 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Gutiérrez Cisneros, Foucart and Brunellière. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Angélica Gutiérrez Cisneros; Alice Foucart
Disclaimer
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