Language processing is a seemingly effortless task that requires the integration of speech units (e.g., phonemes, syllables, words, etc.) occurring at different rates. In particular, temporal binding for speech should occur within and across different temporal scales, necessitating multiple simultaneous windows of integration for prosodic, semantic, syntactic and pragmatic processing. Recent evidence suggests that neuronal oscillations may reflect both tracking linguistic units at their individual rhythms as well as integrating speech units over a large range of temporal scales.

The present Research Topic would like to evaluate current theories and evidence for a mechanistic role of neuronal oscillations in measuring language processing, covering the latest advances brought about by EEG, MEG and fMRI imaging methods. Our main focus is to highlight innovative and foundational studies that go beyond methodological issues and advance our theoretical understanding of the role of brain oscillations in language processing. Contributions from the pioneers of this field are selected, illustrating how the study of brain oscillations has allowed investigating theoretically relevant questions that could not be addressed by more traditional methods. The topic thus aims at deepening our mechanistic understanding of language processing and bringing us closer to bridging the gap between brain, mind and behavior for the crucial cognitive function of speech.

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