Focus, the grammatical means of highlighting information to convey meaning and intention, is a fundamental component of human communication, critical not only for oral interaction but also for advancing natural human-machine interfaces. Cross-linguistic research reveals profound diversity in how languages employ prosody, syntax, and semantics to mark focus, offering a window into language typology and evolution. At a neurocognitive level, focus processing is intimately linked to attention and prediction mechanisms, with neural correlates (e.g., activity in the superior temporal gyrus) being identified for intonational contours. Despite significant progress, an integrated understanding of focus across theoretical, experimental, and applied domains remains elusive.
This Research Topic calls for a multidisciplinary synthesis to advance the science of focus processing. We seek to bridge gaps between linguistics, psychology, neuroscience, computation, and clinical science. We welcome original research, reviews, and theoretical contributions that illuminate the representation, production, comprehension, and acquisition of focus across populations and languages.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- The typology and systems of focus: Contributions investigating cross-linguistic variation in the prosodic, syntactic, and semantic marking of focus, and its implications for language evolution and typological classification. - The cognitive and neural foundations of focus: Studies exploring the neurocognitive mechanisms and attentional systems underlying focus processing, employing advanced experimental, neuroimaging, and computational modeling techniques. - The acquisition and development of focus: Research on the developmental trajectories of focus marking in monolingual and bilingual first language acquisition, as well as the processing and mastery of focus in second language learners. - Focus in discourse, pragmatics, and clinical populations: Work examining the interface between focus and discourse-pragmatic structure in production and perception, including clinical perspectives on focus impairments in populations with language disorders.
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Brief Research Report
Case Report
Clinical Trial
Data Report
Editorial
FAIR² Data
General Commentary
Hypothesis and Theory
Methods
Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.
Article types
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Brief Research Report
Case Report
Clinical Trial
Data Report
Editorial
FAIR² Data
General Commentary
Hypothesis and Theory
Methods
Mini Review
Opinion
Original Research
Perspective
Review
Study Protocol
Systematic Review
Technology and Code
Keywords: Neuroscience, Human, communication, focus, interaction, language
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
