Davide Giampiccolo
dgiampiccolo.bsky.social
Davide Giampiccolo
@dgiampiccolo.bsky.social
Neurosurgeon | National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London | UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
8/ We believe this work offers new insights into the IFOF’s role beyond semantics and invites further exploration into its broad executive functions.
February 17, 2025 at 11:54 PM
7/ Clinically, this pathway’s importance in neurosurgery is clear: it should be considered a key target for preservation in both hemispheres (against the myth of a non-dominant right hemisphere).
February 17, 2025 at 11:54 PM
6/ This unified view links language, visual processing, motor cognition, theory of mind, reading, attention, and emotion recognition—grounding cognitive control in top-down modulation of visual features. It also posits a role for the right IFOF in social semantic control.
February 17, 2025 at 11:54 PM
5/ Using stimulation, we propose it can be subdivided in two-layers:
🔹 Ventral IFOF: Cognitive control for conceptual/symbolic content (including language).
🔹 Dorsal IFOF: Cognitive control for perceptual content
February 17, 2025 at 11:54 PM
4/ We propose that the IFOF overlays cortical regions involved in semantic control and the multiple demand system, representing an executive, prefrontal connection for top-down modulation of visual features. It is language-sensitive, but not language-specific.
February 17, 2025 at 11:54 PM
3/ Our review challenges the idea that the IFOF evolved for language. Gathered data indicate that this pathway is present along the primate lineage—far earlier than language—suggesting it originally supported top-down cognitive control of visual features for goal-directed behaviour.
February 17, 2025 at 11:54 PM
2/ Since then, the IFOF has been considered the major anatomical pathway linking language to meaning, but objections have emerged suggesting its function goes beyond language.
February 17, 2025 at 11:54 PM
1/ Almost 20 years ago, we reported that the IFOF supports language semantics through causal, direct stimulation [Duffau et al., Brain (2005)]. This work laid the foundation for understanding its role in the ventral stream of language.

academic.oup.com/brain/articl...
New insights into the anatomo-functional connectivity of the semantic system: a study using cortico-subcortical electrostimulations
Abstract. Despite a better understanding of the organization of the cortical network underlying the semantic system, very few data are currently available
academic.oup.com
February 17, 2025 at 11:54 PM
7/ Clinically, this pathway’s importance in neurosurgery is clear: it should be considered a key target for preservation in both hemispheres (against the myth of a non-dominant right hemisphere).
February 17, 2025 at 11:44 PM
6/ This unified view links language, visual processing, motor cognition, theory of mind, reading, attention, and emotion recognition—grounding cognitive control in top-down modulation of visual features. It also posits a role for the right IFOF in social semantic control.
February 17, 2025 at 11:44 PM
5/ Using stimulation we propose it can be subdivided in two-layers:
🔹 Ventral IFOF: Cognitive control for conceptual/symbolic content (including language).
🔹 Dorsal IFOF: Cognitive control for perceptual content.
February 17, 2025 at 11:44 PM
4/ We propose that the IFOF overlays cortical regions involved in semantic control and the multiple demand system, representing an executive, prefrontal connection for top-down modulation of sensory features. It is language-sensitive, but not language-specific.
February 17, 2025 at 11:44 PM
3/ Our review challenges the idea that the IFOF evolved for language. Gathered data indicate that this pathway is present along the primate lineage—far earlier than language—suggesting it originally supported top-down cognitive control of visual features for goal-directed behaviour.
February 17, 2025 at 11:44 PM
2/ Since then, the IFOF has been considered the major anatomical pathway linking language to meaning, but objections have emerged suggesting its function goes beyond language.
February 17, 2025 at 11:44 PM
1/ Almost 20 years ago, we reported that the IFOF supports language semantics through causal, direct stimulation [Duffau et al., Brain (2005)]. This work laid the foundation for understanding its role in the ventral stream of language.
academic.oup.com/brain/articl...
New insights into the anatomo-functional connectivity of the semantic system: a study using cortico-subcortical electrostimulations
Abstract. Despite a better understanding of the organization of the cortical network underlying the semantic system, very few data are currently available
academic.oup.com
February 17, 2025 at 11:44 PM