Abstract: As a basic and important research topic on brain and mind, the relationship between thinking and language still remains unspecified. With the help of new technique and methods, recent cognitive neuroscience provides new insight on this topic. The research logic in this study is, if a thinking process (e.g., the simple arithmetic or syllogism) is “language” in its nature, then the brain areas that participate in language information processing will involve in this process. On the contrary, if a thinking process is “spatial” in nature, then the “special” area will be highlighted in the thinking process. These neuroimaging evidences, together with other evidences (such as the behavioural ones and the brain-damaged ones) enable us to obtain a new comprehension on the relationship between thinking and language.

Key words: thinking, language, cognitive neuroscience, brain imaging