Studies of normal subjects and neurological patients show that the integrity of the left inferior and polar temporal cortex is critical to normal lexical-semantic processes, and that the anatomic substrates of these processes are partially segregated by conceptual category. We study the physiologic correlates of lexical retrieval in normal subjects, subjects with acquired anomia, and subjects with aphasia. These studies are designed to illuminate the role of the left extrasylvian temporal lobe in normal lexical processing, and to clarify whether neural regions specifically involved in lexical (as opposed to semantic) processing are segregated by conceptual category. We are also interested in the neural basis for residual lexical retrieval after damage to preferred neural systems, taking advantage of a unique Patient Registry including subjects with acquired left temporal lobe damage and anomia. Pursuit of this goal has involved developing new methods that are designed to adapt fMRI to accommodate impaired language performances.