Broca’s region appears to serve multiple functions in sentence processing. It is involved in processing hierarchical dependencies (e.g. syntactic trees) between words in a sentence. However, this may be a more general function that is not specific to language. In addition, it is important for verbal working memory which is needed for processing longer and more complex sentences. It is also important for placing words into context by re - trieving or manipulating information in semantic memory. Again, this function is not specific to sentence processing—it is useful for memory (deep encoding) and reasoning (problem solving). Although Broca’s region is important for sentence processing it is not the only region of the brain to be so. It works in concert with other regions of the brain notably the anterior and posterior temporal lobes that are important for processing the meaning of words and sentences. Evidence for the partial separability of syntax and semantics comes from patient studies (showing dissociations in ability), from human electro physiology (showing temporal dissociations such as the N400 and P600 components), and from fMRI (showing different but overlapping neural substrates).