"In 2020, researchers scanned 24 Python programmers and found that code comprehension engages domain-general executive machinery while the language network remains comparatively quiet."
Ivanova and colleagues used fMRI to investigate the neural systems involved in understanding Python code. They found strong engagement of the multiple-demand network and weak or absent recruitment of the language network, demonstrating that code comprehension recruits cognitive resources associated with executive reasoning rather than simply ordinary linguistic processing.
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