101
|
Bosseler AN, Clarke M, Tavabi K, Larson ED, Hippe DS, Taulu S, Kuhl PK. Using magnetoencephalography to examine word recognition, lateralization, and future language skills in 14-month-old infants. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2020; 47:100901. [PMID: 33360832 PMCID: PMC7773883 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2020] [Revised: 12/08/2020] [Accepted: 12/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Word learning is a significant milestone in language acquisition. The second year of life marks a period of dramatic advances in infants' expressive and receptive word-processing abilities. Studies show that in adulthood, language processing is left-hemisphere dominant. However, adults learning a second language activate right-hemisphere brain functions. In infancy, acquisition of a first language involves recruitment of bilateral brain networks, and strong left-hemisphere dominance emerges by the third year. In the current study we focus on 14-month-old infants in the earliest stages of word learning using infant magnetoencephalography (MEG) brain imagining to characterize neural activity in response to familiar and unfamiliar words. Specifically, we examine the relationship between right-hemisphere brain responses and prospective measures of vocabulary growth. As expected, MEG source modeling revealed a broadly distributed network in frontal, temporal and parietal cortex that distinguished word classes between 150-900 ms after word onset. Importantly, brain activity in the right frontal cortex in response to familiar words was highly correlated with vocabulary growth at 18, 21, 24, and 27 months. Specifically, higher activation to familiar words in the 150-300 ms interval was associated with faster vocabulary growth, reflecting processing efficiency, whereas higher activation to familiar words in the 600-900 ms interval was associated with slower vocabulary growth, reflecting cognitive effort. These findings inform research and theory on the involvement of right frontal cortex in specific cognitive processes and individual differences related to attention that may play an important role in the development of left-lateralized word processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexis N Bosseler
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Box 357988, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.
| | - Maggie Clarke
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Box 357988, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
| | - Kambiz Tavabi
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Box 357988, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
| | - Eric D Larson
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Box 357988, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
| | - Daniel S Hippe
- Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Box 354755, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
| | - Samu Taulu
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Box 357988, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA; Department of Physics, University of Washington, Box 351560, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
| | - Patricia K Kuhl
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Box 357988, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA; Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Washington, Box 354875, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
| |
Collapse
|
102
|
Gurunandan K, Arnaez-Telleria J, Carreiras M, Paz-Alonso PM. Converging Evidence for Differential Specialization and Plasticity of Language Systems. J Neurosci 2020. [PMID: 33168623 DOI: 10.1523/jneur0sci.0851-20.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Functional specialization and plasticity are fundamental organizing principles of the brain. Since the mid-1800s, certain cognitive functions have been known to be lateralized, but the provenance and flexibility of hemispheric specialization remain open questions. Language is a uniquely human phenomenon that requires a delicate balance between neural specialization and plasticity, and language learning offers the perfect window to study these principles in the human brain. In the current study, we conducted two separate functional MRI experiments with language learners (male and female), one cross-sectional and one longitudinal, involving distinct populations and languages, and examined hemispheric lateralization and learning-dependent plasticity of the following three language systems: reading, speech comprehension, and verbal production. A multipronged analytic approach revealed a highly consistent pattern of results across the two experiments, showing (1) that in both native and non-native languages, while language production was left lateralized, lateralization for language comprehension was highly variable across individuals; and (2) that with increasing non-native language proficiency, reading and speech comprehension displayed substantial changes in hemispheric dominance, with languages tending to lateralize to opposite hemispheres, while production showed negligible change and remained left lateralized. These convergent results shed light on the long-standing debate of neural organization of language by establishing robust principles of lateralization and plasticity of the main language systems. Findings further suggest involvement of the sensorimotor systems in language lateralization and its plasticity.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The human brain exhibits a remarkable ability to support a vast variety of languages that may be acquired at different points in the life span. Language is a complex construct involving linguistic as well as visual, auditory, and motor processes. Using functional MRI, we examined hemispheric specialization and learning-dependent plasticity of three language systems-reading, speech comprehension, and verbal production-in cross-sectional and longitudinal experiments in language learners. A multipronged analytic approach revealed converging evidence for striking differences in hemispheric specialization and plasticity among the language systems. The results have major theoretical and practical implications for our understanding of fundamental principles of neural organization of language, language testing and recovery in patients, and language learning in healthy populations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kshipra Gurunandan
- BCBL. Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, 20009 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
| | - Jaione Arnaez-Telleria
- BCBL. Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, 20009 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
| | - Manuel Carreiras
- BCBL. Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, 20009 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
- Basque Foundation for Science, 48013 Bilbao, Spain
- Department of Basque Language and Communication, University of the Basque Country, 48015 Bilbao, Spain
| | - Pedro M Paz-Alonso
- BCBL. Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, 20009 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
- Basque Foundation for Science, 48013 Bilbao, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
103
|
Tibbs MD, Huynh-Le MP, Karunamuni R, Reyes A, Macari AC, Tringale KR, Salans M, Yip A, Liu E, Simon A, McDonald CR, Hattangadi-Gluth JA. Microstructural Injury to Left-Sided Perisylvian White Matter Predicts Language Decline After Brain Radiation Therapy. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2020; 108:1218-1228. [PMID: 32712255 PMCID: PMC7680351 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2020.07.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2020] [Revised: 07/14/2020] [Accepted: 07/21/2020] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Our purpose was to investigate the association between imaging biomarkers of radiation-induced white matter (WM) injury within perisylvian regions and longitudinal language decline in patients with brain tumors. METHODS AND MATERIALS Patients with primary brain tumors (n = 44) on a prospective trial underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging, and language assessments of naming (Boston Naming Test [BNT]) and fluency (Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System Category Fluency [DKEFS-CF]) at baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months after fractionated radiation therapy (RT). Reliable change indices of language function (0-6 months), accounting for practice effects (RCI-PE), evaluated decline. Bilateral perisylvian WM regions (superficial WM subadjacent to Broca's area and the superior temporal gyrus [STG], inferior longitudinal fasciculus [ILF], inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus [IFOF], and arcuate fasciculus) were autosegmented. We quantified volume and diffusion measures of WM microstructure: fractional anisotropy (FA; lower values indicate disruption) and mean diffusivity (MD; higher values indicate injury). Linear mixed-effects models assessed mean dose as predictor of imaging biomarker change and imaging biomarkers as longitudinal predictors of language scores. RESULTS DKEFS-CF scores declined at 6 months post-RT (RCI-PE, -0.483; P = .01), whereas BNT scores improved (RCI-PE, 0.262; P = .04). Higher mean dose to left and right regions was predictive of decreased volume (left-STG, P = .02; right-ILF and IFOF, P = .03), decreased FA (left-WM tracts, all P < .01; right-STG and IFOF, P < .02), and increased MD of left-WM tracts (all P < .03). Volume loss within left-Broca's area (P = .01), left-ILF (P = .01), left-IFOF (P = .01), and left-arcuate fasciculus (P = .04) was associated with lower BNT scores. Lower FA correlated with poorer DKEFS-CF and BNT scores within left-ILF (P = .02, not significant), left-IFOF (P = .02, .04), and left-arcuate fasciculus (P = .01, .01), respectively. Poorer DKEFS-CF scores correlated with increased MD values within the left-arcuate fasciculus (P = .03). Right-sided biomarkers did not correlate with language scores. CONCLUSIONS Patients with primary brain tumors experience language fluency decline post-RT. Poorer fluency and naming function may be explained by microstructural injury to left-sided perisylvian WM, representing potential dose-avoidance targets for language preservation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michelle D Tibbs
- Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Minh-Phuong Huynh-Le
- Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Roshan Karunamuni
- Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California; Center for Multimodal Imaging and Genetics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Anny Reyes
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | | | - Kathryn R Tringale
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering, New York, New York
| | - Mia Salans
- Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Anthony Yip
- Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Eulanca Liu
- Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Aaron Simon
- Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Carrie R McDonald
- Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California; Center for Multimodal Imaging and Genetics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California; Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Jona A Hattangadi-Gluth
- Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California; Center for Multimodal Imaging and Genetics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.
| |
Collapse
|
104
|
Zaccarella E, Papitto G, Friederici AD. Language and action in Broca's area: Computational differentiation and cortical segregation. Brain Cogn 2020; 147:105651. [PMID: 33254030 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2020.105651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2020] [Revised: 10/21/2020] [Accepted: 10/23/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Actions have been proposed to follow hierarchical principles similar to those hypothesized for language syntax. These structural similarities are claimed to be reflected in the common involvement of certain neural populations of Broca's area, in the Inferior Frontal Gyrus (IFG). In this position paper, we follow an influential hypothesis in linguistic theory to introduce the syntactic operation Merge and the corresponding motor/conceptual interfaces. We argue that actions hierarchies do not follow the same principles ruling language syntax. We propose that hierarchy in the action domain lies in predictive processing mechanisms mapping sensory inputs and statistical regularities of action-goal relationships. At the cortical level, distinct Broca's subregions appear to support different types of computations across the two domains. We argue that anterior BA44 is a major hub for the implementation of the syntactic operation Merge. On the other hand, posterior BA44 is recruited in selecting premotor mental representations based on the information provided by contextual signals. This functional distinction is corroborated by a recent meta-analysis (Papitto, Friederici, & Zaccarella, 2020). We conclude by suggesting that action and language can meet only where the interfaces transfer abstract computations either to the external world or to the internal mental world.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emiliano Zaccarella
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Neuropsychology, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Giorgio Papitto
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Neuropsychology, Leipzig, Germany; International Max Planck Research School on Neuroscience of Communication: Function, Structure, and Plasticity, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Angela D Friederici
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Neuropsychology, Leipzig, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
105
|
Su M, Li P, Zhou W, Shu H. Effects of socioeconomic status in predicting reading outcomes for children: The mediation of spoken language network. Brain Cogn 2020; 147:105655. [PMID: 33249385 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2020.105655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2020] [Revised: 11/03/2020] [Accepted: 11/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The present longitudinal study investigated the effects of early childhood socioeconomic status on language-related resting-state functional connectivity and reading outcome in adolescence. Seventy-nine children participated in this study. Socioeconomic status was measured via parent questionnaire measuring parental education and family income at 1 month. At age 14, resting-state fMRI data and reading-related behavioral data of the children were collected. Resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) analysis was performed based on four regions of interest, including the left inferior frontal gyrus (L.IFG), left anterior superior temporal gyrus (L.aSTG), left posterior superior temporal gyrus (L.pSTG) and right anterior superior temporal gyrus (R.aSTG). Significant associations were found between parental education and the language-related RSFC, including the RSFC of L.IFG-L.aSTG and the RSFC of L.aSTG-L.pSTG, while no association was found between family income and language-related RSFC. Furthermore, the parental education-associated functional connectivity patterns (i.e., L.IFG-L.aSTG and L.aSTG-L.pSTG) were found to be positively correlated with children's reading skills (word list reading and sentence reading fluency). Finally, path analyses indicated that the intrinsic brain connectivity between L.aSTG and L.pSTG influenced the relationship between parental education and children's reading outcomes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mengmeng Su
- College of Elementary Education, Capital Normal University, China
| | - Ping Li
- Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, Faculty of Humanities, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
| | - Wei Zhou
- Beijing Key Lab of Learning and Cognition, School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, China.
| | - Hua Shu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, China.
| |
Collapse
|
106
|
Converging Evidence for Differential Specialization and Plasticity of Language Systems. J Neurosci 2020; 40:9715-9724. [PMID: 33168623 PMCID: PMC7726546 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0851-20.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2020] [Revised: 09/23/2020] [Accepted: 09/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Functional specialization and plasticity are fundamental organizing principles of the brain. Since the mid-1800s, certain cognitive functions have been known to be lateralized, but the provenance and flexibility of hemispheric specialization remain open questions. Language is a uniquely human phenomenon that requires a delicate balance between neural specialization and plasticity, and language learning offers the perfect window to study these principles in the human brain. In the current study, we conducted two separate functional MRI experiments with language learners (male and female), one cross-sectional and one longitudinal, involving distinct populations and languages, and examined hemispheric lateralization and learning-dependent plasticity of the following three language systems: reading, speech comprehension, and verbal production. A multipronged analytic approach revealed a highly consistent pattern of results across the two experiments, showing (1) that in both native and non-native languages, while language production was left lateralized, lateralization for language comprehension was highly variable across individuals; and (2) that with increasing non-native language proficiency, reading and speech comprehension displayed substantial changes in hemispheric dominance, with languages tending to lateralize to opposite hemispheres, while production showed negligible change and remained left lateralized. These convergent results shed light on the long-standing debate of neural organization of language by establishing robust principles of lateralization and plasticity of the main language systems. Findings further suggest involvement of the sensorimotor systems in language lateralization and its plasticity. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The human brain exhibits a remarkable ability to support a vast variety of languages that may be acquired at different points in the life span. Language is a complex construct involving linguistic as well as visual, auditory, and motor processes. Using functional MRI, we examined hemispheric specialization and learning-dependent plasticity of three language systems—reading, speech comprehension, and verbal production—in cross-sectional and longitudinal experiments in language learners. A multipronged analytic approach revealed converging evidence for striking differences in hemispheric specialization and plasticity among the language systems. The results have major theoretical and practical implications for our understanding of fundamental principles of neural organization of language, language testing and recovery in patients, and language learning in healthy populations.
Collapse
|
107
|
van der Kant A, Männel C, Paul M, Friederici AD, Höhle B, Wartenburger I. Linguistic and non-linguistic non-adjacent dependency learning in early development. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2020; 45:100819. [PMID: 32828032 PMCID: PMC7451682 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2019] [Revised: 05/27/2020] [Accepted: 06/29/2020] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Non-adjacent dependencies (NADs) are important building blocks for language and extracting them from the input is a fundamental part of language acquisition. Prior event-related potential (ERP) studies revealed changes in the neural signature of NAD learning between infancy and adulthood, suggesting a developmental shift in the learning route for NADs. The present study aimed to specify which brain regions are involved in this developmental shift and whether this shift extends to NAD learning in the non-linguistic domain. In two experiments, 2- and 3-year-old German-learning children were familiarized with either Italian sentences or tone sequences containing NADs and subsequently tested with NAD violations, while functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data were recorded. Results showed increased hemodynamic responses related to the detection of linguistic NAD violations in the left temporal, inferior frontal, and parietal regions in 2-year-old children, but not in 3-year-old children. A different developmental trajectory was found for non-linguistic NADs, where 3-year-old, but not 2-year-old children showed evidence for the detection of non-linguistic NAD violations. These results confirm a developmental shift in the NAD learning route and point to distinct mechanisms underlying NAD learning in the linguistic and the non-linguistic domain.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anne van der Kant
- Cognitive Sciences, Department Linguistics, University of Potsdam, Germany.
| | - Claudia Männel
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Neuropsychology, Leipzig, Germany; Department of Audiology and Phoniatrics, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
| | - Mariella Paul
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Neuropsychology, Leipzig, Germany; Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany
| | - Angela D Friederici
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Neuropsychology, Leipzig, Germany; Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany
| | - Barbara Höhle
- Cognitive Sciences, Department Linguistics, University of Potsdam, Germany
| | - Isabell Wartenburger
- Cognitive Sciences, Department Linguistics, University of Potsdam, Germany; Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
108
|
Korte M. The impact of the digital revolution
on human brain and behavior: where
do we stand?
. DIALOGUES IN CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCE 2020; 22:101-111. [PMID: 32699510 PMCID: PMC7366944 DOI: 10.31887/dcns.2020.22.2/mkorte] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
This overview will outline the current results of neuroscience research on the possible effects of digital media use on the human brain, cognition, and behavior. This is of importance due to the significant amount of time that individuals spend using digital media. Despite several positive aspects of digital media, which include the capability to effortlessly communicate with peers, even over a long distance, and their being used as training tools for students and the elderly, detrimental effects on our brains and minds have also been suggested. Neurological consequences have been observed related to internet/gaming addiction, language development, and processing of emotional signals. However, given that much of the neuroscientific research conducted up to now relies solely on self-reported parameters to assess social media usage, it is argued that neuroscientists need to include datasets with higher precision in terms of what is done on screens, for how long, and at what age.
.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Martin Korte
- Department of Cellular Neurobiology, Zoological Institute, TU Braunschweig, Germany; Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Group, Braunschweig, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
109
|
Mahmud MS, Ahmed F, Al-Fahad R, Moinuddin KA, Yeasin M, Alain C, Bidelman GM. Decoding Hearing-Related Changes in Older Adults' Spatiotemporal Neural Processing of Speech Using Machine Learning. Front Neurosci 2020; 14:748. [PMID: 32765215 PMCID: PMC7378401 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2019] [Accepted: 06/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Speech perception in noisy environments depends on complex interactions between sensory and cognitive systems. In older adults, such interactions may be affected, especially in those individuals who have more severe age-related hearing loss. Using a data-driven approach, we assessed the temporal (when in time) and spatial (where in the brain) characteristics of cortical speech-evoked responses that distinguish older adults with or without mild hearing loss. We performed source analyses to estimate cortical surface signals from the EEG recordings during a phoneme discrimination task conducted under clear and noise-degraded conditions. We computed source-level ERPs (i.e., mean activation within each ROI) from each of the 68 ROIs of the Desikan-Killiany (DK) atlas, averaged over a randomly chosen 100 trials without replacement to form feature vectors. We adopted a multivariate feature selection method called stability selection and control to choose features that are consistent over a range of model parameters. We use parameter optimized support vector machine (SVM) as a classifiers to investigate the time course and brain regions that segregate groups and speech clarity. For clear speech perception, whole-brain data revealed a classification accuracy of 81.50% [area under the curve (AUC) 80.73%; F1-score 82.00%], distinguishing groups within ∼60 ms after speech onset (i.e., as early as the P1 wave). We observed lower accuracy of 78.12% [AUC 77.64%; F1-score 78.00%] and delayed classification performance when speech was embedded in noise, with group segregation at 80 ms. Separate analysis using left (LH) and right hemisphere (RH) regions showed that LH speech activity was better at distinguishing hearing groups than activity measured in the RH. Moreover, stability selection analysis identified 12 brain regions (among 1428 total spatiotemporal features from 68 regions) where source activity segregated groups with >80% accuracy (clear speech); whereas 16 regions were critical for noise-degraded speech to achieve a comparable level of group segregation (78.7% accuracy). Our results identify critical time-courses and brain regions that distinguish mild hearing loss from normal hearing in older adults and confirm a larger number of active areas, particularly in RH, when processing noise-degraded speech information.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Md Sultan Mahmud
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Faruk Ahmed
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Rakib Al-Fahad
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Kazi Ashraf Moinuddin
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Mohammed Yeasin
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Claude Alain
- Rotman Research Institute-Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Gavin M Bidelman
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States.,School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States.,Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, United States
| |
Collapse
|
110
|
Xu W, Kolozsvari OB, Oostenveld R, Hämäläinen JA. Rapid changes in brain activity during learning of grapheme-phoneme associations in adults. Neuroimage 2020; 220:117058. [PMID: 32561476 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2020] [Revised: 06/11/2020] [Accepted: 06/12/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Learning to associate written letters with speech sounds is crucial for the initial phase of acquiring reading skills. However, little is known about the cortical reorganization for supporting letter-speech sound learning, particularly the brain dynamics during the learning of grapheme-phoneme associations. In the present study, we trained 30 Finnish participants (mean age: 24.33 years, SD: 3.50 years) to associate novel foreign letters with familiar Finnish speech sounds on two consecutive days (first day ~ 50 min; second day ~ 25 min), while neural activity was measured using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Two sets of audiovisual stimuli were used for the training in which the grapheme-phoneme association in one set (Learnable) could be learned based on the different learning cues provided, but not in the other set (Control). The learning progress was tracked at a trial-by-trial basis and used to segment different learning stages for the MEG source analysis. The learning-related changes were examined by comparing the brain responses to Learnable and Control uni/multi-sensory stimuli, as well as the brain responses to learning cues at different learning stages over the two days. We found dynamic changes in brain responses related to multi-sensory processing when grapheme-phoneme associations were learned. Further, changes were observed in the brain responses to the novel letters during the learning process. We also found that some of these learning effects were observed only after memory consolidation the following day. Overall, the learning process modulated the activity in a large network of brain regions, including the superior temporal cortex and the dorsal (parietal) pathway. Most interestingly, middle- and inferior-temporal regions were engaged during multi-sensory memory encoding after the cross-modal relationship was extracted from the learning cues. Our findings highlight the brain dynamics and plasticity related to the learning of letter-speech sound associations and provide a more refined model of grapheme-phoneme learning in reading acquisition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Weiyong Xu
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland; Jyväskylä Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.
| | - Orsolya Beatrix Kolozsvari
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland; Jyväskylä Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.
| | - Robert Oostenveld
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands; NatMEG, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Jarmo Arvid Hämäläinen
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland; Jyväskylä Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.
| |
Collapse
|
111
|
Panda EJ, Emami Z, Valiante TA, Pang EW. EEG phase synchronization during semantic unification relates to individual differences in children's vocabulary skill. Dev Sci 2020; 24:e12984. [PMID: 32384181 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2019] [Revised: 04/17/2020] [Accepted: 04/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
As we listen to speech, our ability to understand what was said requires us to retrieve and bind together individual word meanings into a coherent discourse representation. This so-called semantic unification is a fundamental cognitive skill, and its development relies on the integration of neural activity throughout widely distributed functional brain networks. In this proof-of-concept study, we examine, for the first time, how these functional brain networks develop in children. Twenty-six children (ages 4-17) listened to well-formed sentences and sentences containing a semantic violation, while EEG was recorded. Children with stronger vocabulary showed N400 effects that were more concentrated to centroparietal electrodes and greater EEG phase synchrony (phase lag index; PLI) between right centroparietal and bilateral frontocentral electrodes in the delta frequency band (1-3 Hz) 1.27-1.53 s after listening to well-formed sentences compared to sentences containing a semantic violation. These effects related specifically to individual differences in receptive vocabulary, perhaps pointing to greater recruitment of functional brain networks important for top-down semantic unification with development. Less skilled children showed greater delta phase synchrony for violation sentences 3.41-3.64 s after critical word onset. This later effect was partly driven by individual differences in nonverbal reasoning, perhaps pointing to non-verbal compensatory processing to extract meaning from speech in children with less developed vocabulary. We suggest that functional brain network communication, as measured by momentary changes in the phase synchrony of EEG oscillations, develops throughout the school years to support language comprehension in different ways depending on children's verbal and nonverbal skill levels.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Erin J Panda
- Neurosciences and Mental Health, SickKids Research Institute, Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Epilespy Research Program of the Ontario Brain Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Zahra Emami
- Neurosciences and Mental Health, SickKids Research Institute, Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Division of Neurology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Taufik A Valiante
- Epilespy Research Program of the Ontario Brain Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network and Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Elizabeth W Pang
- Neurosciences and Mental Health, SickKids Research Institute, Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Epilespy Research Program of the Ontario Brain Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Division of Neurology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
112
|
Schaadt G, Paul M, Muralikrishnan R, Männel C, Friederici AD. Seven-year-olds recall non-adjacent dependencies after overnight retention. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2020; 171:107225. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2020.107225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2019] [Revised: 03/19/2020] [Accepted: 03/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
|
113
|
Enge A, Friederici AD, Skeide MA. A meta-analysis of fMRI studies of language comprehension in children. Neuroimage 2020; 215:116858. [PMID: 32304886 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116858] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2020] [Revised: 04/10/2020] [Accepted: 04/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The neural representation of language comprehension has been examined in several meta-analyses of fMRI studies with human adults. To complement this work from a developmental perspective, we conducted a meta-analysis of fMRI studies of auditory language comprehension in human children. Our analysis included 27 independent experiments involving n = 625 children (49% girls) with a mean age of 8.9 years. Activation likelihood estimation and seed-based effect size mapping revealed activation peaks in the pars triangularis of the left inferior frontal gyrus and bilateral superior and middle temporal gyri. In contrast to this distribution of activation in children, previous work in adults found activation peaks in the pars opercularis of the left inferior frontal gyrus and more left-lateralized temporal activation peaks. Accordingly, brain responses during language comprehension may shift from bilateral temporal and left pars triangularis peaks in childhood to left temporal and pars opercularis peaks in adulthood. This shift could be related to the gradually increasing sensitivity of the developing brain to syntactic information.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Enge
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103, Leipzig, Germany; Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 12489, Berlin, Germany
| | - Angela D Friederici
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Michael A Skeide
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
114
|
Cafiero R, Brauer J, Anwander A, Friederici AD. The Concurrence of Cortical Surface Area Expansion and White Matter Myelination in Human Brain Development. Cereb Cortex 2020; 29:827-837. [PMID: 30462166 PMCID: PMC6319170 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhy277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2018] [Accepted: 10/11/2018] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The human brain undergoes dramatic structural changes during childhood that co-occur with behavioral development. These age-related changes are documented for the brain’s gray matter and white matter. However, their interrelation is largely unknown. In this study, we investigated age-related effects in cortical thickness (CT) and in cortical surface area (SA) as parts of the gray matter volume as well as age effects in T1 relaxation times in the white matter. Data from N = 170 children between the ages of 3 and 7 years contributed to the sample. We found a high spatial overlap of age-related correlations between SA and T1 relaxation times of the corresponding white matter connections, but no such relation between SA and CT. These results indicate that during childhood the developmental expansion of the cortical surface goes hand-in-hand with age-related increase of white matter fiber connections terminating in the cortical surface.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Riccardo Cafiero
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jens Brauer
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Alfred Anwander
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Angela D Friederici
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
115
|
Alterations to dual stream connectivity predicts response to aphasia therapy following stroke. Cortex 2020; 125:30-43. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.12.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2019] [Revised: 10/03/2019] [Accepted: 12/10/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
|
116
|
Gaudet I, Hüsser A, Vannasing P, Gallagher A. Functional Brain Connectivity of Language Functions in Children Revealed by EEG and MEG: A Systematic Review. Front Hum Neurosci 2020; 14:62. [PMID: 32226367 PMCID: PMC7080982 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.00062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2019] [Accepted: 02/10/2020] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The development of language functions is of great interest to neuroscientists, as these functions are among the fundamental capacities of human cognition. For many years, researchers aimed at identifying cerebral correlates of language abilities. More recently, the development of new data analysis tools has generated a shift toward the investigation of complex cerebral networks. In 2015, Weiss-Croft and Baldeweg published a very interesting systematic review on the development of functional language networks, explored through the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Compared to fMRI and because of their excellent temporal resolution, magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG) provide different and important information on brain activity. Both therefore constitute crucial neuroimaging techniques for the investigation of the maturation of functional language brain networks. The main objective of this systematic review is to provide a state of knowledge on the investigation of language-related cerebral networks in children, through the use of EEG and MEG, as well as a detailed portrait of relevant MEG and EEG data analysis methods used in that specific research context. To do so, we have summarized the results and systematically compared the methodological approach of 24 peer-reviewed EEG or MEG scientific studies that included healthy children and children with or at high risk of language disabilities, from birth up to 18 years of age. All included studies employed functional and effective connectivity measures, such as coherence, phase locking value, and Phase Slope Index, and did so using different experimental paradigms (e.g., at rest or during language-related tasks). This review will provide more insight into the use of EEG and MEG for the study of language networks in children, contribute to the current state of knowledge on the developmental path of functional connectivity in language networks during childhood and adolescence, and finally allow future studies to choose the most appropriate type of connectivity analysis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Isabelle Gaudet
- Laboratoire d'imagerie optique en neurodéveloppement (LIONLAB), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Alejandra Hüsser
- Laboratoire d'imagerie optique en neurodéveloppement (LIONLAB), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Phetsamone Vannasing
- Laboratoire d'imagerie optique en neurodéveloppement (LIONLAB), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Anne Gallagher
- Laboratoire d'imagerie optique en neurodéveloppement (LIONLAB), Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
117
|
Micheli C, Schepers IM, Ozker M, Yoshor D, Beauchamp MS, Rieger JW. Electrocorticography reveals continuous auditory and visual speech tracking in temporal and occipital cortex. Eur J Neurosci 2020; 51:1364-1376. [PMID: 29888819 PMCID: PMC6289876 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.13992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2017] [Revised: 05/19/2018] [Accepted: 05/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
During natural speech perception, humans must parse temporally continuous auditory and visual speech signals into sequences of words. However, most studies of speech perception present only single words or syllables. We used electrocorticography (subdural electrodes implanted on the brains of epileptic patients) to investigate the neural mechanisms for processing continuous audiovisual speech signals consisting of individual sentences. Using partial correlation analysis, we found that posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) and medial occipital cortex tracked both the auditory and the visual speech envelopes. These same regions, as well as inferior temporal cortex, responded more strongly to a dynamic video of a talking face compared to auditory speech paired with a static face. Occipital cortex and pSTG carry temporal information about both auditory and visual speech dynamics. Visual speech tracking in pSTG may be a mechanism for enhancing perception of degraded auditory speech.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cristiano Micheli
- Department of Psychology, Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, Germany
- Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Inga M Schepers
- Department of Psychology, Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, Germany
- Research Center Neurosensory Science, Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Müge Ozker
- Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Daniel Yoshor
- Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
- Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, Texas
| | | | - Jochem W Rieger
- Department of Psychology, Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, Germany
- Research Center Neurosensory Science, Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
118
|
Pohl P, Douglas Greer R, Du L, Lee Moschella J. Verbal Development, Behavioral Metamorphosis, and the Evolution of Language. Perspect Behav Sci 2020; 43:215-232. [PMID: 32440652 PMCID: PMC7198683 DOI: 10.1007/s40614-018-00180-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Building on Skinner's theory of verbal behavior, research over the last few decades confirmed verbal speaker operants, added the role of the listener, added the identification of speaker and listener interaction between and within individuals, and identified verbal behavior developmental cusps. Meanwhile, comparative biology focused on how and why language evolved in Homo sapiens. Findings about differences in behavior that neurotypical children demonstrated in their verbal development, and even more so in research that identified and established missing verbal behavior cusps, suggested changes analogous to metamorphosis. These striking changes in stimulus control found in the onset of cusps from the preverbal to the fully verbal child led us to an expansion of the concept of metamorphosis from morphology to the domain of behavior. The major findings of this comparative perspective are presented here as they have led us from experimental analyses of verbal development to metamorphosis as complex verbal behavior transformation and finally to a novel hypothesis about the evolution of language based on the concepts and research described here. To our knowledge, this is the first formulation of verbal development as behavioral metamorphosis in the context of evolutionary developmental biology.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Peter Pohl
- Child Psychology Practice Garmisch, St.-Martin-Str. 10, D-82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
| | - R. Douglas Greer
- Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Teachers College, New York, NY USA
| | - Lin Du
- Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Teachers College, New York, NY USA
| | - Jennifer Lee Moschella
- Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Teachers College, New York, NY USA
| |
Collapse
|
119
|
Bettoni R, Riva V, Cantiani C, Molteni M, Macchi Cassia V, Bulf H. Infants' Learning of Rule-Based Visual Sequences Predicts Language Outcome at 2 Years. Front Psychol 2020; 11:281. [PMID: 32158415 PMCID: PMC7052175 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2019] [Accepted: 02/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to learn and generalize abstract rules from sensory input - i.e., Rule Learning (RL) - is seen as pivotal to language development, and specifically to the acquisition of the grammatical structure of language. Although many studies have shown that RL in infancy is operating across different perceptual domains, including vision, no studies have directly investigated the link between infants' visual RL and later language acquisition. Here, we conducted a longitudinal study to investigate whether 7-month-olds' ability to detect visual structural regularities predicts linguistic outcome at 2 years of age. At 7 months, infants were tested for their ability to extract and generalize ABB and ABA structures from sequences of visual shapes, and at 24 months their lexical and grammatical skills were assessed using the MacArthur-Bates CDI. Regression analyses showed that infants' visual RL abilities selectively predicted early grammatical abilities, but not lexical abilities. These results may provide the first evidence that RL mechanisms are involved in language acquisition, and suggest that RL abilities may act as an early neurocognitive marker for language impairments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Roberta Bettoni
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
- NeuroMI, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy
| | - Valentina Riva
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco, Italy
| | - Chiara Cantiani
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco, Italy
| | - Massimo Molteni
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, Bosisio Parini, Lecco, Italy
| | - Viola Macchi Cassia
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
- NeuroMI, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy
| | - Hermann Bulf
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
- NeuroMI, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
120
|
Pigdon L, Willmott C, Reilly S, Conti-Ramsden G, Liegeois F, Connelly A, Morgan AT. The neural basis of nonword repetition in children with developmental speech or language disorder: An fMRI study. Neuropsychologia 2020; 138:107312. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2018] [Revised: 12/12/2019] [Accepted: 12/17/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
|
121
|
Fei N, Ge J, Wang Y, Gao JH. Aging-related differences in the cortical network subserving intelligible speech. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2020; 201:104713. [PMID: 31759299 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2019.104713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2019] [Revised: 10/29/2019] [Accepted: 10/30/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Language communication is crucial throughout the lifespan. The current study investigated how aging affects the brain network subserving intelligible speech. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we compared brain responses to intelligible and unintelligible speech between older and young adults. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed reduced brain activation and lower regional pattern distinctions in response to intelligible versus unintelligible speech in the left anterior superior temporal gyrus (aSTG) and the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in the older compared with young adults. Notably, the functional connectivity between the left IFG and the left angular gyrus (AG) was increased and a significantly enhanced bidirectional effective connectivity between the left aSTG and the left AG was observed in the older adults for processing speech intelligibility. Our study revealed aging-related differences in the cortical activity for intelligible speech and suggested that increased frontal-temporal-parietal functional integration may help facilitate spoken language processing in older adults.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nanxi Fei
- Beijing City Key Lab for Medical Physics and Engineering, Institute of Heavy Ion Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China; Center for MRI Research, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Jianqiao Ge
- Beijing City Key Lab for Medical Physics and Engineering, Institute of Heavy Ion Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China; Center for MRI Research, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China.
| | - Yi Wang
- Public Health Science and Engineering College, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China
| | - Jia-Hong Gao
- Beijing City Key Lab for Medical Physics and Engineering, Institute of Heavy Ion Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China; Center for MRI Research, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China; McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China.
| |
Collapse
|
122
|
Hüsser A, Fourdain S, Gallagher A. Neuropsychologic assessment. HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL NEUROLOGY 2020; 174:239-249. [PMID: 32977881 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-444-64148-9.00017-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The purpose of a pediatric neuropsychologic assessment is to evaluate cognitive, behavioral, sensory-motor, perceptual, and socioaffective functioning. A standardized, validated set of tools, questionnaires, and qualitative methods is applied to this end. The neuropsychologist integrates the results of the formal assessment, the case history, and third-party observations to interpret the individual findings across disciplines and draw conclusions about brain-behavior relationships. Various indications for neuropsychologic assessment include the identification of neurodevelopmental difficulties and the characterization of the impact of medical conditions or a pharmaceutical treatment. Prior to the evaluation, as much information as possible must be gathered about the child for efficient and accurate planning. In the context of pediatric neuropsychologic assessments, special challenges requiring more flexibility as regards the duration of the assessment, the use of different age-specific tools, or particular sensitivity when interacting with the child may arise. Neuropsychologic assessment is a cornerstone in the process of diagnosing neurodevelopmental disabilities in children and is frequently a component of a multidisciplinary evaluation. From it can be derived recommendations for the different contexts of a child's life (e.g., family, care team, school).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alejandra Hüsser
- Neurodevelopment Optical Imaging Laboratory (LIONlab), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Solène Fourdain
- Neurodevelopment Optical Imaging Laboratory (LIONlab), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Anne Gallagher
- Neurodevelopment Optical Imaging Laboratory (LIONlab), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
123
|
Wang J, Rice ML, Booth JR. Syntactic and Semantic Specialization and Integration in 5- to 6-Year-Old Children during Auditory Sentence Processing. J Cogn Neurosci 2020; 32:36-49. [PMID: 31596168 PMCID: PMC8905464 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Previous studies have found specialized syntactic and semantic processes in the adult brain during language comprehension. Young children have sophisticated semantic and syntactic aspects of language, yet many previous fMRI studies failed to detect this specialization, possibly due to experimental design and analytical methods. In this current study, 5- to 6-year-old children completed a syntactic task and a semantic task to dissociate these two processes. Multivoxel pattern analysis was used to examine the correlation of patterns within a task (between runs) or across tasks. We found that the left middle temporal gyrus showed more similar patterns within the semantic task compared with across tasks, whereas there was no difference in the correlation within the syntactic task compared with across tasks, suggesting its specialization in semantic processing. Moreover, the left superior temporal gyrus showed more similar patterns within both the semantic task and the syntactic task as compared with across tasks, suggesting its role in integration of semantic and syntactic information. In contrast to the temporal lobe, we did not find specialization or integration effects in either the opercular or triangular part of the inferior frontal gyrus. Overall, our study showed that 5- to 6-year-old children have already developed specialization and integration in the temporal lobe, but not in the frontal lobe, consistent with developmental neurocognitive models of language comprehension in typically developing young children.
Collapse
|
124
|
New Insights into the Avian Song System and Neuronal Control of Learned Vocalizations. THE NEUROETHOLOGY OF BIRDSONG 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-34683-6_3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
|
125
|
Wagley N, Perrachione TK, Ostrovskaya I, Ghosh SS, Saxler PK, Lymberis J, Wexler K, Gabrieli JDE, Kovelman I. Persistent Neurobehavioral Markers of Developmental Morphosyntax Errors in Adults. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2019; 62:4497-4508. [PMID: 31825709 PMCID: PMC7201328 DOI: 10.1044/2019_jslhr-19-00154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2018] [Revised: 05/17/2019] [Accepted: 09/03/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Purpose Child language acquisition is marked by an optional infinitive period (ages 2-4 years) during which children use nonfinite (infinitival) verb forms and finite verb forms interchangeably in grammatical contexts that require finite forms. In English, children's errors include omissions of past tense /-ed/ and 3rd-person singular /-s/. This language acquisition period typically ends by the age of 4 years, but it persists in children with language impairments. It is unknown if adults still process optional infinitives differently than other kinds of morphosyntax errors. Method We compared behavior and functional brain activation during grammaticality judgments across sentences with developmental optional infinitive tense/agreement errors ("Yesterday I play the song"), nondevelopmental agreement errors ("He am tall") that do not occur in typical child language acquisition, and grammatically correct sentences. Results Adults (N = 25) were significantly slower and less accurate in judging sentences with developmental errors relative to other sentences. Sentences with developmental errors yielded greater activation in bilateral inferior frontal gyri relative to nondevelopmental error sentences in both auditory and visual modalities. Conclusions These findings suggest that the heightened computational demands for finiteness extend well beyond early childhood and continue to exert their influence on grammatical mental and brain function in adulthood.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Neelima Wagley
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
| | | | - Irina Ostrovskaya
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
| | - Satrajit S. Ghosh
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
| | - Patricia K. Saxler
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
| | - John Lymberis
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
| | - Kenneth Wexler
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
| | - John D. E. Gabrieli
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
| | | |
Collapse
|
126
|
Leminen M, Leminen A, Smolander S, Arkkila E, Shtyrov Y, Laasonen M, Kujala T. Quick reorganization of memory traces for morphologically complex words in young children. Neuropsychologia 2019; 138:107309. [PMID: 31857117 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2018] [Revised: 10/10/2019] [Accepted: 12/15/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Formation of neural mechanisms for morphosyntactic processing in young children is still poorly understood. Here, we addressed neural processing and rapid online acquisition of familiar and unfamiliar combinations of morphemes. Three different types of morphologically complex words - derived, inflected, and novel (pseudostem + real suffix) - were presented in a passive listening setting to 16 typically developing 3-4-year old children (as part of a longitudinal Helsinki SLI follow-up study). The mismatch negativity (MMN) component of event-related potentials (ERP), an established index of long-term linguistic memory traces in the brain, was analysed separately for the initial and final periods of the exposure to these items. We found MMN response enhancement for the inflected words towards the end of the recording session, whereas no response change was observed for the derived or novel complex forms. This enhancement indicates rapid build-up of a new memory trace for the combination of real morphemes, suggesting a capacity for online formation of whole-form lexicalized representations as one of the morphological mechanisms in the developing brain. Furthermore, this enhancement increased with age, suggesting the development of automatic morphological processing circuits in the age range of 3-4 years.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miika Leminen
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Phoniatrics, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, PO Box 250, FIN-00029, HUS, Finland; Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, PO Box 21, FIN-00014, University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Alina Leminen
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, PO Box 21, FIN-00014, University of Helsinki, Finland; Cognitive Science, Department of Digital Humanitiers, Faculty of Arts, PO Box 9, FIN-00014, University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Sini Smolander
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Phoniatrics, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, PO Box 250, FIN-00029, HUS, Finland; Research Unit of Logopedics, PO Box 8000, FIN-90014, University of Oulu, Finland.
| | - Eva Arkkila
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Phoniatrics, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, PO Box 250, FIN-00029, HUS, Finland.
| | - Yury Shtyrov
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Institute for Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark; Laboratory of Behavioural Neurodynamics, St.Petersburg State University, Makarova emb, 6, St.Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation.
| | - Marja Laasonen
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Phoniatrics, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, PO Box 250, FIN-00029, HUS, Finland; Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, Faculty of Social Sciences, FIN-20014, University of Turku, Finland; Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Clinical Medicine, PO Box 63, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Teija Kujala
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, PO Box 21, FIN-00014, University of Helsinki, Finland.
| |
Collapse
|
127
|
Prohl AK, Scherrer B, Tomas-Fernandez X, Davis PE, Filip-Dhima R, Prabhu SP, Peters JM, Bebin EM, Krueger DA, Northrup H, Wu JY, Sahin M, Warfield SK. Early white matter development is abnormal in tuberous sclerosis complex patients who develop autism spectrum disorder. J Neurodev Disord 2019; 11:36. [PMID: 31838998 PMCID: PMC6912944 DOI: 10.1186/s11689-019-9293-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2019] [Accepted: 11/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is prevalent in tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), occurring in approximately 50% of patients, and is hypothesized to be caused by disruption of neural circuits early in life. Tubers, or benign hamartomas distributed stochastically throughout the brain, are the most conspicuous of TSC neuropathology, but have not been consistently associated with ASD. Widespread neuropathology of the white matter, including deficits in myelination, neuronal migration, and axon formation, exist and may underlie ASD in TSC. We sought to identify the neural circuits associated with ASD in TSC by identifying white matter microstructural deficits in a prospectively recruited, longitudinally studied cohort of TSC infants. Methods TSC infants were recruited within their first year of life and longitudinally imaged at time of recruitment, 12 months of age, and at 24 months of age. Autism was diagnosed at 24 months of age with the ADOS-2. There were 108 subjects (62 TSC-ASD, 55% male; 46 TSC+ASD, 52% male) with at least one MRI and a 24-month ADOS, for a total of 187 MRI scans analyzed (109 TSC-ASD; 78 TSC+ASD). Diffusion tensor imaging properties of multiple white matter fiber bundles were sampled using a region of interest approach. Linear mixed effects modeling was performed to test the hypothesis that infants who develop ASD exhibit poor white matter microstructural integrity over the first 2 years of life compared to those who do not develop ASD. Results Subjects with TSC and ASD exhibited reduced fractional anisotropy in 9 of 17 white matter regions, sampled from the arcuate fasciculus, cingulum, corpus callosum, anterior limbs of the internal capsule, and the sagittal stratum, over the first 2 years of life compared to TSC subjects without ASD. Mean diffusivity trajectories did not differ between groups. Conclusions Underconnectivity across multiple white matter fiber bundles develops over the first 2 years of life in subjects with TSC and ASD. Future studies examining brain-behavior relationships are needed to determine how variation in the brain structure is associated with ASD symptoms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anna K Prohl
- Computational Radiology Laboratory, Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Benoit Scherrer
- Computational Radiology Laboratory, Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Xavier Tomas-Fernandez
- Computational Radiology Laboratory, Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Peter E Davis
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Rajna Filip-Dhima
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Sanjay P Prabhu
- Computational Radiology Laboratory, Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jurriaan M Peters
- Computational Radiology Laboratory, Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - E Martina Bebin
- Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - Darcy A Krueger
- Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Hope Northrup
- Department of Pediatrics, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Joyce Y Wu
- Division of Pediatric Neurology, University of California at Los Angeles Mattel Children's Hospital, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, California, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Mustafa Sahin
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Simon K Warfield
- Computational Radiology Laboratory, Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
| | | |
Collapse
|
128
|
The visual word form area (VWFA) is part of both language and attention circuitry. Nat Commun 2019; 10:5601. [PMID: 31811149 PMCID: PMC6898452 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-13634-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2019] [Accepted: 11/04/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
While predominant models of visual word form area (VWFA) function argue for its specific role in decoding written language, other accounts propose a more general role of VWFA in complex visual processing. However, a comprehensive examination of structural and functional VWFA circuits and their relationship to behavior has been missing. Here, using high-resolution multimodal imaging data from a large Human Connectome Project cohort (N = 313), we demonstrate robust patterns of VWFA connectivity with both canonical language and attentional networks. Brain-behavior relationships revealed a striking pattern of double dissociation: structural connectivity of VWFA with lateral temporal language network predicted language, but not visuo-spatial attention abilities, while VWFA connectivity with dorsal fronto-parietal attention network predicted visuo-spatial attention, but not language abilities. Our findings support a multiplex model of VWFA function characterized by distinct circuits for integrating language and attention, and point to connectivity-constrained cognition as a key principle of human brain organization. The visual word form area (VWFA) is a brain region associated with written language, but it has also been linked to visuospatial attention. Here, the authors reveal distinct structural and functional circuits linking VWFA with language and attention networks, and demonstrate that these circuits separately predict language and attention abilities.
Collapse
|
129
|
Correia AI, Branco P, Martins M, Reis AM, Martins N, Castro SL, Lima CF. Resting-state connectivity reveals a role for sensorimotor systems in vocal emotional processing in children. Neuroimage 2019; 201:116052. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2018] [Revised: 07/19/2019] [Accepted: 07/23/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
|
130
|
Qi T, Schaadt G, Friederici AD. Cortical thickness lateralization and its relation to language abilities in children. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2019; 39:100704. [PMID: 31476670 PMCID: PMC6892251 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2019] [Revised: 08/07/2019] [Accepted: 08/21/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The humans' brain asymmetry is observed in the early stages of life and known to change further with age. The developmental trajectory of such an asymmetry has been observed for language, as one of the most lateralized cognitive functions. However, it remains unclear how these age-related changes in structural asymmetry are related to changes in language performance. We collected longitudinal structural magnetic resonance imaging data of children from 5 to 6 years to investigate structural asymmetry development and its linkage to the improvement of language comprehension abilities. Our results showed substantial changes of language performance across time, which were associated with changes of cortical thickness asymmetry in the triangular part of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), constituting a portion of Broca's area. This suggests that language improvement is influenced by larger cortical thinning in the left triangular IFG compared to the right. This asymmetry in children's brain at age 5 and 6 years was further associated with the language performance at 7 years. To our knowledge, this is the first longitudinal study to demonstrate that children's improvement in sentence comprehension seems to depend on structural asymmetry changes in the IFG, further highlighting its crucial role in language acquisition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ting Qi
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Gesa Schaadt
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; Clinic of Cognitive Neurology, Medical Faculty, University Leipzig, Germany; Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Angela D Friederici
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
131
|
Xu M, Liang X, Ou J, Li H, Luo YJ, Tan LH. Sex Differences in Functional Brain Networks for Language. Cereb Cortex 2019; 30:1528-1537. [DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhz184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2019] [Revised: 06/20/2019] [Accepted: 07/17/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Men and women process language differently, but how the brain functions to support this difference is poorly understood. A few studies reported sex influences on brain activation for language, whereas others failed to detect the difference at the functional level. Recent advances of brain network analysis have shown great promise in picking up brain connectivity differences between sexes, leading us to hypothesize that the functional connections among distinct brain regions for language may differ in males and females. To test this hypothesis, we scanned 58 participants’ brain activities (28 males and 30 females) in a semantic decision task using functional magnetic resonance imaging. We found marked sex differences in dynamic interactions among language regions, as well as in functional segregation and integration of brain networks during language processing. The brain network differences were further supported by a machine learning analysis that accurately discriminated males from females using the multivariate patterns of functional connectivity. The sex-specific functional brain connectivity may constitute an essential neural basis for the long-held notion that men and women process language in different ways. Our finding also provides important implications for sex differences in the prevalence of language disorders, such as dyslexia and stuttering.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Min Xu
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
- Center for Language and Brain, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Xiuling Liang
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
- Center for Language and Brain, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518060, China
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen University Health Science Center, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Jian Ou
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
- Center for Language and Brain, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518060, China
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen University Health Science Center, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Hong Li
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
- Center for Language and Brain, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518060, China
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Yue-jia Luo
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
- Center for Language and Brain, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Li Hai Tan
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
- Center for Language and Brain, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen 518060, China
| |
Collapse
|
132
|
Le Guen Y, Auzias G, Leroy F, Noulhiane M, Dehaene-Lambertz G, Duchesnay E, Mangin JF, Coulon O, Frouin V. Genetic Influence on the Sulcal Pits: On the Origin of the First Cortical Folds. Cereb Cortex 2019; 28:1922-1933. [PMID: 28444225 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhx098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The influence of genes on cortical structures has been assessed through various phenotypes. The sulcal pits, which are the putative first cortical folds, have for long been assumed to be under tight genetic control, but this was never quantified. We estimated the pit depth heritability in various brain regions using the high quality and large sample size of the Human Connectome Project pedigree cohort. Analysis of additive genetic variance indicated that their heritability ranges between 0.2 and 0.5 and displays a regional genetic control with an overall symmetric pattern between hemispheres. However, a noticeable asymmetry of heritability estimates is observed in the superior temporal sulcus and could thus be related to language lateralization. The heritability range estimated in this study reinforces the idea that cortical shape is determined primarily by nongenetic factors, which is consistent with the important increase of cortical folding from birth to adult life and thus predominantly constrained by environmental factors. Nevertheless, the genetic cues, implicated with various local levels of heritability in the formation of sulcal pits, play a fundamental role in the normal gyral pattern development. Quantifying their influence and identifying the underlying genetic variants would provide insight into neurodevelopmental disorders.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yann Le Guen
- UNATI, Neurospin, Institut Joliot, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Guillaume Auzias
- Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, UMR 7289, Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Marseille 13000, France.,Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Information et des Systèmes, UMR 7296, Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Marseille 13000, France
| | - François Leroy
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, U992, INSERM, Neurospin, Institut Joliot, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Marion Noulhiane
- UNIACT, U1129, INSERM, Neurospin, Institut Joliot, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Ghislaine Dehaene-Lambertz
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, U992, INSERM, Neurospin, Institut Joliot, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Edouard Duchesnay
- UNATI, Neurospin, Institut Joliot, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Jean-François Mangin
- UNATI, Neurospin, Institut Joliot, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Olivier Coulon
- Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, UMR 7289, Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Marseille 13000, France.,Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Information et des Systèmes, UMR 7296, Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Marseille 13000, France
| | - Vincent Frouin
- UNATI, Neurospin, Institut Joliot, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| |
Collapse
|
133
|
Northam GB, Adler S, Eschmann KCJ, Chong WK, Cowan FM, Baldeweg T. Developmental conduction aphasia after neonatal stroke. Ann Neurol 2019; 83:664-675. [PMID: 29572915 PMCID: PMC6681109 DOI: 10.1002/ana.25218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2017] [Revised: 01/15/2018] [Accepted: 01/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Objective Impairment of speech repetition following injury to the dorsal language stream is a feature of conduction aphasia, a well‐described “disconnection syndrome” in adults. The impact of similar lesions sustained in infancy has not been established. Methods We compared language outcomes in term‐born individuals with confirmed neonatal stroke (n = 30, age = 7–18 years, left‐sided lesions in 21 cases) to matched controls (n = 40). Injury to the dorsal and/or ventral language streams was assessed using T1‐ and T2‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tractography. Language lateralization was determined using functional MRI. Results At the group level, left dorsal language stream injury was associated with selective speech repetition impairment for nonwords (p = 0.021) and sentences (p < 0.0001). The majority of children with significant repetition impairment had retained left hemisphere language representation, but right hemisphere dominance was correlated with minimal or absent repetition deficits. Post hoc analysis of the repetition‐impaired group revealed additional language‐associated deficits, but these were more subtle and variable. Interpretation We conclude that (1) despite the considerable plasticity of the infant brain, early dorsal language stream injury can result in specific and long‐lasting problems with speech repetition that are similar to the syndrome of conduction aphasia seen in adults; and (2) language reorganization to the contralateral hemisphere has a protective effect. Ann Neurol 2018;83:664–675 Ann Neurol 2018;83:664–675
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gemma B Northam
- Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, Developmental Neurosciences Programme, University College London.,Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children National Health Service Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
| | - Sophie Adler
- Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, Developmental Neurosciences Programme, University College London.,Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children National Health Service Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
| | - Kathrin C J Eschmann
- Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, Developmental Neurosciences Programme, University College London
| | - Wui K Chong
- Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children National Health Service Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
| | - Frances M Cowan
- Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.,Imperial College Health Care Trust, London, United Kingdom
| | - Torsten Baldeweg
- Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, Developmental Neurosciences Programme, University College London.,Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children National Health Service Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
134
|
Arredondo MM, Hu XS, Seifert E, Satterfield T, Kovelman I. Bilingual exposure enhances left IFG specialization for language in children. BILINGUALISM (CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND) 2019; 22:783-801. [PMID: 31372091 PMCID: PMC6675469 DOI: 10.1017/s1366728918000512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Language acquisition is characterized by progressive use of inflectional morphology marking verb tense and agreement. Linguistic milestones are also linked to left-brain lateralization for language specialization. We used neuroimaging (fNIRS) to investigate how bilingual exposure influences children's cortical organization for processing morpho-syntax. In Study 1, monolinguals and bilinguals (n=39) completed a grammaticality judgment task that included English sentences with violations in earlier- (verb agreement) and later-acquired (verb tense/agreement) structures. Groups showed similar performance and greater activation in left inferior frontal region (IFG) for later- than earlier-acquired conditions. Bilinguals showed stronger and more restricted left IFG activation. In Study 2, bilinguals completed a comparable Spanish task revealing patterns of left IFG activation similar to English. Taken together, the findings suggest that bilinguals with linguistic competence at parity with monolingual counterparts have a higher degree of cortical specialization for language, likely a result of enriched linguistic experiences.
Collapse
|
135
|
Arredondo MM, Hu XS, Satterfield T, Tsutsumi Riobóo A, Gelman SA, Kovelman I. Bilingual effects on lexical selection: A neurodevelopmental perspective. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2019; 195:104640. [PMID: 31252177 PMCID: PMC6716384 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2019.104640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2018] [Revised: 03/31/2019] [Accepted: 05/31/2019] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
When a listener hears a word, multiple lexical items may come to mind; for instance, /kæn/ may activate concepts with similar phonological onsets such as candy and candle. Acquisition of two lexicons may increase such linguistic competition. Using functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy neuroimaging, we investigate whether bilingualism impacts word processing in the child's brain. Bilingual and monolingual children (N = 52; ages 7-10) completed a lexical selection task in English, where participants adjudicated phonological competitors (e.g., car/cat vs. car/pen). Children were less accurate and responded more slowly during competing than non-competing items. In doing so, children engaged top-down fronto-parietal regions associated with cognitive control. In comparison to bilinguals, monolinguals showed greater activity in left frontal regions, a difference possibly due to bilinguals' adaptation for dual-lexicons. These differences provide insight to theories aiming to explain the role of experience on children's emerging neural networks for lexical selection and language processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maria M Arredondo
- The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T-1Z4, Canada; Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT 06511, United States.
| | - Xiao-Su Hu
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States
| | | | | | - Susan A Gelman
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States
| | | |
Collapse
|
136
|
Kuhlwilm M, Boeckx C. A catalog of single nucleotide changes distinguishing modern humans from archaic hominins. Sci Rep 2019; 9:8463. [PMID: 31186485 PMCID: PMC6560109 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-44877-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2019] [Accepted: 05/24/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Throughout the past decade, studying ancient genomes has provided unique insights into human prehistory, and differences between modern humans and other branches like Neanderthals can enrich our understanding of the molecular basis of unique modern human traits. Modern human variation and the interactions between different hominin lineages are now well studied, making it reasonable to go beyond fixed genetic changes and explore changes that are observed at high frequency in present-day humans. Here, we identify 571 genes with non-synonymous changes at high frequency. We suggest that molecular mechanisms in cell division and networks affecting cellular features of neurons were prominently modified by these changes. Complex phenotypes in brain growth trajectory and cognitive traits are likely influenced by these networks and other non-coding changes presented here. We propose that at least some of these changes contributed to uniquely human traits, and should be prioritized for experimental validation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Martin Kuhlwilm
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva, (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), PRBB, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cedric Boeckx
- ICREA, Barcelona, Spain.
- University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
- UB Institute of Complex Systems, Barcelona, Spain.
| |
Collapse
|
137
|
Loosli SV, Bormann T, Mader I, Martin M, Schumacher LV, Katzev M, Weiller C, Kaller CP. Dissociation among preserved resistance to proactive interference and impaired behavioral inhibition in a patient with bilateral lesions in the inferior frontal gyrus: A single-case study. Cortex 2019; 119:111-127. [PMID: 31121467 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.03.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2018] [Revised: 01/17/2019] [Accepted: 03/27/2019] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Inhibition is not a unitary construct, as different inhibition-related functions have been disentangled. The present single-case study compares performance of a patient with bilateral lesions in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and anterior insula to healthy age-matched controls in different inhibition-related tasks. Particular focus was on the resolution of proactive interference that is supposed to rely on bilateral IFG and anterior insula. Two working memory tasks previously proven sensitive to deficits in proactive interference (recent-probes, n-back) and two tasks measuring behavioral inhibition (verb generation task, Stroop task) were administered. Against expectations, the patient did not show any deficits in measures of proactive interference. However, compared to controls, she demonstrated considerably reduced performance in both measures of behavioral inhibition, thus resulting in a classical dissociation between proactive interference and behavioral inhibition. Although performance improved during the chronic phase post stroke, the overall pattern of a classical dissociation between proactive interference and behavioral inhibition remained stable across time. Taken together, the present data support the role of the IFG in inhibition-related functions, but a direct relationship between lesions in the IFG and difficulties in resolution of proactive interference could not be corroborated.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sandra V Loosli
- Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany; Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany; Freiburg Brain Imaging Center, University of Freiburg, Germany; Neurologische Klinik und Poliklinik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.
| | - Tobias Bormann
- Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany; Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany; Freiburg Brain Imaging Center, University of Freiburg, Germany
| | - Irina Mader
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany; Department of Neuroradiology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany
| | - Markus Martin
- Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany; Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany; Freiburg Brain Imaging Center, University of Freiburg, Germany
| | - Lena V Schumacher
- Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany; Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany; Freiburg Brain Imaging Center, University of Freiburg, Germany; Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany
| | - Michael Katzev
- Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany; Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany; Freiburg Brain Imaging Center, University of Freiburg, Germany
| | - Cornelius Weiller
- Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany; Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany; Freiburg Brain Imaging Center, University of Freiburg, Germany; BrainLinks-BrainTools Cluster of Excellence, University of Freiburg, Germany
| | - Christoph P Kaller
- Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany; Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany; Freiburg Brain Imaging Center, University of Freiburg, Germany; Department of Neuroradiology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany; BrainLinks-BrainTools Cluster of Excellence, University of Freiburg, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
138
|
Cargnelutti E, Tomasino B, Fabbro F. Language Brain Representation in Bilinguals With Different Age of Appropriation and Proficiency of the Second Language: A Meta-Analysis of Functional Imaging Studies. Front Hum Neurosci 2019; 13:154. [PMID: 31178707 PMCID: PMC6537025 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2019.00154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2018] [Accepted: 04/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Language representation in the bilingual brain is the result of many factors, of which age of appropriation (AoA) and proficiency of the second language (L2) are probably the most studied. Many studies indeed compare early and late bilinguals, although it is not yet clear what the role of the so-called critical period in L2 appropriation is. In this study, we carried out coordinate-based meta-analyses to address this issue and to inspect the role of proficiency in addition to that of AoA. After the preliminary inspection of the early (also very early) and late bilinguals' language networks, we explored the specific activations associated with each language and compared them within and between the groups. Results confirmed that the L2 language brain representation was wider than that associated with L1. This was observed regardless of AoA, although differences were more relevant in the late bilinguals' group. In particular, L2 entailed a greater enrollment of the brain areas devoted to the executive functions, and this was also observed in proficient bilinguals. The early bilinguals displayed many activation clusters as well, which also included the areas involved in cognitive control. Interestingly, these regions activated even in L1 of both early and late bilingual groups, although less consistently. Overall, these findings suggest that bilinguals in general are constantly subjected to cognitive effort to monitor and regulate the language use, although early AoA and high proficiency are likely to reduce this.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Cargnelutti
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, Dipartimento/Unità Operativa Pasian di Prato, Udine, Italy
| | - Barbara Tomasino
- Scientific Institute, IRCCS E. Medea, Dipartimento/Unità Operativa Pasian di Prato, Udine, Italy
| | - Franco Fabbro
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, DILL, University of Udine, Udine, Italy
- PERCRO Perceptual Robotics Laboratory, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
139
|
Association between Salivary Alpha-Amylase and Executive Functioning in Healthy Children. SPANISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2019; 22:E24. [DOI: 10.1017/sjp.2019.26] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
AbstractThe main aim of this study was to confirm the relationship between executive performance and salivary alpha-amylase (SAA) activity in a sample of 64 healthy children (39 boys), and compare it to the association of SAA output and salivary flow rate (SFR). Executive functioning was assessed via fluency, trail-making, rings and inhibition tasks from the Batería de Evaluación Neuropsicológica de la Función Ejecutiva en Niños [Battery of Neuropsychological Assessment for Executive Function in Children] (ENFEN), merged into an ENFEN total score. SAA activity, output, and SFR were measured at baseline, one minute before, and one minute after the end of a neuropsychological testing session. Our results confirmed a direct, linear and significant association between SAA activity and executive functioning, r(64) = .351, p < .05, and extended it to SAA output, r(64) =.431, p < .05. The mean level of SAA output was the best predictor of executive functioning (β = .431, p < .05) and explained 18.2 % of the variance in ENFEN total score. In sum, and compared to SAA activity, measuring SAA output may be a more precise and indirect marker to assess executive functioning in children.
Collapse
|
140
|
Bruckert L, Borchers LR, Dodson CK, Marchman VA, Travis KE, Ben-Shachar M, Feldman HM. White Matter Plasticity in Reading-Related Pathways Differs in Children Born Preterm and at Term: A Longitudinal Analysis. Front Hum Neurosci 2019; 13:139. [PMID: 31139064 PMCID: PMC6519445 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2019.00139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2018] [Accepted: 04/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Children born preterm (PT) are at risk for white matter injuries based on complications of prematurity. They learn to read but on average perform below peers born full term (FT). Studies have yet to establish whether properties of white matter pathways at the onset of learning to read are associated with individual variation later in reading development in PT children. Here, we asked whether fractional anisotropy (FA) at age 6 years is associated with reading outcome at age 8 years in PT children in the same pathways as previously demonstrated in a sample of FT children. PT (n = 34, mean gestational age = 29.5 weeks) and FT children (n = 37) completed diffusion MRI and standardized measures of non-verbal IQ, language, and phonological awareness at age 6 years. Reading skills were assessed at age 8 years. Mean tract-FA was extracted from pathways that predicted reading outcome in children born FT: left arcuate fasciculus (Arc), bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), and left inferior cerebellar peduncle (ICP). We explored associations in additional pathways in the PT children: bilateral inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, and uncinate fasciculus. Linear regression models examined whether the prediction of reading outcome at age 8 years based on mean tract-FA at age 6 years was moderated by birth group. Children born PT and FT did not differ significantly in tract-FA at age 6 years or in reading at age 8 years. Sex, socioeconomic status, and non-verbal IQ at age 6 years were associated with reading outcome and were included as covariates in all models. Birth group status significantly moderated associations between reading outcome and mean tract-FA only in the left Arc, right SLF, and left ICP, before and after consideration of pre-literacy skills. Microstructural properties of these cerebral and cerebellar pathways predicted later reading outcome in FT but not in PT children. Children born PT may rely on alternative pathways to achieve fluent reading. These findings have implications for plasticity of neural organization after early white matter injury.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Bruckert
- The Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Research Group, Division of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
| | - Lauren R Borchers
- The Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Research Group, Division of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
| | - Cory K Dodson
- The Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Research Group, Division of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
| | - Virginia A Marchman
- Language Learning Lab, Center for Infant Studies, Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
| | - Katherine E Travis
- The Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Research Group, Division of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
| | - Michal Ben-Shachar
- The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.,Department of English Literature and Linguistics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Heidi M Feldman
- The Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Research Group, Division of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
| |
Collapse
|
141
|
Qi T, Schaadt G, Cafiero R, Brauer J, Skeide MA, Friederici AD. The emergence of long-range language network structural covariance and language abilities. Neuroimage 2019; 191:36-48. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.02.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2018] [Revised: 01/28/2019] [Accepted: 02/05/2019] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
|
142
|
Liu J, Tsang T, Jackson L, Ponting C, Jeste SS, Bookheimer SY, Dapretto M. Altered lateralization of dorsal language tracts in 6-week-old infants at risk for autism. Dev Sci 2019; 22:e12768. [PMID: 30372577 PMCID: PMC6470045 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2018] [Revised: 10/11/2018] [Accepted: 10/22/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Altered structural connectivity has been identified as a possible biomarker of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk in the developing brain. Core features of ASD include impaired social communication and early language delay. Thus, examining white matter tracts associated with language may lend further insight into early signs of ASD risk and the mechanisms that underlie language impairments associated with the disorder. Evidence of altered structural connectivity has previously been detected in 6-month-old infants at high familial risk for developing ASD. However, as language processing begins in utero, differences in structural connectivity between language regions may be present in the early infant brain shortly after birth. Here we investigated key white matter pathways of the dorsal language network in 6-week-old infants at high (HR) and low (LR) risk for ASD to identify atypicalities in structural connectivity that may predict altered developmental trajectories prior to overt language delays and the onset of ASD symptomatology. Compared to HR infants, LR infants showed higher fractional anisotropy (FA) in the left superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF); in contrast, in the right SLF, HR infants showed higher FA than LR infants. Additionally, HR infants showed more rightward lateralization of the SLF. Across both groups, measures of FA and lateralization of these pathways at 6 weeks of age were related to later language development at 18 months of age as well as ASD symptomatology at 36 months of age. These findings indicate that early differences in the structure of language pathways may provide an early predictor of future language development and ASD risk.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Janelle Liu
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Tawny Tsang
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Lisa Jackson
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Carolyn Ponting
- Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Shafali S. Jeste
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Susan Y. Bookheimer
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Center for Cognitive Neurosciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Mirella Dapretto
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
143
|
Abstract
The study of the origin and evolution of consciousness presents several problems. The first problem concerns terminology. The word consciousness comes from the Latin term conscĭentĭa that means "knowledge shared with others." However, the term consciousness also refers to several other aspects involving both its levels (sleep, coma, dreams and waking state) and contents (subjective, phenomenal and objective). A second issue is the problem of other minds, namely, the possibility to establish whether others have minds very like our own. Moreover, human consciousness has been linked to three different forms of memory: procedural/implicit, semantic and episodic. All these different aspects of consciousness will be discussed in the first part of the chapter. In the second part, we discuss different neuroscientific theories on consciousness and examine how research from developmental psychology, clinical neurology (epilepsy, coma, vegetative state and minimal state of consciousness), neuropsychology (blindsight, agnosia, neglect, split-brain and ocular rivalry), and comparative neuropsychophysiology contribute to the study of consciousness. Finally, in the last part of the chapter we discuss the distinctive features of human consciousness and in particular the ability to travel mentally through time, the phenomenon of joint intentionality, theory of mind and language.
Collapse
|
144
|
Verbal Fluency Is Affected by Altered Brain Lateralization in Adults Who Were Born Very Preterm. eNeuro 2019; 6:eN-NWR-0274-18. [PMID: 31001576 PMCID: PMC6469882 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0274-18.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2018] [Revised: 11/20/2018] [Accepted: 11/25/2018] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Language difficulties have been reported in children and adolescents who were born very preterm (<32 weeks’ gestation) and associated with an atypical lateralization of language processing, i.e., increased right-hemispheric engagement. This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and spherical deconvolution tractography to study the hemodynamic responses associated with verbal fluency processing (easy and hard letter trials) and verbal fluency-related white matter fiber tracts in 64 very preterm born adults and 36 adult controls (mean age: 30 years). Tractography of the arcuate fasciculus (AF) and frontal aslant tract (FAT) was performed. Tracts were quantified in terms of mean volume, hindrance modulated orientational anisotropy, and lateralization, assessed using a laterality index (LI) to indicate hemispheric dominance. During verbal fluency fMRI, very preterm participants displayed decreased hemodynamic response suppression in both the Easy > Rest and Hard > Rest conditions, compared to controls, in superior temporal gyrus (STG), insula, thalamus, and sensorimotor cortex, particularly in the right hemisphere. At the whole-group level, decreased hemodynamic response suppression in the right sensorimotor cortex was associated with worse on-line performance on the hard letter trials. Increased left-laterality in the AF was present alongside increased right hemispheric hemodynamic response suppression in controls. When only right-handed participants were considered, decreased hemodynamic response suppression in the right STG during hard letter trials was related to weaker left and right FAT white matter integrity in the preterm group only. These results show that verbal fluency is affected by altered functional lateralization in adults who were born very preterm.
Collapse
|
145
|
Petanjek Z, Sedmak D, Džaja D, Hladnik A, Rašin MR, Jovanov-Milosevic N. The Protracted Maturation of Associative Layer IIIC Pyramidal Neurons in the Human Prefrontal Cortex During Childhood: A Major Role in Cognitive Development and Selective Alteration in Autism. Front Psychiatry 2019; 10:122. [PMID: 30923504 PMCID: PMC6426783 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2018] [Accepted: 02/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The human specific cognitive shift starts around the age of 2 years with the onset of self-awareness, and continues with extraordinary increase in cognitive capacities during early childhood. Diffuse changes in functional connectivity in children aged 2-6 years indicate an increase in the capacity of cortical network. Interestingly, structural network complexity does not increase during this time and, thus, it is likely to be induced by selective maturation of a specific neuronal subclass. Here, we provide an overview of a subclass of cortico-cortical neurons, the associative layer IIIC pyramids of the human prefrontal cortex. Their local axonal collaterals are in control of the prefrontal cortico-cortical output, while their long projections modulate inter-areal processing. In this way, layer IIIC pyramids are the major integrative element of cortical processing, and changes in their connectivity patterns will affect global cortical functioning. Layer IIIC neurons have a unique pattern of dendritic maturation. In contrast to other classes of principal neurons, they undergo an additional phase of extensive dendritic growth during early childhood, and show characteristic molecular changes. Taken together, circuits associated with layer IIIC neurons have the most protracted period of developmental plasticity. This unique feature is advanced but also provides a window of opportunity for pathological events to disrupt normal formation of cognitive circuits involving layer IIIC neurons. In this manuscript, we discuss how disrupted dendritic and axonal maturation of layer IIIC neurons may lead into global cortical disconnectivity, affecting development of complex communication and social abilities. We also propose a model that developmentally dictated incorporation of layer IIIC neurons into maturing cortico-cortical circuits between 2 to 6 years will reveal a previous (perinatal) lesion affecting other classes of principal neurons. This "disclosure" of pre-existing functionally silent lesions of other neuronal classes induced by development of layer IIIC associative neurons, or their direct alteration, could be found in different forms of autism spectrum disorders. Understanding the gene-environment interaction in shaping cognitive microcircuitries may be fundamental for developing rehabilitation and prevention strategies in autism spectrum and other cognitive disorders.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zdravko Petanjek
- Department of Anatomy and Clinical Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Department of Neuroscience, Croatian Institute for Brain Research, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Center of Excellence for Basic, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Dora Sedmak
- Department of Anatomy and Clinical Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Department of Neuroscience, Croatian Institute for Brain Research, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Center of Excellence for Basic, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Domagoj Džaja
- Department of Anatomy and Clinical Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Department of Neuroscience, Croatian Institute for Brain Research, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Center of Excellence for Basic, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Ana Hladnik
- Department of Anatomy and Clinical Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Department of Neuroscience, Croatian Institute for Brain Research, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Center of Excellence for Basic, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Mladen Roko Rašin
- Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Rutgers University, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ, United States
| | - Nataša Jovanov-Milosevic
- Department of Neuroscience, Croatian Institute for Brain Research, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Center of Excellence for Basic, Clinical and Translational Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Department of Medical Biology, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| |
Collapse
|
146
|
Origin and evolution of human speech: Emergence from a trimodal auditory, visual and vocal network. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2019; 250:345-371. [PMID: 31703907 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2019.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
In recent years, there have been important additions to the classical model of speech processing as originally depicted by the Broca-Wernicke model consisting of an anterior, productive region and a posterior, perceptive region, both connected via the arcuate fasciculus. The modern view implies a separation into a dorsal and a ventral pathway conveying different kinds of linguistic information, which parallels the organization of the visual system. Furthermore, this organization is highly conserved in evolution and can be seen as the neural scaffolding from which the speech networks originated. In this chapter we emphasize that the speech networks are embedded in a multimodal system encompassing audio-vocal and visuo-vocal connections, which can be referred to an ancestral audio-visuo-motor pathway present in nonhuman primates. Likewise, we propose a trimodal repertoire for speech processing and acquisition involving auditory, visual and motor representations of the basic elements of speech: phoneme, observation of mouth movements, and articulatory processes. Finally, we discuss this proposal in the context of a scenario for early speech acquisition in infants and in human evolution.
Collapse
|
147
|
Liégeois FJ, Turner SJ, Mayes A, Bonthrone AF, Boys A, Smith L, Parry-Fielder B, Mandelstam S, Spencer-Smith M, Bahlo M, Scerri TS, Hildebrand MS, Scheffer IE, Connelly A, Morgan AT. Dorsal language stream anomalies in an inherited speech disorder. Brain 2019; 142:966-977. [DOI: 10.1093/brain/awz018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2018] [Revised: 12/04/2018] [Accepted: 12/07/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - Samantha J Turner
- The University of Melbourne, Parkville VIC, Australia
- Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville VIC, Australia
| | - Angela Mayes
- Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville VIC, Australia
| | | | - Amber Boys
- Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville VIC, Australia
- Victorian Clinical Genetics Services, 50 Flemington Rd, Parkville VIC, Australia
| | - Libby Smith
- Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville VIC, Australia
| | | | - Simone Mandelstam
- The University of Melbourne, Parkville VIC, Australia
- Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville VIC, Australia
- Royal Children’s Hospital, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville VIC, Australia
| | - Megan Spencer-Smith
- Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville VIC, Australia
- Monash University, Scenic Blvd, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Melanie Bahlo
- The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, 1G Royal Parade, Parkville VIC, Australia
| | - Tom S Scerri
- The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, 1G Royal Parade, Parkville VIC, Australia
| | | | - Ingrid E Scheffer
- The University of Melbourne, Parkville VIC, Australia
- Royal Children’s Hospital, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville VIC, Australia
| | - Alan Connelly
- The University of Melbourne, Parkville VIC, Australia
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville VIC, Australia
| | - Angela T Morgan
- The University of Melbourne, Parkville VIC, Australia
- Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville VIC, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
148
|
Chen L, Wu J, Fu Y, Kang H, Feng L. Neural substrates of word category information as the basis of syntactic processing. Hum Brain Mapp 2019; 40:451-464. [PMID: 30240492 PMCID: PMC6865558 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2018] [Revised: 08/27/2018] [Accepted: 08/27/2018] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The ability to use word category information (WCI) for syntactic structure building has been hypothesized to be the essence of human language faculty. The neural substrate of the ability of using the WCI for the complex syntactic hierarchical structure processing, however, is yet unknown. Therefore, we directly conducted an fMRI experiment by using a pseudo-Chinese artificial language with syntactic structures containing a center-embedded relative clause. Thirty non-Chinese native (Korean) speakers were randomly divided into two groups: one acquired WCI and WCI-based syntactic rules (the WCI group) before the scanning session, and the other did not (the non-WCI group). Both groups were required to judge the grammaticality of the testing sentences, with critical long-distance dependencies between two elements (the main verb and the relativizer). Behaviorally, the WCI group's accuracy was significantly higher and its reaction time was shorter. The scanning results showed that the left superior temporal gyrus (STG) and Broca's area were more strongly activated for the WCI group, and the dynamic causal modeling analyses revealed a distinct effective connectivity pattern for this group. Therefore, the present research, for the first time, reveals that the activation of and the functional connectivity between Broca's area and the left STG play a critical role in the ability of the rule-based use of the WCI which is crucial for complex hierarchical structure building, and might be substantially corresponding to the "labeling competence" within the linguistic framework.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Luyao Chen
- College of Chinese Language and Culture, Beijing Normal UniversityBeijingChina
- Department of NeuropsychologyMax Plank Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain SciencesLeipzigGermany
| | - Junjie Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and LearningBeijing Normal UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Yongben Fu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and LearningBeijing Normal UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Huntae Kang
- College of Chinese Language and Culture, Beijing Normal UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Liping Feng
- College of Chinese Language and Culture, Beijing Normal UniversityBeijingChina
| |
Collapse
|
149
|
White-matter pathways and semantic processing: intrasurgical and lesion-symptom mapping evidence. NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL 2019; 22:101704. [PMID: 30743137 PMCID: PMC6370559 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2019.101704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2018] [Revised: 01/25/2019] [Accepted: 01/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
In the present study, we aimed to test the association between the correct function of the left ventral white matter pathways and semantic processing (dual stream models for language processing, Hickok & Poeppel, 2004), using a new set of language tasks during intraoperative electrical stimulation at white matter level. Additionally, we evaluated brain regions needed for correct performance on the different semantic tasks using lesion-symptom analyses (voxel lesion-symptom mapping and track-wise lesion analysis) in a sample of 62 candidates for the awake brain surgery. We found that electrical stimulation in the vicinity of the inferior longitudinal and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculi disturbed performance on semantic processing tasks. Individuals presented with significantly more semantic paraphasias during brain tumor resection than during the electrical stimulation at the cortex level. Track-wise analyses confirmed the role of these left ventral pathways in semantic processing: a significant relationship was observed between the probability of inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus disconnection/damage and the semantic matching tasks, as well as the number of semantic paraphasias in naming. Importantly, the same analyses for the total score of the Boston Naming Test confirmed significant relationships between this test score and the integrity of the inferior fronto-occipital, inferior longitudinal and uncinate fasciculi. This was further supported by the results of VLSM analyses showing a significant relationship between BNT and the presence of lesion within left middle and inferior temporal gyri. The present findings provide new intraoperative evidence for the role of the white-matter ventral pathways in semantic processing, while at the same time emphasizing the need to include a broader assessment of semantic-conceptual aspects during the awake neurosurgical intervention. This approach will ensure better preservation of functional tissue in the tumoral vicinity and therefore substantially diminish post-surgical language impairments. Direct electrical stimulation on the ventral white matter disrupts semantic processing. Track-wise analyses confirm intraoperative findings. Semantic matching a good candidate for monitoring in brain tumor surgeries.
Collapse
|
150
|
Choi EJ, Vandewouw MM, Young JM, Taylor MJ. Language Network Function in Young Children Born Very Preterm. Front Hum Neurosci 2018; 12:512. [PMID: 30618688 PMCID: PMC6306484 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2018] [Accepted: 12/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Language deficits are reported in preterm born children across development. Recent neuroimaging studies have found functional alterations in large-scale brain networks underlying these language deficits, but the early childhood development of the language network has not been investigated. Here, we compared intrinsic language network connectivity in 4-year-old children born VPT and term-born controls, using defined language regions (Broca's area, Wernicke's areas, and their homologues in the right hemisphere). Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was obtained, and the group differences in whole-brain connectivity were examined from each seed as well as correlations with language outcomes. We found significantly decreased functional connectivity in almost all language regions in children born VPT compared to their term controls. Notably, Broca's area homologue in the right hemisphere emerged as a functional hub of decreased connectivity in VPT group, specifically to bilateral inferior frontal and supramarginal gyri; connectivity strength between Broca's area homologue with the right supramarginal and the left inferior frontal gyri was associated with better language outcomes at 4 years of age. Wernicke's area and its homologue also showed decreased inter-hemispheric connections to bilateral supramarginal gyri in the VPT group. Decreased intra- and inter-hemispheric connectivity among primary language regions suggests immature and altered function in the language network in children born VPT.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Eun Jung Choi
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Marlee M Vandewouw
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Neurosciences & Mental Health, SickKids Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Julia M Young
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Neurosciences & Mental Health, SickKids Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Margot J Taylor
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Neurosciences & Mental Health, SickKids Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Medical Imaging, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| |
Collapse
|