Distinctive neural signatures for negative sentences in Hindi: an fMRI study

Understanding an implicated causality: The brain network for processing concessive relations

Concessive relations, often indicated by conjunction words such as although, are semantically and pragmatically more complex than causal relations (expressed using because), as they involve more semantic features such as implicated meaning and negation. However, it remains unclear how linguistic-level complexity is manifested through different brain activities and functional connectivities. This fMRI study investigated how the neural underpinnings of concessive relations differ from those of causal relations. Pragmatically congruent and incongruent words were embedded in causal as well as concessive sentences. The whole-brain analysis revealed that relative to because-congruent sentences, although-congruent sentences evoked increased activations in a left network including IFG, bilateral MFG, mPFC, pMTG, and TPJ. DCM analysis showed that while the functional connectivity from IFG to MFG was commonly involved in processing concessive and causal relations, functional connectivities from pMTG to IFG and from pMTG to TPJ were involved in processing causal and concessive relations, respectively.

Negative polarity in quantifiers evokes greater activation in language-related regions compared to negative polarity in adjectives

The processing of sentences with negative quantifiers (e.g., few) is more costly than of sentences that contain their positive counterparts (e.g., many). While this polarity effect is robust and reliably replicable, its neurological bases are not well understood. In this study, we use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm for 30 participants to assess the polarity effect in sentences with polar quantifiers, and compare it with the polarity effect of polar adjectives. Both in quantifiers and in adjectives, the polarity effect manifests in the anterior insula bilaterally. The polarity effect in quantifiers, however, shows greater activation in the left hemisphere than it does for adjectives. In particular, left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and left superior temporal sulcus (STS) show increased activation for polarity in quantifiers than in adjectives, which is the evidence for the specific involvement of the language network in this type of polarity processing. Using the polarity effect in adjectives as a control, we provide further evidence for the linguistic complexity that negative quantifiers implicate on processing.

ERP Study of Affirmative and Negative Sentences' Impact on Self-Positivity Bias

To explore how the sentence contexts affect self-positivity bias, we presented the participants with negation and affirmation sentences. Each sentence was ended with an adjective word describing human being's personality. The participants were asked to judge whether the sentences correctly described their own personalities. In affirmation sentences, the behavioral data showed that self-positivity bias occurred when participants considered the sentences to be in accordance with their personality; the ERP data showed that P200 amplitude was consistent with this behavioral result. In negation sentences, behavioral data showed self-positivity bias, regardless of whether the sentences were in accordance with participants' personality or not. However, the self-positivity bias was not observed in the ERP results from negation sentence. In summary, sentence type modulated the effect of self-positivity bias. The reason could be that processing affirmation and negation sentences requires different amount of cognitive resources.

Neural dichotomy of word concreteness: a view from functional neuroimaging

Our perception about the representation and processing of concrete and abstract concepts is based on the fact that concrete words are highly imagined and remembered faster than abstract words. In order to explain the processing differences between abstract and concrete concepts, various theories have been proposed, yet there is no unanimous consensus about its neural implication. The present study investigated the processing of concrete and abstract words during an orthography judgment task (implicit semantic processing) using functional magnetic resonance imaging to validate the involvement of the neural regions. Relative to non-words, both abstract and concrete words show activation in the regions of bilateral hemisphere previously associated with semantic processing. The common areas (conjunction analyses) observed for abstract and concrete words are bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (BA 44/45), left superior parietal (BA 7), left fusiform gyrus and bilateral middle occipital. The additional areas for abstract words were noticed in bilateral superior temporal and bilateral middle temporal region, whereas no distinct region was noticed for concrete words. This suggests that words with abstract concepts recruit additional language regions in the brain.

The Elusive Role of the Left Temporal Pole (BA38) in Language: A Preliminary Meta-Analytic Connectivity Study

It has been suggested that the left temporal pole (Brodmann area 38 (BA38)) participates in diverse language functions, including semantic processing, speech comprehension, and naming. Utilizing the activation likelihood estimation (ALE), a meta-analytic connectivity study was conducted to further our understanding on the role of BA38 in language. Departing from the BrainMap functional database, 11 papers corresponding to 12 paradigms including 201 participants were selected. Initially, P<0.01 was employed as the significance level, resulting in the presence of four different activation clusters. However, when the significance level was lowered to P<0.05, sixteen activation clusters appeared, including classical language areas such as Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas. It was concluded that (1) this meta-analytic connectivity study suggests the presence of two major connection circuits involving BA38; one is related to language, while the other may be involved in visuospatial and integrative audiovisual functions. Furthermore, (2) BA38 also contributes to various brain networks supporting linguistic processes related not only to language comprehension but also to language production.

Comprehension of action negation involves inhibitory simulation

Previous research suggests that action language is comprehended by activating the motor system. We report a study, investigating a critical question in this research field: do negative sentences activate the motor system? Participants were exposed to sentences in the affirmation and negation forms while the zygomatic muscle activity on the left side of the face was continuously measured (Electromyography technique: EMG). Sentences were descriptions of emotional expressions that mapped either directly upon the zygomatic muscle (e.g., "I am smiling") or did not (e.g., "I am frowning"). Reading sentences involving the negation of the activity of a specific muscle (zygomatic major-"I am not smiling") is shown to lead to the inhibition of this muscle. Reading sentences involving the affirmative form instead ("I am smiling") leads to the activation of zygomatic mucle. In contrast, sentences describing an activity that is irrelevant to the zygomatic muscle (e.g., "I am frowning" or "I am not frowning") produce no muscle activity. These results extend the range of simulation models to negation and by implication to an abstract domain. We discuss how this research contributes to the grounding of abstract and concrete concepts.