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Alekseeva M, Myachykov A, Bermudez-Margaretto B, Shtyrov Y. Morphosyntactic prediction in automatic neural processing of spoken language: EEG evidence. Brain Res 2024; 1836:148949. [PMID: 38641266 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2024.148949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2023] [Revised: 03/29/2024] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 04/21/2024]
Abstract
Automatic parsing of syntactic information by the human brain is a well-established phenomenon, but its mechanisms remain poorly understood. Its best-known neurophysiological reflection is the so-called early left-anterior negativity (ELAN) component of event-related potentials (ERPs), with two alternative hypotheses for its origin: (1) error detection, or (2) morphosyntactic prediction/priming. To test these alternatives, we conducted two experiments using a non-attend passive design with visual distraction and recorded ERPs to spoken pronoun-verb phrases with/without agreement violations and to the same critical verbs presented in isolation without preceding pronouns. The results revealed an ELAN at ∼130-220 ms for pronoun-verb gender agreement violations, confirming a high degree of automaticity in early morphosyntactic parsing. Critically, the strongest ELAN was elicited by verbs outside phrasal context, which suggests that the typical ELAN pattern is underpinned by a reduction of ERP amplitudes for felicitous combinations, reflecting syntactic priming/predictability between related words/morphemes (potentially mediated by associative links formed during previous linguistic experience) rather than specialised error-detection processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Alekseeva
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation.
| | | | - Beatriz Bermudez-Margaretto
- Instituto de Integración en la Comunidad (INICO), Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Yury Shtyrov
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
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2
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De Rosa M, Vignali L, D’Urso A, Ktori M, Bottini R, Crepaldi D. Selective Neural Entrainment Reveals Hierarchical Tuning to Linguistic Regularities in Reading. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2024; 5:528-552. [PMID: 38911459 PMCID: PMC11192515 DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2024] [Indexed: 06/25/2024]
Abstract
Reading is both a visual and a linguistic task, and as such it relies on both general-purpose, visual mechanisms and more abstract, meaning-oriented processes. Disentangling the roles of these resources is of paramount importance in reading research. The present study capitalizes on the coupling of fast periodic visual stimulation and MEG recordings to address this issue and investigate the role of different kinds of visual and linguistic units in the visual word identification system. We compared strings of pseudo-characters; strings of consonants (e.g., sfcl); readable, but unattested strings (e.g., amsi); frequent, but non-meaningful chunks (e.g., idge); suffixes (e.g., ment); and words (e.g., vibe); and looked for discrimination responses with a particular focus on the ventral, occipito-temporal regions. The results revealed sensitivity to alphabetic, readable, familiar, and lexical stimuli. Interestingly, there was no discrimination between suffixes and equally frequent, but meaningless endings, thus highlighting a lack of sensitivity to semantics. Taken together, the data suggest that the visual word identification system, at least in its early processing stages, is particularly tuned to form-based regularities, most likely reflecting its reliance on general-purpose, statistical learning mechanisms that are a core feature of the visual system as implemented in the ventral stream.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mara De Rosa
- Cognitive Neuroscience Department, International School for Advanced Studies, Trieste, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Vignali
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Mattarello, Trento, Italy
| | - Anna D’Urso
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Mattarello, Trento, Italy
| | - Maria Ktori
- Cognitive Neuroscience Department, International School for Advanced Studies, Trieste, Italy
| | - Roberto Bottini
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Mattarello, Trento, Italy
| | - Davide Crepaldi
- Cognitive Neuroscience Department, International School for Advanced Studies, Trieste, Italy
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3
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Lyytinen H, Louleli N. Brain-Related Research as a Support Mechanism to Help Learners to Acquire Full Literacy. Brain Sci 2023; 13:865. [PMID: 37371345 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13060865] [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: 03/09/2023] [Revised: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Possibly some of the most important skills that one can have are those needed to become fully literate. We all wish our children to reach such a goal. Unfortunately, the focus of attention in reading research has been on acquiring readiness to sound out written language, i.e., the basic reading skills. Full literacy is the readiness to learn knowledge by reading. Thus, one has to be able to take two steps to reach full literacy. Indications related to both of these steps can be observe in the brain. This may be easiest when we observe the brain activity of a learner who faces difficulties in taking these steps. In fact, the serious difficulty of taking the first step can be observed soon after birth, shown below as a summary of relevant details from the paper published earlier in this journal. The step from a basic reading skill to reading comprehension requires that one must learn to read for the mediating meanings of the text, i.e., its morphological information, on top of the phonological one. This can also be approached using brain-related observations, as we show here, too. Taking these steps varies between orthographies. Here, we illustrate the learning of these steps in the context of transparently written alphabetic writings by choosing it as our concrete example because its readers form the majority of readers of alphabetic writings. After learning these facts, we had to be able to help those who face difficulties in these steps to overcome her/his bottlenecks. We summarize how we have tried to do that. Each step can be taken using a digital game-like training environment, which, happily, is now open to be distributed for the use of (almost) all in the world. How we have already tried that concerning the first step is illustrated below. Additionally, how we plan to do that concerning the second step, the final goal, completes our present story.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heikki Lyytinen
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Fl-40014 Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Natalia Louleli
- BCBL, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, Mikeletegi Pasealekua 69, 20009 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
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4
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Zou Y, Tsang YK, Shum YH, Tse CY. Full-form vs. combinatorial processing of Chinese compound words: Evidence from mismatch negativity. Int J Psychophysiol 2023; 187:11-19. [PMID: 36809841 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2023.02.004] [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: 07/17/2022] [Revised: 02/11/2023] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 02/22/2023]
Abstract
This study examined whether Chinese spoken compound words are processed via full-form access or combination through morphemes by recording mismatch negativity (MMN). MMN has been shown to be larger for linguistic units that involves full-form access (lexical MMN enhancement) and smaller for separate but combinable units (combinatorial MMN reduction). Chinse compound words were compared against pseudocompounds, which do not have full-form representations in the long-term memory and are "illegal" combinations. All stimuli were disyllabic (bimorphemic). Word frequency was manipulated with the prediction that low-frequency compounds are more likely processed combinatorially, while high-frequency ones are more likely accessed in full forms. The results showed that low-frequency words elicited smaller MMNs than pseudocompounds, which supported the prediction of combinatorial processing. However, neither MMN enhancement nor reduction was found for high-frequency words. These results were interpreted within the dual-route model framework that assumes simultaneous access to words and morphemes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun Zou
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, United States of America
| | - Yiu-Kei Tsang
- Department of Education Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong; Centre for Learning Sciences, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong.
| | - Yu-Hei Shum
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Germany
| | - Chun-Yu Tse
- Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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5
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Alekseeva M, Myachykov A, Bermudez-Margaretto B, Shtyrov Y. Neurophysiological correlates of automatic integration of voice and gender information during grammatical processing. Sci Rep 2022; 12:13114. [PMID: 35908074 PMCID: PMC9339001 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-14478-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2021] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
During verbal communication, interlocutors rely on both linguistic (e.g., words, syntax) and extralinguistic (e.g., voice quality) information. The neural mechanisms of extralinguistic information processing are particularly poorly understood. To address this, we used EEG and recorded event-related brain potentials while participants listened to Russian pronoun-verb phrases presented in either male or female voice. Crucially, we manipulated congruency between the grammatical gender signaled by the verbs' ending and the speakers' apparent gender. To focus on putative automatic integration of extralinguistic information into syntactic processing and avoid confounds arising from secondary top-down processes, we used passive non-attend auditory presentation with visual distraction and no stimulus-related task. Most expressed neural responses were found at both early (150 ms, ELAN-like) and late (400 ms, N400-like) phrase processing stages. Crucially, both of these brain responses exhibited sensitivity to extralinguistic information and were significantly enhanced for phrases whose voice and grammatical gender were incongruent, similar to what is known for ERPs effects related to overt grammatical violations. Our data suggest a high degree of automaticity in processing extralinguistic information during spoken language comprehension which indicates existence of a rapid automatic syntactic integration mechanism sensitive to both linguistic and extralinguistic information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Alekseeva
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation.
| | - Andriy Myachykov
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation.,Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
| | - Beatriz Bermudez-Margaretto
- Departamento de Psicología Básica, Psicobiología y Metodología de las Ciencias del Comportamiento, Instituto de Integración en la Comunidad - INICO, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain.
| | - Yury Shtyrov
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
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6
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The Role of the Root in Spoken Word Recognition in Hebrew: An Auditory Gating Paradigm. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12060750. [PMID: 35741635 PMCID: PMC9221200 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12060750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2022] [Revised: 05/24/2022] [Accepted: 06/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Very few studies have investigated online spoken word recognition in templatic languages. In this study, we investigated both lexical (neighborhood density and frequency) and morphological (role of root morpheme) aspects of spoken word recognition of Hebrew, a templatic language, using the traditional gating paradigm. Additionally, we compared the traditional gating paradigm with a novel, phoneme-based gating paradigm. The phoneme-based approach allows for better control of information available at each gate. We found lexical effects with high-frequency words and low neighborhood density words being recognized at earlier gates. We also found that earlier access to root-morpheme information enabled word recognition at earlier gates. Finally, we showed that both the traditional gating paradigm and gating by phoneme paradigm yielded equivalent results.
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Tsang YK, Zou Y, Tse CY. Semantic transparency in Chinese compound word processing: Evidence from mismatch negativity. Neuroscience 2022; 490:216-223. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2022.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Revised: 02/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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8
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Hyder R, Højlund A, Jensen M, Johnsen EL, Østergaard K, Shtyrov Y. STN-DBS affects language processing differentially in Parkinson's disease: Multiple-case MEG study. Acta Neurol Scand 2021; 144:132-141. [PMID: 33961289 DOI: 10.1111/ane.13423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2020] [Revised: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 03/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES In this study, we investigated the effects of bilateral and unilateral deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS) in PD patients on neural responses associated with two aspects of spoken language processing: semantics of action-related verbs and morphosyntactic processing. MATERIALS AND METHODS Using a passive unattended paradigm to present spoken linguistic stimuli, we recorded magnetoencephalographic (MEG) responses in three PD patients in four DBS conditions: left unilateral STN-DBS, right unilateral STN-DBS, bilateral STN-DBS, and no STN-DBS. To ensure that any observed effects of DBS on the neuromagnetic responses could be attributed to the linguistic context per se and were not merely induced by the electrical stimulation, we assessed the effects of STN-DBS on linguistic contrasts within each stimulation condition. Hence, we contrasted the processing of action vs. abstract verbs as well as the processing of correct vs. incorrect morphosyntactic inflections within each DBS condition. RESULTS The results revealed that, compared to the DBS-off state, both bilateral and right unilateral stimulation of the STN yielded significant dissociations in the processing of action and abstract verbs, with greater neuromagnetic responses for action verbs compared to abstract verbs. For morphosyntax processing, only left unilateral stimulation yielded significant dissociations (relative to the DBS-off state), with greater neuromagnetic responses to the incorrect inflections compared to the correct inflections. CONCLUSION The results reflect differential effects of unilateral and bilateral STN-DBS on neuromagnetic responses associated with the processing of spoken language. They suggest that different specific aspects of linguistic information processing in PD are affected differently by STN-DBS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rasha Hyder
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN) Department of Clinical Medicine Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark
- Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology Medical Faculty Heinrich‐Heine University Düsseldorf Germany
| | - Andreas Højlund
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN) Department of Clinical Medicine Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark
| | - Mads Jensen
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN) Department of Clinical Medicine Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark
- Research Unit for Robophilosophy and Integrative Social Robotics Interacting Minds Centre Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark
| | - Erik L. Johnsen
- Department of Neurology Aarhus University Hospital Aarhus Denmark
| | - Karen Østergaard
- Department of Neurology Aarhus University Hospital Aarhus Denmark
- Sano Private Hospital Denmark
| | - Yury Shtyrov
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN) Department of Clinical Medicine Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience HSE University Moscow Russian Federation
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9
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Abstract
Objective: The past few decades of research in language processing provides empirical data on the dimensions of the brain-language relationship. The methodologies used to study language processing have evidenced an immense advancement over the years, tracking real-time processing events with millisecond precision. Event-related potentials is one such method which assists to visualize the neural mechanisms that underlie language processing. Different electrophysiological components mark different components of language depending on their structural and functional aspects. Since research on language processing is expanding its boundaries, the neural mechanisms for processing syntax components have been the focus of recent investigations across the languages of the world. The present review article aims to discuss the findings of studies on syntax processing besides highlighting the functional significance of P600, the electrophysiological marker of syntax processing.Methods: Electronic databases such as Pubmed, Science Direct, Research gate, PLOS, Directory of Open Access Journals were searched for relavant articles. The review process followed PRISMA guidelines for screening, identification, and selection of articles.Results: The results of the review elucidate the need for evaluating the finer details of syntax, including morpho-syntax concerning specific language structures. Studies across the languages of the world exemplify the uniqueness in the structure of different languages that may provide varied perspectives on the universality in syntax processing.Conclusion: The present review contributes a new dimension towards understanding the nature of syntax processing with respect to language specificity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niharika M K
- Department of Speech-Language Sciences, All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysuru, India
| | - K S Prema Rao
- Department of Speech-Language Sciences, All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysuru, India
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10
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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.
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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.
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11
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D'Alessio MJ, Jaichenco V, Wilson MA. The relationship between morphological awareness and reading comprehension in Spanish-speaking children. Scand J Psychol 2019; 60:501-512. [PMID: 31602657 DOI: 10.1111/sjop.12578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2018] [Accepted: 08/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
In the last decades, a series of studies has explored the role of morphological awareness on reading comprehension. Path analysis studies performed in English have shown that morphological awareness benefits reading comprehension both directly and indirectly, through word decoding. This issue has seldom been explored in Spanish. The aim of this study was to replicate in Spanish the results previously found in English. We used path analysis to assess three alternative models of the relationship between morphological awareness, word decoding and reading comprehension in 4th grade Spanish-speaking children. Contrary to English, we found that morphological awareness benefits reading comprehension only directly. We conclude that in Spanish, in which accurate and fluent pronunciation of written words can be achieved through grapheme-to-phoneme conversion rules, morphological awareness does not help the correct pronunciation of words. Thus, morphological awareness is not relevant for word decoding in Spanish but is related to reading comprehension since this type of morphological knowledge provides access to the semantic and syntactic information of new words.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Josefina D'Alessio
- Instituto de Lingüística, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Virginia Jaichenco
- Instituto de Lingüística, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Maximiliano A Wilson
- Centre de recherche CERVO & Département de réadaptation, Université Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada
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12
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Acquisition of L2 morphology by adult language learners. Cortex 2019; 116:74-90. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.01.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2017] [Revised: 10/11/2018] [Accepted: 01/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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13
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Morphological processing without semantics: An ERP study with spoken words. Cortex 2019; 116:55-73. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2017] [Revised: 04/23/2018] [Accepted: 02/08/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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14
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Flick G, Oseki Y, Kaczmarek AR, Al Kaabi M, Marantz A, Pylkkänen L. Building words and phrases in the left temporal lobe. Cortex 2018; 106:213-236. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2017] [Revised: 04/03/2018] [Accepted: 06/06/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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15
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Leminen A, Smolka E, Duñabeitia JA, Pliatsikas C. Morphological processing in the brain: The good (inflection), the bad (derivation) and the ugly (compounding). Cortex 2018; 116:4-44. [PMID: 30268324 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.08.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2018] [Revised: 07/01/2018] [Accepted: 08/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
There is considerable behavioral evidence that morphologically complex words such as 'tax-able' and 'kiss-es' are processed and represented combinatorially. In other words, they are decomposed into their constituents 'tax' and '-able' during comprehension (reading or listening), and producing them might also involve on-the-spot combination of these constituents (especially for inflections). However, despite increasing amount of neurocognitive research, the neural mechanisms underlying these processes are still not fully understood. The purpose of this critical review is to offer a comprehensive overview on the state-of-the-art of the research on the neural mechanisms of morphological processing. In order to take into account all types of complex words, we include findings on inflected, derived, and compound words presented both visually and aurally. More specifically, we cover a wide range of electro- and magnetoencephalography (EEG and MEG, respectively) as well as structural/functional magnetic resonance imaging (s/fMRI) studies that focus on morphological processing. We present the findings with respect to the temporal course and localization of morphologically complex word processing. We summarize the observed findings, their interpretations with respect to current psycholinguistic models, and discuss methodological approaches as well as their possible limitations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alina Leminen
- Cognitive Science, Department of Digital Humanities, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki, Finland; Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Eva Smolka
- Department of Linguistics, University of Konstanz, Germany
| | - Jon A Duñabeitia
- Facultad de Lenguas y Educación, Universidad Nebrija, Madrid, Spain; Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), Donostia, Spain
| | - Christos Pliatsikas
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
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16
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Gansonre C, Højlund A, Leminen A, Bailey C, Shtyrov Y. Task-free auditory EEG paradigm for probing multiple levels of speech processing in the brain. Psychophysiology 2018; 55:e13216. [PMID: 30101984 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2017] [Revised: 05/09/2018] [Accepted: 05/09/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
While previous studies on language processing highlighted several ERP components in relation to specific stages of sound and speech processing, no study has yet combined them to obtain a comprehensive picture of language abilities in a single session. Here, we propose a novel task-free paradigm aimed at assessing multiple levels of speech processing by combining various speech and nonspeech sounds in an adaptation of a multifeature passive oddball design. We recorded EEG in healthy adult participants, who were presented with these sounds in the absence of sound-directed attention while being engaged in a primary visual task. This produced a range of responses indexing various levels of sound processing and language comprehension: (a) P1-N1 complex, indexing obligatory auditory processing; (b) P3-like dynamics associated with involuntary attention allocation for unusual sounds; (c) enhanced responses for native speech (as opposed to nonnative phonemes) from ∼50 ms from phoneme onset, indicating phonological processing; (d) amplitude advantage for familiar real words as opposed to meaningless pseudowords, indexing automatic lexical access; (e) topographic distribution differences in the cortical activation of action verbs versus concrete nouns, likely linked with the processing of lexical semantics. These multiple indices of speech-sound processing were acquired in a single attention-free setup that does not require any task or subject cooperation; subject to future research, the present protocol may potentially be developed into a useful tool for assessing the status of auditory and linguistic functions in uncooperative or unresponsive participants, including a range of clinical or developmental populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christelle Gansonre
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Andreas Højlund
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Alina Leminen
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.,Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Christopher Bailey
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Yury Shtyrov
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.,Laboratory of Behavioural Neurodynamics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
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Laasonen M, Smolander S, Lahti-Nuuttila P, Leminen M, Lajunen HR, Heinonen K, Pesonen AK, Bailey TM, Pothos EM, Kujala T, Leppänen PHT, Bartlett CW, Geneid A, Lauronen L, Service E, Kunnari S, Arkkila E. Understanding developmental language disorder - the Helsinki longitudinal SLI study (HelSLI): a study protocol. BMC Psychol 2018; 6:24. [PMID: 29784061 PMCID: PMC5963016 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-018-0222-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2018] [Accepted: 03/06/2018] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Developmental language disorder (DLD, also called specific language impairment, SLI) is a common developmental disorder comprising the largest disability group in pre-school-aged children. Approximately 7% of the population is expected to have developmental language difficulties. However, the specific etiological factors leading to DLD are not yet known and even the typical linguistic features appear to vary by language. We present here a project that investigates DLD at multiple levels of analysis and aims to make the reliable prediction and early identification of the difficulties possible. Following the multiple deficit model of developmental disorders, we investigate the DLD phenomenon at the etiological, neural, cognitive, behavioral, and psychosocial levels, in a longitudinal study of preschool children. METHODS In January 2013, we launched the Helsinki Longitudinal SLI study (HelSLI) at the Helsinki University Hospital ( http://tiny.cc/HelSLI ). We will study 227 children aged 3-6 years with suspected DLD and their 160 typically developing peers. Five subprojects will determine how the child's psychological characteristics and environment correlate with DLD and how the child's well-being relates to DLD, the characteristics of DLD in monolingual versus bilingual children, nonlinguistic cognitive correlates of DLD, electrophysiological underpinnings of DLD, and the role of genetic risk factors. Methods include saliva samples, EEG, computerized cognitive tasks, neuropsychological and speech and language assessments, video-observations, and questionnaires. DISCUSSION The project aims to increase our understanding of the multiple interactive risk and protective factors that affect the developing heterogeneous cognitive and behavioral profile of DLD, including factors affecting literacy development. This accumulated knowledge will form a heuristic basis for the development of new interventions targeting linguistic and non-linguistic aspects of DLD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marja Laasonen
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Phoniatrics, Head and Neck Surgery, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Haartmaninkatu 4 E, 00029 HUS, POB 220 Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Sini Smolander
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Phoniatrics, Head and Neck Surgery, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Haartmaninkatu 4 E, 00029 HUS, POB 220 Helsinki, Finland
- Research Unit of Logopedics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Pekka Lahti-Nuuttila
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Phoniatrics, Head and Neck Surgery, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Haartmaninkatu 4 E, 00029 HUS, POB 220 Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Miika Leminen
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Phoniatrics, Head and Neck Surgery, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Haartmaninkatu 4 E, 00029 HUS, POB 220 Helsinki, Finland
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Hanna-Reetta Lajunen
- HUS Medical Imaging Center, Clinical Neurophysiology, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Kati Heinonen
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Anu-Katriina Pesonen
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | | | | | - Teija Kujala
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | | | - Christopher W. Bartlett
- Battelle Center for Mathematical Medicine, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital & The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA
| | - Ahmed Geneid
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Phoniatrics, Head and Neck Surgery, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Haartmaninkatu 4 E, 00029 HUS, POB 220 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Leena Lauronen
- Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Hospital for Children and Adolescents, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Elisabet Service
- Centre for Advanced Research in Experimental and Applied Linguistics, Department of Linguistics and Languages, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
| | - Sari Kunnari
- Research Unit of Logopedics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Eva Arkkila
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Phoniatrics, Head and Neck Surgery, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Haartmaninkatu 4 E, 00029 HUS, POB 220 Helsinki, Finland
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18
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Hanna J, Cappelle B, Pulvermüller F. Spread the word: MMN brain response reveals whole-form access of discontinuous particle verbs. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2017; 175:86-98. [PMID: 29059543 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2017.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2016] [Revised: 04/21/2017] [Accepted: 10/09/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The status of particle verbs such as rise (…) up as either lexically stored or combinatorially assembled is an issue which so far has not been settled decisively. In this study, we use the mismatch negativity (MMN) brain response to observe neurophysiological responses to discontinuous particle verbs. The MMN can be used to distinguish between whole-form storage and combinatorial processes, as it is enhanced to stored words compared to unknown pseudowords, whereas combinatorially legal strings elicit a reduced MMN relative to ungrammatical ones. Earlier work had found larger MMNs to congruent than to incongruent verb-particle combinations when particle and verb appeared as adjacent elements, thus suggesting whole-form storage at least in this case. However, it is still possible that particle verbs discontinuously spread out across a sentence would elicit the combinatorial, grammar-violation response pattern instead. Here, we tested the brain signatures of discontinuous verb-particle combinations, orthogonally varying congruence and semantic transparency. The results show for the first time brain indices of whole-form storage for discontinuous constituents, thus arguing in favour of access to whole-form-stored lexical elements in the processing of particle verbs, irrespective of their semantic opacity. Results are discussed in the context of linguistic debates about the status of particle verbs as words, lexical elements or syntactically generated combinations. The explanation of the pattern of results within a neurobiological language model is highlighted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeff Hanna
- Brain Language Laboratory, Department of Philosophy and Humanities, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Bert Cappelle
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 8163 - STL - Savoirs Textes Langage, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Friedemann Pulvermüller
- Brain Language Laboratory, Department of Philosophy and Humanities, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany; Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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19
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Bridgers FF, Kacinik N. How Linearity and Structural Complexity Interact and Affect the Recognition of Italian Derived Words. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLINGUISTIC RESEARCH 2017; 46:175-200. [PMID: 27086299 DOI: 10.1007/s10936-016-9427-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
The majority of words in most languages consist of derived poly-morphemic words but a cross-linguistic review of the literature (Amenta and Crepaldi in Front Psychol 3:232-243, 2012) shows a contradictory picture with respect to how such words are represented and processed. The current study examined the effects of linearity and structural complexity on the processing of Italian derived words. Participants performed a lexical decision task on three types of prefixed and suffixed words and nonwords differing in the complexity of their internal structure. The processing of these words was indeed found to vary according to the nature of the affixes, the order in which they appear, and the type of information the affix encodes. The results thus indicate that derived words are not a uniform class and the best account of these findings appears to be a constraint-based or probabilistic multi-route processing model (e.g., Kuperman et al. in Lang Cogn Process 23:1089-1132, 2008; J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 35:876-895, 2009; J Mem Lang 62:83-97, 2010).
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Affiliation(s)
- Franca Ferrari Bridgers
- Department of Speech and Theatre Arts, Queensborough Community College, CUNY, Queens, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Natalie Kacinik
- Department of Psychology, Brooklyn College, CUNY, Brooklyn, New York, NY, USA
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20
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Giraudo H, Dal Maso S. The Salience of Complex Words and Their Parts: Which Comes First? Front Psychol 2016; 7:1778. [PMID: 27917133 PMCID: PMC5116555 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2016] [Accepted: 10/31/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper deals with the impact of the salience of complex words and their constituent parts on lexical access. While almost 40 years of psycholinguistic studies have focused on the relevance of morphological structure for word recognition, little attention has been devoted to the relationship between the word as a whole unit and its constituent morphemes. Depending on the theoretical approach adopted, complex words have been seen either in the light of their paradigmatic environment (i.e., from a paradigmatic view), or in terms of their internal structure (i.e., from a syntagmatic view). These two competing views have strongly determined the choice of experimental factors manipulated in studies on morphological processing (mainly different lexical frequencies, word/non-word structure, and morphological family size). Moreover, work on various kinds of more or less segmentable items (from genuinely morphologically complex words like hunter to words exhibiting only a surface morphological structure like corner and irregular forms like thieves) has given rise to two competing hypotheses on the cognitive role of morphology. The first hypothesis claims that morphology organizes whole words into morphological families and series, while the second sets morphology at a pre-lexical level, with morphemes standing as access units to the mental lexicon. The present paper examines more deeply the notion of morphological salience and its implications for theories and models of morphological processing.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Serena Dal Maso
- Department of Cultures and Civilizations, University of Verona Verona, Italy
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21
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Lucchese G, Hanna J, Autenrieb A, Miller TM, Pulvermüller F. Electrophysiological Evidence for Early and Interactive Symbol Access and Rule Processing in Retrieving and Combining Language Constructions. J Cogn Neurosci 2016; 29:254-266. [PMID: 27626234 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
The human brain stores an immense repertoire of linguistic symbols (morphemes, words) and combines them into a virtually unlimited set of well-formed strings (phrases, sentences) that serve as efficient communicative tools. Communication is hampered, however, if strings include meaningless items (e.g., "pseudomorphemes"), or if the rules for combining string elements are violated. Prior research suggests that, when participants attentively process sentences in a linguistic task, syntactic processing can occur quite early, but lexicosemantic processing, or any interaction involving this factor, is manifest later in time (ca. 400 msec or later). In contrast, recent evidence from passive speech perception paradigms suggests early processing of both combinatorial (morphosyntactic) and storage-related (lexicosemantic) properties. A crucial question is whether these parallel processes might also interact early in processing. Using ERPs in an orthogonal design, we presented spoken word strings to participants while they were distracted from incoming speech to obtain information about automatic language processing mechanisms unaffected by task-related strategies. Stimuli were either (1) well-formed miniconstructions (short pronoun-verb sentences), (2) "unstored" strings containing a pseudomorpheme, (3) "ill-combined" strings violating subject-verb agreement rules, or (4) double violations including both types of errors. We found that by 70-210 msec after the onset of the phrase-final syllable that disambiguated the strings, interactions of lexicosemantic and morphosyntactic deviance were evident in the ERPs. These results argue against serial processing of lexical storage, morphosyntactic combination and their interaction, and in favor of early, simultaneous, and interactive processing of symbols and their combinatorial structures.
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22
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Leminen A, Kimppa L, Leminen MM, Lehtonen M, Mäkelä JP, Shtyrov Y. Acquisition and consolidation of novel morphology in human neocortex: A neuromagnetic study. Cortex 2016; 83:1-16. [PMID: 27458780 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2016.06.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2016] [Revised: 06/16/2016] [Accepted: 06/20/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Research into neurobiological mechanisms of morphosyntactic processing of language has suggested specialised systems for decomposition and storage, which are used flexibly during the processing of complex polymorphemic words (such as those formed through affixation, e.g., boy + s = noun + plural marker or boy + ish = noun plus attenuator). However, neural underpinnings of acquisition of novel morphology are still unknown. We implicitly trained our participants with new derivational affixes through a word-picture association task and investigated the neural processes underlying formation of neural memory traces for new affixes. The participants' brain activity was recorded using magnetoencephalography (MEG), as they passively listened to the newly trained and untrained suffixes combined with real word and pseudoword stems. The MEG recording was repeated after a night's sleep using the same stimuli, to test the effects of overnight consolidation. The newly trained suffixes combined with real stems elicited stronger source activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) at ∼50 msec after the suffix onset than untrained suffixes, suggesting memory trace formation for the newly learned suffixes already on the same day. The following day, the suffix learning effect spread to the left superior temporal gyrus (STG) where it was again manifest as a response enhancement, particularly at ∼200-300 msec after the suffix onset, which might reflect an additional effect of overnight consolidation. Overall, the results demonstrate the rapid and dynamic processes of both immediate build-up and longer-term consolidation of neocortical memory traces for novel morphology, taking place after a short period of exposure to novel morphology and involving fronto-temporal perisylvian language circuitry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alina Leminen
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Lilli Kimppa
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Miika M Leminen
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Minna Lehtonen
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
| | - Jyrki P Mäkelä
- BioMag Laboratory, HUS Medical Imaging Center, Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Yury Shtyrov
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
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23
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Leminen A, Lehtonen M, Bozic M, Clahsen H. Editorial: Morphologically Complex Words in the Mind/Brain. Front Hum Neurosci 2016; 10:47. [PMID: 26909032 PMCID: PMC4754435 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2015] [Accepted: 01/28/2016] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Alina Leminen
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience and MINDLab, Aarhus UniversityAarhus, Denmark; Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of HelsinkiHelsinki, Finland
| | - Minna Lehtonen
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of HelsinkiHelsinki, Finland; Department of Psychology, Abo Akademi UniversityTurku, Finland
| | - Mirjana Bozic
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge Cambridge, UK
| | - Harald Clahsen
- Potsdam Research Institute for Multilingualism, University of Potsdam Potsdam, Germany
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24
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Hanna J, Shtyrov Y, Williams J, Pulvermüller F. Early neurophysiological indices of second language morphosyntax learning. Neuropsychologia 2016; 82:18-30. [PMID: 26752451 PMCID: PMC4758809 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2015] [Revised: 12/15/2015] [Accepted: 01/01/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Humans show variable degrees of success in acquiring a second language (L2). In many cases, morphological and syntactic knowledge remain deficient, although some learners succeed in reaching nativelike levels, even if they begin acquiring their L2 relatively late. In this study, we use psycholinguistic, online language proficiency tests and a neurophysiological index of syntactic processing, the syntactic mismatch negativity (sMMN) to local agreement violations, to compare behavioural and neurophysiological markers of grammar processing between native speakers (NS) of English and non-native speakers (NNS). Variable grammar proficiency was measured by psycholinguistic tests. When NS heard ungrammatical word sequences lacking agreement between subject and verb (e.g. *we kicks), the MMN was enhanced compared with syntactically legal sentences (e.g. he kicks). More proficient NNS also showed this difference, but less proficient NNS did not. The main cortical sources of the MMN responses were localised in bilateral superior temporal areas, where, crucially, source strength of grammar-related neuronal activity correlated significantly with grammatical proficiency of individual L2 speakers as revealed by the psycholinguistic tests. As our results show similar, early MMN indices to morpho-syntactic agreement violations among both native speakers and non-native speakers with high grammar proficiency, they appear consistent with the use of similar brain mechanisms for at least certain aspects of L1 and L2 grammars.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeff Hanna
- Brain Language Laboratory, Department of Philosophy and Humanities, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany; Medical Research Council - Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
| | - Yury Shtyrov
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, Denmark; Medical Research Council - Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - John Williams
- Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Friedemann Pulvermüller
- Brain Language Laboratory, Department of Philosophy and Humanities, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany; Medical Research Council - Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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25
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Strotseva-Feinschmidt A, Cunitz K, Friederici AD, Gunter TC. Auditory Discrimination Between Function Words in Children and Adults: A Mismatch Negativity Study. Front Psychol 2015; 6:1930. [PMID: 26733918 PMCID: PMC4686640 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2015] [Accepted: 11/30/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous behavioral studies showed that it is not until around the age of seven that German children reliably use case markers for the interpretation of complex sentences. Some explanations of this late development suggested that children might have difficulties in perceptual differentiation between function words that carry case information. We tested this hypothesis by using the neurophysiological index of pre-attentive discrimination, the mismatch negativity (MMN). Our data showed that children at the age of 3 years are able to automatically discriminate between the two determiner forms der and den when presented out of sentential context. The determiner form der elicited a more mature MMN response in children than the form den. In adults, the MMN pattern also differed with der showing an earlier peak than den. These findings indicate that der is easier to process than den, which in turn is related to the occurrence frequency of the determiner forms in language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Strotseva-Feinschmidt
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences Leipzig, Germany
| | - Katrin Cunitz
- 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
| | - Thomas C Gunter
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences Leipzig, Germany
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26
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Service E, Maury S. Differential recall of derived and inflected word forms in working memory: examining the role of morphological information in simple and complex working memory tasks. Front Hum Neurosci 2015; 8:1064. [PMID: 25642181 PMCID: PMC4295538 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.01064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2014] [Accepted: 12/22/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Working memory (WM) has been described as an interface between cognition and action, or a system for access to a limited amount of information needed in complex cognition. Access to morphological information is needed for comprehending and producing sentences. The present study probed WM for morphologically complex word forms in Finnish, a morphologically rich language. We studied monomorphemic (boy), inflected (boy+'s), and derived (boy+hood) words in three tasks. Simple span, immediate serial recall of words, in Experiment 1, is assumed to mainly rely on information in the focus of attention. Sentence span, a dual task combining sentence reading with recall of the last word (Experiment 2) or of a word not included in the sentence (Experiment 3) is assumed to involve establishment of a search set in long-term memory for fast activation into the focus of attention. Recall was best for monomorphemic and worst for inflected word forms with performance on derived words in between. However, there was an interaction between word type and experiment, suggesting that complex span is more sensitive to morphological complexity in derivations than simple span. This was explored in a within-subjects Experiment 4 combining all three tasks. An interaction between morphological complexity and task was replicated. Both inflected and derived forms increased load in WM. In simple span, recall of inflectional forms resulted in form errors. Complex span tasks were more sensitive to morphological load in derived words, possibly resulting from interference from morphological neighbors in the mental lexicon. The results are best understood as involving competition among inflectional forms when binding words from input into an output structure, and competition from morphological neighbors in secondary memory during cumulative retrieval-encoding cycles. Models of verbal recall need to be able to represent morphological as well as phonological and semantic information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabet Service
- Language, Memory and Brain Lab, Department of Linguistics and Languages, McMaster UniversityHamilton, ON, Canada
- Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of HelsinkiHelsinki, Finland
| | - Sini Maury
- Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of HelsinkiHelsinki, Finland
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27
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Hanna J, Pulvermüller F. Neurophysiological evidence for whole form retrieval of complex derived words: a mismatch negativity study. Front Hum Neurosci 2014; 8:886. [PMID: 25414658 PMCID: PMC4222328 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2014] [Accepted: 10/15/2014] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Complex words can be seen as combinations of elementary units, decomposable into stems and affixes according to morphological rules. Alternatively, complex forms may be stored as single lexical entries and accessed as whole forms. This study uses an event-related potential brain response capable of indexing both whole-form retrieval and combinatorial processing, the Mismatch Negativity (MMN), to investigate early brain activity elicited by morphologically complex derived words in German. We presented complex words consisting of stems “sicher” (secure), or “sauber” (clean) combined with abstract nominalizing derivational affixes -heit or -keit, to form either congruent derived words: “Sicherheit” (security) and “Sauberkeit” (cleanliness), or incongruent derived pseudowords: *“Sicherkeit”, and *“Sauberheit”. Using this orthogonal design, it was possible to record brain responses for -heit and -keit in both congruent and incongruent contexts, therefore balancing acoustic variance. Previous research has shown that incongruent combinations of symbols elicit a stronger MMN than congruent combinations, but that single words or constructions stored as whole forms elicit a stronger MMN than pseudowords or non-existent constructions. We found that congruent derived words elicited a stronger MMN than incongruent derived words, beginning about 150 ms after perception of the critical morpheme. This pattern of results is consistent with whole-form storage of morphologically complex derived words as lexical units, or mini-constructions. Using distributed source localization methods, the MMN enhancement for well-formed derivationally complex words appeared to be most prominent in the left inferior anterior-temporal, bilateral superior parietal and bilateral post-central, supra-marginal areas. In addition, neurophysiological results reflected the frequency of derived forms, thus providing further converging evidence for whole form storage and against a combinatorial mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeff Hanna
- Brain Language Laboratory, Department of Philosophy and Humanities, Freie Universität Berlin Berlin, Germany
| | - Friedemann Pulvermüller
- Brain Language Laboratory, Department of Philosophy and Humanities, Freie Universität Berlin Berlin, Germany
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