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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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Panela RA, Copelli F, Herrmann B. Reliability and generalizability of neural speech tracking in younger and older adults. Neurobiol Aging 2024; 134:165-180. [PMID: 38103477 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2023.11.007] [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: 07/27/2023] [Revised: 11/09/2023] [Accepted: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Neural tracking of spoken speech is considered a potential clinical biomarker for speech-processing difficulties, but the reliability of neural speech tracking is unclear. Here, younger and older adults listened to stories in two sessions while electroencephalography was recorded to investigate the reliability and generalizability of neural speech tracking. Speech tracking amplitude was larger for older than younger adults, consistent with an age-related loss of inhibition. The reliability of neural speech tracking was moderate (ICC ∼0.5-0.75) and tended to be higher for older adults. However, reliability was lower for speech tracking than for neural responses to noise bursts (ICC >0.8), which we used as a benchmark for maximum reliability. Neural speech tracking generalized moderately across different stories (ICC ∼0.5-0.6), which appeared greatest for audiobook-like stories spoken by the same person. Hence, a variety of stories could possibly be used for clinical assessments. Overall, the current data are important for developing a biomarker of speech processing but suggest that further work is needed to increase the reliability to meet clinical standards.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan A Panela
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Academy for Research and Education, M6A 2E1 North York, ON, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, M5S 1A1 Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Francesca Copelli
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Academy for Research and Education, M6A 2E1 North York, ON, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, M5S 1A1 Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Björn Herrmann
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Academy for Research and Education, M6A 2E1 North York, ON, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, M5S 1A1 Toronto, ON, Canada.
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3
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Jensen M, Hyder R, Westner BU, Højlund A, Shtyrov Y. Speech comprehension across time, space, frequency, and age: MEG-MVPA classification of intertrial phase coherence. Neuropsychologia 2023; 188:108602. [PMID: 37270028 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Revised: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Language is a key part of human cognition, essential for our well-being at all stages of our lives. Whereas many neurocognitive abilities decline with age, for language the picture is much less clear, and how exactly speech comprehension changes with ageing is still unknown. To investigate this, we employed magnetoencephalography (MEG) and recorded neuromagnetic brain responses to auditory linguistic stimuli in healthy participants of younger and older age using a passive task-free paradigm and a range of different linguistic stimulus contrasts, which enabled us to assess neural processing of spoken language at multiple levels (lexical, semantic, morphosyntactic). Using machine learning-based classification algorithms to scrutinise intertrial phase coherence of MEG responses in cortical source space, we found that patterns of oscillatory neural activity diverged between younger and older participants across several frequency bands (alpha, beta, gamma) for all tested linguistic information types. The results suggest multiple age-related changes in the brain's neurolinguistic circuits, which may be due to both healthy ageing in general and compensatory processes in particular.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mads Jensen
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Research Unit for Robophilosophy and Integrative Social Robotics, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Interacting Minds Centre, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
| | - Rasha Hyder
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Britta U Westner
- Radboud University, Donders Centre for Cognition, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Andreas Højlund
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Yury Shtyrov
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
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4
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Dorme A, Van Oudenhove B, Criel Y, Depuydt E, De Groote E, Stalpaert J, Huysman E, van Mierlo P, De Letter M. Effect of Healthy Aging and Gender on Syntactic Input Processing: A P600 Event-Related Potential Study. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2023:1-32. [PMID: 37494921 DOI: 10.1044/2023_jslhr-22-00633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE This study aimed to investigate the effect of healthy aging and gender, as well as the interaction, thereof, on syntactic input processing during sentence comprehension. This was achieved through the recording of the P600 event-related potential. METHOD Sixty Flemish (native speakers of Dutch) participants (30 men and 30 women), equally distributed into three age groups (young, middle-aged, and older adults), were subjected to a visually presented word order violation task under simultaneous electro-encephalography recording. The task contained 60 sentences, of which half were grammatical and half contained a word order violation. P600 responses were analyzed for amplitude, latency, topographical distribution, and source localization. RESULTS Regarding the effect of healthy aging, no age-related differences were found for the amplitude, onset latency, and topographical distribution of the P600 effect (difference wave). Although aging effects on the P600 effect amplitude were absent, a reduced P600 amplitude in response to both the grammatical and ungrammatical sentences was found, next to a reduced overall degree of source activation in linguistic regions of interest. Also, a reduced behavioral accuracy in response to the word order violation was observed in the older adults group. Regarding the effect of gender, females exhibited a larger P600 effect amplitude and a reduced behavioral accuracy compared to males. No gender-related differences were found for P600 effect onset latency, topographical distribution, and source activation. CONCLUSIONS While this study demonstrates no effect of aging on the P600 effect, the lower behavioral response and absence of any activation shift argues against functional compensation. Moreover, although increased neural activation in women combined with their reduced behavioral accuracy may indicate the use of different cognitive strategies in men and women, source localization analysis could not objectify this hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annelien Dorme
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium
| | | | - Yana Criel
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium
| | - Emma Depuydt
- Medical Imaging and Signal Processing Group, Department of Electronics and Information Systems, Ghent University, Belgium
| | | | - Jara Stalpaert
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium
| | - Eline Huysman
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium
| | - Pieter van Mierlo
- Medical Imaging and Signal Processing Group, Department of Electronics and Information Systems, Ghent University, Belgium
| | - Miet De Letter
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium
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Gosselke Berthelsen S, Horne M, Shtyrov Y, Roll M. Native language experience shapes pre-attentive foreign tone processing and guides rapid memory trace build-up: An ERP study. Psychophysiology 2022; 59:e14042. [PMID: 35294788 PMCID: PMC9539634 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2020] [Revised: 02/17/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Language experience, particularly from our native language (L1), shapes our perception of other languages around us. The present study examined how L1 experience moulds the initial processing of foreign (L2) tone during acquisition. In particular, we investigated whether learners were able to rapidly forge new neural memory traces for novel tonal words, which was tracked by recording learners’ ERP responses during two word acquisition sessions. We manipulated the degree of L1–L2 familiarity by comparing learners with a nontonal L1 (German) and a tonal L1 (Swedish) and by using tones that were similar (fall) or dissimilar (high, low, rise) to those occurring in Swedish. Our results indicate that a rapid, pre‐attentive memory trace build‐up for tone manifests in an early ERP component at ~50 ms but only at particularly high levels of L1–L2 similarity. Specifically, early processing was facilitated for an L2 tone that had a familiar pitch shape (fall) and word‐level function (inflection). This underlines the importance of these L1 properties for the early processing of L2 tone. In comparison, a later anterior negativity related to the processing of the tones’ grammatical content was unaffected by native language experience but was instead influenced by lexicality, pitch prominence, entrenchment, and successful learning. Behaviorally, learning effects emerged for all learners and tone types, regardless of L1–L2 familiarity or pitch prominence. Together, the findings suggest that while L1‐based facilitation effects occur, they mainly affect early processing stages and do not necessarily result in more successful L2 acquisition at behavioral level. Our findings add important evidence that contributes to answering the open question of how similarity between native and target language influences target language processing and acquisition. We found facilitative effects of similarity only at pre‐attentive levels and only when the degree of similarity was high. Late processing and successful acquisition, on the other hand, were unaffected by the target words’ similarity to native language properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabine Gosselke Berthelsen
- Department of Linguistics and Phonetics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.,Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Merle Horne
- Department of Linguistics and Phonetics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Yury Shtyrov
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.,Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Mikael Roll
- Department of Linguistics and Phonetics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
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6
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Gallo F, Bermudez-Margaretto B, Shtyrov Y, Abutalebi J, Kreiner H, Chitaya T, Petrova A, Myachykov A. First Language Attrition: What It Is, What It Isn't, and What It Can Be. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:686388. [PMID: 34557079 PMCID: PMC8452950 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.686388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2021] [Accepted: 08/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
This review aims at clarifying the concept of first language attrition by tracing its limits, identifying its phenomenological and contextual constraints, discussing controversies associated with its definition, and suggesting potential directions for future research. We start by reviewing different definitions of attrition as well as associated inconsistencies. We then discuss the underlying mechanisms of first language attrition and review available evidence supporting different background hypotheses. Finally, we attempt to provide the groundwork to build a unified theoretical framework allowing for generalizable results. To this end, we suggest the deployment of a rigorous neuroscientific approach, in search of neural markers of first language attrition in different linguistic domains, putting forward hypothetical experimental ways to identify attrition's neural traces and formulating predictions for each of the proposed experimental paradigms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federico Gallo
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
- Centre for Neurolinguistics and Psycholinguistics (CNPL), Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Beatriz Bermudez-Margaretto
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
| | - Yury Shtyrov
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Jubin Abutalebi
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
- Centre for Neurolinguistics and Psycholinguistics (CNPL), Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Hamutal Kreiner
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
- Department of Behavioral Sciences, Linguistic Cognition Laboratory, Ruppin Academic Center, Emek Hefer, Israel
| | - Tamara Chitaya
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
| | - Anna Petrova
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
| | - Andriy Myachykov
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
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7
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Herrmann B, Araz K, Johnsrude IS. Sustained neural activity correlates with rapid perceptual learning of auditory patterns. Neuroimage 2021; 238:118238. [PMID: 34098064 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Revised: 06/02/2021] [Accepted: 06/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Repeating structures forming regular patterns are common in sounds. Learning such patterns may enable accurate perceptual organization. In five experiments, we investigated the behavioral and neural signatures of rapid perceptual learning of regular sound patterns. We show that recurring (compared to novel) patterns are detected more quickly and increase sensitivity to pattern deviations and to the temporal order of pattern onset relative to a visual stimulus. Sustained neural activity reflected perceptual learning in two ways. Firstly, sustained activity increased earlier for recurring than novel patterns when participants attended to sounds, but not when they ignored them; this earlier increase mirrored the rapid perceptual learning we observed behaviorally. Secondly, the magnitude of sustained activity was generally lower for recurring than novel patterns, but only for trials later in the experiment, and independent of whether participants attended to or ignored sounds. The late manifestation of sustained activity reduction suggests that it is not directly related to rapid perceptual learning, but to a mechanism that does not require attention to sound. In sum, we demonstrate that the latency of sustained activity reflects rapid perceptual learning of auditory patterns, while the magnitude may reflect a result of learning, such as better prediction of learned auditory patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Björn Herrmann
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, M6A 2E1, North York, ON, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, M5S 1A1, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, N6A 3K7, London, ON, Canada.
| | - Kurdo Araz
- Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, N6A 3K7, London, ON, Canada
| | - Ingrid S Johnsrude
- Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, N6A 3K7, London, ON, Canada; School of Communication Sciences & Disorders, University of Western Ontario, N6A 5B7 London, ON, Canada
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8
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Jensen M, Hyder R, Shtyrov Y. MVPA Analysis of Intertrial Phase Coherence of Neuromagnetic Responses to Words Reliably Classifies Multiple Levels of Language Processing in the Brain. eNeuro 2019; 6:ENEURO.0444-18.2019. [PMID: 31383728 PMCID: PMC6709219 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0444-18.2019] [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: 11/07/2018] [Revised: 05/30/2019] [Accepted: 06/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Neural processing of language is still among the most poorly understood functions of the human brain, whereas a need to objectively assess the neurocognitive status of the language function in a participant-friendly and noninvasive fashion arises in various situations. Here, we propose a solution for this based on a short task-free recording of MEG responses to a set of spoken linguistic contrasts. We used spoken stimuli that diverged lexically (words/pseudowords), semantically (action-related/abstract), or morphosyntactically (grammatically correct/ungrammatical). Based on beamformer source reconstruction we investigated intertrial phase coherence (ITPC) in five canonical bands (α, β, and low, medium, and high γ) using multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA). Using this approach, we could successfully classify brain responses to meaningful words from meaningless pseudowords, correct from incorrect syntax, as well as semantic differences. The best classification results indicated distributed patterns of activity dominated by core temporofrontal language circuits and complemented by other areas. They varied between the different neurolinguistic properties across frequency bands, with lexical processes classified predominantly by broad γ, semantic distinctions by α and β, and syntax by low γ feature patterns. Crucially, all types of processing commenced in a near-parallel fashion from ∼100 ms after the auditory information allowed for disambiguating the spoken input. This shows that individual neurolinguistic processes take place simultaneously and involve overlapping yet distinct neuronal networks that operate at different frequency bands. This brings further hope that brain imaging can be used to assess neurolinguistic processes objectively and noninvasively in a range of populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mads Jensen
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Rasha Hyder
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Yury Shtyrov
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
- Laboratory of Behavioural Neurodynamics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia
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9
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Kubota M, Ono Y, Ishiyama A, Zouridakis G, Papanicolaou AC. Magnetoencephalography Reveals Mismatch Field Enhancement from Unexpected Syntactic Category Errors in English Sentences. Neurosci Lett 2018; 662:195-204. [PMID: 28847487 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2017.07.051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2016] [Revised: 07/26/2017] [Accepted: 07/28/2017] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
The type of syntactic operations that increase neuronal activation in humans as a result of syntactically erroneous, unexpected lexical items in hearing sentences has remained unclear. In the present study, we used recordings of magnetoencephalographic (MEG) activity to compare bare infinitive and full infinitive constructions in English. This research aims to identify the type of syntactic deviance that may trigger an early syntax-related mismatch field (MMF) component when unexpected words appear in sentences. Six speakers of English as a first language were presented with auditory stimuli of sentences or words in a passive odd-ball paradigm while watching a silent movie. The experimental protocol included four sessions, specifically investigating the sentential (structural) versions of full (with the 'to' infinitival particle) and bare infinitival structures (without the particle) and the lexical (non-structure) versions of the verb either with or without the particle to determine whether the structure processing of sentences was a more crucial factor in the detection of the MMF than the simple processing of lexical items in verb-only conditions. The amplitude analysis of the resulting evoked fields showed that the presence of the syntactic category error of bare infinitival structures against syntactic predictions evoked a significantly larger MMF activation with a peak latency of approximately 200ms in the anterior superior temporal sulci in the left hemisphere, compared with the lexical items that did not have any syntactic status. These results clearly demonstrate that syntactically unexpected, illegal input in the bare infinitival structure is likely to be noticed more robustly in the brain while processing the structural information of the entire sentence than the corresponding verb-only items.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikio Kubota
- Department of English, Seijo University, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Engineering Technology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA; Center for Clinical Neurosciences, Children's Learning Institute, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, TX, USA.
| | - Yumie Ono
- Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, Kanagawa Dental College, Kanagawa, Japan; Department of Electronics and Bioinformatics, Meiji University, Kanagawa, Japan; Department of Electrical Engineering and Bioscience, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Atsushi Ishiyama
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Bioscience, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - George Zouridakis
- Department of Engineering Technology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Andrew C Papanicolaou
- Center for Clinical Neurosciences, Children's Learning Institute, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, TX, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
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10
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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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11
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Shtyrov YY, Stroganova TA. When ultrarapid is ultrarapid: on importance of temporal precision in neuroscience of language. Front Hum Neurosci 2015; 9:576. [PMID: 26539098 PMCID: PMC4612669 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2015] [Accepted: 10/04/2015] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Yury Y Shtyrov
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Institute for Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University Aarhus, Denmark ; Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, NRU Higher School of Economics Moscow, Russia
| | - Tatyana A Stroganova
- Moscow MEG Center, Moscow State University for Psychology and Education Moscow, Russia
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12
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Herrmann B, Henry MJ, Fromboluti EK, McAuley JD, Obleser J. Statistical context shapes stimulus-specific adaptation in human auditory cortex. J Neurophysiol 2015; 113:2582-91. [PMID: 25652920 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00634.2014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2014] [Accepted: 02/03/2015] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Stimulus-specific adaptation is the phenomenon whereby neural response magnitude decreases with repeated stimulation. Inconsistencies between recent nonhuman animal recordings and computational modeling suggest dynamic influences on stimulus-specific adaptation. The present human electroencephalography (EEG) study investigates the potential role of statistical context in dynamically modulating stimulus-specific adaptation by examining the auditory cortex-generated N1 and P2 components. As in previous studies of stimulus-specific adaptation, listeners were presented with oddball sequences in which the presentation of a repeated tone was infrequently interrupted by rare spectral changes taking on three different magnitudes. Critically, the statistical context varied with respect to the probability of small versus large spectral changes within oddball sequences (half of the time a small change was most probable; in the other half a large change was most probable). We observed larger N1 and P2 amplitudes (i.e., release from adaptation) for all spectral changes in the small-change compared with the large-change statistical context. The increase in response magnitude also held for responses to tones presented with high probability, indicating that statistical adaptation can overrule stimulus probability per se in its influence on neural responses. Computational modeling showed that the degree of coadaptation in auditory cortex changed depending on the statistical context, which in turn affected stimulus-specific adaptation. Thus the present data demonstrate that stimulus-specific adaptation in human auditory cortex critically depends on statistical context. Finally, the present results challenge the implicit assumption of stationarity of neural response magnitudes that governs the practice of isolating established deviant-detection responses such as the mismatch negativity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Björn Herrmann
- Max Planck Research Group "Auditory Cognition," Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; and
| | - Molly J Henry
- Max Planck Research Group "Auditory Cognition," Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; and
| | | | - J Devin McAuley
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
| | - Jonas Obleser
- Max Planck Research Group "Auditory Cognition," Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; and
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Jentschke S, Friederici AD, Koelsch S. Neural correlates of music-syntactic processing in two-year old children. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2014; 9:200-8. [PMID: 24907450 PMCID: PMC6989737 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2014.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2013] [Revised: 04/23/2014] [Accepted: 04/23/2014] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
We observed neurophysiological correlates of music-syntactic processing in 30-month-olds. This indicates that children of that age process harmonic sequences according to complex syntactic regularities. These representations of music-syntactic regularities must have been acquired before and stored in long-term memory. Similar to syntax processing in language, these processes are highly automatic and do not require attention.
Music is a basic and ubiquitous socio-cognitive domain. However, our understanding of the time course of the development of music perception, particularly regarding implicit knowledge of music-syntactic regularities, remains contradictory and incomplete. Some authors assume that the acquisition of knowledge about these regularities lasts until late childhood, but there is also evidence for the presence of such knowledge in four- and five-year-olds. To explore whether such knowledge is already present in younger children, we tested whether 30-month-olds (N = 62) show neurophysiological responses to music-syntactically irregular harmonies. We observed an early right anterior negativity in response to both irregular in-key and out-of-key chords. The N5, a brain response usually present in older children and adults, was not observed, indicating that processes of harmonic integration (as reflected in the N5) are still in development in this age group. In conclusion, our results indicate that 30-month-olds already have acquired implicit knowledge of complex harmonic music-syntactic regularities and process musical information according to this knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Angela D Friederici
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Neuropsychology, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Stefan Koelsch
- Freie Universität Berlin, Cluster "Languages of Emotion", Berlin, Germany.
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Sammler D, Koelsch S, Ball T, Brandt A, Grigutsch M, Huppertz HJ, Knösche TR, Wellmer J, Widman G, Elger CE, Friederici AD, Schulze-Bonhage A. Co-localizing linguistic and musical syntax with intracranial EEG. Neuroimage 2012; 64:134-46. [PMID: 23000255 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.09.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2012] [Revised: 09/05/2012] [Accepted: 09/13/2012] [Indexed: 10/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite general agreement on shared syntactic resources in music and language, the neuroanatomical underpinnings of this overlap remain largely unexplored. While previous studies mainly considered frontal areas as supramodal grammar processors, the domain-general syntactic role of temporal areas has been so far neglected. Here we capitalized on the excellent spatial and temporal resolution of subdural EEG recordings to co-localize low-level syntactic processes in music and language in the temporal lobe in a within-subject design. We used Brain Surface Current Density mapping to localize and compare neural generators of the early negativities evoked by violations of phrase structure grammar in both music and spoken language. The results show that the processing of syntactic violations relies in both domains on bilateral temporo-fronto-parietal neural networks. We found considerable overlap of these networks in the superior temporal lobe, but also differences in the hemispheric timing and relative weighting of their fronto-temporal constituents. While alluding to the dissimilarity in how shared neural resources may be configured depending on the musical or linguistic nature of the perceived stimulus, the combined data lend support for a co-localization of early musical and linguistic syntax processing in the temporal lobe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Sammler
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
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Abstract
Language processing is a trait of human species. The knowledge about its neurobiological basis has been increased considerably over the past decades. Different brain regions in the left and right hemisphere have been identified to support particular language functions. Networks involving the temporal cortex and the inferior frontal cortex with a clear left lateralization were shown to support syntactic processes, whereas less lateralized temporo-frontal networks subserve semantic processes. These networks have been substantiated both by functional as well as by structural connectivity data. Electrophysiological measures indicate that within these networks syntactic processes of local structure building precede the assignment of grammatical and semantic relations in a sentence. Suprasegmental prosodic information overtly available in the acoustic language input is processed predominantly in a temporo-frontal network in the right hemisphere associated with a clear electrophysiological marker. Studies with patients suffering from lesions in the corpus callosum reveal that the posterior portion of this structure plays a crucial role in the interaction of syntactic and prosodic information during language processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela D Friederici
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
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Herrmann B, Maess B, Hahne A, Schröger E, Friederici AD. Syntactic and auditory spatial processing in the human temporal cortex: An MEG study. Neuroimage 2011; 57:624-33. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.04.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2011] [Revised: 04/12/2011] [Accepted: 04/18/2011] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
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