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Chang R, Zhang Q, Yang X. The impact of music training on temporal order processing in Mandarin Chinese sentence reading: Evidence from event-related potentials (ERPs). COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2024; 24:766-778. [PMID: 38773021 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-024-01195-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/23/2024]
Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of music training on the processing of temporal order in Mandarin sentence reading using event-related potentials (ERPs). Two-clause sentences with temporal connectives ("before" or "after") were presented to both musicians and non-musicians. Additionally, a verbal N-back task was utilized to evaluate the participants' working memory capacities. The findings revealed that musicians, but not nonmusicians, demonstrated a more negative amplitude in the second clauses of "before" sentences compared with "after" sentences. In the N-back task, musicians exhibited faster reaction times than nonmusicians in the two-back condition. Furthermore, a correlation was observed between the ERP amplitude differences (before vs. after) and reaction time differences in the N-back task (0-back vs. 2-back) among musicians. These findings suggested that music training enhances the depth of temporal order processing, potentially mediated by improvements in working memory capacity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruohan Chang
- School of Psychology, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, China
| | - Qian Zhang
- Naval Medical Center, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiaohong Yang
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China.
- Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Language Ability, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, China.
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2
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Ju P, Zhou Z, Xie Y, Hui J, Yang X. Music training influences online temporal order processing during reading comprehension. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2024; 248:104340. [PMID: 38870685 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2024.104340] [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: 01/09/2024] [Revised: 05/16/2024] [Accepted: 06/10/2024] [Indexed: 06/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Numerous studies have demonstrated the influence of musical expertise on spoken language processing; however, its effects on reading comprehension remain largely unexplored. This study aims to investigate the role of musical expertise in sentence comprehension, particularly concerning the processing of temporal order. Using two self-paced reading experiments, we examined individuals' responses to two-clause sentences connected by the temporal connectives "before" or "after". "After" sentences consistently presented events in their actual order of temporal occurrence, while "before" sentences described events in reverse temporal order. In both experiments, our analyses of reading times consistently uncovered a significant temporal order effect, with words immediately following the temporal connectives being processed slower in "before" sentences compared to "after" sentences. This suggests the presence of immediate online processing costs associated with "before" sentences. Notably, these processing costs were found to be attenuated in individuals with musical expertise compared to those without. However, analyses of comprehension accuracy showed no advantage of musicians over non-musicians. Specifically, in Experiment 1, the two groups showed no difference in comprehension accuracy, while in Experiment 2, musicians exhibited lower accuracy rates compared to non-musicians in both "before" and "after" sentences. These results suggest that musical expertise may attenuate online processing costs associated with complex linguistic constructs, but could not promote reading accuracy. We concluded that music training is associated with a restricted effect on written sentence comprehension.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ping Ju
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Zihang Zhou
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China; School of foreign languages, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Yuhan Xie
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Jiaying Hui
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaohong Yang
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China; Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Language Ability, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, China.
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3
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Kong L, Jiang Y, Huang Y, Jiang X. Temporal Shift Length and Antecedent Occurrence Likelihood Modulate Counterfactual Conditional Comprehension: Evidence from Event-Related Potentials. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1724. [PMID: 38137172 PMCID: PMC10741727 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13121724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2023] [Revised: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Counterfactual conditionals posit hypothetical scenarios in which antecedent events contradict reality. This study examined whether and how the processing difficulty of Chinese counterfactual conditionals (yaobushi, equivalent to if it had not been for in English) can be affected by the length of temporal shifts of the events across clauses and the likelihood of the antecedent occurrence. Participants read Chinese counterfactuals that contained either long (e.g., qunian-xianzai [last year-right now]) or short temporal shifts (e.g., zuotian-xianzai [yesterday-right now]) within highly likely (e.g., sign up for school activity) or less likely contexts (e.g., sign up for Arctic scientific research). ERP results revealed a significant N400 interaction between the temporal shift length and antecedent likelihood on the temporal indicators in the consequent and the sentence-ending verbs. Specifically, the less likely events elicited larger negativity than highly likely events with short temporal shifts on the temporal indicator. On the sentence-ending word, the long temporal shift elicited enlarged negativity than the short temporal shift when the antecedent was highly likely. These findings have two key implications regarding the interplay of implied causality and falsity constraints during counterfactual comprehension. First, salient falsity constraints can override effects of causal coherence on processing. Second, greater negativity for unlikely antecedents suggests that counterfactual markers concurrently activate factual and hypothetical representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lingda Kong
- Institute of Corpus Studies & Applications, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai 200083, China; (L.K.); (Y.J.)
| | - Yong Jiang
- Institute of Corpus Studies & Applications, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai 200083, China; (L.K.); (Y.J.)
| | - Yan Huang
- School of Foreign Languages, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China;
| | - Xiaoming Jiang
- Institute of Linguistics, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai 200083, China
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4
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Yuan X, Ni L, Li H, Zhang D, Zhou K. The neural correlates of individual differences in numerosity perception: A voxel-based morphometry study. iScience 2023; 26:107392. [PMID: 37554464 PMCID: PMC10405316 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107392] [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: 01/20/2023] [Revised: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 08/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Numerosity perception is a fundamental cognitive function in humans and animals. Using an individual difference approach with a comprehensive dataset (N = 249), we performed a voxel-based morphometry analysis to unravel the neuroanatomical substrates associated with individual differences in numerosity perception sensitivity, measured by a classical non-symbolic numerical judgment task. Results showed that greater gray matter volume (GMV) in the left cerebellum, right temporal pole, and right parahippocampal was positively correlated to higher perceptual sensitivity to numerosity. In contrast, the GMV in the left intraparietal sulcus, and bilateral precentral/postcentral gyrus was negatively correlated to the sensitivity of numerosity perception. These findings indicate that a wide range of brain structures, rather than a specific anatomical structure or circuit, forms the neuroanatomical basis of numerosity perception, lending support to the emerging network view of the neural representation of numerosity. This work contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of how the brain processes numerical information. •Unveils neuroanatomical basis of numerosity perception •Discovers positive and negative greater GMV correlations •Links GMV in a wide range of brain regions to numerical sensitivity •Supports the network view of the neural representation of numerosity perception
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinyi Yuan
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Liangping Ni
- Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230601, China
- Medical Imaging Research Center, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China
| | - Huan Li
- Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230601, China
- Medical Imaging Research Center, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China
| | - Dai Zhang
- Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230601, China
- Medical Imaging Research Center, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China
| | - Ke Zhou
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
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Xu X, Yu H, Gao X, Shen B, Feng W, Zhou X. Understanding an implicated causality: The brain network for processing concessive relations. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2022; 234:105177. [PMID: 36084367 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2022.105177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2022] [Revised: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Concessive relations, often indicated by conjunction words such as although, are semantically and pragmatically more complex than causal relations (expressed using because), as they involve more semantic features such as implicated meaning and negation. However, it remains unclear how linguistic-level complexity is manifested through different brain activities and functional connectivities. This fMRI study investigated how the neural underpinnings of concessive relations differ from those of causal relations. Pragmatically congruent and incongruent words were embedded in causal as well as concessive sentences. The whole-brain analysis revealed that relative to because-congruent sentences, although-congruent sentences evoked increased activations in a left network including IFG, bilateral MFG, mPFC, pMTG, and TPJ. DCM analysis showed that while the functional connectivity from IFG to MFG was commonly involved in processing concessive and causal relations, functional connectivities from pMTG to IFG and from pMTG to TPJ were involved in processing causal and concessive relations, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaodong Xu
- School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, China
| | - Hongbo Yu
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9660, USA
| | - Xiaoxue Gao
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Bo Shen
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
| | - Wangshu Feng
- Artificial Intelligence and Human Languages Lab, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing 100089, China
| | - Xiaolin Zhou
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China; Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Institute of Linguistics, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai 200083, China.
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6
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Chen L, Lu Y, Xu X. Understanding Temporal Relations in Mandarin Chinese: An ERP Investigation. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12040474. [PMID: 35448005 PMCID: PMC9033067 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12040474] [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: 01/22/2022] [Revised: 03/22/2022] [Accepted: 03/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Temporal connectives play a crucial role in marking the sequence of events during language comprehension. Although existing studies have shown that sentence comprehension can be modulated by temporal connectives, they have mainly focused on languages with grammatical tense such as English. It thus remains unclear how temporal information is processed in tenseless languages. The present study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine how world knowledge is retrieved and integrated in sentences linked by zhiqian (before) and zhihou (after) in Mandarin Chinese (e.g., After/Before going to the countryside, Grandpa went to the city because the air there was fresh and pure). The critical words (e.g., fresh) were either congruent or incongruent with world knowledge. Relative to the after-congruent sentences, the after-incongruent sentences evoked a P600 on critical words and a negativity on sentence-final words, whereas relative to before-congruent sentences, before-incongruent sentences showed no significant difference on critical words but a sustained negativity on sentence-final words. Additionally, before-congruent sentences elicited a larger sustained positivity (P600) than after-congruent sentences. The results suggest that before is more difficult to process than after in Mandarin Chinese, supporting the iconicity account of temporal relations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lijuan Chen
- School of Foreign Studies, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210023, China;
| | - Yiyi Lu
- School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, China;
| | - Xiaodong Xu
- School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, China;
- Correspondence:
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7
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Zarcone A, Demberg V. Interaction of Script Knowledge and Temporal Discourse Cues in a Visual World Study. DISCOURSE PROCESSES 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/0163853x.2021.1930807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alessandra Zarcone
- HumAIn-IIS - Audio und Medientechnologien Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Vera Demberg
- Department of Language Science and Technology, Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken, Germany
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8
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Corticostriatal Regulation of Language Functions. Neuropsychol Rev 2021; 31:472-494. [PMID: 33982264 DOI: 10.1007/s11065-021-09481-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2020] [Accepted: 01/20/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
The role of corticostriatal circuits in language functions is unclear. In this review, we consider evidence from language learning, syntax, and controlled language production and comprehension tasks that implicate various corticostriatal circuits. Converging evidence from neuroimaging in healthy individuals, studies in populations with subcortical dysfunction, pharmacological studies, and brain stimulation suggests a domain-general regulatory role of corticostriatal systems in language operations. The role of corticostriatal systems in language operations identified in this review is likely to reflect a broader function of the striatum in responding to uncertainty and conflict which demands selection, sequencing, and cognitive control. We argue that this role is dynamic and varies depending on the degree and form of cognitive control required, which in turn will recruit particular corticostriatal circuits and components organised in a cognitive hierarchy.
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Ye Z, Hanssen H, Steinhardt J, Tronnier V, Rasche D, Brüggemann N, Münte TF. Subthalamic Nucleus Stimulation Impairs Sequence Processing in Patients with Parkinson's Disease. JOURNAL OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE 2021; 11:1869-1879. [PMID: 34459415 DOI: 10.3233/jpd-212778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Maintaining and manipulating sequences online is essential for language and memory. In Parkinson's disease (PD), poor performance in sequencing tasks has been associated with basal ganglia dysfunction, especially subthalamic hyperactivity. OBJECTIVE This study is aimed to investigate the impact of high-frequency subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) on sequence processing in PD. METHODS Twenty-nine patients with PD (17 women) completed a 'before/after' sentence task and a digit ordering task with STN DBS ON and OFF. In the sentence task, patients read a sequence of events expressed in the actual order of occurrence ('after' sentences) or reversed order ('before' sentences) for comprehension. In the digit task, patients recalled a sequence of ordered digits (ordered trials) or reordered and recalled random digits in ascending order (random trials). Volumes of tissue activated (VTAs) were estimated for the motor and associative STN. RESULTS Patients were slower with STN DBS ON versus OFF in both tasks, although their motor symptoms were significantly improved under DBS. In the sentence task, patients showed higher ordering-related reaction time costs ('before' > 'after') with DBS ON versus OFF. Moreover, patients with larger left associative VTAs, smaller total motor VTAs, and more daily exposure to dopaminergic drugs tended to show larger reaction time cost increases under DBS. In the digit ordering task, patients with too large or too small right associative VTAs tended to show larger reaction time cost increases under DBS. CONCLUSION Stimulating the STN, especially its associative part, might impair sequence processing in language and memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zheng Ye
- Institute of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Henrike Hanssen
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Julia Steinhardt
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
- Institute of Endocrinology and Diabetes, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Volker Tronnier
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Dirk Rasche
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Norbert Brüggemann
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
- Institute of Neurogenetics, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Thomas F Münte
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
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Abstract
A set of assertions is consistent provided they can all be true at the same time. Naive individuals could prove consistency using the formal rules of a logical calculus, but it calls for them to fail to prove the negation of one assertion from the remainder in the set. An alternative procedure is for them to use an intuitive system (System 1) to construct a mental model of all the assertions. The task should be easy in this case. However, some sets of consistent assertions have no intuitive models and call for a deliberative system (System 2) to construct an alternative model. Formal rules and mental models therefore make different predictions. We report three experiments that tested their respective merits. The participants assessed the consistency of temporal descriptions based on statements using "during" and "before." They were more accurate for consistent problems with intuitive models than for those that called for deliberative models. There was no robust difference in accuracy between consistent and inconsistent problems. The results therefore corroborated the model theory.
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Lee Masson H, Pillet I, Boets B, Op de Beeck H. Task-dependent changes in functional connectivity during the observation of social and non-social touch interaction. Cortex 2020; 125:73-89. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.12.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2019] [Revised: 10/18/2019] [Accepted: 12/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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12
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Individual differences in children's comprehension of temporal relations: Dissociable contributions of working memory capacity and working memory updating. J Exp Child Psychol 2019; 185:1-18. [PMID: 31077975 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2019.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2018] [Revised: 04/04/2019] [Accepted: 04/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
In two experiments, we examined 9- to 12-year-old children's comprehension and processing of two-clause sentences with a temporal connective (before or after) in the sentence-medial or sentence-initial position. We obtained measures of individual differences in working memory (WM) capacity and WM updating to test their contributions to comprehension. We measured the accuracy of children's responses to the questions "What happened first?" (Experiment 1; N = 74) and "What happened last?" (Experiment 2; N = 50) as well as their sentence reading times. Together, these experiments show continued development of comprehension of temporal relations in children in upper elementary school and suggest that children's comprehension difficulties (i.e., more comprehension errors and longer reading times) were influenced by clause salience and recency effects rather than sentence chronology or the familiarity of the connective. Our findings are consistent with a memory resource-limited account and suggest that individual differences in WM updating and WM capacity make dissociable contributions to processing and comprehension of sentences with temporal order information.
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Overweg J, Hartman CA, Hendriks P. Temporarily Out of Order: Temporal Perspective Taking in Language in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1663. [PMID: 30233475 PMCID: PMC6134024 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2018] [Accepted: 08/20/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Clinical reports suggest that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) struggle with time perception, but few studies have investigated this. This is the first study to examine these children's understanding of before and after. These temporal conjunctions have been argued to require additional cognitive effort when conjoining two events in a clause order that is incongruent with their order in time. Given the suggested time perception impairment and well-established cognitive deficits of children with ASD, we expected them to have difficulties interpreting temporal conjunctions, especially in an incongruent order. To investigate this, the interpretation of before and after in congruent and incongruent orders was examined in 48 children with ASD and 43 typically developing (TD) children (age 6-12). Additional tasks were administered to measure Theory of Mind (ToM), working memory (WM), cognitive inhibition, cognitive flexibility, IQ, and verbal ability. We found that children with ASD were less accurate in their interpretation of temporal conjunctions than their TD peers. Contrary to our expectations, they did not have particular difficulties in an incongruent order. Furthermore, older children showed better overall performance than younger children. The difference between children with ASD and TD children was explained by WM, ToM, IQ, and verbal ability, but not by cognitive inhibition and flexibility. These cognitive functions are more likely to be impaired in children with ASD than in TD children, which could account for their poorer performance. Thus, the cognitive factors found to affect the interpretation of temporal language in children with ASD are likely to apply in typical development as well. Sufficient WM capacity and verbal ability may help children to process complex sentences conjoined by a temporal conjunction. Additionally, ToM understanding was found to be related to children's interpretation of temporal conjunctions in an incongruent order, indicating that perspective taking is required when events are presented out of order. We conclude from this that perspective-taking abilities are needed for the interpretation of temporal conjunctions, either to shift one's own perspective as a hearer to another point in time, or to shift to the perspective of the speaker to consider the speaker's linguistic choices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Overweg
- Center for Language and Cognition Groningen (CLCG), University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Catharina A Hartman
- Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Petra Hendriks
- Center for Language and Cognition Groningen (CLCG), University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
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14
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Politzer-Ahles S, Xiang M, Almeida D. "Before" and "after": Investigating the relationship between temporal connectives and chronological ordering using event-related potentials. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0175199. [PMID: 28369132 PMCID: PMC5378364 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0175199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2016] [Accepted: 03/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Sentence-initial temporal clauses headed by before, as in "Before the scientist submitted the paper, the journal changed its policy", have been shown to elicit sustained negative-going brain potentials compared to maximally similar clauses headed by after, as in "After the scientist submitted the paper, the journal changed its policy". Such effects may be due to either one of two potential causes: before clauses may be more difficult than after clauses because they cause the two events in the sentence to be mentioned in an order opposite the order in which they actually occurred, or they may be more difficult because they are ambiguous with regard to whether the event described in the clause actually happened. The present study examined the effect of before and after clauses on sentence processing in both sentence-initial contexts, like those above, and in sentence-final contexts ("The journal changed its policy before/after the scientist submitted the paper"), where an order-of-mention account of the sustained negativity predicts a negativity for after relative to before. There was indeed such a reversal, with before eliciting more negative brain potentials than after in sentence-initial clauses but more positive in sentence-final clauses. The results suggest that the sustained negativity indexes processing costs related to comprehending events that were mentioned out of order.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Politzer-Ahles
- Faculty of Linguistics, Philology & Phonetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- NYUAD Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Ming Xiang
- Linguistics Department, Chicago, University of Chicago, United States of America
| | - Diogo Almeida
- Psychology Program, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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15
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Blything LP, Cain K. Children's processing and comprehension of complex sentences containing temporal connectives: The influence of memory on the time course of accurate responses. Dev Psychol 2016; 52:1517-1529. [PMID: 27690492 PMCID: PMC5047371 DOI: 10.1037/dev0000201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
In a touch-screen paradigm, we recorded 3- to 7-year-olds' (N = 108) accuracy and response times (RTs) to assess their comprehension of 2-clause sentences containing before and after. Children were influenced by order: performance was most accurate when the presentation order of the 2 clauses matched the chronological order of events: "She drank the juice, before she walked in the park" (chronological order) versus "Before she walked in the park, she drank the juice" (reverse order). Differences in RTs for correct responses varied by sentence type: accurate responses were made more speedily for sentences that afforded an incremental processing of meaning. An independent measure of memory predicted this pattern of performance. We discuss these findings in relation to children's knowledge of connective meaning and the processing requirements of sentences containing temporal connectives. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kate Cain
- Department of Psychology, Lancaster University
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16
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Ahmad F, Ahmad I, Dar WM. Identification and classification of voxels of human brain for rewardless-related decision making using ANN technique. Neural Comput Appl 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s00521-016-2413-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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17
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Nieuwland MS. The Truth Before and After: Brain Potentials Reveal Automatic Activation of Event Knowledge during Sentence Comprehension. J Cogn Neurosci 2015; 27:2215-28. [DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
How does knowledge of real-world events shape our understanding of incoming language? Do temporal terms like “before” and “after” impact the online recruitment of real-world event knowledge? These questions were addressed in two ERP experiments, wherein participants read sentences that started with “before” or “after” and contained a critical word that rendered each sentence true or false (e.g., “Before/After the global economic crisis, securing a mortgage was easy/harder”). The critical words were matched on predictability, rated truth value, and semantic relatedness to the words in the sentence. Regardless of whether participants explicitly verified the sentences or not, false-after-sentences elicited larger N400s than true-after-sentences, consistent with the well-established finding that semantic retrieval of concepts is facilitated when they are consistent with real-world knowledge. However, although the truth judgments did not differ between before- and after-sentences, no such sentence N400 truth value effect occurred in before-sentences, whereas false-before-sentences elicited an enhanced subsequent positive ERPs. The temporal term “before” itself elicited more negative ERPs at central electrode channels than “after.” These patterns of results show that, irrespective of ultimate sentence truth value judgments, semantic retrieval of concepts is momentarily facilitated when they are consistent with the known event outcome compared to when they are not. However, this inappropriate facilitation incurs later processing costs as reflected in the subsequent positive ERP deflections. The results suggest that automatic activation of event knowledge can impede the incremental semantic processes required to establish sentence truth value.
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Blything LP, Davies R, Cain K. Young Children's Comprehension of Temporal Relations in Complex Sentences: The Influence of Memory on Performance. Child Dev 2015; 86:1922-34. [PMID: 26309072 PMCID: PMC4975597 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The present study investigated 3‐ to 7‐year‐olds' (N = 91) comprehension of two‐clause sentences containing the temporal connectives before or after. The youngest children used an order of mention strategy to interpret the relation between clauses: They were more accurate when the presentation order matched the chronological order of events: “He ate his lunch, before he played in the garden” (chronological) versus “Before he played in the garden, he ate his lunch” (reverse). Between 4 and 6 years, performance was influenced by a combination of factors that influenced processing load: connective type and presentation order. An independent measure of working memory was predictive of performance. The study concludes that the memory demands of some sentence structures limits young children's comprehension of sentences containing temporal connectives.
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Ye Z, Milenkova M, Mohammadi B, Kollewe K, Schrader C, Dengler R, Samii A, Münte TF. Impaired comprehension of temporal connectives in Parkinson’s disease—A neuroimaging study. Neuropsychologia 2012; 50:1794-800. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2011] [Revised: 03/29/2012] [Accepted: 04/04/2012] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Al-Khaled M, Bolstorff I, Hagenah J, Münte TF, Heldmann M. Language Comprehension in Parkinson’s Disease: The Case of Temporal Connectives. ZEITSCHRIFT FUR NEUROPSYCHOLOGIE 2012. [DOI: 10.1024/1016-264x/a000066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Language dysfunction is not normally considered to be a typical symptom of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Previous studies, however, have shown that PD might lead to comprehension deficits whenever a language task taxes verbal working memory. A case in point are sentences starting with temporal connectives (before or after). While “After A, B” sentences state the events in the same order as they occurred in real life, the event-order is reversed in “Before B, A”. Neuroimaging studies have revealed that the caudate nucleus is important for the additional computations necessitated by the processing of ‘before’-initial sentences, suggesting that such sentences should be particularly difficult for patients suffering from basal ganglia diseases such as PD. In the present investigation, we compared a group of PD patients with normal control participants. A further group of patients with restless legs syndrome (RLS) treated with dopaminergic medication was also tested. Replicating earlier studies, PD patients were disproportionately impaired in comprehending ‘before’-initial sentences. Importantly, this deficit was also observed in unmedicated de novo patients, suggesting that these difficulties occur relatively early in the disease. RLS patients also had increased error rates compared to healthy controls. This latter finding should be confirmed in further studies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Inga Bolstorff
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Johann Hagenah
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Thomas F. Münte
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Marcus Heldmann
- Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
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Ye Z, Habets B, Jansma BM, Münte TF. Neural Basis of Linearization in Speech Production. J Cogn Neurosci 2011; 23:3694-702. [DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
An initial stage of speech production is conceptual planning, where a speaker determines which information to convey first (the linearization problem). This fMRI study investigated the linearization process during the production of “before” and “after” sentences. In “after” sentences, a series of events is expressed in the order of event occurrence. In “before” sentences, however, the order of event mention is achieved by reversing the chronological order. We suggested that the linearization process may be supported by a neural network connecting the left middle temporal gyrus (MTG) with the medial superior frontal gyrus, left middle frontal gyrus, and left angular gyrus/inferior parietal gyrus. Within this network, regions were more activated and interregional interactions were strongly enhanced for producing “before” than “after” sentences. The left MTG was also functionally connected with the left orbital inferior frontal gyrus, contributing to the retrieval of necessary world knowledge and linguistic knowledge. Connectivity between these two regions was not different between conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zheng Ye
- 1Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- 2University of Lübeck, Germany
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