1
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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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Gao F, Hua L, Armada-da-Silva P, Zhang J, Li D, Chen Z, Wang C, Du M, Yuan Z. Shared and distinct neural correlates of first and second language morphological processing in bilingual brain. NPJ SCIENCE OF LEARNING 2023; 8:33. [PMID: 37666860 PMCID: PMC10477180 DOI: 10.1038/s41539-023-00184-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023]
Abstract
While morphology constitutes a crucial component of the human language system, the neural bases of morphological processing in the human brain remains to be elucidated. The current study aims at exploring the extent to which the second language (L2) morphological processing would resemble or differ from that of their first language (L1) in adult Chinese-English bilinguals. Bilingual participants were asked to complete a morphological priming lexical decision task drawing on derivational morphology, which is present for both Chinese and English, when their electrophysiological and optical responses were recorded concurrently. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) revealed a neural dissociation between morphological and semantic priming effects in the left fronto-temporal network, while L1 Chinese engaged enhanced activation in the left prefrontal cortex for morphological parsing relative to L2 English. In the early stage of lexical processing, cross-language morphological processing manifested a difference in degree, not in kind, as revealed by the early left anterior negativity (ELAN) effect. In addition, L1 and L2 shared both early and late structural parsing processes (P250 and 300 ~ 500 ms negativity, respectively). Therefore, the current results support a unified competition model for bilingual development, where bilinguals would primarily employ L1 neural resources for L2 morphological representation and processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fei Gao
- Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China
- Institute of Modern Languages and Linguistics, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Lin Hua
- Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China
| | - Paulo Armada-da-Silva
- Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China
| | - Juan Zhang
- Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China
- Faculty of Education, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China
| | - Defeng Li
- Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China
- Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China
| | - Zhiyi Chen
- The Affiliated Changsha Central Hospital, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Changsha, China
- Institute of Medical Imaging, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang, China
- The Seven Affiliated Hospital, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Changsha, China
| | - Chengwen Wang
- School of International Cultural Exchange, University of Finance and Economics, Central, Beijing, China
| | - Meng Du
- The Affiliated Changsha Central Hospital, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Changsha, China
- Institute of Medical Imaging, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang, China
| | - Zhen Yuan
- Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.
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3
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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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4
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Westermann G, Jones S. Origins of Dissociations in the English Past Tense: A Synthetic Brain Imaging Model. Front Psychol 2021; 12:688908. [PMID: 34276514 PMCID: PMC8283012 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.688908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Accepted: 05/31/2021] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Brain imaging studies of English past tense inflection have found dissociations between regular and irregular verbs, but no coherent picture has emerged to explain how these dissociations arise. Here we use synthetic brain imaging on a neural network model to provide a mechanistic account of the origins of such dissociations. The model suggests that dissociations between regional activation patterns in verb inflection emerge in an adult processing system that has been shaped through experience-dependent structural brain development. Although these dissociations appear to be between regular and irregular verbs, they arise in the model from a combination of statistical properties including frequency, relationships to other verbs, and phonological complexity, without a causal role for regularity or semantics. These results are consistent with the notion that all inflections are produced in a single associative mechanism. The model generates predictions about the patterning of active brain regions for different verbs that can be tested in future imaging studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gert Westermann
- Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom
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5
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Hyder R, Højlund A, Jensen M, Østergaard K, Shtyrov Y. Objective assessment of automatic language comprehension mechanisms in the brain: Novel E/MEG paradigm. Psychophysiology 2020; 57:e13543. [DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2019] [Revised: 11/22/2019] [Accepted: 12/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rasha Hyder
- 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
| | - Mads Jensen
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN) Department of Clinical Medicine Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark
| | - Karen Østergaard
- Sano Private Hospital Skælskør Denmark
- Department of Neurology Aarhus University Hospital (AUH) Aarhus Denmark
| | - Yury Shtyrov
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN) Department of Clinical Medicine Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark
- Laboratory of Behavioural Neurodynamics Saint Petersburg State University Saint Petersburg Russia
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6
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Kotzor S, Zhou B, Lahiri A. (A)Symmetry in vowel features in verbs and pseudoverbs: ERP evidence. Neuropsychologia 2020; 143:107474. [PMID: 32333935 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2019] [Revised: 03/20/2020] [Accepted: 04/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
This paper examines the processing of height and place contrasts in vowels in words and pseudowords, using mismatch negativity (MMN) to determine firstly whether asymmetries resulting from underlying representations found in the processing of vowels in isolation will remain in a word context and secondly whether there is any difference in the way these phonological differences manifest in pseudowords. The stimuli are two sets of English ablaut verbs and corresponding pseudowords (sit ~ sat/*sif~*saf and get ~ got/*gef~*gof) contrasting in vowel height ([high] vs. [low]) and place of articulation ([coronal] vs. [dorsal]). In line with previous research, the results show a processing asymmetry for place of articulation in both words and nonwords, while different vowel heights result in symmetrical MMN patterns. These findings confirm that an underspecification account provides the best explanation for featural processing and that phonological information is independent of lexical status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Kotzor
- Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics, University of Oxford, Walton Street, Oxford, OX1 2HG, United Kingdom; School of Education, Oxford Brookes University, Harcourt Hill Campus, Oxford, OX2 9AT, United Kingdom.
| | - Beinan Zhou
- Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics, University of Oxford, Walton Street, Oxford, OX1 2HG, United Kingdom
| | - Aditi Lahiri
- Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics, University of Oxford, Walton Street, Oxford, OX1 2HG, United Kingdom.
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7
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Gosselke Berthelsen S, Horne M, Shtyrov Y, Roll M. Different neural mechanisms for rapid acquisition of words with grammatical tone in learners from tonal and non-tonal backgrounds: ERP evidence. Brain Res 2020; 1729:146614. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2019.146614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2019] [Revised: 09/16/2019] [Accepted: 12/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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8
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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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9
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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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10
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Schuster S, Lahiri A. Gradations of interpretability in spoken complex word recognition. Neuropsychologia 2019; 133:107065. [PMID: 31004691 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2018] [Revised: 04/11/2019] [Accepted: 04/13/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In an ERP experiment with cross-modal priming, we found evidence for graded interpretability of complex pseudowords, expressed as differences in the degree of priming between a complex pseudoword and its embedded base word. Only pseudowords that were constructed according to the morphological constraints of the language (for instance that nouns ending in {-ung} in German must be derived from a verbal base) led to significant attenuation of the N400 component relative to an unrelated control. Novel formations that consisted of the concatenation of a stem and an incompatible affix (e.g. wirr A.,'confused' and {-lein}, which can only add to nouns) did not modulate the N400 component. Moreover, gradations in degree of priming were observed with novel pseudowords that were the result of several morphological operations as a function of the composition of the full sequence of morphological operations. Any positions within the sequence that were filled by possible, but non-existing formations (thus compare hübsch (A., 'pretty') > *hübschen (V., 'beautify') > *Hübschung (N., 'beautification') versus spitz (A., 'sharp') > spitzen (V., 'sharpen') > *Spitzung (N., 'sharpening'), whereby in the former the intermediate position is expressed through a possible, but non-existing verb form) led to reduced activation of the base word. These findings corroborate previous behavioural and neuroimaging results in visual word recognition that found support for step-wise morphological decomposition in multi-affixed pseudowords and reveal that the composition of the derivational path can lead to gradations of interpretability in the recognition of spoken complex pseudowords.
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11
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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: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [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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12
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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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13
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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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14
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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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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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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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Näätänen R, Sussman ES, Salisbury D, Shafer VL. Mismatch negativity (MMN) as an index of cognitive dysfunction. Brain Topogr 2014; 27:451-66. [PMID: 24838819 DOI: 10.1007/s10548-014-0374-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 128] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2013] [Accepted: 04/29/2014] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Cognition is often affected in a variety of neuropsychiatric, neurological, and neurodevelopmental disorders. The neural discriminative response, reflected in mismatch negativity (MMN) and its magnetoencephalographic equivalent (MMNm), has been used as a tool to study a variety of disorders involving auditory cognition. MMN/MMNm is an involuntary brain response to auditory change or, more generally, to pattern regularity violation. For a number of disorders, MMN/MMNm amplitude to sound deviance has been shown to be attenuated or the peak-latency of the component prolonged compared to controls. This general finding suggests that while not serving as a specific marker to any particular disorder, MMN may be useful for understanding factors of cognition in various disorders, and has potential to serve as an indicator of risk. This review presents a brief history of the MMN, followed by a description of how MMN has been used to index auditory processing capability in a range of neuropsychiatric, neurological, and neurodevelopmental disorders. Finally, we suggest future directions for research to further enhance our understanding of the neural substrate of deviance detection that could lead to improvements in the use of MMN as a clinical tool.
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Affiliation(s)
- Risto Näätänen
- Department of Psychology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
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Hanna J, Mejias S, Schelstraete MA, Pulvermüller F, Shtyrov Y, van der Lely HKJ. Early activation of Broca’s area in grammar processing as revealed by the syntactic mismatch negativity and distributed source analysis. Cogn Neurosci 2013; 5:66-76. [DOI: 10.1080/17588928.2013.860087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Leminen A, Leminen M, Kujala T, Shtyrov Y. Neural dynamics of inflectional and derivational morphology processing in the human brain. Cortex 2013; 49:2758-71. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2013.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2012] [Revised: 03/18/2013] [Accepted: 08/19/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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