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Zhang X, Wang Y, Yang X, Yang Y. The spontaneous activities of the multiple demand network are related to individual differences in indirect replies comprehension. Behav Brain Res 2024; 469:115021. [PMID: 38692358 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.115021] [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: 01/25/2024] [Revised: 04/16/2024] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/03/2024]
Abstract
This study aims to investigate the brain networks engaged in the comprehension of indirect language, as well as the individual difference in this capacity. Specially, we aim to determine whether the difference is solely influenced by the difference in individuals' default network (DN)/language network or whether it also relies on the networks associated with processing of complex cognitive tasks, particularly the multiple demand network (MDN). Conversational indirectness scale (CIS) scores in the interpretation dimension were used as a behavioral indicator of the indirect comprehension tendency. Reading time difference between indirect replies and direct replies collected through a self-paced reading experiment was deemed as a behavioral indicator of comprehension speed of indirect replies comprehension. The two behavioral indicators were combined with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). The behaviour-rfMRI analysis showed that ALFF value of right SPL and the functional connectivity (FC) between the right SPL and right IPL/SMA/ITG/Precuneus/bilateral IFG were positively correlated with the interpretation dimension of CIS scores. In addition, the ALFF value of right fusiform gyrus, the FC between the right fusiform gyrus and right precuneus, and the FCs between right SPL and right IPL/Precuneus/IFG were negatively correlated with indirect replies comprehension speed. Overlapping of these regions with large-scale brain network revealed that the right SPL was mainly located in the MDN, and the right fusiform gyrus was mainly located in the language network. Additionally, the areas showing functional connectivity with these regions were primarily located in the MDN, with a smaller subset located in the DN. Our findings suggest that the ability of individuals to actively and rapidly acquire indirect meaning relies not only on the support of the DN and the language network, but also requires collective support from the MDN.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiuping Zhang
- School of Psychology, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Yizhu Wang
- School of Psychology, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Xiaohong Yang
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China; Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Language Ability, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, China.
| | - Yufang Yang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, 100101; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
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2
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Soni S, Overton J, Kam JWY, Pexman P, Prabhu A, Garza N, Saez I, Girgis F. Intracranial recordings reveal high-frequency activity in the human temporal-parietal cortex supporting non-literal language processing. Front Neurosci 2024; 17:1304031. [PMID: 38260011 PMCID: PMC10800947 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1304031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/26/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Objective Non-literal expressions such as sarcasm, metaphor and simile refer to words and sentences that convey meanings or intentions that are different and more abstract than literal expressions. Neuroimaging studies have shown activations in a variety of frontal, parietal and temporal brain regions implicated in non-literal language processing. However, neurophysiological correlates of these brain areas underlying non-literal processing remain underexplored. Methods To address this, we investigated patterns of intracranial EEG activity during non-literal processing by leveraging a unique patient population. Seven neurosurgical patients with invasive electrophysiological monitoring of superficial brain activity were recruited. Intracranial neural responses were recorded over the temporal-parietal junction (TPJ) and its surrounding areas while patients performed a language task. Participants listened to vignettes that ended with non-literal or literal statements and were then asked related questions to which they responded verbally. Results We found differential neurophysiological activity during the processing of non-literal statements as compared to literal statements, especially in low-Gamma (30-70 Hz) and delta (1-4 Hz) bands. In addition, we found that neural responses related to non-literal processing in the high-gamma band (>70 Hz) were significantly more prominent at TPJ electrodes as compared to non-TPJ (i.e., control) electrodes in most subjects. Moreover, in half of patients, high-gamma activity related to non-literal processing was accompanied by delta-band modulation. Conclusion These results suggest that both low- and high-frequency electrophysiological activities in the temporal-parietal junction play a crucial role during non-literal language processing in the human brain. The current investigation, utilizing better spatial and temporal resolution of human intracranial electrocorticography, provides a unique opportunity to gain insights into the localized brain dynamics of the TPJ during the processing of non-literal language expressions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shweta Soni
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Jacqueline Overton
- Department of Neuroscience and Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Julia W. Y. Kam
- Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Penny Pexman
- Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Akshay Prabhu
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Nicholas Garza
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Ignacio Saez
- Department of Neuroscience, Neurosurgery and Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Fady Girgis
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
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Cordonier N, Fossard M, Tillé Y, Champagne-Lavau M. Exploring Cognitive-Pragmatic Heterogeneity Following Acquired Brain Injury: A Cluster Analysis of Hint Comprehension. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY 2023; 32:2752-2767. [PMID: 37707362 DOI: 10.1044/2023_ajslp-22-00389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/15/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Difficulties understanding nonliteral language (especially hints) are frequently reported following acquired brain injury (ABI). Several cognitive mechanisms, such as context processing, executive functions, and theory of mind (ToM), may underlie these disorders. However, their role remains controversial, mainly because of the characteristic heterogeneity of this population. Therefore, our study aimed to identify cognitive-pragmatic profiles in individuals with ABI. METHOD A new task of hint comprehension, manipulating executive demand, markers of hints, and ToM and neuropsychological tests were administered to 33 participants with frontal ABI and 33 control participants. Cluster analysis, a method sensitive to profile heterogeneity, was applied and coupled with error analysis. RESULTS We highlighted two cognitive-pragmatic profiles. One subgroup of participants with ABI exhibited contextual insensitivity, leading them to infer the utterance meaning based on linguistic decoding alone-literal meaning. This difficulty in understanding hints was associated with deficits in working memory, inhibition, and ToM. The second subgroup of participants with ABI showed difficulty with literal statements, associated with impaired inhibition and ToM. In addition, the two subgroups differed only on the ToM task. This result suggests that various types of ToM deficit (misunderstanding vs. incorrect attribution of mental states) could contribute to the variability of the pragmatic profiles observed (difficulties in interpreting hints vs. literal statements). CONCLUSION The experimental design adopted in this study provides valuable insight into the explanatory hypotheses of nonliteral language comprehension disorders and has important clinical implications. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.24069516.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natacha Cordonier
- Institut des sciences logopédiques, Faculté des lettres et sciences humaines, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
- Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, LPL, Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Marion Fossard
- Institut des sciences logopédiques, Faculté des lettres et sciences humaines, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Yves Tillé
- Institut de statistique, Faculté des sciences, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
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Huang Y, Huang J, Li L, Lin T, Zou L. Neural network of metaphor comprehension: an ALE meta-analysis and MACM analysis. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:10918-10930. [PMID: 37718244 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad337] [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: 05/08/2023] [Revised: 08/25/2023] [Accepted: 08/26/2023] [Indexed: 09/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The comprehension of metaphor, a vivid and figurative language, is a complex endeavor requiring cooperation among multiple cognitive systems. There are still many important questions regarding neural mechanisms implicated in specific types of metaphor. To address these questions, we conducted activation likelihood estimation meta-analyses on 30 studies (containing data of 480 participants) and meta-analytic connectivity modeling analyses. First, the results showed that metaphor comprehension engaged the inferior frontal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, fusiform gyrus, lingual gyrus, and middle occipital gyrus-all in the left hemisphere. In addition to the commonly reported networks of language and attention, metaphor comprehension engaged networks of visual. Second, sub-analysis showed that the contextual complexity can modulate figurativeness, with the convergence on the left fusiform gyrus during metaphor comprehension at discourse-level. Especially, right hemisphere only showed convergence in studies of novel metaphors, suggesting that the right hemisphere is more associated with difficulty than metaphorical. The work here extends knowledge of the neural mechanisms underlying metaphor comprehension in individual brain regions and neural networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanyang Huang
- Department of Psychiatry, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510280, China
- Chemical Senses and Mental Health Lab, Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510515, China
| | - Jiayu Huang
- Department of Psychiatry, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510280, China
- Chemical Senses and Mental Health Lab, Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510515, China
| | - Le Li
- Center for the Cognitive Science of Language, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, 100083, China
| | - Tao Lin
- Department of Psychiatry, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510280, China
- Chemical Senses and Mental Health Lab, Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510515, China
| | - Laiquan Zou
- Department of Psychiatry, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510280, China
- Chemical Senses and Mental Health Lab, Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510515, China
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Duvall L, May KE, Waltz A, Kana RK. The neurobiological map of theory of mind and pragmatic communication in autism. Soc Neurosci 2023; 18:191-204. [PMID: 37724352 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2023.2242095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2022] [Indexed: 09/20/2023]
Abstract
Children with autism often have difficulty with Theory of Mind (ToM), the ability to infer mental states, and pragmatic skills, the contextual use of language. Neuroimaging research suggests ToM and pragmatic skills overlap, as the ability to understand another's mental state is a prerequisite to interpersonal communication. To our knowledge, no study in the last decade has examined this overlap further. To assess the emerging consensus across neuroimaging studies of ToM and pragmatic skills in autism, we used coordinate-based activation likelihood estimation (ALE) analysis of 35 functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies (13 pragmatic skills, 22 ToM), resulting in a meta-analysis of 1,295 participants (647 autistic, 648 non-autistic) aged 7 to 49 years. Group difference analysis revealed decreased left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) activation in autistic participants during pragmatic skills tasks. For ToM tasks, we found reduced anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), and temporoparietal junction (TPJ) activation in autistic participants. Collectively, both ToM and pragmatic tasks showed activation in IFG and superior temporal gyrus (STG) and a reduction in left hemispheric activation in autistic participants. Overall, the findings underscore the cognitive and neural processing similarities between ToM and pragmatic skills, and their underlying neurobiological differences in autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren Duvall
- Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Kaitlyn E May
- Department of Educational Studies in Psychology, Research Methodologies, and Counseling, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL,USA
| | - Abby Waltz
- Department of Psychology & the Center for Innovative Research in Autism, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
| | - Rajesh K Kana
- Department of Psychology & the Center for Innovative Research in Autism, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
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Zhang X, Xu M, Yang X, Yang Y. Individual Differences in Emotion Attenuation Brought by Indirect Replies Is Related to Resting-State Brain Activity. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1053. [PMID: 37508985 PMCID: PMC10377414 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13071053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Revised: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
During daily conversations, people prefer indirect replies in face-threatening situations. Existent studies have indicated that recipients tend to perceive the information conveyed by indirect replies as negative and emotion regions are engaged in indirect replies processing in face-threatening situations. In this study, we examined whether indirect replies can reduce recipients' experience of negative emotion and what are the underlying cerebral structures that may give rise to individual differences in the effectiveness of such replies in attenuating negative emotion. Behavior ratings and resting-stating functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) techniques were combined to explore these questions. We created dialogues expressing refusal or negative opinion with direct/indirect replies. Participants were asked to rate their emotional valence and arousal when they received such replies. The rating scores were used to correlate with spontaneous brain activity. Results showed that indirect replies indeed attenuated recipients' negative emotion experience. Moreover, the left caudate, the right anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), and the connectivity of rACC and left medial prefrontal cortex (lmPFC) were found to be positively correlated to individual differences in such emotion attenuation. Our findings provide direct empirical evidence for the face-saving function of indirect replies and reveal that the intrinsic brain activities of emotion network and theory of mind (ToM) network are related to individual differences in such emotion attenuation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiuping Zhang
- School of Psychology, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Maoyao Xu
- School of Psychology, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Xiaohong Yang
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
| | - Yufang Yang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing 100101, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
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7
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Hauptman M, Blank I, Fedorenko E. Non-literal language processing is jointly supported by the language and theory of mind networks: Evidence from a novel meta-analytic fMRI approach. Cortex 2023; 162:96-114. [PMID: 37023480 PMCID: PMC10210011 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2022] [Revised: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 03/12/2023]
Abstract
Going beyond the literal meaning of language is key to communicative success. However, the mechanisms that support non-literal inferences remain debated. Using a novel meta-analytic approach, we evaluate the contribution of linguistic, social-cognitive, and executive mechanisms to non-literal interpretation. We identified 74 fMRI experiments (n = 1,430 participants) from 2001 to 2021 that contrasted non-literal language comprehension with a literal control condition, spanning ten phenomena (e.g., metaphor, irony, indirect speech). Applying the activation likelihood estimation approach to the 825 activation peaks yielded six left-lateralized clusters. We then evaluated the locations of both the individual-study peaks and the clusters against probabilistic functional atlases (cf. anatomical locations, as is typically done) for three candidate brain networks-the language-selective network (Fedorenko, Behr, & Kanwisher, 2011), which supports language processing, the Theory of Mind (ToM) network (Saxe & Kanwisher, 2003), which supports social inferences, and the domain-general Multiple-Demand (MD) network (Duncan, 2010), which supports executive control. These atlases were created by overlaying individual activation maps of participants who performed robust and extensively validated 'localizer' tasks that selectively target each network in question (n = 806 for language; n = 198 for ToM; n = 691 for MD). We found that both the individual-study peaks and the ALE clusters fell primarily within the language network and the ToM network. These results suggest that non-literal processing is supported by both i) mechanisms that process literal linguistic meaning, and ii) mechanisms that support general social inference. They thus undermine a strong divide between literal and non-literal aspects of language and challenge the claim that non-literal processing requires additional executive resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam Hauptman
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
| | - Idan Blank
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Department of Linguistics, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Evelina Fedorenko
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Program in Speech and Hearing in Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
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Valles-Capetillo E, Ibarra C, Martinez D, Giordano M. A novel task to evaluate irony comprehension and its essential elements in Spanish speakers. Front Psychol 2022; 13:963666. [DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.963666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Accepted: 10/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
An ironic statement transmits the opposite meaning to its literal counterpart and is one of the most complex communicative acts. Thus, it has been proposed to be a good indicator of social communication ability. Prosody and facial expression are two crucial paralinguistic cues that can facilitate the understanding of ironic statements. The primary aim of this study was to create and evaluate a task of irony identification that could be used in neuroimaging studies. We independently evaluated three cues, contextual discrepancy, prosody and facial expression, and selected the best cue that would lead participants in fMRI studies to identify a stimulus as ironic in a reliable way. This process included the design, selection, and comparison of the three cues, all of which have been previously associated with irony detection. The secondary aim was to correlate irony comprehension with specific cognitive functions. Results showed that psycholinguistic properties could differentiate irony from other communicative acts. The contextual discrepancy, prosody, and facial expression were relevant cues that helped detect ironic statements; with contextual discrepancy being the cue that produced the highest classification accuracy and classification time. This task can be used successfully to test irony comprehension in Spanish speakers using the cue of interest. The correlation of irony comprehension with cognitive functions did not yield consistent results. A more heterogeneous sample of participants and a broader battery of tests may be needed to find reliable cognitive correlates of irony comprehension.
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Nakamura T, Matsui T, Utsumi A, Sumiya M, Nakagawa E, Sadato N. Context-prosody interaction in sarcasm comprehension: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Neuropsychologia 2022; 170:108213. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Revised: 03/09/2022] [Accepted: 03/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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Kurada HZ, Arıca-Akkök E, Özaydın-Aksun Z, Şener HÖ, Lavidor M. The impact of transparency on hemispheric lateralization of idiom comprehension: An rTMS study. Neuropsychologia 2021; 163:108062. [PMID: 34655650 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.108062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2021] [Revised: 10/06/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Previous neuropsychological data have equivocal suggestions concerning hemispheric involvement during idiom comprehension. The possible contribution of idioms transparency to the lateralization of figurative language comprehension has not been investigated using an interference technique. To analyse the cortical lateralization of idiom transparency processing, we employed inhibitory repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to the left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during the processing of opaque idioms, transparent idioms, and non-idiomatic literal phrases. Based on the Coarse Semantic Coding theory, we predicted a greater right hemisphere involvement when processing opaque than transparent idioms. Eighteen young healthy participants underwent rTMS pulses at 1 Hz frequency, 110% of motor threshold intensity for 15 min (900 pulses) in two sessions at one-week intervals. In a semantic decision task, participants judged the relatedness of an idiom and a target word. The target word was figuratively or literally related to the idiom, or unrelated. The study also included non-idiomatic sentences. We found that left DLPFC functions are more critical for comprehension of opaque rather than transparent idioms when referring to the figurative associations of the idioms. Opaque idioms, in the context of their figurative meaning, rely more heavily on left hemisphere resources. This finding suggests that opaque idioms are seemingly processed as one unit. Taken together, we believe that the transparency of idiomatic expressions may play an important role in modulating hemispheric functions involved in figurative language processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hazel Zeynep Kurada
- Hacettepe University, Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Ankara, Turkey; Ankara University, Linguistics Department, Ankara, Turkey.
| | | | - Zerin Özaydın-Aksun
- Ankara University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Ankara, Turkey
| | - H Özden Şener
- Ankara University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Michal Lavidor
- Bar Ilan University, Department of Psychology, and the Gonda Brain Research Center, Israel
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Xie Y, Guan M, Wang Z, Ma Z, Wang H, Fang P, Yin H. rTMS Induces Brain Functional and Structural Alternations in Schizophrenia Patient With Auditory Verbal Hallucination. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:722894. [PMID: 34539338 PMCID: PMC8441019 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.722894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2021] [Accepted: 08/12/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Low-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the left temporoparietal cortex reduces the auditory verbal hallucination (AVH) in schizophrenia. However, the underlying neural basis of the rTMS treatment effect for schizophrenia remains not well understood. This study investigates the rTMS induced brain functional and structural alternations and their associations with clinical as well as neurocognitive profiles in schizophrenia patients with AVH. METHODS Thirty schizophrenia patients with AVH and thirty-three matched healthy controls were enrolled. The patients were administered by 15 days of 1 Hz rTMS delivering to the left temporoparietal junction (TPJ) area. Clinical symptoms and neurocognitive measurements were assessed at pre- and post-rTMS treatment. The functional (amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation, ALFF) and structural (gray matter volume, GMV) alternations were compared, and they were then used to related to the clinical and neurocognitive measurements after rTMS treatment. RESULTS The results showed that the positive symptoms, including AVH, were relieved, and certain neurocognitive measurements, including visual learning (VisLearn) and verbal learning (VerbLearn), were improved after the rTMS treatment in the patient group. Furthermore, the rTMS treatment induced brain functional and structural alternations in patients, such as enhanced ALFF in the left superior frontal gyrus and larger GMV in the right inferior temporal cortex. The baseline ALFF and GMV values in certain brain areas (e.g., the inferior parietal lobule and superior temporal gyrus) could be associated with the clinical symptoms (e.g., positive symptoms) and neurocognitive performances (e.g., VerbLearn and VisLearn) after rTMS treatment in patients. CONCLUSION The low-frequency rTMS over the left TPJ area is an efficacious treatment for schizophrenia patients with AVH and could selectively modulate the neural basis underlying psychiatric symptoms and neurocognitive domains in schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanjun Xie
- Department of Radiology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, China
| | - Muzhen Guan
- Department of Mental Health, Xi’an Medical University, Xi’an, China
| | - Zhongheng Wang
- Department of Psychiatry, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, China
| | - Zhujing Ma
- Department of Clinical Psychology, School of Medical Psychology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, China
| | - Huaning Wang
- Department of Psychiatry, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, China
| | - Peng Fang
- Department of Military Medical Psychology, School of Medical Psychology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, China,*Correspondence: Peng Fang,
| | - Hong Yin
- Department of Radiology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, China,Hong Yin,
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12
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Serruya MD, Rosenwasser RH. An artificial nervous system to treat chronic stroke. Artif Organs 2021; 45:804-812. [PMID: 34156104 DOI: 10.1111/aor.13998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2021] [Revised: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Despite remarkable advances in the treatment of numerous medical conditions, neurological disease and injury remains an outstanding challenge and cause of disability worldwide. The decreased regenerative capacity and extreme complexity and heterogeneity of nervous tissue, in particular the brain, and the fact that the brain remains the least understood organ, have hampered our ability to provide definitive treatments for prevalent conditions such as stroke. Stroke is the second-leading cause of death worldwide, and the nervous system is intimately involved in other prevalent conditions including ischemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension. Advances in neuromodulation, electroceuticals, microsurgical techniques, optogenetics, brain-computer interfaces, and autologous constructs offer potential solutions to address the otherwise permanent neurological deficits of stroke and other conditions. Here we review these various approaches to build an "artificial nervous system" that could restore function and independence in people living with these conditions. We focus on stroke both because it is the leading cause of neurological disability worldwide and because we anticipate that advances in the reversal of stroke-related deficits will have ripple effects benefiting people with other neurological conditions including spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, ALS, and muscular dystrophy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mijail D Serruya
- Department of Neurology, Farber Institute of Neuroscience, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Robert H Rosenwasser
- Department of Neurosurgery, Farber Institute of Neuroscience, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Rasgado-Toledo J, Lizcano-Cortés F, Olalde-Mathieu VE, Licea-Haquet G, Zamora-Ursulo MA, Giordano M, Reyes-Aguilar A. A Dataset to Study Pragmatic Language and Its Underlying Cognitive Processes. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:666210. [PMID: 34220472 PMCID: PMC8248681 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.666210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2021] [Accepted: 05/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Jalil Rasgado-Toledo
- Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurobiology, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Juriquilla, Mexico
| | - Fernando Lizcano-Cortés
- Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurobiology, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Juriquilla, Mexico
| | - Víctor Enrique Olalde-Mathieu
- Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurobiology, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Juriquilla, Mexico
| | - Giovanna Licea-Haquet
- Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurobiology, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Juriquilla, Mexico
| | - Miguel Angel Zamora-Ursulo
- Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurobiology, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Juriquilla, Mexico
| | - Magda Giordano
- Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurobiology, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Juriquilla, Mexico
| | - Azalea Reyes-Aguilar
- Department of Psychobiology and Neuroscience, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
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14
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Delgado-Herrera M, Reyes-Aguilar A, Giordano M. What Deception Tasks Used in the Lab Really Do: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Ecological Validity of fMRI Deception Tasks. Neuroscience 2021; 468:88-109. [PMID: 34111448 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2021.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2020] [Revised: 06/02/2021] [Accepted: 06/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Interpretation of the neural findings of deception without considering the ecological validity of the experimental tasks could lead to biased conclusions. In this study we classified the experimental tasks according to their inclusion of three essential components required for ecological validity: intention to lie, social interaction and motivation. First, we carried out a systematic review to categorize fMRI deception tasks and to weigh the degree of ecological validity of each one. Second, we performed a meta-analysis to identify if each type of task involves a different neural substrate and to distinguish the neurocognitive contribution of each component of ecological validity essential to deception. We detected six categories of deception tasks. Intention to lie was the component least frequently included, followed by social interaction. Monetary reward was the most frequent motivator. The results of the meta-analysis, including 59 contrasts, revealed that intention to lie is associated with activation in the left lateral occipital cortex (superior division) whereas the left angular gyrus and right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) are engaged during lying under instructions. Additionally, the right IFG appears to participate in the social aspect of lying including simulated and real interactions. We found no effect of monetary reward in our analysis. Finally, tasks with high ecological validity recruited fewer brain areas (right insular cortex and bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)) compared to less ecological tasks, perhaps because they are more natural and realistic, and engage a wide network of brain mechanisms, as opposed to specific tasks that demand more centralized processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maribel Delgado-Herrera
- Departamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Boulevard Juriquilla 3001, Querétaro 76230, Mexico.
| | - Azalea Reyes-Aguilar
- Departamento de Psicobiología y Neurociencias, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. Universidad 3004, Ciudad de México, México.
| | - Magda Giordano
- Departamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Boulevard Juriquilla 3001, Querétaro 76230, Mexico.
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15
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Hertrich I, Dietrich S, Blum C, Ackermann H. The Role of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex for Speech and Language Processing. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:645209. [PMID: 34079444 PMCID: PMC8165195 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.645209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2020] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
This review article summarizes various functions of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) that are related to language processing. To this end, its connectivity with the left-dominant perisylvian language network was considered, as well as its interaction with other functional networks that, directly or indirectly, contribute to language processing. Language-related functions of the DLPFC comprise various aspects of pragmatic processing such as discourse management, integration of prosody, interpretation of nonliteral meanings, inference making, ambiguity resolution, and error repair. Neurophysiologically, the DLPFC seems to be a key region for implementing functional connectivity between the language network and other functional networks, including cortico-cortical as well as subcortical circuits. Considering clinical aspects, damage to the DLPFC causes psychiatric communication deficits rather than typical aphasic language syndromes. Although the number of well-controlled studies on DLPFC language functions is still limited, the DLPFC might be an important target region for the treatment of pragmatic language disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ingo Hertrich
- Department of Neurology and Stroke, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Susanne Dietrich
- Evolutionary Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Corinna Blum
- Department of Neurology and Stroke, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Hermann Ackermann
- Department of Neurology and Stroke, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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16
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Adamczyk P, Jáni M, Ligeza TS, Płonka O, Błądziński P, Wyczesany M. On the Role of Bilateral Brain Hypofunction and Abnormal Lateralization of Cortical Information Flow as Neural Underpinnings of Conventional Metaphor Processing Impairment in Schizophrenia: An fMRI and EEG Study. Brain Topogr 2021; 34:537-554. [PMID: 33973137 PMCID: PMC8195899 DOI: 10.1007/s10548-021-00849-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Accepted: 05/05/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Figurative language processing (e.g. metaphors) is commonly impaired in schizophrenia. In the present study, we investigated the neural activity and propagation of information within neural circuits related to the figurative speech, as a neural substrate of impaired conventional metaphor processing in schizophrenia. The study included 30 schizophrenia outpatients and 30 healthy controls, all of whom were assessed with a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) punchline-based metaphor comprehension task including literal (neutral), figurative (metaphorical) and nonsense (absurd) endings. The blood oxygenation level-dependent signal was recorded with 3T MRI scanner and direction and strength of cortical information flow in the time course of task processing was estimated with a 64-channel EEG input for directed transfer function. The presented results revealed that the behavioral manifestation of impaired figurative language in schizophrenia is related to the hypofunction in the bilateral fronto-temporo-parietal brain regions (fMRI) and various differences in effective connectivity in the fronto-temporo-parietal circuit (EEG). Schizophrenia outpatients showed an abnormal pattern of connectivity during metaphor processing which was related to bilateral (but more pronounced at the left hemisphere) hypoactivation of the brain. Moreover, we found reversed lateralization patterns, i.e. a rightward-shifted pattern during metaphor processing in schizophrenia compared to the control group. In conclusion, the presented findings revealed that the impairment of the conventional metaphor processing in schizophrenia is related to the bilateral brain hypofunction, which supports the evidence on reversed lateralization of the language neural network and the existence of compensatory recruitment of alternative neural circuits in schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Przemysław Adamczyk
- Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Ingardena 6, 30-060, Kraków, Poland.
| | - Martin Jáni
- Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Ingardena 6, 30-060, Kraków, Poland.,Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University and University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Tomasz S Ligeza
- Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Ingardena 6, 30-060, Kraków, Poland
| | - Olga Płonka
- Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Ingardena 6, 30-060, Kraków, Poland
| | - Piotr Błądziński
- Community Psychiatry and Psychosis Research Center, Chair of Psychiatry, Medical College, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
| | - Miroslaw Wyczesany
- Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Ingardena 6, 30-060, Kraków, Poland
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17
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Klooster N, McQuire M, Grossman M, McMillan C, Chatterjee A, Cardillo E. The Neural Basis of Metaphor Comprehension: Evidence from Left Hemisphere Degeneration. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2020; 1:474-491. [PMID: 37215584 PMCID: PMC10158586 DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2019] [Accepted: 06/14/2020] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Despite the ubiquity of metaphor in cognition and communication, it is absent from standard clinical assessments of language, and the neural systems that support metaphor processing are debated. Previous research shows that patients with focal brain lesions can display selective impairments in processing metaphor, suggesting that figurative language abilities may be disproportionately vulnerable to brain injury. We hypothesized that metaphor processing is especially vulnerable to neurodegenerative disease, and that the left hemisphere is critical for normal metaphor processing. To evaluate these hypotheses, we tested metaphor comprehension in patients with left-hemisphere neurodegeneration, and in demographically matched healthy comparison participants. Stimuli consisted of moderately familiar metaphors and closely matched literal sentences sharing the same source term (e.g., The interview was a painful crawl / The infant's motion was a crawl). Written sentences were presented, followed by four modifier-noun answer choices (one target and three foils). Healthy controls, though reliably better at literal than metaphor trials, comprehended both sentence conditions well. By contrast, participants with left-hemisphere neurodegeneration performed disproportionately poorly on metaphor comprehension. Anatomical analyses show relationships between metaphor accuracy and patient atrophy in the left middle and superior temporal gyri, and the left inferior frontal gyrus, areas that have been implicated in supporting metaphor comprehension in previous imaging research. The behavioral results also suggest deficits of metaphor comprehension may be a sensitive measure of cognitive dysfunction in some forms of neurodegenerative disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathaniel Klooster
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Penn Frontotemporal Degeneration Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Marguerite McQuire
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Murray Grossman
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Penn Frontotemporal Degeneration Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Corey McMillan
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Penn Frontotemporal Degeneration Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Anjan Chatterjee
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, Elkins Park, PA, USA
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Eileen Cardillo
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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18
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Idiomatic expressions evoke stronger emotional responses in the brain than literal sentences. Neuropsychologia 2019; 131:233-248. [PMID: 31152753 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.05.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2018] [Revised: 05/22/2019] [Accepted: 05/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Recent neuroscientific research shows that metaphors engage readers at the emotional level more strongly than literal expressions. What still remains unclear is what makes metaphors more engaging, and whether this generalises to all figurative expressions, no matter how conventionalised they are. This fMRI study aimed to investigate whether idiomatic expressions - the least creative part of figurative language - indeed trigger a higher affective resonance than literal expressions, and to explore possible interactions between activation in emotion-relevant neural structures and regions associated with figurative language processing. Participants silently read for comprehension a set of emotionally positive, negative and neutral idioms embedded in short sentences, and similarly valenced literal sentences. As in studies on metaphors, we found enhanced activation of the left inferior frontal gyrus and left amygdala in response to idioms, indexing stronger recruitment of executive control functions and enhanced emotional engagement, respectively. This suggests that the comprehension of even highly conventionalised and familiar figurative expressions, namely idioms, recruits regions involved in emotional processing. Furthermore, increased activation of the IFG interacted positively with activation in the amygdala, suggesting that the stronger cognitive engagement driven by idioms may in turn be coupled with stronger involvement at the emotional level.
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