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Beber S, Bontempi G, Miceli G, Tettamanti M. The Neurofunctional Correlates of Morphosyntactic and Thematic Impairments in Aphasia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Neuropsychol Rev 2024:10.1007/s11065-024-09648-0. [PMID: 39214956 DOI: 10.1007/s11065-024-09648-0] [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: 07/26/2023] [Accepted: 07/30/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024]
Abstract
Lesion-symptom studies in persons with aphasia showed that left temporoparietal damage, but surprisingly not prefrontal damage, correlates with impaired ability to process thematic roles in the comprehension of semantically reversible sentences (The child is hugged by the mother). This result has led to challenge the time-honored view that left prefrontal regions are critical for sentence comprehension. However, most studies focused on thematic role assignment and failed to consider morphosyntactic processes that are also critical for sentence processing. We reviewed and meta-analyzed lesion-symptom studies on the neurofunctional correlates of thematic role assignment and morphosyntactic processing in comprehension and production in persons with aphasia. Following the PRISMA checklist, we selected 43 papers for the review and 27 for the meta-analysis, identifying a set of potential bias risks. Both the review and the meta-analysis confirmed the correlation between thematic role processing and temporoparietal regions but also clearly showed the involvement of prefrontal regions in sentence processing. Exploratory meta-analyses suggested that both thematic role and morphosyntactic processing correlate with left prefrontal and temporoparietal regions, that morphosyntactic processing correlates with prefrontal structures more than with temporoparietal regions, and that thematic role assignment displays the opposite trend. We discuss current limitations in the literature and propose a set of recommendations for clarifying unresolved issues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina Beber
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Rovereto, TN, 38122, Italy.
| | - Giorgia Bontempi
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Rovereto, TN, 38122, Italy
| | - Gabriele Miceli
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Rovereto, TN, 38122, Italy
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2
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Jobson KR, Hoffman LJ, Metoki A, Popal H, Dick AS, Reilly J, Olson IR. Language and the Cerebellum: Structural Connectivity to the Eloquent Brain. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2024; 5:652-675. [PMID: 39175788 PMCID: PMC11338303 DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2022] [Accepted: 10/10/2022] [Indexed: 08/24/2024]
Abstract
Neurobiological models of receptive language have focused on the left-hemisphere perisylvian cortex with the assumption that the cerebellum supports peri-linguistic cognitive processes such as verbal working memory. The goal of this study was to identify language-sensitive regions of the cerebellum then map the structural connectivity profile of these regions. Functional imaging data and diffusion-weighted imaging data from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) were analyzed. We found that (a) working memory, motor activity, and language comprehension activated partially overlapping but mostly unique subregions of the cerebellum; (b) the linguistic portion of the cerebello-thalamo-cortical circuit was more extensive than the linguistic portion of the cortico-ponto-cerebellar tract; (c) there was a frontal-lobe bias in the connectivity from the cerebellum to the cerebrum; (d) there was some degree of specificity; and (e) for some cerebellar tracts, individual differences in picture identification ability covaried with fractional anisotropy metrics. These findings yield insights into the structural connectivity of the cerebellum as relates to the uniquely human process of language comprehension.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katie R. Jobson
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Linda J. Hoffman
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Athanasia Metoki
- Department of Neurology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Haroon Popal
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Anthony S. Dick
- Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA
| | - Jamie Reilly
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Speech and Language Sciences, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Ingrid R. Olson
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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3
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Ahtam B, Yun HJ, Vyas R, Pienaar R, Wilson JH, Goswami CP, Berto LF, Warfield SK, Sahin M, Grant PE, Peters JM, Im K. Morphological Features of Language Regions in Individuals with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex. J Autism Dev Disord 2024; 54:3155-3175. [PMID: 37222965 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-023-06004-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
A significant number of individuals with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) exhibit language difficulties. Here, we examined the language-related brain morphometry in 59 participants (7 participants with TSC and comorbid autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (TSC + ASD), 13 with TSC but no ASD (TSC-ASD), 10 with ASD-only (ASD), and 29 typically developing (TD) controls). A hemispheric asymmetry was noted in surface area and gray matter volume of several cortical language areas in TD, ASD, and TSC-ASD groups, but not in TSC + ASD group. TSC + ASD group demonstrated increased cortical thickness and curvature values in multiple language regions for both hemispheres, compared to other groups. After controlling for tuber load in the TSC groups, within-group differences stayed the same but the differences between TSC-ASD and TSC + ASD were no longer statistically significant. These preliminary findings suggest that comorbid ASD in TSC as well as tuber load in TSC is associated with changes in the morphometry of language regions. Future studies with larger sample sizes will be needed to confirm these findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Banu Ahtam
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
| | - Hyuk Jin Yun
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Rutvi Vyas
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Rudolph Pienaar
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Josephine H Wilson
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Caroline P Goswami
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Laura F Berto
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Simon K Warfield
- Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Mustafa Sahin
- Rosamund Stone Zander Translational Neuroscience Center, Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - P Ellen Grant
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Division of Neuroradiology, Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Jurriaan M Peters
- Division of Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology, Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Kiho Im
- Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
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4
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Nolan E, Loh KK, Petrides M. Morphological patterns and spatial probability maps of the inferior frontal sulcus in the human brain. Hum Brain Mapp 2024; 45:e26759. [PMID: 38989632 PMCID: PMC11237881 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2024] [Revised: 05/07/2024] [Accepted: 05/31/2024] [Indexed: 07/12/2024] Open
Abstract
The inferior frontal sulcus (ifs) is a prominent sulcus on the lateral frontal cortex, separating the middle frontal gyrus from the inferior frontal gyrus. The morphology of the ifs can be difficult to distinguish from adjacent sulci, which are often misidentified as continuations of the ifs. The morphological variability of the ifs and its relationship to surrounding sulci were examined in 40 healthy human subjects (i.e., 80 hemispheres). The sulci were identified and labeled on the native cortical surface meshes of individual subjects, permitting proper intra-sulcal assessment. Two main morphological patterns of the ifs were identified across hemispheres: in Type I, the ifs was a single continuous sulcus, and in Type II, the ifs was discontinuous and appeared in two segments. The morphology of the ifs could be further subdivided into nine subtypes based on the presence of anterior and posterior sulcal extensions. The ifs was often observed to connect, either superficially or completely, with surrounding sulci, and seldom appeared as an independent sulcus. The spatial variability of the ifs and its various morphological configurations were quantified in the form of surface spatial probability maps which are made publicly available in the standard fsaverage space. These maps demonstrated that the ifs generally occupied a consistent position across hemispheres and across individuals. The normalized mean sulcal depths associated with the main morphological types were also computed. The present study provides the first detailed description of the ifs as a sulcal complex composed of segments and extensions that can be clearly differentiated from adjacent sulci. These descriptions, together with the spatial probability maps, are critical for the accurate identification of the ifs in anatomical and functional neuroimaging studies investigating the structural characteristics and functional organization of this region in the human brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erika Nolan
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Kep Kee Loh
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Michael Petrides
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
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5
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Kumar S, Sumers TR, Yamakoshi T, Goldstein A, Hasson U, Norman KA, Griffiths TL, Hawkins RD, Nastase SA. Shared functional specialization in transformer-based language models and the human brain. Nat Commun 2024; 15:5523. [PMID: 38951520 PMCID: PMC11217339 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49173-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/24/2024] [Indexed: 07/03/2024] Open
Abstract
When processing language, the brain is thought to deploy specialized computations to construct meaning from complex linguistic structures. Recently, artificial neural networks based on the Transformer architecture have revolutionized the field of natural language processing. Transformers integrate contextual information across words via structured circuit computations. Prior work has focused on the internal representations ("embeddings") generated by these circuits. In this paper, we instead analyze the circuit computations directly: we deconstruct these computations into the functionally-specialized "transformations" that integrate contextual information across words. Using functional MRI data acquired while participants listened to naturalistic stories, we first verify that the transformations account for considerable variance in brain activity across the cortical language network. We then demonstrate that the emergent computations performed by individual, functionally-specialized "attention heads" differentially predict brain activity in specific cortical regions. These heads fall along gradients corresponding to different layers and context lengths in a low-dimensional cortical space.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sreejan Kumar
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA.
| | - Theodore R Sumers
- Department of Computer Science, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA.
| | - Takateru Yamakoshi
- Faculty of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
| | - Ariel Goldstein
- Department of Cognitive and Brain Sciences and Business School, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 9190401, Israel
| | - Uri Hasson
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA
| | - Kenneth A Norman
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA
| | - Thomas L Griffiths
- Department of Computer Science, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA
| | - Robert D Hawkins
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA
| | - Samuel A Nastase
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA.
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6
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Morgan AM, Devinsky O, Doyle WK, Dugan P, Friedman D, Flinker A. A low-activity cortical network selectively encodes syntax. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.06.20.599931. [PMID: 38948730 PMCID: PMC11212956 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.20.599931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/02/2024]
Abstract
Syntax, the abstract structure of language, is a hallmark of human cognition. Despite its importance, its neural underpinnings remain obscured by inherent limitations of non-invasive brain measures and a near total focus on comprehension paradigms. Here, we address these limitations with high-resolution neurosurgical recordings (electrocorticography) and a controlled sentence production experiment. We uncover three syntactic networks that are broadly distributed across traditional language regions, but with focal concentrations in middle and inferior frontal gyri. In contrast to previous findings from comprehension studies, these networks process syntax mostly to the exclusion of words and meaning, supporting a cognitive architecture with a distinct syntactic system. Most strikingly, our data reveal an unexpected property of syntax: it is encoded independent of neural activity levels. We propose that this "low-activity coding" scheme represents a novel mechanism for encoding information, reserved for higher-order cognition more broadly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam M. Morgan
- Neurology Department, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, 550 1st Ave, New York, 10016, NY, USA
| | - Orrin Devinsky
- Neurosurgery Department, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, 550 1st Ave, New York, 10016, NY, USA
| | - Werner K. Doyle
- Neurology Department, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, 550 1st Ave, New York, 10016, NY, USA
| | - Patricia Dugan
- Neurology Department, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, 550 1st Ave, New York, 10016, NY, USA
| | - Daniel Friedman
- Neurology Department, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, 550 1st Ave, New York, 10016, NY, USA
| | - Adeen Flinker
- Neurology Department, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, 550 1st Ave, New York, 10016, NY, USA
- Biomedical Engineering Department, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, 6 MetroTech Center Ave, Brooklyn, 11201, NY, USA
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7
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Fedorenko E, Ivanova AA, Regev TI. The language network as a natural kind within the broader landscape of the human brain. Nat Rev Neurosci 2024; 25:289-312. [PMID: 38609551 DOI: 10.1038/s41583-024-00802-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024]
Abstract
Language behaviour is complex, but neuroscientific evidence disentangles it into distinct components supported by dedicated brain areas or networks. In this Review, we describe the 'core' language network, which includes left-hemisphere frontal and temporal areas, and show that it is strongly interconnected, independent of input and output modalities, causally important for language and language-selective. We discuss evidence that this language network plausibly stores language knowledge and supports core linguistic computations related to accessing words and constructions from memory and combining them to interpret (decode) or generate (encode) linguistic messages. We emphasize that the language network works closely with, but is distinct from, both lower-level - perceptual and motor - mechanisms and higher-level systems of knowledge and reasoning. The perceptual and motor mechanisms process linguistic signals, but, in contrast to the language network, are sensitive only to these signals' surface properties, not their meanings; the systems of knowledge and reasoning (such as the system that supports social reasoning) are sometimes engaged during language use but are not language-selective. This Review lays a foundation both for in-depth investigations of these different components of the language processing pipeline and for probing inter-component interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evelina Fedorenko
- Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- The Program in Speech and Hearing in Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Anna A Ivanova
- School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Tamar I Regev
- Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
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8
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Thothathiri M, Basnakova J, Lewis AG, Briand JM. Fractionating difficulty during sentence comprehension using functional neuroimaging. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae032. [PMID: 38314589 PMCID: PMC10847905 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Sentence comprehension is highly practiced and largely automatic, but this belies the complexity of the underlying processes. We used functional neuroimaging to investigate garden-path sentences that cause difficulty during comprehension, in order to unpack the different processes used to support sentence interpretation. By investigating garden-path and other types of sentences within the same individuals, we functionally profiled different regions within the temporal and frontal cortices in the left hemisphere. The results revealed that different aspects of comprehension difficulty are handled by left posterior temporal, left anterior temporal, ventral left frontal, and dorsal left frontal cortices. The functional profiles of these regions likely lie along a spectrum of specificity to generality, including language-specific processing of linguistic representations, more general conflict resolution processes operating over linguistic representations, and processes for handling difficulty in general. These findings suggest that difficulty is not unitary and that there is a role for a variety of linguistic and non-linguistic processes in supporting comprehension.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malathi Thothathiri
- Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Jana Basnakova
- Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Ashley G Lewis
- Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Josephine M Briand
- Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States
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9
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Soshi T. Neural Coupling between Interhemispheric and Frontoparietal Functional Connectivity during Semantic Processing. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1601. [PMID: 38002560 PMCID: PMC10670303 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13111601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2023] [Revised: 11/09/2023] [Accepted: 11/15/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Interhemispheric and frontoparietal functional connectivity have been reported to increase during explicit information processing. However, it is unclear how and when interhemispheric and frontoparietal functional connectivity interact during explicit semantic processing. Here, we tested the neural coupling hypothesis that explicit semantic processing promotes neural activity in the nondominant right hemispheric areas, owing to synchronization with enhanced frontoparietal functional connectivity at later processing stages. We analyzed electroencephalogram data obtained using a semantic priming paradigm, which comprised visual priming and target words successively presented under direct or indirect attention to semantic association. Scalp potential analysis demonstrated that the explicit processing of congruent targets reduced negative event-related potentials, as previously reported. Current source density analysis showed that explicit semantic processing activated the right temporal area during later temporal intervals. Subsequent dynamic functional connectivity and neural coupling analyses revealed that explicit semantic processing increased the correlation between right temporal source activities and frontoparietal functional connectivity in later temporal intervals. These findings indicate that explicit semantic processing increases neural coupling between the interhemispheric and frontoparietal functional connectivity during later processing stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takahiro Soshi
- Department of English Language Studies, Faculty of Foreign Language Studies, Mejiro University, Shinjyuku, Tokyo 161-8539, Japan
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10
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Matchin W, den Ouden DB, Basilakos A, Stark BC, Fridriksson J, Hickok G. Grammatical Parallelism in Aphasia: A Lesion-Symptom Mapping Study. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2023; 4:550-574. [PMID: 37946730 PMCID: PMC10631800 DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Accepted: 07/19/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
Sentence structure, or syntax, is potentially a uniquely creative aspect of the human mind. Neuropsychological experiments in the 1970s suggested parallel syntactic production and comprehension deficits in agrammatic Broca's aphasia, thought to result from damage to syntactic mechanisms in Broca's area in the left frontal lobe. This hypothesis was sometimes termed overarching agrammatism, converging with developments in linguistic theory concerning central syntactic mechanisms supporting language production and comprehension. However, the evidence supporting an association among receptive syntactic deficits, expressive agrammatism, and damage to frontal cortex is equivocal. In addition, the relationship among a distinct grammatical production deficit in aphasia, paragrammatism, and receptive syntax has not been assessed. We used lesion-symptom mapping in three partially overlapping groups of left-hemisphere stroke patients to investigate these issues: grammatical production deficits in a primary group of 53 subjects and syntactic comprehension in larger sample sizes (N = 130, 218) that overlapped with the primary group. Paragrammatic production deficits were significantly associated with multiple analyses of syntactic comprehension, particularly when incorporating lesion volume as a covariate, but agrammatic production deficits were not. The lesion correlates of impaired performance of syntactic comprehension were significantly associated with damage to temporal lobe regions, which were also implicated in paragrammatism, but not with the inferior and middle frontal regions implicated in expressive agrammatism. Our results provide strong evidence against the overarching agrammatism hypothesis. By contrast, our results suggest the possibility of an alternative grammatical parallelism hypothesis rooted in paragrammatism and a central syntactic system in the posterior temporal lobe.
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Affiliation(s)
- William Matchin
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Dirk-Bart den Ouden
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Alexandra Basilakos
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Brielle Caserta Stark
- Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Program for Neuroscience, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Julius Fridriksson
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Gregory Hickok
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, Department of Language Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
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11
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Kulik V, Reyes LD, Sherwood CC. Coevolution of language and tools in the human brain: An ALE meta-analysis of neural activation during syntactic processing and tool use. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2023; 275:93-115. [PMID: 36841572 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2022.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Language and complex tool use are often cited as behaviors unique to humans and may be evolutionarily linked owing to the underlying cognitive processes they have in common. We executed a quantitative activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis (GingerALE 2.3) on published, whole-brain neuroimaging studies to identify areas associated with syntactic processing and/or tool use in humans. Significant clusters related to syntactic processing were identified in areas known to be related to language production and comprehension, including bilateral Broca's area in the inferior frontal gyrus. Tool use activation clusters were all in the left hemisphere and included the primary motor cortex and premotor cortex, in addition to other areas involved with sensorimotor transformation. Activation shared by syntactic processing and tool use was only significant at one cluster, located in the pars opercularis of the left inferior frontal gyrus. This minimal overlap between syntactic processing and tool use activation from our meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies indicates that there is not a widespread common neural network between the two. Broca's area may serve as an important hub that was initially recruited in early human evolution in the context of simple tool use, but was eventually co-opted for linguistic purposes, including the sequential and hierarchical ordering processes that characterize syntax. In the future, meta-analyses of additional components of language may allow for a more comprehensive examination of the functional networks that underlie the coevolution of human language and complex tool use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronika Kulik
- Department of Anthropology and Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Laura D Reyes
- Department of Anthropology and Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Chet C Sherwood
- Department of Anthropology and Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States.
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12
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Dove GO. Rethinking the role of language in embodied cognition. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20210375. [PMID: 36571130 PMCID: PMC9791473 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Accepted: 06/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
There has been a lot of recent interest in the way that language might enhance embodied cognition. This interest is driven in large part by a growing body of evidence implicating the language system in various aspects of semantic memory-including, but not limited to, its apparent contribution to abstract concepts. In this essay, I develop and defend a novel account of the cognitive role played by language in our concepts. This account relies on the embodied nature of the language system itself, diverges in significant ways from traditional accounts, and is part of a flexible, multimodal and multilevel view of our conceptual system. This article is part of the theme issue 'Concepts in interaction: social engagement and inner experiences'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guy O. Dove
- Department of Philosophy, University of Louisville, 313 Humanities Building, Louisville, KY 40292, USA
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13
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Sander K, Chai X, Barbeau EB, Kousaie S, Petrides M, Baum S, Klein D. Interhemispheric functional brain connectivity predicts new language learning success in adults. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:1217-1229. [PMID: 35348627 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2022] [Revised: 03/05/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Investigating interhemispheric interactions between homologous cortical regions during language processing is of interest. Despite prevalent left hemisphere lateralization of language, the right hemisphere also plays an important role and interhemispheric connectivity is influenced by language experience and is implicated in second language (L2) acquisition. Regions involved in language processing have differential connectivity to other cortical regions and to each other, and play specific roles in language. We examined the interhemispheric interactions of subregions of the inferior frontal gyrus (areas 44 and 45), the adjacent area 9/46v in the middle frontal gyrus, the superior temporal gyrus (STG), and the posterior inferior parietal lobule (pIPL) in relation to distinct and specific aspects of L2 learning success. The results indicated that the connectivity between left and right areas 44 and 9/46v predicted improvement in sentence repetition, connectivity between left and right area 45 and mid-STG predicted improvement in auditory comprehension, and connectivity between left and right pIPL predicted improvement in reading speed. We show interhemispheric interactions in the specific context of facilitating performance in adult L2 acquisition that follow an anterior to posterior gradient in the brain, and are consistent with the respective roles of these regions in language processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaija Sander
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.,Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.,Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music (CRBLM), Montréal, QC H3G 2A8, Canada
| | - Xiaoqian Chai
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.,Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music (CRBLM), Montréal, QC H3G 2A8, Canada.,McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, Montréal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada
| | - Elise B Barbeau
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.,Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.,Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music (CRBLM), Montréal, QC H3G 2A8, Canada
| | - Shanna Kousaie
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.,Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.,School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Michael Petrides
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.,Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.,Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music (CRBLM), Montréal, QC H3G 2A8, Canada.,Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 1G1, Canada
| | - Shari Baum
- Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music (CRBLM), Montréal, QC H3G 2A8, Canada.,School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 1G1, Canada
| | - Denise Klein
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.,Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.,Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music (CRBLM), Montréal, QC H3G 2A8, Canada
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14
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Zhao L, Kojima H, Yasunaga D, Irie K. Syntactic and Semantic Processing in Japanese Sentence Reading: A Research Using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS). JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLINGUISTIC RESEARCH 2023; 52:57-73. [PMID: 34775544 DOI: 10.1007/s10936-021-09818-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/25/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
In order to examine whether syntactic processing is a necessary prerequisite for semantic integration in Japanese, cortical activation was monitored while participants engaged in silent reading task. Congruous sentences (CON), semantic violation sentences (V-SEM), and syntactic violation sentences (V-SYN) were presented in the experiment. The participants' oxygenated hemoglobin concentration changes during the reading task were measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. The results suggest that the CON sentences did not require additional cognitive load on syntactic processing or semantic processing. The V-SEM sentences demanded great cognitive load on semantic processing. Besides, it also elicited great cognitive load on syntactic processing. The V-SYN sentences induced great cognitive load on syntactic processing, but it did not induce additional load on semantic processing. These evidence demonstrates that, in Japanese language processing, the difficultness of semantic processing could influence the difficultness of syntactic processing, while the difficultness of syntactic processing would not influence the difficultness of semantic processing. Our findings are suggestive of the possibility that in Japanese language reading, semantic processing precedes syntactic processing, or semantic processing and syntactic processing are in parallel.
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Affiliation(s)
- Licui Zhao
- School of Foreign Languages, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225127, Jiangsu, China.
- Graduate School of Human and Socio-Environmental Studies, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 920-1192, Japan.
| | - Haruyuki Kojima
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human Science, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 920-1192, Japan
| | - Daichi Yasunaga
- Department of Linguistics and Literature, Faculty of Letters, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 920-1192, Japan
| | - Koji Irie
- Department of Linguistics and Literature, Faculty of Letters, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 920-1192, Japan
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15
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Yoshioka A, Tanabe HC, Nakagawa E, Sumiya M, Koike T, Sadato N. The Role of the Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus in Introspection during Verbal Communication. Brain Sci 2023; 13:brainsci13010111. [PMID: 36672092 PMCID: PMC9856826 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13010111] [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: 11/25/2022] [Revised: 12/30/2022] [Accepted: 12/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Conversation enables the sharing of our subjective experiences through verbalizing introspected thoughts and feelings. The mentalizing network represents introspection, and successful conversation is characterized by alignment through imitation mediated by the mirror neuron system (MNS). Therefore, we hypothesized that the interaction between the mentalizing network and MNS mediates the conversational exchange of introspection. To test this, we performed hyperscanning functional magnetic resonance imaging during structured real-time conversations between 19 pairs of healthy participants. The participants first evaluated their preference for and familiarity with a presented object and then disclosed it. The control was the object feature identification task. When contrasted with the control, the preference/familiarity evaluation phase activated the dorso-medial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, left hippocampus, right cerebellum, and orbital portion of the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), which represents introspection. The left IFG was activated when the two participants' statements of introspection were mismatched during the disclosure. Disclosing introspection enhanced the functional connectivity of the left IFG with the bilateral superior temporal gyrus and primary motor cortex, representing the auditory MNS. Thus, the mentalizing system and MNS are hierarchically linked in the left IFG during a conversation, allowing for the sharing of introspection of the self and others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayumi Yoshioka
- Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences, Graduate School of Informatics, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo 102-0083, Japan
- Division of Cerebral Integration, Department of System Neuroscience, National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), Okazaki 444-8585, Japan
- Research Organization of Science and Technology, Ritsumeikan University, Kusatsu 525-8577, Japan
| | - Hiroki C. Tanabe
- Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences, Graduate School of Informatics, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
- Correspondence: (H.C.T.); (N.S.); Tel.: +81-52-789-2256 (H.C.T.); +81-564-55-7841 (N.S.); Fax: +81-52-789-2256 (H.C.T.); +81-564-55-7843 (N.S.)
| | - Eri Nakagawa
- Division of Cerebral Integration, Department of System Neuroscience, National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), Okazaki 444-8585, Japan
| | - Motofumi Sumiya
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo 102-0083, Japan
- Division of Cerebral Integration, Department of System Neuroscience, National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), Okazaki 444-8585, Japan
| | - Takahiko Koike
- Division of Cerebral Integration, Department of System Neuroscience, National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), Okazaki 444-8585, Japan
| | - Norihiro Sadato
- Division of Cerebral Integration, Department of System Neuroscience, National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), Okazaki 444-8585, Japan
- Research Organization of Science and Technology, Ritsumeikan University, Kusatsu 525-8577, Japan
- Correspondence: (H.C.T.); (N.S.); Tel.: +81-52-789-2256 (H.C.T.); +81-564-55-7841 (N.S.); Fax: +81-52-789-2256 (H.C.T.); +81-564-55-7843 (N.S.)
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16
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Divjak D, Milin P, Medimorec S, Borowski M. Behavioral Signatures of Memory Resources for Language: Looking beyond the Lexicon/Grammar Divide. Cogn Sci 2022; 46:e13206. [PMID: 36353955 PMCID: PMC9787600 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13206] [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: 08/11/2021] [Revised: 07/27/2022] [Accepted: 08/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Although there is a broad consensus that both the procedural and declarative memory systems play a crucial role in language learning, use, and knowledge, the mapping between linguistic types and memory structures remains underspecified: by default, a dual-route mapping of language systems to memory systems is assumed, with declarative memory handling idiosyncratic lexical knowledge and procedural memory handling rule-governed knowledge of grammar. We experimentally contrast the processing of morphology (case and aspect), syntax (subordination), and lexical semantics (collocations) in a healthy L1 population of Polish, a language rich in form distinctions. We study the processing of these four types under two conditions: a single task condition in which the grammaticality of stimuli was judged and a concurrent task condition in which grammaticality judgments were combined with a digit span task. Dividing attention impedes access to declarative memory while leaving procedural memory unaffected and hence constitutes a test that dissociates which types of linguistic information each long-term memory construct subserves. Our findings confirm the existence of a distinction between lexicon and grammar as a generative, dual-route model would predict, but the distinction is graded, as usage-based models assume: the hypothesized grammar-lexicon opposition appears as a continuum on which grammatical phenomena can be placed as being more or less "ruly" or "idiosyncratic." However, usage-based models, too, need adjusting as not all types of linguistic knowledge are proceduralized to the same extent. This move away from a simple dichotomy fundamentally changes how we think about memory for language, and hence how we design and interpret behavioral and neuroimaging studies that probe into the nature of language cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dagmar Divjak
- Department of Modern LanguagesUniversity of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom,Department of English Language & LinguisticsUniversity of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom
| | - Petar Milin
- Department of Modern LanguagesUniversity of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom
| | - Srdan Medimorec
- Department of Modern LanguagesUniversity of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom,Department of Psychology, Centre for Applied Psychological ScienceTeesside UniversityMiddlesbroughUnited Kingdom
| | - Maciej Borowski
- Department of Modern LanguagesUniversity of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom
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17
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Gavard E, Ziegler JC. The Effects of Semantic and Syntactic Prediction on Reading Aloud. Exp Psychol 2022; 69:308-319. [PMID: 36809159 DOI: 10.1027/1618-3169/a000568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/23/2023]
Abstract
Semantic and syntactic prediction effects were investigated in a word naming task using semantic or syntactic contexts that varied between three and six words. Participants were asked to read the contexts silently and name a target word, which was indicated by a color change. Semantic contexts were composed of lists of semantically associated words without any syntactic information. Syntactic contexts were composed of semantically neutral sentences, in which the grammatical category but not the lexical identity of the final word was highly predictable. When the presentation time of the context words was long (1,200 ms), both semantically and syntactically related contexts facilitated reading aloud latencies of target words and syntactically related contexts produced larger priming effects than semantically related contexts in two out of three analyses. When the presentation time was short (200 ms), however, syntactic context effects disappeared, while semantic context effects remained significant. Across the three experiments, longer contexts produced faster response latencies, but longer contexts did not produce larger priming effects. The results are discussed in the context of the extant literature on semantic and syntactic priming and more recent evidence, suggesting that syntactic information constrains single word recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Gavard
- Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive (UMR 7290), Aix-Marseille Univ, CNRS, Marseille, France
| | - Johannes C Ziegler
- Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive (UMR 7290), Aix-Marseille Univ, CNRS, Marseille, France
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18
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Bulut T. Meta-analytic connectivity modeling of the left and right inferior frontal gyri. Cortex 2022; 155:107-131. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.07.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2022] [Revised: 05/21/2022] [Accepted: 07/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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19
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Russo AG, De Martino M, Elia A, Di Salle F, Esposito F. Negative correlation between word-level surprisal and intersubject neural synchronization during narrative listening. Cortex 2022; 155:132-149. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Revised: 02/10/2022] [Accepted: 07/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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20
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Distinct spatiotemporal patterns of syntactic and semantic processing in human inferior frontal gyrus. Nat Hum Behav 2022; 6:1104-1111. [PMID: 35618778 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-022-01334-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2020] [Accepted: 03/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Human languages are based on syntax, a set of rules which allow an infinite number of meaningful sentences to be constructed from a finite set of words. A theory associated with Chomsky and others holds that syntax is a mind-internal, universal structure independent of semantics. This theory, however, has been challenged by studies of the Chinese language showing that syntax is processed under the semantic umbrella, and is secondary and not independent. Here, using intracranial high-density electrocorticography, we find distinct spatiotemporal patterns of neural activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus that are specifically associated with syntactic and semantic processing of Chinese sentences. These results suggest that syntactic processing may occur before semantic processing. Our findings are consistent with the view that the human brain implements syntactic structures in a manner that is independent of semantics.
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21
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Privitera AJ, Tang AC. Functional Significance of Individual Differences in P3 Network Spatial Configuration. J PSYCHOPHYSIOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1027/0269-8803/a000295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Abstract. The amplitude and latency of the P3 component in the electroencephalogram (EEG) event-related potentials (ERPs) are among the most extensively used markers for individual differences in normal and abnormal brain functions. In contrast, individual variations in spatial topography of the temporally-defined P3 component are relatively under-explored. Development in EEG-based source imaging opened up the possibility that individual-specific spatial configuration of the neural network underlying the temporally-defined P3 component bear a novel source of information for marking an individual difference in behavioral and cognitive function. In testing this hypothesis, a hybrid method consisting of blind source separation (BSS), equivalent current dipole (ECD) modeling, and hits-vector-based analysis was applied to continuous un-epoched EEG data collected from 13 healthy human participants performing a visual color oddball task. By analyzing the spatial configuration of the network underlying the temporally-defined P3 component, hereafter referred to as the P3N, we discovered that the contribution of each constituent structure within the P3N is not uniform. Instead, frontal lobe structures have significantly more involvement than other constituent structures, as quantitatively characterized by cross-individual reliability and a within-individual contribution to the P3N. A factor analysis of the hits vector data revealed that although P3 latency and amplitude did not show significant correlations with measures of the behavioral outcomes, scores of two factors derived from the hits vectors selectively predict behavioral reaction time and response correctness. These results support the hypothesis that variations in P3 spatial configuration reflect not merely noise but individual-specific features with functional significance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam John Privitera
- College of Liberal Arts, Wenzhou-Kean University, Wenzhou, PR China
- Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, PR China
| | - Akaysha C. Tang
- Neural Dialogue Shenzhen Educational Technology, Shenzhen, PR China
- Neuroscience for Education Group, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, PR China
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22
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Significance of event related causality (ERC) in eloquent neural networks. Neural Netw 2022; 149:204-216. [PMID: 35248810 PMCID: PMC9029701 DOI: 10.1016/j.neunet.2022.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2021] [Revised: 01/28/2022] [Accepted: 02/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Neural activity emerges and propagates swiftly between brain areas. Investigation of these transient large-scale flows requires sophisticated statistical models. We present a method for assessing the statistical confidence of event-related neural propagation. Furthermore, we propose a criterion for statistical model selection, based on both goodness of fit and width of confidence intervals. We show that event-related causality (ERC) with two-dimensional (2D) moving average, is an efficient estimator of task-related neural propagation and that it can be used to determine how different cognitive task demands affect the strength and directionality of neural propagation across human cortical networks. Using electrodes surgically implanted on the surface of the brain for clinical testing prior to epilepsy surgery, we recorded electrocorticographic (ECoG) signals as subjects performed three naming tasks: naming of ambiguous and unambiguous visual objects, and as a contrast, naming to auditory description. ERC revealed robust and statistically significant patterns of high gamma activity propagation, consistent with models of visually and auditorily cued word production. Interestingly, ambiguous visual stimuli elicited more robust propagation from visual to auditory cortices relative to unambiguous stimuli, whereas naming to auditory description elicited propagation in the opposite direction, consistent with recruitment of modalities other than those of the stimulus during object recognition and naming. The new method introduced here is uniquely suitable to both research and clinical applications and can be used to estimate the statistical significance of neural propagation for both cognitive neuroscientific studies and functional brain mapping prior to resective surgery for epilepsy and brain tumors.
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23
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Pishghadam R, Jajarmi H, Shayesteh S, Khodaverdi A, Nassaji H. Vocabulary Repetition Following Multisensory Instruction Is Ineffective on L2 Sentence Comprehension: Evidence From the N400. Front Psychol 2022; 13:707234. [PMID: 35153946 PMCID: PMC8834063 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.707234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2021] [Accepted: 01/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Putting the principles of multisensory teaching into practice, this study investigated the effect of audio-visual vocabulary repetition on L2 sentence comprehension. Forty participants were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. A sensory-based model of instruction (i.e., emotioncy) was used to teach a list of unfamiliar vocabularies to the two groups. Following the instruction, the experimental group repeated the instructed words twice, while the control group received no vocabulary repetition. Afterward, their electrophysiological neural activities were recorded through electroencephalography while doing a sentence acceptability judgment task with 216 sentences under acceptable (correct) and unacceptable (pragmatically violated) conditions. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), and a Bayesian repeated-measures ANOVA were used to compare the behavioral and neurocognitive responses [N400 as the main language-related event-related brain potential (ERP) effect] of the two groups. The results showed no significant N400 amplitude difference in favor of any of the groups. The findings corroborated the ineffectiveness of two repetitions preceded by multisensory instruction on L2 sentence comprehension.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reza Pishghadam
- Department of English, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Haniyeh Jajarmi
- Department of English, Bahar Institute of Higher Education, Mashhad, Iran
| | | | - Azin Khodaverdi
- Department of English, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Hossein Nassaji
- Department of English, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
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24
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Yoshioka A, Tanabe HC, Sumiya M, Nakagawa E, Okazaki S, Koike T, Sadato N. Neural substrates of shared visual experiences: a hyperscanning fMRI study. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2021; 16:1264-1275. [PMID: 34180530 PMCID: PMC8717063 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsab082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2021] [Revised: 04/19/2021] [Accepted: 06/27/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Sharing experience is a fundamental human social cognition. Since visual experience is a mental state directed toward the world, we hypothesized that sharing visual experience is mediated by joint attention (JA) for sharing directedness and mentalizing for mental state inferences. We conducted a hyperscanning functional magnetic resonance imaging with 44 healthy adult volunteers to test this hypothesis. We employed spoken-language-cued spatial and feature-based JA tasks. The initiator attracts the partner's attention by a verbal command to a spatial location or an object feature to which the responder directs their attention. Pair-specific inter-individual neural synchronization of task-specific activities was found in the right anterior insular cortex (AIC)-inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) complex, the core node of JA and salience network, and the right posterior superior temporal sulcus, which represents the shared categories of the target. The right AIC-IFG also showed inter-individual synchronization of the residual time-series data, along with the right temporoparietal junction and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex-the core components for mentalization and the default mode network (DMN). This background synchronization represents sharing the belief of sharing the situation. Thus, shared visual experiences are represented by coherent coordination between the DMN and salience network linked through the right AIC-IFG.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayumi Yoshioka
- Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences, Graduate School of Informatics, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo 102-0083, Japan
| | - Hiroki C Tanabe
- Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences, Graduate School of Informatics, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
| | - Motofumi Sumiya
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo 102-0083, Japan
- Division of Cerebral Integration, Department of System Neuroscience, National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), Okazaki 444-8585, Japan
| | - Eri Nakagawa
- Division of Cerebral Integration, Department of System Neuroscience, National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), Okazaki 444-8585, Japan
| | - Shuntaro Okazaki
- Division of Cerebral Integration, Department of System Neuroscience, National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), Okazaki 444-8585, Japan
| | - Takahiko Koike
- Division of Cerebral Integration, Department of System Neuroscience, National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), Okazaki 444-8585, Japan
| | - Norihiro Sadato
- Division of Cerebral Integration, Department of System Neuroscience, National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), Okazaki 444-8585, Japan
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25
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Nastase SA, Liu YF, Hillman H, Zadbood A, Hasenfratz L, Keshavarzian N, Chen J, Honey CJ, Yeshurun Y, Regev M, Nguyen M, Chang CHC, Baldassano C, Lositsky O, Simony E, Chow MA, Leong YC, Brooks PP, Micciche E, Choe G, Goldstein A, Vanderwal T, Halchenko YO, Norman KA, Hasson U. The "Narratives" fMRI dataset for evaluating models of naturalistic language comprehension. Sci Data 2021; 8:250. [PMID: 34584100 PMCID: PMC8479122 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-021-01033-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2021] [Accepted: 08/18/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The "Narratives" collection aggregates a variety of functional MRI datasets collected while human subjects listened to naturalistic spoken stories. The current release includes 345 subjects, 891 functional scans, and 27 diverse stories of varying duration totaling ~4.6 hours of unique stimuli (~43,000 words). This data collection is well-suited for naturalistic neuroimaging analysis, and is intended to serve as a benchmark for models of language and narrative comprehension. We provide standardized MRI data accompanied by rich metadata, preprocessed versions of the data ready for immediate use, and the spoken story stimuli with time-stamped phoneme- and word-level transcripts. All code and data are publicly available with full provenance in keeping with current best practices in transparent and reproducible neuroimaging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel A Nastase
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
| | - Yun-Fei Liu
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Hanna Hillman
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Asieh Zadbood
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Liat Hasenfratz
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Neggin Keshavarzian
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Janice Chen
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Christopher J Honey
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Yaara Yeshurun
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Mor Regev
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Mai Nguyen
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Claire H C Chang
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | | | - Olga Lositsky
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Erez Simony
- Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Holon Institute of Technology, Holon, Israel
- Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | | | - Yuan Chang Leong
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Paula P Brooks
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Emily Micciche
- Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Gina Choe
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Ariel Goldstein
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Tamara Vanderwal
- Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, and BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Yaroslav O Halchenko
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Department of Computer Science, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Kenneth A Norman
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Uri Hasson
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
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26
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Sun H, Cheng D, Wang J, Qi Q, Liao J. Pattern and content controlled response generation. Inf Process Manag 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ipm.2021.102605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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27
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Mesulam MM, Coventry CA, Rader BM, Kuang A, Sridhar J, Martersteck A, Zhang H, Thompson CK, Weintraub S, Rogalski EJ. Modularity and granularity across the language network-A primary progressive aphasia perspective. Cortex 2021; 141:482-496. [PMID: 34153680 PMCID: PMC8319115 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2020] [Revised: 03/22/2021] [Accepted: 05/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Tests of grammar, repetition and semantics were administered to 62 prospectively enrolled right-handed participants with primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Structural brain images were obtained at the time of testing. Regression analyses uncovered 3 clearly delineated non-overlapping left hemisphere clusters where cortical thinning (atrophy) was significantly correlated with impaired performance. A morphosyntactic cluster associated with the grammaticality of sentence construction was located predominantly within the middle and inferior frontal gyri; a phonolexical cluster associated with language repetition was located in the temporoparietal junction; a lexicosemantic cluster associated with object naming and single word comprehension was located within the middle and anterior parts of the temporal lobe and extended into insular, orbitofrontal, and mediotemporal cortices. Commonality analyses were undertaken to explore whether these three clusters were as modular as indicated by the regression analyses or whether some underlying functional granularity could be uncovered. Modularity was defined as the exclusive association of an anatomical cluster with a single type of language task whereas granularity was defined as the association of a single anatomical cluster with more than one type of language task. The commonality analyses revealed a predominantly modular organization with quantitatively minor instances of inter-cluster granularity. The results also reconfirmed previous work on PPA which had shown that Wernicke's area is not essential for word comprehension, that naming impairments can be based either on deficits of lexical retrieval or word comprehension, and that the essential substrates of word comprehension encompass much wider areas of the temporal lobe than the temporal pole. The anatomy of the language network has traditionally been explored through patients with focal cerebrovascular accidents and experiments based on functional activation. Investigations on PPA are showing that focal neurodegenerations can add new perspectives to existing models of the language network.
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Affiliation(s)
- M-Marsel Mesulam
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA; Davee Department of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
| | - Christina A Coventry
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | | | - Alan Kuang
- Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Jaiashre Sridhar
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Adam Martersteck
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Hui Zhang
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA; Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Cynthia K Thompson
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA; Northwestern University School of Communication, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Sandra Weintraub
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA; Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Emily J Rogalski
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA; Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Chicago, IL, USA
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28
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Lakretz Y, Hupkes D, Vergallito A, Marelli M, Baroni M, Dehaene S. Mechanisms for handling nested dependencies in neural-network language models and humans. Cognition 2021; 213:104699. [PMID: 33941375 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2020] [Revised: 03/17/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Recursive processing in sentence comprehension is considered a hallmark of human linguistic abilities. However, its underlying neural mechanisms remain largely unknown. We studied whether a modern artificial neural network trained with "deep learning" methods mimics a central aspect of human sentence processing, namely the storing of grammatical number and gender information in working memory and its use in long-distance agreement (e.g., capturing the correct number agreement between subject and verb when they are separated by other phrases). Although the network, a recurrent architecture with Long Short-Term Memory units, was solely trained to predict the next word in a large corpus, analysis showed the emergence of a very sparse set of specialized units that successfully handled local and long-distance syntactic agreement for grammatical number. However, the simulations also showed that this mechanism does not support full recursion and fails with some long-range embedded dependencies. We tested the model's predictions in a behavioral experiment where humans detected violations in number agreement in sentences with systematic variations in the singular/plural status of multiple nouns, with or without embedding. Human and model error patterns were remarkably similar, showing that the model echoes various effects observed in human data. However, a key difference was that, with embedded long-range dependencies, humans remained above chance level, while the model's systematic errors brought it below chance. Overall, our study shows that exploring the ways in which modern artificial neural networks process sentences leads to precise and testable hypotheses about human linguistic performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yair Lakretz
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CEA, INSERM, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin center, 91191 Gif/Yvette, France.
| | | | | | - Marco Marelli
- Department of Psychology and NeuroMi, University of Milano Bicocca, Milano, Italy
| | - Marco Baroni
- Facebook AI Research, Paris, France; Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies, Barcelona 08010, Spain
| | - Stanislas Dehaene
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CEA, INSERM, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin center, 91191 Gif/Yvette, France; Collège de France, Université Paris-Sciences-Lettres (PSL), 11 Place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris, France
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29
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Wang Q, Siok WT. Intracranial recording in patients with aphasia using nanomaterial-based flexible electronics: promises and challenges. BEILSTEIN JOURNAL OF NANOTECHNOLOGY 2021; 12:330-342. [PMID: 33889479 PMCID: PMC8042484 DOI: 10.3762/bjnano.12.27] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2020] [Accepted: 03/18/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
In recent years, researchers have studied how nanotechnology could enhance neuroimaging techniques. The application of nanomaterial-based flexible electronics has the potential to advance conventional intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) by utilising brain-compatible soft nanomaterials. The resultant technique has significantly high spatial and temporal resolution, both of which enhance the localisation of brain functions and the mapping of dynamic language processing. This review presents findings on aphasia, an impairment in language and communication, and discusses how different brain imaging techniques, including positron emission tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and iEEG, have advanced our understanding of the neural networks underlying language and reading processing. We then outline the strengths and weaknesses of iEEG in studying human cognition and the development of intracranial recordings that use brain-compatible flexible electrodes. We close by discussing the potential advantages and challenges of future investigations adopting nanomaterial-based flexible electronics for intracranial recording in patients with aphasia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qingchun Wang
- Department of Linguistics, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Wai Ting Siok
- Department of Linguistics, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
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30
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Chen L, Goucha T, Männel C, Friederici AD, Zaccarella E. Hierarchical syntactic processing is beyond mere associating: Functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence from a novel artificial grammar. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:3253-3268. [PMID: 33822433 PMCID: PMC8193521 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2020] [Revised: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Grammar is central to any natural language. In the past decades, the artificial grammar of the AnBn type in which a pair of associated elements can be nested in the other pair was considered as a desirable model to mimic human language syntax without semantic interference. However, such a grammar relies on mere associating mechanisms, thus insufficient to reflect the hierarchical nature of human syntax. Here, we test how the brain imposes syntactic hierarchies according to the category relations on linearized sequences by designing a novel artificial “Hierarchical syntactic structure‐building Grammar” (HG), and compare this to the AnBn grammar as a “Nested associating Grammar” (NG) based on multilevel associations. Thirty‐six healthy German native speakers were randomly assigned to one of the two grammars. Both groups performed a grammaticality judgment task on auditorily presented word sequences generated by the corresponding grammar in the scanner after a successful explicit behavioral learning session. Compared to the NG group, we found that the HG group showed a (a) significantly higher involvement of Brodmann area (BA) 44 in Broca's area and the posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG); and (b) qualitatively distinct connectivity between the two regions. Thus, the present study demonstrates that the build‐up process of syntactic hierarchies on the basis of category relations critically relies on a distinctive left‐hemispheric syntactic network involving BA 44 and pSTG. This indicates that our novel artificial grammar can constitute a suitable experimental tool to investigate syntax‐specific processes in the human brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luyao Chen
- College of Chinese Language and Culture, Beijing Normal University, Beijing.,Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tomás Goucha
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Claudia Männel
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.,Department of Audiology and Phoniatrics, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Angela D Friederici
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Emiliano Zaccarella
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
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31
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Wang Y, Korzeniewska A, Usami K, Valenzuela A, Crone NE. The Dynamics of Language Network Interactions in Lexical Selection: An Intracranial EEG Study. Cereb Cortex 2021; 31:2058-2070. [PMID: 33283856 PMCID: PMC7945024 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2019] [Revised: 10/18/2020] [Accepted: 10/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Speaking in sentences requires selection from contextually determined lexical representations. Although posterior temporal cortex (PTC) and Broca's areas play important roles in storage and selection, respectively, of lexical representations, there has been no direct evidence for physiological interactions between these areas on time scales typical of lexical selection. Using intracranial recordings of cortical population activity indexed by high-gamma power (70-150 Hz) modulations, we studied the causal dynamics of cortical language networks while epilepsy surgery patients performed a sentence completion task in which the number of potential lexical responses was systematically varied. Prior to completion of sentences with more response possibilities, Broca's area was not only more active, but also exhibited more local network interactions with and greater top-down influences on PTC, consistent with activation of, and competition between, more lexical representations. These findings provide the most direct experimental support yet for network dynamics playing a role in lexical selection among competing alternatives during speech production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yujing Wang
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Anna Korzeniewska
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Kiyohide Usami
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
- Department of Epilepsy, Movement Disorders and Physiology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Sakyoku, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan
| | - Alyssandra Valenzuela
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
| | - Nathan E Crone
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
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32
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Kherif F, Muller S. Neuro-Clinical Signatures of Language Impairments: A Theoretical Framework for Function-to-structure Mapping in Clinics. Curr Top Med Chem 2021; 20:800-811. [PMID: 32116193 DOI: 10.2174/1568026620666200302111130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2019] [Revised: 11/10/2019] [Accepted: 01/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
In the past decades, neuroscientists and clinicians have collected a considerable amount of data and drastically increased our knowledge about the mapping of language in the brain. The emerging picture from the accumulated knowledge is that there are complex and combinatorial relationships between language functions and anatomical brain regions. Understanding the underlying principles of this complex mapping is of paramount importance for the identification of the brain signature of language and Neuro-Clinical signatures that explain language impairments and predict language recovery after stroke. We review recent attempts to addresses this question of language-brain mapping. We introduce the different concepts of mapping (from diffeomorphic one-to-one mapping to many-to-many mapping). We build those different forms of mapping to derive a theoretical framework where the current principles of brain architectures including redundancy, degeneracy, pluri-potentiality and bow-tie network are described.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ferath Kherif
- Laboratory for Research in Neuroimaging, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Sandrine Muller
- 1Laboratory for Research in Neuroimaging, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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33
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Iwabuchi T, Makuuchi M. When a sentence loses semantics: Selective involvement of a left anterior temporal subregion in semantic processing. Eur J Neurosci 2020; 53:929-942. [PMID: 33103315 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15022] [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: 01/03/2019] [Revised: 10/15/2020] [Accepted: 10/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Although the left anterior temporal lobe (ATL) has been associated with semantic processing, the role of this region in syntactic structure building of sentences remains a subject of debate. Functional neuroimaging studies contrasting well-formed sentences with word lists lacking syntactic structure have produced mixed results. The current functional magnetic resonance imaging study examined whether the left ATL is selectively involved in semantic processing or also plays a role in syntactic structure building by manipulating syntactic complexity and meaningfulness in a novel way. To deprive semantic/pragmatic information from a sentence, we replaced all content words with pronounceable meaningless placeholders. We conducted an experiment with a 2 × 2 factorial design with factors of SEMANTICS (natural sentences [NAT]; sentences with placeholders [SPH]) and SYNTAX (the basic Japanese Subject-Object-Verb [SOV] word order; a changed Object-Subject-Verb [OSV] word order). A main effect of SEMANTICS (NAT > SPH) was found in the left ATL, as well as in the ventral occipitotemporal regions. The opposite contrast (SPH > NAT) revealed activation in the dorsal regions encompassing Brodmann area 44, the premotor area, and the parietal cortex in the left hemisphere. We found no main effect of SYNTAX (OSV > SOV) in a subregion of the left ATL that was more responsive to natural sentences than meaningless sentences. These results indicate selective involvement of a subregion of the left ATL in semantic/pragmatic processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Toshiki Iwabuchi
- Section of Neuropsychology, Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Tokorozawa, Japan
| | - Michiru Makuuchi
- Section of Neuropsychology, Research Institute of National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, Tokorozawa, Japan
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34
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Blank IA, Fedorenko E. No evidence for differences among language regions in their temporal receptive windows. Neuroimage 2020; 219:116925. [PMID: 32407994 PMCID: PMC9392830 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2019] [Revised: 03/20/2020] [Accepted: 05/06/2020] [Indexed: 10/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The "core language network" consists of left frontal and temporal regions that are selectively engaged in linguistic processing. Whereas functional differences among these regions have long been debated, many accounts propose distinctions in terms of representational grain-size-e.g., words vs. phrases/sentences-or processing time-scale, i.e., operating on local linguistic features vs. larger spans of input. Indeed, the topography of language regions appears to overlap with a cortical hierarchy reported by Lerner et al. (2011) wherein mid-posterior temporal regions are sensitive to low-level features of speech, surrounding areas-to word-level information, and inferior frontal areas-to sentence-level information and beyond. However, the correspondence between the language network and this hierarchy of "temporal receptive windows" (TRWs) is difficult to establish because the precise anatomical locations of language regions vary across individuals. To directly test this correspondence, we first identified language regions in each participant with a well-validated task-based localizer, which confers high functional resolution to the study of TRWs (traditionally based on stereotactic coordinates); then, we characterized regional TRWs with the naturalistic story listening paradigm of Lerner et al. (2011), which augments task-based characterizations of the language network by more closely resembling comprehension "in the wild". We find no region-by-TRW interactions across temporal and inferior frontal regions, which are all sensitive to both word-level and sentence-level information. Therefore, the language network as a whole constitutes a unique stage of information integration within a broader cortical hierarchy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Idan A Blank
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
| | - Evelina Fedorenko
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
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35
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Fedorenko E, Blank IA, Siegelman M, Mineroff Z. Lack of selectivity for syntax relative to word meanings throughout the language network. Cognition 2020; 203:104348. [PMID: 32569894 DOI: 10.1101/477851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2018] [Revised: 05/14/2020] [Accepted: 05/31/2020] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
To understand what you are reading now, your mind retrieves the meanings of words and constructions from a linguistic knowledge store (lexico-semantic processing) and identifies the relationships among them to construct a complex meaning (syntactic or combinatorial processing). Do these two sets of processes rely on distinct, specialized mechanisms or, rather, share a common pool of resources? Linguistic theorizing, empirical evidence from language acquisition and processing, and computational modeling have jointly painted a picture whereby lexico-semantic and syntactic processing are deeply inter-connected and perhaps not separable. In contrast, many current proposals of the neural architecture of language continue to endorse a view whereby certain brain regions selectively support syntactic/combinatorial processing, although the locus of such "syntactic hub", and its nature, vary across proposals. Here, we searched for selectivity for syntactic over lexico-semantic processing using a powerful individual-subjects fMRI approach across three sentence comprehension paradigms that have been used in prior work to argue for such selectivity: responses to lexico-semantic vs. morpho-syntactic violations (Experiment 1); recovery from neural suppression across pairs of sentences differing in only lexical items vs. only syntactic structure (Experiment 2); and same/different meaning judgments on such sentence pairs (Experiment 3). Across experiments, both lexico-semantic and syntactic conditions elicited robust responses throughout the left fronto-temporal language network. Critically, however, no regions were more strongly engaged by syntactic than lexico-semantic processing, although some regions showed the opposite pattern. Thus, contra many current proposals of the neural architecture of language, syntactic/combinatorial processing is not separable from lexico-semantic processing at the level of brain regions-or even voxel subsets-within the language network, in line with strong integration between these two processes that has been consistently observed in behavioral and computational language research. The results further suggest that the language network may be generally more strongly concerned with meaning than syntactic form, in line with the primary function of language-to share meanings across minds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evelina Fedorenko
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
| | - Idan Asher Blank
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Matthew Siegelman
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Zachary Mineroff
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation, CMU, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
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36
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Fedorenko E, Blank IA, Siegelman M, Mineroff Z. Lack of selectivity for syntax relative to word meanings throughout the language network. Cognition 2020; 203:104348. [PMID: 32569894 PMCID: PMC7483589 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2018] [Revised: 05/14/2020] [Accepted: 05/31/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
To understand what you are reading now, your mind retrieves the meanings of words and constructions from a linguistic knowledge store (lexico-semantic processing) and identifies the relationships among them to construct a complex meaning (syntactic or combinatorial processing). Do these two sets of processes rely on distinct, specialized mechanisms or, rather, share a common pool of resources? Linguistic theorizing, empirical evidence from language acquisition and processing, and computational modeling have jointly painted a picture whereby lexico-semantic and syntactic processing are deeply inter-connected and perhaps not separable. In contrast, many current proposals of the neural architecture of language continue to endorse a view whereby certain brain regions selectively support syntactic/combinatorial processing, although the locus of such "syntactic hub", and its nature, vary across proposals. Here, we searched for selectivity for syntactic over lexico-semantic processing using a powerful individual-subjects fMRI approach across three sentence comprehension paradigms that have been used in prior work to argue for such selectivity: responses to lexico-semantic vs. morpho-syntactic violations (Experiment 1); recovery from neural suppression across pairs of sentences differing in only lexical items vs. only syntactic structure (Experiment 2); and same/different meaning judgments on such sentence pairs (Experiment 3). Across experiments, both lexico-semantic and syntactic conditions elicited robust responses throughout the left fronto-temporal language network. Critically, however, no regions were more strongly engaged by syntactic than lexico-semantic processing, although some regions showed the opposite pattern. Thus, contra many current proposals of the neural architecture of language, syntactic/combinatorial processing is not separable from lexico-semantic processing at the level of brain regions-or even voxel subsets-within the language network, in line with strong integration between these two processes that has been consistently observed in behavioral and computational language research. The results further suggest that the language network may be generally more strongly concerned with meaning than syntactic form, in line with the primary function of language-to share meanings across minds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evelina Fedorenko
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
| | - Idan Asher Blank
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Matthew Siegelman
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Zachary Mineroff
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation, CMU, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
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37
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Ishkhanyan B, Michel Lange V, Boye K, Mogensen J, Karabanov A, Hartwigsen G, Siebner HR. Anterior and Posterior Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus Contribute to the Implementation of Grammatical Determiners During Language Production. Front Psychol 2020; 11:685. [PMID: 32395113 PMCID: PMC7197372 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00685] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2019] [Accepted: 03/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) is a key region for language comprehension and production. Previous studies point to a preferential involvement of left anterior IFG (aIFG) in lexical and semantic processes, while the posterior IFG (pIFG) has been implicated in supporting syntactic and phonological processes. Here we used focal neuronavigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to probe the functional involvement of left IFG in lexical and grammatical processing at the sentence level. We applied 10 Hz TMS effective or sham bursts to left aIFG and pIFG, while healthy volunteers performed an adjective-noun production task contrasting grammatical and lexical determiners. For each trial, we measured the time from the stimulus onset to the moment of articulation (response time) and the time from articulation onset to the end of articulation (duration). Focal TMS of IFG generally delayed response times. The TMS-induced delay in response times was relatively stronger for the grammatical condition compared to the lexical condition, when TMS targeted aIFG. Articulation of the determiner was generally shorter in trials presenting grammatical determiners relative to lexical determiners. The shorter articulation time for grammar determiners was facilitated by effective TMS to pIFG. Together, the effects of TMS on task performance provide novel evidence for a joint involvement of anterior and posterior parts of left IFG in implementing grammatical determiners during language production, suggesting an involvement of aIFG in the initiation and pIFG in the production of grammatically appropriate verbal responses at the sentence level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Byurakn Ishkhanyan
- Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark.,Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Violaine Michel Lange
- Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark
| | - Kasper Boye
- Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Jesper Mogensen
- The Unit for Cognitive Neuroscience (UCN), Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Anke Karabanov
- Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark
| | - Gesa Hartwigsen
- Lise Meitner Research Group Cognition and Plasticity, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Hartwig Roman Siebner
- Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark.,Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Institute for Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Department of Neurology, Copenhagen University Hospital Bispebjerg, Copenhagen, Denmark
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38
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Schwering SC, MacDonald MC. Verbal Working Memory as Emergent from Language Comprehension and Production. Front Hum Neurosci 2020; 14:68. [PMID: 32226368 PMCID: PMC7081770 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.00068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2019] [Accepted: 02/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
This article reviews current models of verbal working memory and considers the role of language comprehension and long-term memory in the ability to maintain and order verbal information for short periods of time. While all models of verbal working memory posit some interaction with long-term memory, few have considered the character of these long-term representations or how they might affect performance on verbal working memory tasks. Similarly, few models have considered how comprehension processes and production processes might affect performance in verbal working memory tasks. Modern theories of comprehension emphasize that people learn a vast web of correlated information about the language and the world and must activate that information from long-term memory to cope with the demands of language input. To date, there has been little consideration in theories of verbal working memory for how this rich input from comprehension would affect the nature of temporary memory. There has also been relatively little attention to the degree to which language production processes naturally manage serial order of verbal information. The authors argue for an emergent model of verbal working memory supported by a rich, distributed long-term memory for language. On this view, comprehension processes provide encoding in verbal working memory tasks, and production processes maintenance, serial ordering, and recall. Moreover, the computational capacity to maintain and order information varies with language experience. Implications for theories of working memory, comprehension, and production are considered.
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Ding J, Martin RC, Hamilton AC, Schnur TT. Dissociation between frontal and temporal-parietal contributions to connected speech in acute stroke. Brain 2020; 143:862-876. [PMID: 32155246 PMCID: PMC7089660 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awaa027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2019] [Revised: 12/03/2019] [Accepted: 12/17/2019] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Humans are uniquely able to retrieve and combine words into syntactic structure to produce connected speech. Previous identification of focal brain regions necessary for production focused primarily on associations with the content produced by speakers with chronic stroke, where function may have shifted to other regions after reorganization occurred. Here, we relate patterns of brain damage with deficits to the content and structure of spontaneous connected speech in 52 speakers during the acute stage of a left hemisphere stroke. Multivariate lesion behaviour mapping demonstrated that damage to temporal-parietal regions impacted the ability to retrieve words and produce them within increasingly complex combinations. Damage primarily to inferior frontal cortex affected the production of syntactically accurate structure. In contrast to previous work, functional-anatomical dissociations did not depend on lesion size likely because acute lesions were smaller than typically found in chronic stroke. These results are consistent with predictions from theoretical models based primarily on evidence from language comprehension and highlight the importance of investigating individual differences in brain-language relationships in speakers with acute stroke.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junhua Ding
- Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Randi C Martin
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - A Cris Hamilton
- Department of Institution Reporting, Research and Information Systems, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
| | - Tatiana T Schnur
- Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
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Mollica F, Siegelman M, Diachek E, Piantadosi ST, Mineroff Z, Futrell R, Kean H, Qian P, Fedorenko E. Composition is the Core Driver of the Language-selective Network. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2020; 1:104-134. [PMID: 36794007 PMCID: PMC9923699 DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2019] [Accepted: 12/19/2019] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
The frontotemporal language network responds robustly and selectively to sentences. But the features of linguistic input that drive this response and the computations that these language areas support remain debated. Two key features of sentences are typically confounded in natural linguistic input: words in sentences (a) are semantically and syntactically combinable into phrase- and clause-level meanings, and (b) occur in an order licensed by the language's grammar. Inspired by recent psycholinguistic work establishing that language processing is robust to word order violations, we hypothesized that the core linguistic computation is composition, and, thus, can take place even when the word order violates the grammatical constraints of the language. This hypothesis predicts that a linguistic string should elicit a sentence-level response in the language network provided that the words in that string can enter into dependency relationships as in typical sentences. We tested this prediction across two fMRI experiments (total N = 47) by introducing a varying number of local word swaps into naturalistic sentences, leading to progressively less syntactically well-formed strings. Critically, local dependency relationships were preserved because combinable words remained close to each other. As predicted, word order degradation did not decrease the magnitude of the blood oxygen level-dependent response in the language network, except when combinable words were so far apart that composition among nearby words was highly unlikely. This finding demonstrates that composition is robust to word order violations, and that the language regions respond as strongly as they do to naturalistic linguistic input, providing that composition can take place.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Hope Kean
- Brain & Cognitive Sciences Department, MIT
| | - Peng Qian
- Brain & Cognitive Sciences Department, MIT
| | - Evelina Fedorenko
- Brain & Cognitive Sciences Department, MIT
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT
- Psychiatry Department, Massachusetts General Hospital
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Tanaka K, Nakamura I, Ohta S, Fukui N, Zushi M, Narita H, Sakai KL. Merge-Generability as the Key Concept of Human Language: Evidence From Neuroscience. Front Psychol 2019; 10:2673. [PMID: 31849777 PMCID: PMC6895067 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2019] [Accepted: 11/13/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Ever since the inception of generative linguistics, various dependency patterns have been widely discussed in the literature, particularly as they pertain to the hierarchy based on “weak generation” – the so-called Chomsky Hierarchy. However, humans can make any possible dependency patterns by using artificial means on a sequence of symbols (e.g., computer programing). The differences between sentences in human language and general symbol sequences have been routinely observed, but the question as to why such differences exist has barely been raised. Here, we address this problem and propose a theoretical explanation in terms of a new concept of “Merge-generability,” that is, whether the structural basis for a given dependency is provided by the fundamental operation Merge. In our functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we tested the judgments of noun phrase (NP)-predicate (Pred) pairings in sentences of Japanese, an SOV language that allows natural, unbounded nesting configurations. We further introduced two pseudo-adverbs, which artificially force dependencies that do not conform to structures generated by Merge, i.e., non-Merge-generable; these adverbs enable us to manipulate Merge-generability (Natural or Artificial). By employing this novel paradigm, we obtained the following results. Firstly, the behavioral data clearly showed that an NP-Pred matching task became more demanding under the Artificial conditions than under the Natural conditions, reflecting cognitive loads that could be covaried with the increased number of words. Secondly, localized activation in the left frontal cortex, as well as in the left middle temporal gyrus and angular gyrus, was observed for the [Natural – Artificial] contrast, indicating specialization of these left regions in syntactic processing. Any activation due to task difficulty was completely excluded from activations in these regions, because the Natural conditions were always easier than the Artificial ones. And finally, the [Artificial – Natural] contrast resulted in the dorsal portion of the left frontal cortex, together with wide-spread regions required for general cognitive demands. These results indicate that Merge-generable sentences are processed in these specific regions in contrast to non-Merge-generable sentences, demonstrating that Merge is indeed a fundamental operation, which comes into play especially under the Natural conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyohei Tanaka
- Department of Basic Science, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Isso Nakamura
- Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Letters, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Shinri Ohta
- Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| | - Naoki Fukui
- Graduate School of Languages and Linguistics, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Mihoko Zushi
- Faculty of Foreign Languages, Kanagawa University, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Hiroki Narita
- Department of English, Faculty of Letters, Tokai University, Hiratsuka, Japan
| | - Kuniyoshi L Sakai
- Department of Basic Science, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
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Montag JL. Differences in sentence complexity in the text of children's picture books and child-directed speech. FIRST LANGUAGE 2019; 39:527-546. [PMID: 31564759 PMCID: PMC6764450 DOI: 10.1177/0142723719849996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Reading picture books to pre-literate children is associated with improved language outcomes, but the causal pathways of this relationship are not well understood. The present analyses focus on several syntactic differences between the text of children's picture books and typical child-directed speech, with the aim of understanding ways in which picture book text may systematically differ from typical child-directed speech. The analyses show that picture books contain more rare and complex sentence types, including passive sentences and sentences containing relative clauses, than does child-directed speech. These differences in the patterns of language contained in picture books and typical child-directed speech suggest that one important means by which picture book reading may come to be associated with improved language outcomes is by providing children with types of complex language that might be otherwise rare in their input.
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Siegelman M, Blank IA, Mineroff Z, Fedorenko E. An Attempt to Conceptually Replicate the Dissociation between Syntax and Semantics during Sentence Comprehension. Neuroscience 2019; 413:219-229. [PMID: 31200104 PMCID: PMC6661197 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2019.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2018] [Revised: 05/31/2019] [Accepted: 06/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Is sentence structure processed by the same neural and cognitive resources that are recruited for processing word meanings, or do structure and meaning rely on distinct resources? Linguistic theorizing and much behavioral evidence suggest tight integration between lexico-semantic and syntactic representations and processing. However, most current proposals of the neural architecture of language continue to postulate a distinction between the two. One of the earlier and most cited pieces of neuroimaging evidence in favor of this dissociation comes from a paper by Dapretto and Bookheimer (1999). Using a sentence-meaning judgment task, Dapretto & Bookheimer observed two distinct peaks within the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG): one was more active during a lexico-semantic manipulation, and the other during a syntactic manipulation. Although the paper is highly cited, no attempt has been made, to our knowledge, to replicate the original finding. We report an fMRI study that attempts to do so. Using a combination of whole-brain, group-level ROI, and participant-specific functional ROI approaches, we fail to replicate the original dissociation. In particular, whereas parts of LIFG respond reliably more strongly during lexico-semantic than syntactic processing, no part of LIFG (including in the region defined around the peak reported by Dapretto & Bookheimer) shows the opposite pattern. We speculate that the original result was a false positive, possibly driven by a small subset of participants or items that biased a fixed-effects analysis with low power.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Siegelman
- MIT, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences; Columbia University, Department of Psychology
| | - Idan A Blank
- MIT, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences; UCLA, Department of Psychology
| | | | - Evelina Fedorenko
- MIT, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences; MIT, McGovern Institute for Brain Research; MGH, Department of Psychiatry.
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Rodrigues de Almeida L, Pope PA, Hansen PC. Task load modulates tDCS effects on language performance. J Neurosci Res 2019; 97:1430-1454. [DOI: 10.1002/jnr.24490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2019] [Revised: 05/29/2019] [Accepted: 06/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Paul A. Pope
- School of Psychology University of Birmingham Birmingham UK
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Kellmeyer P, Vry MS, Ball T. A transcallosal fibre system between homotopic inferior frontal regions supports complex linguistic processing. Eur J Neurosci 2019; 50:3544-3556. [PMID: 31209927 PMCID: PMC6899774 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2019] [Revised: 05/20/2019] [Accepted: 05/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Inferior frontal regions in the left and right hemisphere support different aspects of language processing. In the canonical model, left inferior frontal regions are mostly involved in processing based on phonological, syntactic and semantic features of language, whereas the right inferior frontal regions process paralinguistic aspects like affective prosody. Using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)‐based probabilistic fibre tracking in 20 healthy volunteers, we identify a callosal fibre system connecting left and right inferior frontal regions that are involved in linguistic processing of varying complexity. Anatomically, we show that the interhemispheric fibres are highly aligned and distributed along a rostral to caudal gradient in the body and genu of the corpus callosum to connect homotopic inferior frontal regions. In the light of converging data, taking previous DTI‐based tracking studies and clinical case studies into account, our findings suggest that the right inferior frontal cortex not only processes paralinguistic aspects of language (such as affective prosody), as purported by the canonical model, but also supports the computation of linguistic aspects of varying complexity in the human brain. Our model may explain patterns of right‐hemispheric contribution to stroke recovery as well as disorders of prosodic processing. Beyond language‐related brain function, we discuss how inter‐species differences in interhemispheric connectivity and fibre density, including the system we described here may also explain differences in transcallosal information transfer and cognitive abilities across different mammalian species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp Kellmeyer
- Neuromedical Artificial Intelligence Lab, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Center-University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.,Cluster of Excellence BrainLinks-BrainTools, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
| | - Magnus-Sebastian Vry
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, Medical Center-University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
| | - Tonio Ball
- Neuromedical Artificial Intelligence Lab, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Center-University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.,Cluster of Excellence BrainLinks-BrainTools, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
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Stroh AL, Rösler F, Dormal G, Salden U, Skotara N, Hänel-Faulhaber B, Röder B. Neural correlates of semantic and syntactic processing in German Sign Language. Neuroimage 2019; 200:231-241. [PMID: 31220577 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.06.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2018] [Revised: 05/16/2019] [Accepted: 06/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The study of deaf and hearing native users of signed languages can offer unique insights into how biological constraints and environmental input interact to shape the neural bases of language processing. Here, we use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to address two questions: (1) Do semantic and syntactic processing in a signed language rely on anatomically and functionally distinct neural substrates as it has been shown for spoken languages? and (2) Does hearing status affect the neural correlates of these two types of linguistic processing? Deaf and hearing native signers performed a sentence judgement task on German Sign Language (Deutsche Gebärdensprache: DGS) sentences which were correct or contained either syntactic or semantic violations. We hypothesized that processing of semantic and syntactic violations in DGS relies on distinct neural substrates as it has been shown for spoken languages. Moreover, we hypothesized that effects of hearing status are observed within auditory regions, as deaf native signers have been shown to activate auditory areas to a greater extent than hearing native signers when processing a signed language. Semantic processing activated low-level visual areas and the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), suggesting both modality-dependent and independent processing mechanisms. Syntactic processing elicited increased activation in the right supramarginal gyrus (SMG). Moreover, psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analyses revealed a cluster in left middle occipital regions showing increased functional coupling with the right SMG during syntactic relative to semantic processing, possibly indicating spatial processing mechanisms that are specific to signed syntax. Effects of hearing status were observed in the right superior temporal cortex (STC): deaf but not hearing native signers showed greater activation for semantic violations than for syntactic violations in this region. Taken together, the present findings suggest that the neural correlates of language processing are partly determined by biological constraints, but that they may additionally be influenced by the unique processing demands of the language modality and different sensory experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna-Lena Stroh
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Frank Rösler
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Germany
| | - Giulia Dormal
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Germany
| | - Uta Salden
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Germany
| | - Nils Skotara
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Germany
| | - Barbara Hänel-Faulhaber
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Germany; Special Education, University of Hamburg, Germany
| | - Brigitte Röder
- Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Germany
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Tagarelli KM, Shattuck KF, Turkeltaub PE, Ullman MT. Language learning in the adult brain: A neuroanatomical meta-analysis of lexical and grammatical learning. Neuroimage 2019; 193:178-200. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.02.061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2018] [Revised: 01/24/2019] [Accepted: 02/23/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
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Peristeri E, Tsimpli IM, Dardiotis E, Tsapkini K. Effects of executive attention on sentence processing in aphasia. APHASIOLOGY 2019; 34:943-969. [PMID: 32952261 PMCID: PMC7500515 DOI: 10.1080/02687038.2019.1622647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2018] [Accepted: 05/17/2019] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND In the recent years there has been increasing interest in the effects of attentional control on syntactic comprehension, as measured in garden path sentence resolution. Persons with aphasia (PWA) experience greater penalties in garden path sentences compared to language-unimpaired adults but the origin of this deficit remains a controversial issue. One of the possible deficits has been claimed to be disambiguation of lexical cues in the sentence. However, in languages such as English with little morphological variation this connection is hard to establish. To test this hypothesis we used garden path sentences in a morphologically rich language, Greek, where morphological cues may resolve garden path at the lexical level. We further tested whether domain-general attentional control abilities and in particular shifts in attentional control predict garden path resolution in PWA and age- and education-matched controls. AIM This study aimed to determine whether PWA were able to integrate disambiguating morphological (Case) cues while processing garden path sentences. In addition, we tested whether domain-general attentional control and in particular attentional shift from global to local and local to global information (as defined by Navon, 1977) correlates directly with garden path resolution in PWA and healthy controls. METHODS & PROCEDURE Fifteen participants with non-fluent/agrammatic aphasia along with fifteen age- and education-matched language-unimpaired adults performed an online self-paced reading and grammaticality judgment task that included object/subject ambiguous sentences. Syntactic ambiguity was created by the optional transitivity of verbs, while the garden path effect was resolved by morphological Case. The individuals' executive attention skills were tested through an online non-verbal global-local attention shifting task that measured costs stemming from shifting attention from the global to the local level, and vice versa. OUTCOMES & RESULTS PWA were slower and more erroneous than controls in integrating Case cues to disambiguate garden path sentences as manifested in the self-paced reading and grammaticality judgment task. In the global local task, PWA exhibited greater global-to-local (vs. local-to-global) attention shifting costs, while controls did not exhibit dissociation. In the regression analysis, garden path resolution in PWA was significantly predicted by global-to-local attention shifting costs, while controls' garden path resolution was significantly predicted by local-to-global attention shift costs. CONCLUSIONS The present study showed for the first time that morphological cues can shed light in sentence comprehension deficits exhibited by PWA. Furthermore, domain-general attentional control abilities were significantly associated with sentence comprehension abilities in both healthy controls and PWA.
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Ikegaya N, Motoi H, Iijima K, Takayama Y, Kambara T, Sugiura A, Silverstein BH, Iwasaki M, Asano E. Spatiotemporal dynamics of auditory and picture naming-related high-gamma modulations: A study of Japanese-speaking patients. Clin Neurophysiol 2019; 130:1446-1454. [PMID: 31056408 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2019.04.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2019] [Revised: 04/03/2019] [Accepted: 04/15/2019] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To characterize the spatiotemporal dynamics of auditory and picture naming-related cortical activation in Japanese-speaking patients. METHODS Ten patients were assigned auditory naming and picture naming tasks during extraoperative intracranial EEG recording in a tertiary epilepsy center. Time-frequency analysis determined at what electrode sites and at what time windows during each task the amplitude of high-gamma activity (65-95 Hz) was modulated. RESULTS The superior-temporal gyrus on each hemisphere showed high-gamma augmentation during sentence listening, whereas the left middle-temporal and inferior-frontal gyri showed high-gamma augmentation peaking around stimulus offset. Auditory naming-specific high-gamma augmentation was noted in the bilateral superior-temporal gyri as well as left frontal-parietal-temporal perisylvian network regions, whereas picture naming-specific augmentation was noted in the occipital-fusiform regions, bilaterally. The inferior pre- and postcentral gyri on each hemisphere showed modality-common high-gamma augmentation time-locked to overt responses. CONCLUSIONS The spatiotemporal dynamics of auditory and picture naming-related high-gamma augmentation in Japanese-speaking patients were qualitatively similar to those previously reported in studies of English-speaking patients. SIGNIFICANCE The cortical dynamics for auditory sentence recognition are at least partly shared by cohorts speaking two distinct languages. Multicenter studies regarding the clinical utility of high-gamma language mapping across Eastern and Western hemispheres may be feasible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naoki Ikegaya
- Department of Neurosurgery, National Center Hospital, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo 1878551, Japan; Department of Neurosurgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, Yokohama 2360004, Japan
| | - Hirotaka Motoi
- Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, Yokohama 2360004, Japan; Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI 48201, USA
| | - Keiya Iijima
- Department of Neurosurgery, National Center Hospital, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo 1878551, Japan
| | - Yutaro Takayama
- Department of Neurosurgery, National Center Hospital, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo 1878551, Japan; Department of Neurosurgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, Yokohama 2360004, Japan
| | - Toshimune Kambara
- Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI 48201, USA; Department of Psychology, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 7398524, Japan
| | - Ayaka Sugiura
- Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI 48201, USA
| | - Brian H Silverstein
- Translational Neuroscience Program, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA
| | - Masaki Iwasaki
- Department of Neurosurgery, National Center Hospital, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo 1878551, Japan.
| | - Eishi Asano
- Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI 48201, USA; Department of Neurology, Wayne State University, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI 48201, USA.
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50
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Briggs RG, Pryor DP, Conner AK, Nix CE, Milton CK, Kuiper JK, Palejwala AH, Sughrue ME. The Artery of Aphasia, A Uniquely Sensitive Posterior Temporal Middle Cerebral Artery Branch that Supplies Language Areas in the Brain: Anatomy and Report of Four Cases. World Neurosurg 2019; 126:e65-e76. [PMID: 30735868 DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2019.01.159] [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: 07/27/2018] [Revised: 01/14/2019] [Accepted: 01/17/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Arterial disruption during brain surgery can cause devastating injuries to wide expanses of white and gray matter beyond the tumor resection cavity. Such damage may occur as a result of disrupting blood flow through en passage arteries. Identification of these arteries is critical to prevent unforeseen neurologic sequelae during brain tumor resection. In this study, we discuss one such artery, termed the artery of aphasia (AoA), which when disrupted can lead to receptive and expressive language deficits. METHODS We performed a retrospective review of all patients undergoing an awake craniotomy for resection of a glioma by the senior author from 2012 to 2018. Patients were included if they experienced language deficits secondary to postoperative infarction in the left posterior temporal lobe in the distribution of the AoA. The gross anatomy of the AoA was then compared with activation likelihood estimations of the auditory and semantic language networks using coordinate-based meta-analytic techniques. RESULTS We identified 4 patients with left-sided posterior temporal artery infarctions in the distribution of the AoA on diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. All 4 patients developed substantial expressive and receptive language deficits after surgery. Functional language improvement occurred in only 2/4 patients. Activation likelihood estimations localized parts of the auditory and semantic language networks in the distribution of the AoA. CONCLUSIONS The AoA is prone to blood flow disruption despite benign manipulation. Patients seem to have limited capacity for speech recovery after intraoperative ischemia in the distribution of this artery, which supplies parts of the auditory and semantic language networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert G Briggs
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Dillon P Pryor
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Andrew K Conner
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Cameron E Nix
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Camille K Milton
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Joseph K Kuiper
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Ali H Palejwala
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Michael E Sughrue
- Department of Neurosurgery, Prince of Wales Private Hospital, Sydney, Australia.
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