1
|
Yang T, Fan X, Hou B, Wang J, Chen X. Linguistic network in early deaf individuals: A neuroimaging meta-analysis. Neuroimage 2024; 299:120720. [PMID: 38971484 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2024] [Revised: 07/01/2024] [Accepted: 07/03/2024] [Indexed: 07/08/2024] Open
Abstract
This meta-analysis summarizes evidence from 44 neuroimaging experiments and characterizes the general linguistic network in early deaf individuals. Meta-analytic comparisons with hearing individuals found that a specific set of regions (in particular the left inferior frontal gyrus and posterior middle temporal gyrus) participates in supramodal language processing. In addition to previously described modality-specific differences, the present study showed that the left calcarine gyrus and the right caudate were additionally recruited in deaf compared with hearing individuals. In addition, this study showed that the bilateral posterior superior temporal gyrus is shaped by cross-modal plasticity, whereas the left frontotemporal areas are shaped by early language experience. Although an overall left-lateralized pattern for language processing was observed in the early deaf individuals, regional lateralization was altered in the inferior frontal gyrus and anterior temporal lobe. These findings indicate that the core language network functions in a modality-independent manner, and provide a foundation for determining the contributions of sensory and linguistic experiences in shaping the neural bases of language processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tengyu Yang
- Department of Otolaryngology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China
| | - Xinmiao Fan
- Department of Otolaryngology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China
| | - Bo Hou
- Department of Radiology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China
| | - Jian Wang
- Department of Otolaryngology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China.
| | - Xiaowei Chen
- Department of Otolaryngology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Murphy E, Rollo PS, Segaert K, Hagoort P, Tandon N. Multiple dimensions of syntactic structure are resolved earliest in posterior temporal cortex. Prog Neurobiol 2024; 241:102669. [PMID: 39332803 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2024.102669] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2024] [Revised: 08/08/2024] [Accepted: 09/24/2024] [Indexed: 09/29/2024]
Abstract
How we combine minimal linguistic units into larger structures remains an unresolved topic in neuroscience. Language processing involves the abstract construction of 'vertical' and 'horizontal' information simultaneously (e.g., phrase structure, morphological agreement), but previous paradigms have been constrained in isolating only one type of composition and have utilized poor spatiotemporal resolution. Using intracranial recordings, we report multiple experiments designed to separate phrase structure from morphosyntactic agreement. Epilepsy patients (n = 10) were presented with auditory two-word phrases grouped into pseudoword-verb ('trab run') and pronoun-verb either with or without Person agreement ('they run' vs. 'they runs'). Phrase composition and Person violations both resulted in significant increases in broadband high gamma activity approximately 300ms after verb onset in posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG) and posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), followed by inferior frontal cortex (IFC) at 500ms. While sites sensitive to only morphosyntactic violations were distributed, those sensitive to both composition types were generally confined to pSTS/pMTG and IFC. These results indicate that posterior temporal cortex shows the earliest sensitivity for hierarchical linguistic structure across multiple dimensions, providing neural resources for distinct windows of composition. This region is comprised of sparsely interwoven heterogeneous constituents that afford cortical search spaces for dissociable syntactic relations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elliot Murphy
- Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030; Texas Institute for Restorative Neurotechnologies, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030.
| | - Patrick S Rollo
- Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030; Texas Institute for Restorative Neurotechnologies, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030
| | - Katrien Segaert
- School of Psychology & Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK, B15 2TT; Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, 6525 XD Nijmegen
| | - Peter Hagoort
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, 6525 XD Nijmegen; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, 6525 HR Nijmegen
| | - Nitin Tandon
- Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030; Texas Institute for Restorative Neurotechnologies, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030; Memorial Hermann Hospital, Texas Medical Center, Houston, TX 77030.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Yang M, Liu Y, Yue Z, Yang G, Jiang X, Cai Y, Zhang Y, Yang X, Li D, Chen L. Transcranial photobiomodulation on the left inferior frontal gyrus enhances Mandarin Chinese L1 and L2 complex sentence processing performances. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2024; 256:105458. [PMID: 39197357 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2024.105458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2024] [Revised: 07/09/2024] [Accepted: 08/21/2024] [Indexed: 09/01/2024]
Abstract
This study investigated the causal enhancing effect of transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) over the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) on syntactically complex Mandarin Chinese first language (L1) and second language (L2) sentence processing performances. Two (L1 and L2) groups of participants (thirty per group) were recruited to receive the double-blind, sham-controlled tPBM intervention via LIFG, followed by the sentence processing, the verbal working memory (WM), and the visual WM tasks. Results revealed a consistent pattern for both groups: (a) tPBM enhanced sentence processing performance but not verbal WM for linear processing of unstructured sequences and visual WM performances; (b) Participants with lower sentence processing performances under sham tPBM benefited more from active tPBM. Taken together, the current study substantiated that tPBM enhanced L1 and L2 sentence processing, and would serve as a promising and cost-effective noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) tool for future applications on upregulating the human language faculty.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mingchuan Yang
- Max Planck Partner Group, School of International Chinese Language Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Yang Liu
- Max Planck Partner Group, School of International Chinese Language Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Zhaoqian Yue
- Max Planck Partner Group, School of International Chinese Language Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Guang Yang
- Max Planck Partner Group, School of International Chinese Language Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Xu Jiang
- Max Planck Partner Group, School of International Chinese Language Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Yimin Cai
- Max Planck Partner Group, School of International Chinese Language Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Yuqi Zhang
- School of Chinese as a Second Language, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Xiujie Yang
- Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
| | - Dongwei Li
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai 519087, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
| | - Luyao Chen
- Max Planck Partner Group, School of International Chinese Language Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; Institute of Educational System Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Teng X, Larrouy-Maestri P, Poeppel D. Segmenting and Predicting Musical Phrase Structure Exploits Neural Gain Modulation and Phase Precession. J Neurosci 2024; 44:e1331232024. [PMID: 38926087 PMCID: PMC11270514 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1331-23.2024] [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: 07/17/2023] [Revised: 05/29/2024] [Accepted: 06/11/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Music, like spoken language, is often characterized by hierarchically organized structure. Previous experiments have shown neural tracking of notes and beats, but little work touches on the more abstract question: how does the brain establish high-level musical structures in real time? We presented Bach chorales to participants (20 females and 9 males) undergoing electroencephalogram (EEG) recording to investigate how the brain tracks musical phrases. We removed the main temporal cues to phrasal structures, so that listeners could only rely on harmonic information to parse a continuous musical stream. Phrasal structures were disrupted by locally or globally reversing the harmonic progression, so that our observations on the original music could be controlled and compared. We first replicated the findings on neural tracking of musical notes and beats, substantiating the positive correlation between musical training and neural tracking. Critically, we discovered a neural signature in the frequency range ∼0.1 Hz (modulations of EEG power) that reliably tracks musical phrasal structure. Next, we developed an approach to quantify the phrasal phase precession of the EEG power, revealing that phrase tracking is indeed an operation of active segmentation involving predictive processes. We demonstrate that the brain establishes complex musical structures online over long timescales (>5 s) and actively segments continuous music streams in a manner comparable to language processing. These two neural signatures, phrase tracking and phrasal phase precession, provide new conceptual and technical tools to study the processes underpinning high-level structure building using noninvasive recording techniques.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xiangbin Teng
- Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Pauline Larrouy-Maestri
- Music Department, Max-Planck-Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt 60322, Germany
- Center for Language, Music, and Emotion (CLaME), New York, New York 10003
| | - David Poeppel
- Center for Language, Music, and Emotion (CLaME), New York, New York 10003
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York 10003
- Ernst Struengmann Institute for Neuroscience, Frankfurt 60528, Germany
- Music and Audio Research Laboratory (MARL), New York, New York 11201
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Reißner B, Grohmann W, Peiseler N, Pinho J, Hußmann K, Werner CJ, Heim S. Quantifier processing and semantic flexibility in patients with aphasia. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1328853. [PMID: 39100551 PMCID: PMC11294751 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1328853] [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: 10/27/2023] [Accepted: 06/10/2024] [Indexed: 08/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Processing of quantifiers such as "many" and "few" relies on number knowledge, linguistic abilities, and working memory. Negative quantifiers (e.g., "few," "less than half") induce higher processing costs than their positive counterparts. Furthermore, the meaning of some quantifiers is flexible and thus adaptable. Importantly, in neurotypical individuals, changing the meaning of one quantifier also leads to a generalized change in meaning for its polar opposite (e.g., the change of the meaning of "many" leads to the change of that of "few"). Here, we extended this research to patients with fluent and non-fluent aphasia after stroke. In two experiments, participants heard sentences of the type "Many/few of the circles are yellow/blue," each followed by a picture with different quantities of blue and yellow circles. The participants judged whether the sentence adequately described the picture. Each experiment consisted of three blocks: a baseline block to assess the participants' criteria for both quantifiers, a training block to shift the criteria for "many," and a test block, identical to the baseline to capture any changes in quantifier semantics. In Experiment 1, the change of the meaning of "many" was induced by using adaptation to small numbers (20-50%) of circles of the named color. In Experiment 2, explicit feedback was given in the training block after each response to rate proportions of 40% (or higher) as "many," whereas 40% is normally rather rated as "few." The objective was to determine whether people with fluent or non-fluent aphasia were able to process quantifiers appropriately and whether generalized semantic flexibility was present after brain damage. Sixteen out of 21 patients were able to perform the task. People with fluent aphasia showed the expected polarity effect in the reaction times and shifted their criteria for "many" with generalization to the untrained quantifier "few." This effect, however, was only obtained after explicit feedback (Experiment 2) but not by mere adaptation (Experiment 1). In contrast, people with non-fluent aphasia did not change the quantifier semantics in either experiment. This study contributes to gaining new insights into quantifier processing and semantic flexibility in people with aphasia and general underlying processing mechanisms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Birte Reißner
- Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Wiebke Grohmann
- Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Natalja Peiseler
- Department of Linguistics, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - João Pinho
- Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Katja Hußmann
- Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Cornelius J. Werner
- Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Johanniter Hospital Stendal, Stendal, Germany
| | - Stefan Heim
- Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
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.
Collapse
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
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Fahey D, Fridriksson J, Hickok G, Matchin W. Lesion-symptom Mapping of Acceptability Judgments in Chronic Poststroke Aphasia Reveals the Neurobiological Underpinnings of Receptive Syntax. J Cogn Neurosci 2024; 36:1141-1155. [PMID: 38437175 PMCID: PMC11095916 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_02134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/06/2024]
Abstract
Disagreements persist regarding the neural basis of syntactic processing, which has been linked both to inferior frontal and posterior temporal regions of the brain. One focal point of the debate concerns the role of inferior frontal areas in receptive syntactic ability, which is mostly assessed using sentence comprehension involving complex syntactic structures, a task that is potentially confounded with working memory. Syntactic acceptability judgments may provide a better measure of receptive syntax by reducing the need to use high working memory load and complex sentences and by enabling assessment of various types of syntactic violations. We therefore tested the perception of grammatical violations by people with poststroke aphasia (n = 25), along with matched controls (n = 16), using English sentences involving errors in word order, agreement, or subcategorization. Lesion data were also collected. Control participants performed near ceiling in accuracy with higher discriminability of agreement and subcategorization violations than word order; aphasia participants were less able to discriminate violations, but, on average, paralleled control participants discriminability of types of violations. Lesion-symptom mapping showed a correlation between discriminability and posterior temporal regions, but not inferior frontal regions. We argue that these results diverge from models holding that frontal areas are amodal core regions in syntactic structure building and favor models that posit a core hierarchical system in posterior temporal regions.
Collapse
|
8
|
Matchin W, Almeida D, Hickok G, Sprouse J. Cortical networks responsive to phrase structure and subject island violations. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.05.592579. [PMID: 38746262 PMCID: PMC11092748 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.05.592579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
In principle, functional neuroimaging provides uniquely informative data in addressing linguistic questions, because it can indicate distinct processes that are not apparent from behavioral data alone. This could involve adjudicating the source of unacceptability via the different patterns of elicited brain responses to different ungrammatical sentence types. However, it is difficult to interpret brain activations to syntactic violations. Such responses could reflect processes that have nothing intrinsically related to linguistic representations, such as domain-general executive function abilities. In order to facilitate the potential use of functional neuroimaging methods to identify the source of different syntactic violations, we conducted an fMRI experiment to identify the brain activation maps associated with two distinct syntactic violation types: phrase structure (created by inverting the order of two adjacent words within a sentence) and subject islands (created by extracting a wh-phrase out of an embedded subject). The comparison of these violations to control sentences surprisingly showed no indication of a generalized violation response, with almost completely divergent activation patterns. Phrase structure violations seemingly activated regions previously implicated in verbal working memory and structural complexity in sentence processing, whereas the subject islands appeared to activate regions previously implicated in conceptual-semantic processing, broadly defined. We review our findings in the context of previous research on syntactic and semantic violations using event-related potentials. We suggest that functional neuroimaging is a potentially fruitful technique in unpacking the distinct sets of cognitive processes elicited by theoretically-relevant syntactic violations, when interpreted with care and paired with appropriate control conditions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- William Matchin
- Dept. of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina
| | | | - Gregory Hickok
- Dept. of Cognitive Sciences and Dept. of Language Science, University of California, Irvine
| | | |
Collapse
|
9
|
León-Cabrera P, Hjortdal A, Berthelsen SG, Rodríguez-Fornells A, Roll M. Neurophysiological signatures of prediction in language: A critical review of anticipatory negativities. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 160:105624. [PMID: 38492763 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2023] [Revised: 02/09/2024] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 03/18/2024]
Abstract
Recent event-related potential (ERP) studies in language comprehension converge in finding anticipatory negativities preceding words or word segments that can be pre-activated based on either sentence contexts or phonological cues. We review these findings from different paradigms in the light of evidence from other cognitive domains in which slow negative potentials have long been associated with anticipatory processes and discuss their potential underlying mechanisms. We propose that this family of anticipatory negativities captures common mechanisms associated with the pre-activation of linguistic information both within words and within sentences. Future studies could utilize these anticipatory negativities in combination with other, well-established ERPs, to simultaneously track prediction-related processes emerging at different time intervals (before and after the perception of pre-activated input) and with distinct time courses (shorter-lived and longer-lived cognitive operations).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Patricia León-Cabrera
- Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit, Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Basic Sciences, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Anna Hjortdal
- Centre for Languages and Literature (SOL), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Sabine Gosselke Berthelsen
- Centre for Languages and Literature (SOL), Lund University, Lund, Sweden; Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics (NorS), University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Antoni Rodríguez-Fornells
- Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit, Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL), Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain; Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Mikael Roll
- Centre for Languages and Literature (SOL), Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
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.
Collapse
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
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Yang Y, Zhen Y, Wang X, Liu L, Zheng Y, Zheng Z, Zheng H, Tang S. Altered asymmetry of functional connectome gradients in major depressive disorder. Front Neurosci 2024; 18:1385920. [PMID: 38745933 PMCID: PMC11092381 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1385920] [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: 02/14/2024] [Accepted: 04/11/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating disease involving sensory and higher-order cognitive dysfunction. Previous work has shown altered asymmetry in MDD, including abnormal lateralized activation and disrupted hemispheric connectivity. However, it remains unclear whether and how MDD affects functional asymmetries in the context of intrinsic hierarchical organization. Methods Here, we evaluate intra- and inter-hemispheric asymmetries of the first three functional gradients, characterizing unimodal-transmodal, visual-somatosensory, and somatomotor/default mode-multiple demand hierarchies, to study MDD-related alterations in overarching system-level architecture. Results We find that, relative to the healthy controls, MDD patients exhibit alterations in both primary sensory regions (e.g., visual areas) and transmodal association regions (e.g., default mode areas). We further find these abnormalities are woven in heterogeneous alterations along multiple functional gradients, associated with cognitive terms involving mind, memory, and visual processing. Moreover, through an elastic net model, we observe that both intra- and inter-asymmetric features are predictive of depressive traits measured by BDI-II scores. Discussion Altogether, these findings highlight a broad and mixed effect of MDD on functional gradient asymmetry, contributing to a richer understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings in MDD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yaqian Yang
- School of Mathematical Sciences, Beihang University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory of Mathematics, Informatics and Behavioral Semantics, Beihang University, Beijing, China
| | - Yi Zhen
- School of Mathematical Sciences, Beihang University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory of Mathematics, Informatics and Behavioral Semantics, Beihang University, Beijing, China
| | - Xin Wang
- Key Laboratory of Mathematics, Informatics and Behavioral Semantics, Beihang University, Beijing, China
- Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Beihang University, Beijing, China
- Zhongguancun Laboratory, Beijing, China
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Future Blockchain and Privacy Computing, Beihang University, Beijing, China
- PengCheng Laboratory, Shenzhen, China
| | - Longzhao Liu
- Key Laboratory of Mathematics, Informatics and Behavioral Semantics, Beihang University, Beijing, China
- Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Beihang University, Beijing, China
- Zhongguancun Laboratory, Beijing, China
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Future Blockchain and Privacy Computing, Beihang University, Beijing, China
- PengCheng Laboratory, Shenzhen, China
| | - Yi Zheng
- School of Mathematical Sciences, Beihang University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory of Mathematics, Informatics and Behavioral Semantics, Beihang University, Beijing, China
| | - Zhiming Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Mathematics, Informatics and Behavioral Semantics, Beihang University, Beijing, China
- Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Beihang University, Beijing, China
- Zhongguancun Laboratory, Beijing, China
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Future Blockchain and Privacy Computing, Beihang University, Beijing, China
- PengCheng Laboratory, Shenzhen, China
- Institute of Medical Artificial Intelligence, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China
- State Key Lab of Software Development Environment, Beihang University, Beijing, China
| | - Hongwei Zheng
- Beijing Academy of Blockchain and Edge Computing, Beijing, China
| | - Shaoting Tang
- Key Laboratory of Mathematics, Informatics and Behavioral Semantics, Beihang University, Beijing, China
- Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Beihang University, Beijing, China
- Zhongguancun Laboratory, Beijing, China
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Future Blockchain and Privacy Computing, Beihang University, Beijing, China
- PengCheng Laboratory, Shenzhen, China
- Institute of Medical Artificial Intelligence, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China
- State Key Lab of Software Development Environment, Beihang University, Beijing, China
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Bulut T, Hagoort P. Contributions of the left and right thalami to language: A meta-analytic approach. Brain Struct Funct 2024:10.1007/s00429-024-02795-3. [PMID: 38625556 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-024-02795-3] [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: 09/23/2023] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/17/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite a pervasive cortico-centric view in cognitive neuroscience, subcortical structures including the thalamus have been shown to be increasingly involved in higher cognitive functions. Previous structural and functional imaging studies demonstrated cortico-thalamo-cortical loops which may support various cognitive functions including language. However, large-scale functional connectivity of the thalamus during language tasks has not been examined before. METHODS The present study employed meta-analytic connectivity modeling to identify language-related coactivation patterns of the left and right thalami. The left and right thalami were used as regions of interest to search the BrainMap functional database for neuroimaging experiments with healthy participants reporting language-related activations in each region of interest. Activation likelihood estimation analyses were then carried out on the foci extracted from the identified studies to estimate functional convergence for each thalamus. A functional decoding analysis based on the same database was conducted to characterize thalamic contributions to different language functions. RESULTS The results revealed bilateral frontotemporal and bilateral subcortical (basal ganglia) coactivation patterns for both the left and right thalami, and also right cerebellar coactivations for the left thalamus, during language processing. In light of previous empirical studies and theoretical frameworks, the present connectivity and functional decoding findings suggest that cortico-subcortical-cerebellar-cortical loops modulate and fine-tune information transfer within the bilateral frontotemporal cortices during language processing, especially during production and semantic operations, but also other language (e.g., syntax, phonology) and cognitive operations (e.g., attention, cognitive control). CONCLUSION The current findings show that the language-relevant network extends beyond the classical left perisylvian cortices and spans bilateral cortical, bilateral subcortical (bilateral thalamus, bilateral basal ganglia) and right cerebellar regions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Talat Bulut
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
- Department of Speech and Language Therapy, School of Health Sciences, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey.
| | - Peter Hagoort
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Zhang Y, Taft M, Tang J, Li L. Neural correlates of semantic-driven syntactic parsing in sentence comprehension. Neuroimage 2024; 289:120543. [PMID: 38369168 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2023] [Revised: 02/13/2024] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024] Open
Abstract
For sentence comprehension, information carried by semantic relations between constituents must be combined with other information to decode the constituent structure of a sentence, due to atypical and noisy situations of language use. Neural correlates of decoding sentence structure by semantic information have remained largely unexplored. In this functional MRI study, we examine the neural basis of semantic-driven syntactic parsing during sentence reading and compare it with that of other types of syntactic parsing driven by word order and case marking. Chinese transitive sentences of various structures were investigated, differing in word order, case making, and agent-patient semantic relations (i.e., same vs. different in animacy). For the non-canonical unmarked sentences without usable case marking, a semantic-driven effect triggered by agent-patient ambiguity was found in the left inferior frontal gyrus opercularis (IFGoper) and left inferior parietal lobule, with the activity not being modulated by naturalness factors of the sentences. The comparison between each type of non-canonical sentences with canonical sentences revealed that the non-canonicity effect engaged the left posterior frontal and temporal regions, in line with previous studies. No extra neural activity was found responsive to case marking within the non-canonical sentences. A word order effect across all types of sentences was also found in the left IFGoper, suggesting a common neural substrate between different types of parsing. The semantic-driven effect was also observed for the non-canonical marked sentences but not for the canonical sentences, suggesting that semantic information is used in decoding sentence structure in addition to case marking. The current findings illustrate the neural correlates of syntactic parsing with semantics, and provide neural evidence of how semantics facilitates syntax together with other information.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yun Zhang
- Center for the Cognitive Science and Language, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing 100083, PR China
| | - Marcus Taft
- Center for the Cognitive Science and Language, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing 100083, PR China; School of Psychology, UNSW Sydney, Australia
| | - Jiaman Tang
- Center for the Cognitive Science and Language, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing 100083, PR China
| | - Le Li
- Center for the Cognitive Science and Language, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing 100083, PR China.
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Goldstein A, Grinstein-Dabush A, Schain M, Wang H, Hong Z, Aubrey B, Schain M, Nastase SA, Zada Z, Ham E, Feder A, Gazula H, Buchnik E, Doyle W, Devore S, Dugan P, Reichart R, Friedman D, Brenner M, Hassidim A, Devinsky O, Flinker A, Hasson U. Alignment of brain embeddings and artificial contextual embeddings in natural language points to common geometric patterns. Nat Commun 2024; 15:2768. [PMID: 38553456 PMCID: PMC10980748 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46631-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2022] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Contextual embeddings, derived from deep language models (DLMs), provide a continuous vectorial representation of language. This embedding space differs fundamentally from the symbolic representations posited by traditional psycholinguistics. We hypothesize that language areas in the human brain, similar to DLMs, rely on a continuous embedding space to represent language. To test this hypothesis, we densely record the neural activity patterns in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) of three participants using dense intracranial arrays while they listened to a 30-minute podcast. From these fine-grained spatiotemporal neural recordings, we derive a continuous vectorial representation for each word (i.e., a brain embedding) in each patient. Using stringent zero-shot mapping we demonstrate that brain embeddings in the IFG and the DLM contextual embedding space have common geometric patterns. The common geometric patterns allow us to predict the brain embedding in IFG of a given left-out word based solely on its geometrical relationship to other non-overlapping words in the podcast. Furthermore, we show that contextual embeddings capture the geometry of IFG embeddings better than static word embeddings. The continuous brain embedding space exposes a vector-based neural code for natural language processing in the human brain.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ariel Goldstein
- Business School, Data Science department and Cognitive Department, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.
- Google Research, Tel Aviv, Israel.
| | | | | | - Haocheng Wang
- Department of Psychology and the Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Zhuoqiao Hong
- Department of Psychology and the Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Bobbi Aubrey
- Department of Psychology and the Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
- New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - Samuel A Nastase
- Department of Psychology and the Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Zaid Zada
- Department of Psychology and the Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Eric Ham
- Department of Psychology and the Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | | | - Harshvardhan Gazula
- Department of Psychology and the Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | | | - Werner Doyle
- New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sasha Devore
- New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Patricia Dugan
- New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Roi Reichart
- Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Daniel Friedman
- New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Michael Brenner
- Google Research, Tel Aviv, Israel
- School of Engineering and Applied Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Orrin Devinsky
- New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Adeen Flinker
- New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- New York University Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | - Uri Hasson
- Google Research, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Department of Psychology and the Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Arnulf JK, Olsson UH, Nimon K. Measuring the menu, not the food: "psychometric" data may instead measure "lingometrics" (and miss its greatest potential). Front Psychol 2024; 15:1308098. [PMID: 38577112 PMCID: PMC10991757 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1308098] [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: 10/05/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024] Open
Abstract
This is a review of a range of empirical studies that use digital text algorithms to predict and model response patterns from humans to Likert-scale items, using texts only as inputs. The studies show that statistics used in construct validation is predictable on sample and individual levels, that this happens across languages and cultures, and that the relationship between variables are often semantic instead of empirical. That is, the relationships among variables are given a priori and evidently computable as such. We explain this by replacing the idea of "nomological networks" with "semantic networks" to designate computable relationships between abstract concepts. Understanding constructs as nodes in semantic networks makes it clear why psychological research has produced constant average explained variance at 42% since 1956. Together, these findings shed new light on the formidable capability of human minds to operate with fast and intersubjectively similar semantic processing. Our review identifies a categorical error present in much psychological research, measuring representations instead of the purportedly represented. We discuss how this has grave consequences for the empirical truth in research using traditional psychometric methods.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Kim Nimon
- Department of Human Resource Development, University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX, United States
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Giglio L, Ostarek M, Sharoh D, Hagoort P. Diverging neural dynamics for syntactic structure building in naturalistic speaking and listening. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2310766121. [PMID: 38442171 PMCID: PMC10945772 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2310766121] [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: 07/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024] Open
Abstract
The neural correlates of sentence production are typically studied using task paradigms that differ considerably from the experience of speaking outside of an experimental setting. In this fMRI study, we aimed to gain a better understanding of syntactic processing in spontaneous production versus naturalistic comprehension in three regions of interest (BA44, BA45, and left posterior middle temporal gyrus). A group of participants (n = 16) was asked to speak about the events of an episode of a TV series in the scanner. Another group of participants (n = 36) listened to the spoken recall of a participant from the first group. To model syntactic processing, we extracted word-by-word metrics of phrase-structure building with a top-down and a bottom-up parser that make different hypotheses about the timing of structure building. While the top-down parser anticipates syntactic structure, sometimes before it is obvious to the listener, the bottom-up parser builds syntactic structure in an integratory way after all of the evidence has been presented. In comprehension, neural activity was found to be better modeled by the bottom-up parser, while in production, it was better modeled by the top-down parser. We additionally modeled structure building in production with two strategies that were developed here to make different predictions about the incrementality of structure building during speaking. We found evidence for highly incremental and anticipatory structure building in production, which was confirmed by a converging analysis of the pausing patterns in speech. Overall, this study shows the feasibility of studying the neural dynamics of spontaneous language production.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Laura Giglio
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen6525XD, The Netherlands
- Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen6525EN, The Netherlands
| | - Markus Ostarek
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen6525XD, The Netherlands
| | - Daniel Sharoh
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen6525XD, The Netherlands
- Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen6525EN, The Netherlands
| | - Peter Hagoort
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen6525XD, The Netherlands
- Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen6525EN, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Wagley N, Hu X, Satterfield T, Bedore LM, Booth JR, Kovelman I. Neural specificity for semantic and syntactic processing in Spanish-English bilingual children. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2024; 250:105380. [PMID: 38301503 PMCID: PMC10947424 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2024.105380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Revised: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 01/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
Brain development for language processing is associated with neural specialization of left perisylvian pathways, but this has not been investigated in young bilinguals. We examined specificity for syntax and semantics in early exposed Spanish-English speaking children (N = 65, ages 7-11) using an auditory sentence judgement task in English, their dominant language of use. During functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), the morphosyntax task elicited activation in left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the semantic task elicited activation in left posterior middle temporal gyrus (MTG). Task comparisons revealed specialization in left superior temporal (STG) for morphosyntax and left MTG and angular gyrus for semantics. Although skills in neither language were uniquely related to specialization, skills in both languages were related to engagement of the left MTG for semantics and left IFG for syntax. These results are consistent with models suggesting a positive cross-linguistic interaction in those with higher language proficiency.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Neelima Wagley
- Arizona State University, Speech and Hearing Science, 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA.
| | - Xiaosu Hu
- University of Michigan, Department of Psychology, 530 Church St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Teresa Satterfield
- University of Michigan, Romance Languages and Literatures, 812 East Washington St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Lisa M Bedore
- Temple University, College of Public Health, 1101 W. Montgomery Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
| | - James R Booth
- Vanderbilt University, Department of Psychology and Human Development, 230 Appleton Pl., Nashville, TN 37203, USA
| | - Ioulia Kovelman
- University of Michigan, Department of Psychology, 530 Church St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Kim J, Kim HW, Kovar J, Lee YS. Neural consequences of binaural beat stimulation on auditory sentence comprehension: an EEG study. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhad459. [PMID: 38044462 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad459] [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: 07/17/2023] [Revised: 11/05/2023] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023] Open
Abstract
A growing literature has shown that binaural beat (BB)-generated by dichotic presentation of slightly mismatched pure tones-improves cognition. We recently found that BB stimulation of either beta (18 Hz) or gamma (40 Hz) frequencies enhanced auditory sentence comprehension. Here, we used electroencephalography (EEG) to characterize neural oscillations pertaining to the enhanced linguistic operations following BB stimulation. Sixty healthy young adults were randomly assigned to one of three listening groups: 18-Hz BB, 40-Hz BB, or pure-tone baseline, all embedded in music. After listening to the sound for 10 min (stimulation phase), participants underwent an auditory sentence comprehension task involving spoken sentences that contained either an object or subject relative clause (task phase). During the stimulation phase, 18-Hz BB yielded increased EEG power in a beta frequency range, while 40-Hz BB did not. During the task phase, only the 18-Hz BB resulted in significantly higher accuracy and faster response times compared with the baseline, especially on syntactically more complex object-relative sentences. The behavioral improvement by 18-Hz BB was accompanied by attenuated beta power difference between object- and subject-relative sentences. Altogether, our findings demonstrate beta oscillations as a neural correlate of improved syntactic operation following BB stimulation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jeahong Kim
- School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, United States
- Callier Clinical Research Center, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, United States
| | - Hyun-Woong Kim
- School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, United States
- Callier Clinical Research Center, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, United States
- Center for BrainHealth, The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX 75235, United States
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, United States
| | - Jessica Kovar
- School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, United States
- Callier Clinical Research Center, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, United States
| | - Yune Sang Lee
- School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, United States
- Callier Clinical Research Center, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, United States
- Center for BrainHealth, The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX 75235, United States
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing, The University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W. Campbell Road, Richardson, TX 75080, United States
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Liu X, Hu Y, Hao Y, Yang L. Individual differences in the neural architecture in semantic processing. Sci Rep 2024; 14:170. [PMID: 38168133 PMCID: PMC10761854 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-49538-8] [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] [Received: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 12/09/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Neural mechanisms underlying semantic processing have been extensively studied by using functional magnetic resonance imaging, nevertheless, the individual differences of it are yet to be unveiled. To further our understanding of functional and anatomical brain organization underlying semantic processing to the level of individual humans, we used out-of-scanner language behavioral data, T1, resting-state, and story comprehension task-evoked functional image data in the Human Connectome Project, to investigate individual variability in the task-evoked semantic processing network, and attempted to predict individuals' language skills based on task and intrinsic functional connectivity of highly variable regions, by employing a machine-learning framework. Our findings first confirmed that individual variability in both functional and anatomical markers were heterogeneously distributed throughout the semantic processing network, and that the variability increased towards higher levels in the processing hierarchy. Furthermore, intrinsic functional connectivities among these highly variable regions were found to contribute to predict individual reading decoding abilities. The contributing nodes in the overall network were distributed in the left superior, inferior frontal, and temporo-parietal cortices. Our results suggested that the individual differences of neurobiological markers were heterogeneously distributed in the semantic processing network, and that neurobiological markers of highly variable areas are not only linked to individual variability in language skills, but can predict language skills at the individual level.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xin Liu
- Air Force Medical Center, Air Force Medical University, No. 28, Fucheng Street, Haidian District, Beijing, 100142, China.
| | - Yiwen Hu
- Air Force Medical Center, Air Force Medical University, No. 28, Fucheng Street, Haidian District, Beijing, 100142, China
| | - Yaokun Hao
- Air Force Medical Center, Air Force Medical University, No. 28, Fucheng Street, Haidian District, Beijing, 100142, China
| | - Liu Yang
- Air Force Medical Center, Air Force Medical University, No. 28, Fucheng Street, Haidian District, Beijing, 100142, China
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
de Jesus Dias Martins M. Cognitive and Neural Representations of Fractals in Vision, Music, and Action. ADVANCES IN NEUROBIOLOGY 2024; 36:935-951. [PMID: 38468070 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-47606-8_46] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
The concept of fractal was popularized by Mandelbrot as a tool to tame the geometrical structure of objects with infinite hierarchical depth. The key aspect of fractals is the use of simple parsimonious rules and initial conditions, which when applied recursively can generate unbounded complexity. Fractals are structures ubiquitous in nature, being present in coast lines, bacteria colonies, trees, and physiological time series. However, within the field of cognitive science, the core question is not which phenomena can generate fractal structures, but whether human or animal minds can represent recursive processes, and if so in which domains. In this chapter, we will explore the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying the representation of recursive hierarchical embedding. Language is the domain in which this capacity is best studied. Humans can generate an infinite array of hierarchically structured sentences, and this capacity distinguishes us from other species. However, recent research suggests that humans can represent similar structures in the domains of music, vision, and action and has provided additional cues as to how these capacities are cognitively implemented. Using a comparative approach, we will map the commonalities and differences across domains and offer a roadmap to understand the neurobiological implementation of fractal cognition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mauricio de Jesus Dias Martins
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, SCAN-Unit, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Olson HA, Chen EM, Lydic KO, Saxe RR. Left-Hemisphere Cortical Language Regions Respond Equally to Observed Dialogue and Monologue. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2023; 4:575-610. [PMID: 38144236 PMCID: PMC10745132 DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/26/2023]
Abstract
Much of the language we encounter in our everyday lives comes in the form of conversation, yet the majority of research on the neural basis of language comprehension has used input from only one speaker at a time. Twenty adults were scanned while passively observing audiovisual conversations using functional magnetic resonance imaging. In a block-design task, participants watched 20 s videos of puppets speaking either to another puppet (the dialogue condition) or directly to the viewer (the monologue condition), while the audio was either comprehensible (played forward) or incomprehensible (played backward). Individually functionally localized left-hemisphere language regions responded more to comprehensible than incomprehensible speech but did not respond differently to dialogue than monologue. In a second task, participants watched videos (1-3 min each) of two puppets conversing with each other, in which one puppet was comprehensible while the other's speech was reversed. All participants saw the same visual input but were randomly assigned which character's speech was comprehensible. In left-hemisphere cortical language regions, the time course of activity was correlated only among participants who heard the same character speaking comprehensibly, despite identical visual input across all participants. For comparison, some individually localized theory of mind regions and right-hemisphere homologues of language regions responded more to dialogue than monologue in the first task, and in the second task, activity in some regions was correlated across all participants regardless of which character was speaking comprehensibly. Together, these results suggest that canonical left-hemisphere cortical language regions are not sensitive to differences between observed dialogue and monologue.
Collapse
|
22
|
van der Burght CL, Friederici AD, Maran M, Papitto G, Pyatigorskaya E, Schroën JAM, Trettenbrein PC, Zaccarella E. Cleaning up the Brickyard: How Theory and Methodology Shape Experiments in Cognitive Neuroscience of Language. J Cogn Neurosci 2023; 35:2067-2088. [PMID: 37713672 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_02058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/17/2023]
Abstract
The capacity for language is a defining property of our species, yet despite decades of research, evidence on its neural basis is still mixed and a generalized consensus is difficult to achieve. We suggest that this is partly caused by researchers defining "language" in different ways, with focus on a wide range of phenomena, properties, and levels of investigation. Accordingly, there is very little agreement among cognitive neuroscientists of language on the operationalization of fundamental concepts to be investigated in neuroscientific experiments. Here, we review chains of derivation in the cognitive neuroscience of language, focusing on how the hypothesis under consideration is defined by a combination of theoretical and methodological assumptions. We first attempt to disentangle the complex relationship between linguistics, psychology, and neuroscience in the field. Next, we focus on how conclusions that can be drawn from any experiment are inherently constrained by auxiliary assumptions, both theoretical and methodological, on which the validity of conclusions drawn rests. These issues are discussed in the context of classical experimental manipulations as well as study designs that employ novel approaches such as naturalistic stimuli and computational modeling. We conclude by proposing that a highly interdisciplinary field such as the cognitive neuroscience of language requires researchers to form explicit statements concerning the theoretical definitions, methodological choices, and other constraining factors involved in their work.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Angela D Friederici
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Matteo Maran
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School on Neuroscience of Communication, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Giorgio Papitto
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School on Neuroscience of Communication, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Elena Pyatigorskaya
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School on Neuroscience of Communication, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Joëlle A M Schroën
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School on Neuroscience of Communication, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Patrick C Trettenbrein
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School on Neuroscience of Communication, Leipzig, Germany
- University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Emiliano Zaccarella
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Alho J, Samuelsson JG, Khan S, Mamashli F, Bharadwaj H, Losh A, McGuiggan NM, Graham S, Nayal Z, Perrachione TK, Joseph RM, Stoodley CJ, Hämäläinen MS, Kenet T. Both stronger and weaker cerebro-cerebellar functional connectivity patterns during processing of spoken sentences in autism spectrum disorder. Hum Brain Mapp 2023; 44:5810-5827. [PMID: 37688547 PMCID: PMC10619366 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26478] [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: 02/17/2023] [Revised: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 08/20/2023] [Indexed: 09/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Cerebellar differences have long been documented in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet the extent to which such differences might impact language processing in ASD remains unknown. To investigate this, we recorded brain activity with magnetoencephalography (MEG) while ASD and age-matched typically developing (TD) children passively processed spoken meaningful English and meaningless Jabberwocky sentences. Using a novel source localization approach that allows higher resolution MEG source localization of cerebellar activity, we found that, unlike TD children, ASD children showed no difference between evoked responses to meaningful versus meaningless sentences in right cerebellar lobule VI. ASD children also had atypically weak functional connectivity in the meaningful versus meaningless speech condition between right cerebellar lobule VI and several left-hemisphere sensorimotor and language regions in later time windows. In contrast, ASD children had atypically strong functional connectivity for in the meaningful versus meaningless speech condition between right cerebellar lobule VI and primary auditory cortical areas in an earlier time window. The atypical functional connectivity patterns in ASD correlated with ASD severity and the ability to inhibit involuntary attention. These findings align with a model where cerebro-cerebellar speech processing mechanisms in ASD are impacted by aberrant stimulus-driven attention, which could result from atypical temporal information and predictions of auditory sensory events by right cerebellar lobule VI.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jussi Alho
- Department of NeurologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - John G. Samuelsson
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Harvard‐MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeMassachusettsUSA
| | - Sheraz Khan
- Department of NeurologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Department of RadiologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Fahimeh Mamashli
- Department of NeurologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Department of RadiologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Hari Bharadwaj
- Department of NeurologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, and Weldon School of Biomedical EngineeringPurdue UniversityWest LafayetteIndianaUSA
| | - Ainsley Losh
- Department of NeurologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Nicole M. McGuiggan
- Department of NeurologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Steven Graham
- Department of NeurologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Zein Nayal
- Department of NeurologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Tyler K. Perrachione
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing SciencesBoston UniversityBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Robert M. Joseph
- Department of Anatomy and NeurobiologyBoston University School of MedicineBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Catherine J. Stoodley
- Department of PsychologyCollege of Arts and Sciences, American UniversityWashingtonDCUSA
| | - Matti S. Hämäläinen
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Department of RadiologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Tal Kenet
- Department of NeurologyMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Schroën JAM, Gunter TC, Numssen O, Kroczek LOH, Hartwigsen G, Friederici AD. Causal evidence for a coordinated temporal interplay within the language network. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2306279120. [PMID: 37963247 PMCID: PMC10666120 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2306279120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent neurobiological models on language suggest that auditory sentence comprehension is supported by a coordinated temporal interplay within a left-dominant brain network, including the posterior inferior frontal gyrus (pIFG), posterior superior temporal gyrus and sulcus (pSTG/STS), and angular gyrus (AG). Here, we probed the timing and causal relevance of the interplay between these regions by means of concurrent transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroencephalography (TMS-EEG). Our TMS-EEG experiments reveal region- and time-specific causal evidence for a bidirectional information flow from left pSTG/STS to left pIFG and back during auditory sentence processing. Adapting a condition-and-perturb approach, our findings further suggest that the left pSTG/STS can be supported by the left AG in a state-dependent manner.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joëlle A. M. Schroën
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig04103, Germany
| | - Thomas C. Gunter
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig04103, Germany
| | - Ole Numssen
- Methods and Development Group Brain Networks, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig04103, Germany
- Lise Meitner Research Group Cognition and Plasticity, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig04103, Germany
| | - Leon O. H. Kroczek
- Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg93053, Germany
| | - Gesa Hartwigsen
- Lise Meitner Research Group Cognition and Plasticity, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig04103, Germany
- Cognitive and Biological Psychology, Wilhelm Wundt Institute for Psychology, Leipzig04109, Germany
| | - Angela D. Friederici
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig04103, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
El Ouardi L, Yeou M, Faroqi-Shah Y. Neural correlates of pronoun processing: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2023; 246:105347. [PMID: 37847932 PMCID: PMC11305457 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2023.105347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Revised: 08/30/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023]
Abstract
Pronouns are unique linguistic devices that allow for the expression of referential relationships. Despite their communicative utility, the neural correlates of the operations involved in reference assignment and/or resolution, are not well-understood. The present study synthesized the neuroimaging literature on pronoun processing to test extant theories of pronoun comprehension. Following the PRISMA guidelines and thebest-practice recommendations for neuroimaging meta-analyses, a systematic literature search and record assessment were performed. As a result, 16 fMRI studies were included in the meta-analysis, and were coded in Scribe 3.6 for inclusion in the BrainMap database. The activation coordinates for the contrasts of interest were transformed into Talairach space and submitted to an Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) meta-analysis in GingerALE 3.0.1. The results indicated that pronoun processing had functional convergence in the left posterior middle and superior temporal gyri, potentially reflecting the retrieval, prediction and integration roles of these areas for pronoun processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Loubna El Ouardi
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States; Applied Language and Culture Studies Laboratory, Chouaib Doukkali University, El Jadida, Morocco.
| | - Mohamed Yeou
- Applied Language and Culture Studies Laboratory, Chouaib Doukkali University, El Jadida, Morocco
| | - Yasmeen Faroqi-Shah
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Zhang G, Xu Y, Wang X, Li J, Shi W, Bi Y, Lin N. A social-semantic working-memory account for two canonical language areas. Nat Hum Behav 2023; 7:1980-1997. [PMID: 37735521 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01704-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 08/22/2023] [Indexed: 09/23/2023]
Abstract
Language and social cognition are traditionally studied as separate cognitive domains, yet accumulative studies reveal overlapping neural correlates at the left ventral temporoparietal junction (vTPJ) and the left lateral anterior temporal lobe (lATL), which have been attributed to sentence processing and social concept activation. We propose a common cognitive component underlying both effects: social-semantic working memory. We confirmed two key predictions of our hypothesis using functional MRI. First, the left vTPJ and lATL showed sensitivity to sentences only when the sentences conveyed social meaning; second, these regions showed persistent social-semantic-selective activity after the linguistic stimuli disappeared. We additionally found that both regions were sensitive to the socialness of non-linguistic stimuli and were more tightly connected with the social-semantic-processing areas than with the sentence-processing areas. The converging evidence indicates the social-semantic working-memory function of the left vTPJ and lATL and challenges the general-semantic and/or syntactic accounts for the neural activity of these regions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Guangyao Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Yangwen Xu
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Xiuyi Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jixing Li
- Department of Linguistics and Translation, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Weiting Shi
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yanchao Bi
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China
| | - Nan Lin
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China.
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
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.
Collapse
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
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Fargier R, Laganaro M. Referential and inferential production across the lifespan: different patterns and different predictive cognitive factors. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1237523. [PMID: 38022984 PMCID: PMC10643179 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1237523] [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: 06/13/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction The ability to speak is grounded in general memory and control processes and likely changes across the lifespan. However, our knowledge on how word production abilities naturally evolve from childhood to old age remains marginally investigated. Our aim was to shed further light on this issue by exploiting the contrast between two ways to elicit word production: referential picture naming and inferential naming from definition. Methods We collected accuracy and production latencies in a picture naming task and in a naming from definition task from 130 participants ranging from 10 to 80 years old. Measures of vocabulary size, digit span memory, semantic and phonemic fluencies and processing speed were also collected. We used multivariate adaptative regression splines and regression models to characterize lifespan patterns of the two tasks. Results Patterns of increase in performance were similar for picture naming and naming from definition only from childhood to young adulthood. In the second half of the lifespan, significant decrease of performance was found in older adults for picture naming (from around 60 years-old) but not for naming from definition. Clearly, word production elicited with an inferential task (naming from definition) yields different age-related patterns than usually described in the literature with a referential task (picture naming). Discussion We discuss how cognitive processes such as visual-conceptual processes and lexical prediction may explain the differential pattern of results in aging in referential and inferential production tasks. We argue for more lifespan studies and the need to investigate language production beyond picture naming, in particular with respect to aging.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Marina Laganaro
- Neuropsycholinguistics Laboratory, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Murphy E, Forseth KJ, Donos C, Snyder KM, Rollo PS, Tandon N. The spatiotemporal dynamics of semantic integration in the human brain. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6336. [PMID: 37875526 PMCID: PMC10598228 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42087-8] [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] [Received: 09/12/2022] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Language depends critically on the integration of lexical information across multiple words to derive semantic concepts. Limitations of spatiotemporal resolution have previously rendered it difficult to isolate processes involved in semantic integration. We utilized intracranial recordings in epilepsy patients (n = 58) who read written word definitions. Descriptions were either referential or non-referential to a common object. Semantically referential sentences enabled high frequency broadband gamma activation (70-150 Hz) of the inferior frontal sulcus (IFS), medial parietal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and medial temporal lobe in the left, language-dominant hemisphere. IFS, OFC and posterior middle temporal gyrus activity was modulated by the semantic coherence of non-referential sentences, exposing semantic effects that were independent of task-based referential status. Components of this network, alongside posterior superior temporal sulcus, were engaged for referential sentences that did not clearly reduce the lexical search space by the final word. These results indicate the existence of complementary cortical mosaics for semantic integration in posterior temporal and inferior frontal cortex.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elliot Murphy
- Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
- Texas Institute for Restorative Neurotechnologies, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
| | - Kiefer J Forseth
- Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
- Texas Institute for Restorative Neurotechnologies, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Cristian Donos
- Faculty of Physics, University of Bucharest, Măgurele, 077125, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Kathryn M Snyder
- Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
- Texas Institute for Restorative Neurotechnologies, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Patrick S Rollo
- Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
- Texas Institute for Restorative Neurotechnologies, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Nitin Tandon
- Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
- Texas Institute for Restorative Neurotechnologies, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
- Memorial Hermann Hospital, Texas Medical Center, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Zhou W, Wang S, Yan M. Fixation-related fMRI analysis reveals the neural basis of natural reading of unspaced and spaced Chinese sentences. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:10401-10410. [PMID: 37566912 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad290] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Revised: 07/15/2023] [Accepted: 07/16/2023] [Indexed: 08/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Although there are many eye-movement studies focusing on natural sentence reading and functional magnetic resonance imaging research on reading with serial visual presentation paradigms, there is a scarcity of investigations into the neural mechanism of natural sentence reading. The present study recruited 33 adults to read unspaced and spaced Chinese sentences with the eye tracking and functional magnetic resonance imaging data recorded simultaneously. By using fixation-related functional magnetic resonance imaging analysis, this study showed that natural reading of Chinese sentences produced activations in ventral visual, dorsal attention, and semantic brain regions, which were modulated by the properties of words such as word length and word frequency. The multivoxel pattern analysis showed that the activity pattern in the left middle temporal gyrus could significantly predict the visual layout categories (i.e. unspaced vs. spaced conditions). Dynamic causal modeling analysis showed that there were bidirectional brain connections between the left middle temporal gyrus and the left inferior occipital cortex in the unspaced Chinese sentence reading but not in the spaced reading. These results provide a neural mechanism for the natural reading of Chinese sentences from the perspective of word segmentation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wei Zhou
- Beijing Key Lab of Learning and Cognition, School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China
- Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing 102206, China
| | - Sile Wang
- Beijing Key Lab of Learning and Cognition, School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Ming Yan
- Department of Psychology and Center for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Taipa, Macau
| |
Collapse
|
31
|
Reyes-Aguilar A, Licea-Haquet G, Arce BI, Giordano M. Contribution and functional connectivity between cerebrum and cerebellum on sub-lexical and lexical-semantic processing of verbs. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0291558. [PMID: 37708205 PMCID: PMC10501569 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0291558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/01/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Language comprehension involves both sub-lexical (e.g., phonological) and lexical-semantic processing. We conducted a task using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare the processing of verbs in these two domains. Additionally, we examined the representation of concrete-motor and abstract-non-motor concepts by including two semantic categories of verbs: motor and mental. The findings indicate that sub-lexical processing during the reading of pseudo-verbs primarily involves the left dorsal stream of the perisylvian network, while lexical-semantic representation during the reading of verbs predominantly engages the ventral stream. According to the embodied or grounded cognition approach, modality-specific mechanisms (such as sensory-motor systems) and the well-established multimodal left perisylvian network contribute to the semantic representation of both concrete and abstract verbs. Our study identified the visual system as a preferential modality-specific system for abstract-mental verbs, which exhibited functional connectivity with the right crus I/lobule VI of the cerebellum. Taken together, these results confirm the dissociation between sub-lexical and lexical-semantic processing and provide neurobiological evidence of functional coupling between specific visual modality regions and the right cerebellum, forming a network that supports the semantic representation of abstract concepts. Further, the results shed light on the underlying mechanisms of semantic processing and contribute to our understanding of how the brain processes abstract concepts.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Azalea Reyes-Aguilar
- Department of Psychobiology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Giovanna Licea-Haquet
- Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurobiology, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Queretaro, Mexico
| | - Brenda I. Arce
- Department of Psychobiology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Magda Giordano
- Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurobiology, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Queretaro, Mexico
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Baron A, Wagley N, Hu X, Kovelman I. Neural Correlates of Morphosyntactic Processing in Spanish-English Bilingual Children: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2023; 66:3500-3514. [PMID: 37643425 PMCID: PMC10558145 DOI: 10.1044/2023_jslhr-22-00598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Revised: 02/20/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE The aim of this study was to examine the effects of early bilingual exposure on Spanish-English bilingual children's neural organization of English morphosyntactic structures. This study examines how children's age and language experiences are related to morphosyntactic processing at the neural level. METHOD Eighty-one children (ages 6-11 years) completed an auditory sentence judgment task during functional near-infrared spectroscopy neuroimaging. The measure tapped into children's processing of early-acquired (present progressive -ing) and later-acquired (past tense -ed and third-person singular -s) English morphosyntactic structures, the primary language of academic instruction. RESULTS We observed effects of syntactic structure and age. Early-acquired morphemic structures elicited activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus, while the later-acquired structures elicited additional activations in the left middle temporal gyrus and superior temporal gyrus (STG). Younger children had a more distributed neural response, whereas older children had a more focal neural response. Finally, there was a trending association between children's English language use and left STG activation for later-acquired structures. CONCLUSION The findings inform theories of language and brain development by highlighting the mechanisms by which age and language experiences influence bilingual children's neural architecture for morphosyntactic processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alisa Baron
- Department of Communicative Disorders, The University of Rhode Island, Kingston
| | - Neelima Wagley
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
| | - Xiaosu Hu
- Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences & Prosthodontics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
| | | |
Collapse
|
33
|
Martín-Luengo B, Vorobiova AN, Feurra M, Myachykov A, Shtyrov Y. Transcranial magnetic stimulation of the left middle frontal gyrus modulates the information people communicate in different social contexts. Sci Rep 2023; 13:9995. [PMID: 37340041 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-36192-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 06/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Neocortical structures of the left frontal lobe, middle frontal gyrus (MFG) in particular, have been suggested to be linked to the processing of punishing and unpleasant outcomes in decision tasks. To assess the role of left MFG (lMFG) in communicative decisions, we used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to inhibit its function during communicational exchanges under two types of social contexts: formal and informal. Three groups of participants received an offline 1-Hz inhibitory rTMS of lMFG, right MFG as an active control site, or lMFG sham/placebo TMS as a passive control condition. Participants' task included answering difficult general-knowledge questions, rating their confidence in their answers' correctness, and, finally, deciding if they would report or withhold these answers in formal and informal social contexts. There were significantly more reported than withheld answers in the informal context in all groups. The formal context showed no differences between reported and withheld answers in both control conditions, while, crucially, real rTMS of lMFG produced a different pattern, with more withheld than reported answers. Thus, lMFG inhibition seems to result in more rational decisions made only in formal communication contexts, where there is a perception of a certain pressure or possible negative outcomes. In informal social contexts and in the absence of negative consequences the pattern of answers did not change, regardless of the reporting strategy or the TMS protocol used. These results suggest selective context-dependent involvement of the lMFG in decision-making processes during communicational exchanges taking place under social pressure.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Beatriz Martín-Luengo
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Moscow, Russia, 101000.
| | - Alicia Nunez Vorobiova
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Moscow, Russia, 101000
| | - Matteo Feurra
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Moscow, Russia, 101000
| | - Andriy Myachykov
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Moscow, Russia, 101000
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Yury Shtyrov
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience (CFIN), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Chen X, Affourtit J, Ryskin R, Regev TI, Norman-Haignere S, Jouravlev O, Malik-Moraleda S, Kean H, Varley R, Fedorenko E. The human language system, including its inferior frontal component in "Broca's area," does not support music perception. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:7904-7929. [PMID: 37005063 PMCID: PMC10505454 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2022] [Revised: 01/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2023] [Indexed: 04/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Language and music are two human-unique capacities whose relationship remains debated. Some have argued for overlap in processing mechanisms, especially for structure processing. Such claims often concern the inferior frontal component of the language system located within "Broca's area." However, others have failed to find overlap. Using a robust individual-subject fMRI approach, we examined the responses of language brain regions to music stimuli, and probed the musical abilities of individuals with severe aphasia. Across 4 experiments, we obtained a clear answer: music perception does not engage the language system, and judgments about music structure are possible even in the presence of severe damage to the language network. In particular, the language regions' responses to music are generally low, often below the fixation baseline, and never exceed responses elicited by nonmusic auditory conditions, like animal sounds. Furthermore, the language regions are not sensitive to music structure: they show low responses to both intact and structure-scrambled music, and to melodies with vs. without structural violations. Finally, in line with past patient investigations, individuals with aphasia, who cannot judge sentence grammaticality, perform well on melody well-formedness judgments. Thus, the mechanisms that process structure in language do not appear to process music, including music syntax.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xuanyi Chen
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, Rice University, TX 77005, United States
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| | - Josef Affourtit
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| | - Rachel Ryskin
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- Department of Cognitive & Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA 95343, United States
| | - Tamar I Regev
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| | - Samuel Norman-Haignere
- Department of Biostatistics & Computational Biology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, United States
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States
| | - Olessia Jouravlev
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- Department of Cognitive Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Saima Malik-Moraleda
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- The Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States
| | - Hope Kean
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| | - Rosemary Varley
- Psychology & Language Sciences, UCL, London, WCN1 1PF, United Kingdom
| | - Evelina Fedorenko
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- The Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States
| |
Collapse
|
35
|
Liu Y, Gao C, Wang P, Friederici AD, Zaccarella E, Chen L. Exploring the neurobiology of Merge at a basic level: insights from a novel artificial grammar paradigm. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1151518. [PMID: 37287773 PMCID: PMC10242141 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1151518] [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: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Human language allows us to generate an infinite number of linguistic expressions. It's proposed that this competence is based on a binary syntactic operation, Merge, combining two elements to form a new constituent. An increasing number of recent studies have shifted from complex syntactic structures to two-word constructions to investigate the neural representation of this operation at the most basic level. Methods This fMRI study aimed to develop a highly flexible artificial grammar paradigm for testing the neurobiology of human syntax at a basic level. During scanning, participants had to apply abstract syntactic rules to assess whether a given two-word artificial phrase could be further merged with a third word. To control for lower-level template-matching and working memory strategies, an additional non-mergeable word-list task was set up. Results Behavioral data indicated that participants complied with the experiment. Whole brain and region of interest (ROI) analyses were performed under the contrast of "structure > word-list." Whole brain analysis confirmed significant involvement of the posterior inferior frontal gyrus [pIFG, corresponding to Brodmann area (BA) 44]. Furthermore, both the signal intensity in Broca's area and the behavioral performance showed significant correlations with natural language performance in the same participants. ROI analysis within the language atlas and anatomically defined Broca's area revealed that only the pIFG was reliably activated. Discussion Taken together, these results support the notion that Broca's area, particularly BA 44, works as a combinatorial engine where words are merged together according to syntactic information. Furthermore, this study suggests that the present artificial grammar may serve as promising material for investigating the neurobiological basis of syntax, fostering future cross-species studies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yang Liu
- Max Planck Partner Group, School of International Chinese Language Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Chenyang Gao
- School of Global Education and Development, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Peng Wang
- Method and Development Group (MEG and Cortical Networks), Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
- Institute of Psychology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, 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
| | - Luyao Chen
- Max Planck Partner Group, School of International Chinese Language Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Educational System Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Gu B, Liu B, Beltrán D, de Vega M. ERP evidence for emotion-specific congruency effects between sentences and new words with disgust and sadness connotations. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1154442. [PMID: 37251037 PMCID: PMC10213552 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1154442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2023] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction The present study investigated how new words with acquired connotations of disgust and sadness, both negatively valenced but distinctive emotions, modulate the brain dynamics in the context of emotional sentences. Methods Participants completed a learning session in which pseudowords were repeatedly paired with faces expressing disgust and sadness. An event-related potential (ERP) session followed the next day, in which participants received the learned pseudowords (herein, new words) combined with sentences and were asked to make emotional congruency judgment. Results Sad new words elicited larger negative waveform than disgusting new words in the 146-228 ms time window, and emotionally congruent trials showed larger positive waveform than emotionally incongruent trials in the 304-462 ms time window. Moreover, the source localization in the latter suggested that congruent trials elicited larger current densities than incongruent trials in a number of emotion-related brain structures (e.g., the orbitofrontal cortex and cingulate gyrus) and language-related brain structures (e.g., the temporal lobe and the lingual gyrus). Discussion These results suggested that faces are an effective source for the acquisition of words' emotional connotations, and such acquired connotations can generate semantic and emotional congruency effects in sentential contexts.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Beixian Gu
- Institute for Language and Cognition, School of Foreign Languages, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia (IUNE), Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Spain
| | - Bo Liu
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia (IUNE), Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Spain
- School of Foreign Languages, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, China
| | - David Beltrán
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia (IUNE), Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Spain
- Psychology Department, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Madrid, Spain
| | - Manuel de Vega
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia (IUNE), Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Kitazawa Y, Sonoda M, Sakakura K, Mitsuhashi T, Firestone E, Ueda R, Kambara T, Iwaki H, Luat AF, Marupudi NI, Sood S, Asano E. Intra- and inter-hemispheric network dynamics supporting object recognition and speech production. Neuroimage 2023; 270:119954. [PMID: 36828156 PMCID: PMC10112006 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.119954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Revised: 02/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/17/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023] Open
Abstract
We built normative brain atlases that animate millisecond-scale intra- and inter-hemispheric white matter-level connectivity dynamics supporting object recognition and speech production. We quantified electrocorticographic modulations during three naming tasks using event-related high-gamma activity from 1,114 nonepileptogenic intracranial electrodes (i.e., non-lesional areas unaffected by epileptiform discharges). Using this electrocorticography data, we visualized functional connectivity modulations defined as significant naming-related high-gamma modulations occurring simultaneously at two sites connected by direct white matter streamlines on diffusion-weighted imaging tractography. Immediately after stimulus onset, intra- and inter-hemispheric functional connectivity enhancements were confined mainly across modality-specific perceptual regions. During response preparation, left intra-hemispheric connectivity enhancements propagated in a posterior-to-anterior direction, involving the left precentral and prefrontal areas. After overt response onset, inter- and intra-hemispheric connectivity enhancements mainly encompassed precentral, postcentral, and superior-temporal (STG) gyri. We found task-specific connectivity enhancements during response preparation as follows. Picture naming enhanced activity along the left arcuate fasciculus between the inferior-temporal and precentral/posterior inferior-frontal (pIFG) gyri. Nonspeech environmental sound naming augmented functional connectivity via the left inferior longitudinal and fronto-occipital fasciculi between the medial-occipital and STG/pIFG. Auditory descriptive naming task enhanced usage of the left frontal U-fibers, involving the middle-frontal gyrus. Taken together, the commonly observed network enhancements include inter-hemispheric connectivity optimizing perceptual processing exerted in each hemisphere, left intra-hemispheric connectivity supporting semantic and lexical processing, and inter-hemispheric connectivity for symmetric oral movements during overt speech. Our atlases improve the currently available models of object recognition and speech production by adding neural dynamics via direct intra- and inter-hemispheric white matter tracts.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yu Kitazawa
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, 48201, USA; Department of Neurology and Stroke Medicine, Yokohama City University, Yokohama, 2360004, Japan
| | - Masaki Sonoda
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, 48201, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, Yokohama City University, Yokohama, 2360004, Japan
| | - Kazuki Sakakura
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, 48201, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, 3058575, Japan
| | - Takumi Mitsuhashi
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, 48201, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, Juntendo University, Tokyo, 1138421, Japan
| | - Ethan Firestone
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, 48201, USA; Department of Physiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, 48201, USA
| | - Riyo Ueda
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, 48201, USA
| | - Toshimune Kambara
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, 48201, USA; Department of Psychology, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, 7398524, Japan
| | - Hirotaka Iwaki
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, 48201, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Hachinohe City Hospital, Hachinohe, 0318555, Japan
| | - Aimee F Luat
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, 48201, USA; Department of Neurology, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, 48201, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, 48858, USA
| | - Neena I Marupudi
- Department of Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, 48201, USA
| | - Sandeep Sood
- Department of Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, 48201, USA
| | - Eishi Asano
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, 48201, USA; Department of Neurology, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, 48201, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
38
|
Stone K, Nicenboim B, Vasishth S, Rösler F. Understanding the Effects of Constraint and Predictability in ERP. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2023; 4:221-256. [PMID: 37229506 PMCID: PMC10205153 DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2020] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Intuitively, strongly constraining contexts should lead to stronger probabilistic representations of sentences in memory. Encountering unexpected words could therefore be expected to trigger costlier shifts in these representations than expected words. However, psycholinguistic measures commonly used to study probabilistic processing, such as the N400 event-related potential (ERP) component, are sensitive to word predictability but not to contextual constraint. Some research suggests that constraint-related processing cost may be measurable via an ERP positivity following the N400, known as the anterior post-N400 positivity (PNP). The PNP is argued to reflect update of a sentence representation and to be distinct from the posterior P600, which reflects conflict detection and reanalysis. However, constraint-related PNP findings are inconsistent. We sought to conceptually replicate Federmeier et al. (2007) and Kuperberg et al. (2020), who observed that the PNP, but not the N400 or the P600, was affected by constraint at unexpected but plausible words. Using a pre-registered design and statistical approach maximising power, we demonstrated a dissociated effect of predictability and constraint: strong evidence for predictability but not constraint in the N400 window, and strong evidence for constraint but not predictability in the later window. However, the constraint effect was consistent with a P600 and not a PNP, suggesting increased conflict between a strong representation and unexpected input rather than greater update of the representation. We conclude that either a simple strong/weak constraint design is not always sufficient to elicit the PNP, or that previous PNP constraint findings could be an artifact of smaller sample size.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kate Stone
- Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Bruno Nicenboim
- Department of Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands
- Department of Linguistics, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Shravan Vasishth
- Department of Linguistics, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Frank Rösler
- Department of Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
39
|
Hu J, Small H, Kean H, Takahashi A, Zekelman L, Kleinman D, Ryan E, Nieto-Castañón A, Ferreira V, Fedorenko E. Precision fMRI reveals that the language-selective network supports both phrase-structure building and lexical access during language production. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:4384-4404. [PMID: 36130104 PMCID: PMC10110436 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Revised: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
A fronto-temporal brain network has long been implicated in language comprehension. However, this network's role in language production remains debated. In particular, it remains unclear whether all or only some language regions contribute to production, and which aspects of production these regions support. Across 3 functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments that rely on robust individual-subject analyses, we characterize the language network's response to high-level production demands. We report 3 novel results. First, sentence production, spoken or typed, elicits a strong response throughout the language network. Second, the language network responds to both phrase-structure building and lexical access demands, although the response to phrase-structure building is stronger and more spatially extensive, present in every language region. Finally, contra some proposals, we find no evidence of brain regions-within or outside the language network-that selectively support phrase-structure building in production relative to comprehension. Instead, all language regions respond more strongly during production than comprehension, suggesting that production incurs a greater cost for the language network. Together, these results align with the idea that language comprehension and production draw on the same knowledge representations, which are stored in a distributed manner within the language-selective network and are used to both interpret and generate linguistic utterances.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Hu
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| | - Hannah Small
- Department of Cognitive Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
| | - Hope Kean
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| | - Atsushi Takahashi
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| | - Leo Zekelman
- Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States
| | | | - Elizabeth Ryan
- St. George’s Medical School, St. George’s University, Grenada, West Indies
| | - Alfonso Nieto-Castañón
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, United States
| | - Victor Ferreira
- Department of Psychology, UCSD, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States
| | - Evelina Fedorenko
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States
| |
Collapse
|
40
|
Wang J, Tong F, Joanisse MF, Booth JR. A sculpting effect of reading on later representational quality of phonology revealed by multi-voxel pattern analysis in young children. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2023; 239:105252. [PMID: 36934461 PMCID: PMC10115136 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2023.105252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Revised: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Using univariate analysis, a previous study by Wang et al. (2020) found a scaffolding effect of earlier phonological representation in superior temporal gyrus (STG) on later reading skill but failed to observe a sculpting effect of earlier reading on later phonological representation. The current study applied multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) to examine if both scaffolding and sculpting effects were present in young children. We found that better initial reading skill predicted higher decoding coefficient of brain activity patterns for phonological representations in STG. This sculpting effect was present only for decoding small grain sizes (phonemes) and in younger children (6- to 7.5-year-olds), as we did not find any effects for large grain sizes (rhymes) or older children (7.5- to 9.5-year-olds). Although a scaffolding effect was not observed, the current study provides the first neural evidence of how earlier reading sculpts later phonological awareness in beginning readers.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jin Wang
- Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
| | - Frank Tong
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Marc F Joanisse
- Department of Psychology & Brain and Mind Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - James R Booth
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Wei Z, Chen Y, Zhao Q, Zhang P, Zhou L, Ren J, Piao Y, Qiu B, Xie X, Wang S, Liu J, Zhang D, Kadosh RC, Zhang X. Implicit Perception of Differences between NLP-Produced and Human-Produced Language in the Mentalizing Network. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2023; 10:e2203990. [PMID: 36748300 PMCID: PMC10131862 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202203990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2022] [Revised: 01/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Natural language processing (NLP) is central to the communication with machines and among ourselves, and NLP research field has long sought to produce human-quality language. Identification of informative criteria for measuring NLP-produced language quality will support development of ever-better NLP tools. The authors hypothesize that mentalizing network neural activity may be used to distinguish NLP-produced language from human-produced language, even for cases where human judges cannot subjectively distinguish the language source. Using the social chatbots Google Meena in English and Microsoft XiaoIce in Chinese to generate NLP-produced language, behavioral tests which reveal that variance of personality perceived from chatbot chats is larger than for human chats are conducted, suggesting that chatbot language usage patterns are not stable. Using an identity rating task with functional magnetic resonance imaging, neuroimaging analyses which reveal distinct patterns of brain activity in the mentalizing network including the DMPFC and rTPJ in response to chatbot versus human chats that cannot be distinguished subjectively are conducted. This study illustrates a promising empirical basis for measuring the quality of NLP-produced language: adding a judge's implicit perception as an additional criterion.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zhengde Wei
- Department of PsychologySchool of Humanities & Social ScienceUniversity of Science & Technology of ChinaHefeiAnhui230026China
- Department of Radiologythe First Affiliated Hospital of USTCSchool of Life ScienceDivision of Life Science and MedicineUniversity of Science & Technology of ChinaHefei230027China
| | - Ying Chen
- Department of PsychologySchool of Humanities & Social ScienceUniversity of Science & Technology of ChinaHefeiAnhui230026China
| | - Qian Zhao
- Department of Radiologythe First Affiliated Hospital of USTCSchool of Life ScienceDivision of Life Science and MedicineUniversity of Science & Technology of ChinaHefei230027China
| | - Pengyu Zhang
- Department of Radiologythe First Affiliated Hospital of USTCSchool of Life ScienceDivision of Life Science and MedicineUniversity of Science & Technology of ChinaHefei230027China
| | - Longxi Zhou
- Computational Bioscience Research Center (CBRC)King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)Thuwal4700Saudi Arabia
| | - Jiecheng Ren
- Department of Radiologythe First Affiliated Hospital of USTCSchool of Life ScienceDivision of Life Science and MedicineUniversity of Science & Technology of ChinaHefei230027China
| | - Yi Piao
- Department of Radiologythe First Affiliated Hospital of USTCSchool of Life ScienceDivision of Life Science and MedicineUniversity of Science & Technology of ChinaHefei230027China
- Application Technology Center of Physical Therapy to Brain DisordersInstitute of Advanced TechnologyUniversity of Science & Technology of ChinaHefei230026China
| | - Bensheng Qiu
- Centers for Biomedical EngineeringSchool of Information Science and TechnologyUniversity of Science & Technology of ChinaHefeiAnhui230027China
| | - Xing Xie
- Microsoft Research AsiaBeijing100080China
| | - Suiping Wang
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University)Ministry of EducationGuangzhou510631China
| | - Jia Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and LearningBeijing Normal UniversityBeijing100875China
| | - Daren Zhang
- Department of PsychologySchool of Humanities & Social ScienceUniversity of Science & Technology of ChinaHefeiAnhui230026China
- Department of Radiologythe First Affiliated Hospital of USTCSchool of Life ScienceDivision of Life Science and MedicineUniversity of Science & Technology of ChinaHefei230027China
| | - Roi Cohen Kadosh
- Faculty of Health & Medical SciencesUniversity of Surrey30AD04 Elizabeth Fry BuildingGuildfordGU2 7XHUK
| | - Xiaochu Zhang
- Department of PsychologySchool of Humanities & Social ScienceUniversity of Science & Technology of ChinaHefeiAnhui230026China
- Department of Radiologythe First Affiliated Hospital of USTCSchool of Life ScienceDivision of Life Science and MedicineUniversity of Science & Technology of ChinaHefei230027China
- Centers for Biomedical EngineeringSchool of Information Science and TechnologyUniversity of Science & Technology of ChinaHefeiAnhui230027China
- Application Technology Center of Physical Therapy to Brain DisordersInstitute of Advanced TechnologyUniversity of Science & Technology of ChinaHefei230026China
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
Sugimoto H, Abe MS, Otake-Matsuura M. Word-producing brain: Contribution of the left anterior middle temporal gyrus to word production patterns in spoken language. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2023; 238:105233. [PMID: 36842390 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2023.105233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2022] [Revised: 12/27/2022] [Accepted: 02/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Vocabulary is based on semantic knowledge. The anterior temporal lobe (ATL) has been considered an essential region for processing semantic knowledge; nonetheless, the association between word production patterns and the structural and functional characteristics of the ATL remains unclear. To examine this, we analyzed over one million words from group conversations among community-dwelling older adults and their multimodal magnetic resonance imaging data. A quantitative index for the word production patterns, namely the exponent β of Heaps' law, positively correlated with the left anterior middle temporal gyrus volume. Moreover, β negatively correlated with its resting-state functional connectivity with the precuneus. There was no significant correlation with the diffusion tensor imaging metrics in any fiber. These findings suggest that the vocabulary richness in spoken language depends on the brain status characterized by the semantic knowledge-related brain structure and its activation dissimilarity with the precuneus, a core region of the default mode network.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hikaru Sugimoto
- RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, Nihonbashi 1-chome Mitsui Building, 15th floor, 1-4-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0027, Japan.
| | - Masato S Abe
- RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, Nihonbashi 1-chome Mitsui Building, 15th floor, 1-4-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0027, Japan; Faculty of Culture and Information Science, Doshisha University, 1-3 Tatara Miyakodani, Kyotanabe-shi, Kyoto-fu 610-0394, Japan.
| | - Mihoko Otake-Matsuura
- RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, Nihonbashi 1-chome Mitsui Building, 15th floor, 1-4-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0027, Japan.
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Chen L, Yang M, Gao F, Fang Z, Wang P, Feng L. Mandarin Chinese L1 and L2 complex sentence reading reveals a consistent electrophysiological pattern of highly interactive syntactic and semantic processing: An ERP study. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1143062. [PMID: 37151349 PMCID: PMC10155869 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1143062] [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: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 03/30/2023] [Indexed: 05/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction A hallmark of the human language faculty is processing complex hierarchical syntactic structures across languages. However, for Mandarin Chinese, a language typically dependent on semantic combinations and free of morphosyntactic information, the relationship between syntactic and semantic processing during Chinese complex sentence reading is unclear. From the neuropsychological perspective of bilingual studies, whether second language (L2) learners can develop a consistent pattern of target language (i.e., L2) comprehension regarding the interplay of syntactic and semantic processing, especially when their first language (L1) and L2 are typologically distinct, remains to be determined. In this study, Chinese complex sentences with center-embedded relative clauses were generated. By utilizing the high-time-resolution technique of event-related potentials (ERPs), this study aimed to investigate the processing relationships between syntactic and semantic information during Chinese complex sentence reading in both Chinese L1 speakers and highly proficient L2 learners from South Korea. Methods Normal, semantically violated (SEM), and double-violated (containing both semantic and syntactic violations, SEM + SYN) conditions were set with regard to the nonadjacent dependencies of the Chinese complex sentence, and participants were required to judge whether the sentences they read were acceptable. Results The ERP results showed that sentences with "SEM + SYN" did not elicit early left anterior negativity (ELAN), a component assumed to signal initial syntactic processing, but evoked larger components in the N400 and P600 windows than those of the "SEM" condition, thus exhibiting a biphasic waveform pattern consistent for both groups and in line with previous studies using simpler Chinese syntactic structures. The only difference between the L1 and L2 groups was that L2 learners presented later latencies of the corresponding ERP components. Discussion Taken together, these results do not support the temporal and functional priorities of syntactic processing as identified in morphologically rich languages (e.g., German) and converge on the notion that even for Chinese complex sentence reading, syntactic and semantic processing are highly interactive. This is consistent across L1 speakers and high-proficiency L2 learners with typologically different language backgrounds.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Luyao Chen
- Max Planck Partner Group, School of International Chinese Language Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- *Correspondence: Luyao Chen,
| | - Mingchuan Yang
- Max Planck Partner Group, School of International Chinese Language Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Fei Gao
- Institute of Modern Languages and Linguistics, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Macao, Macao SAR, China
| | - Zhengyuan Fang
- Max Planck Partner Group, School of International Chinese Language Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Peng Wang
- Methods and Development Group (MEG and Cortical Networks), Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
- Institute of Psychology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Liping Feng
- Max Planck Partner Group, School of International Chinese Language Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Liping Feng,
| |
Collapse
|
44
|
Liu Y, Luo C, Zheng J, Liang J, Ding N. Working memory asymmetrically modulates auditory and linguistic processing of speech. Neuroimage 2022; 264:119698. [PMID: 36270622 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119698] [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: 07/13/2022] [Revised: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Working memory load can modulate speech perception. However, since speech perception and working memory are both complex functions, it remains elusive how each component of the working memory system interacts with each speech processing stage. To investigate this issue, we concurrently measure how the working memory load modulates neural activity tracking three levels of linguistic units, i.e., syllables, phrases, and sentences, using a multiscale frequency-tagging approach. Participants engage in a sentence comprehension task and the working memory load is manipulated by asking them to memorize either auditory verbal sequences or visual patterns. It is found that verbal and visual working memory load modulate speech processing in similar manners: Higher working memory load attenuates neural activity tracking of phrases and sentences but enhances neural activity tracking of syllables. Since verbal and visual WM load similarly influence the neural responses to speech, such influences may derive from the domain-general component of WM system. More importantly, working memory load asymmetrically modulates lower-level auditory encoding and higher-level linguistic processing of speech, possibly reflecting reallocation of attention induced by mnemonic load.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yiguang Liu
- Research Center for Applied Mathematics and Machine Intelligence, Research Institute of Basic Theories, Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Cheng Luo
- Research Center for Applied Mathematics and Machine Intelligence, Research Institute of Basic Theories, Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Jing Zheng
- Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
| | - Junying Liang
- Department of Linguistics, School of International Studies, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Nai Ding
- Research Center for Applied Mathematics and Machine Intelligence, Research Institute of Basic Theories, Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou 311121, China; Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China; The MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science & Brain-machine Integration, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310012, China.
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
Xu X, Yu H, Gao X, Shen B, Feng W, Zhou X. Understanding an implicated causality: The brain network for processing concessive relations. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2022; 234:105177. [PMID: 36084367 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2022.105177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2022] [Revised: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Concessive relations, often indicated by conjunction words such as although, are semantically and pragmatically more complex than causal relations (expressed using because), as they involve more semantic features such as implicated meaning and negation. However, it remains unclear how linguistic-level complexity is manifested through different brain activities and functional connectivities. This fMRI study investigated how the neural underpinnings of concessive relations differ from those of causal relations. Pragmatically congruent and incongruent words were embedded in causal as well as concessive sentences. The whole-brain analysis revealed that relative to because-congruent sentences, although-congruent sentences evoked increased activations in a left network including IFG, bilateral MFG, mPFC, pMTG, and TPJ. DCM analysis showed that while the functional connectivity from IFG to MFG was commonly involved in processing concessive and causal relations, functional connectivities from pMTG to IFG and from pMTG to TPJ were involved in processing causal and concessive relations, respectively.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xiaodong Xu
- School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, China
| | - Hongbo Yu
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9660, USA
| | - Xiaoxue Gao
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
| | - Bo Shen
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
| | - Wangshu Feng
- Artificial Intelligence and Human Languages Lab, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing 100089, China
| | - Xiaolin Zhou
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China; Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Institute of Linguistics, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai 200083, China.
| |
Collapse
|
46
|
Syntax through the looking glass: A review on two-word linguistic processing across behavioral, neuroimaging and neurostimulation studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 142:104881. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2022] [Revised: 09/13/2022] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
|
47
|
Maran M, Numssen O, Hartwigsen G, Zaccarella E. Online neurostimulation of Broca's area does not interfere with syntactic predictions: A combined TMS-EEG approach to basic linguistic combination. Front Psychol 2022; 13:968836. [PMID: 36619118 PMCID: PMC9815778 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.968836] [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: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 09/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Categorical predictions have been proposed as the key mechanism supporting the fast pace of syntactic composition in language. Accordingly, grammar-based expectations are formed-e.g., the determiner "a" triggers the prediction for a noun-and facilitate the analysis of incoming syntactic information, which is then checked against a single or few other word categories. Previous functional neuroimaging studies point towards Broca's area in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) as one fundamental cortical region involved in categorical prediction during incremental language processing. Causal evidence for this hypothesis is however still missing. In this study, we combined Electroencephalography (EEG) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to test whether Broca's area is functionally relevant in predictive mechanisms for language. We transiently perturbed Broca's area during the first word in a two-word construction, while simultaneously measuring the Event-Related Potential (ERP) correlates of syntactic composition. We reasoned that if Broca's area is involved in predictive mechanisms for syntax, disruptive TMS during the first word would mitigate the difference in the ERP responses for predicted and unpredicted categories in basic two-word constructions. Contrary to this hypothesis, perturbation of Broca's area at the predictive stage did not affect the ERP correlates of basic composition. The correlation strength between the electrical field induced by TMS and the ERP responses further confirmed this pattern. We discuss the present results considering an alternative account of the role of Broca's area in syntactic composition, namely the bottom-up integration of words into constituents, and of compensatory mechanisms within the language predictive network.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Maran
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany,International Max Planck Research School on Neuroscience of Communication: Function, Structure, and Plasticity, Leipzig, Germany,*Correspondence: Matteo Maran,
| | - Ole Numssen
- Lise Meitner Research Group Cognition and Plasticity, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Gesa Hartwigsen
- Lise Meitner Research Group Cognition and Plasticity, 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
| |
Collapse
|
48
|
Herfurth K, Harpaz Y, Roesch J, Mueller N, Walther K, Kaltenhaeuser M, Pauli E, Goldstein A, Hamer H, Buchfelder M, Doerfler A, Prell J, Rampp S. Localization of beta power decrease as measure for lateralization in pre-surgical language mapping with magnetoencephalography, compared with functional magnetic resonance imaging and validated by Wada test. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16:996989. [PMID: 36393988 PMCID: PMC9644652 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.996989] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 10/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective: Atypical patterns of language lateralization due to early reorganizational processes constitute a challenge in the pre-surgical evaluation of patients with pharmaco-resistant epilepsy. There is no consensus on an optimal analysis method used for the identification of language dominance in MEG. This study examines the concordance between MEG source localization of beta power desynchronization and fMRI with regard to lateralization and localization of expressive and receptive language areas using a visual verb generation task. Methods: Twenty-five patients with pharmaco-resistant epilepsy, including six patients with atypical language lateralization, and ten right-handed controls obtained MEG and fMRI language assessment. Fourteen patients additionally underwent the Wada test. We analyzed MEG beta power desynchronization in sensor (controls) and source space (patients and controls). Beta power decrease between 13 and 35 Hz was localized applying Dynamic Imaging of Coherent Sources Beamformer technique. Statistical inferences were grounded on cluster-based permutation testing for single subjects. Results: Event-related desynchronization of beta power in MEG was seen within the language-dominant frontal and temporal lobe and within the premotor cortex. Our analysis pipeline consistently yielded left language dominance with high laterality indices in controls. Language lateralization in MEG and Wada test agreed in all 14 patients for inferior frontal, temporal and parietal language areas (Cohen's Kappa = 1, p < 0.001). fMRI agreed with Wada test in 12 out of 14 cases (85.7%) for Broca's area (Cohen's Kappa = 0.71, p = 0.024), while the agreement for temporal and temporo-parietal language areas were non-significant. Concordance between MEG and fMRI laterality indices was highest within the inferior frontal gyrus, with an agreement in 19/24 cases (79.2%), and non-significant for Wernicke's area. Spatial agreement between fMRI and MEG varied considerably between subjects and brain regions with the lowest Euclidean distances within the inferior frontal region of interest. Conclusion: Localizing the desynchronization of MEG beta power using a verb generation task is a promising tool for the identification of language dominance in the pre-surgical evaluation of epilepsy patients. The overall agreement between MEG and fMRI was lower than expected and might be attributed to differences within the baseline condition. A larger sample size and an adjustment of the experimental designs are needed to draw further conclusions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kirsten Herfurth
- Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
- Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Halle, Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Yuval Harpaz
- The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Julie Roesch
- Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Nadine Mueller
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Katrin Walther
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
| | | | - Elisabeth Pauli
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Abraham Goldstein
- The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Hajo Hamer
- Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Michael Buchfelder
- Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Arnd Doerfler
- Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Julian Prell
- Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Halle, Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Stefan Rampp
- Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
- Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Halle, Halle (Saale), Germany
| |
Collapse
|
49
|
van der Burght CL, Numssen O, Schlaak B, Goucha T, Hartwigsen G. Differential contributions of inferior frontal gyrus subregions to sentence processing guided by intonation. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 44:585-598. [PMID: 36189774 PMCID: PMC9842926 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2022] [Revised: 08/30/2022] [Accepted: 08/31/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Auditory sentence comprehension involves processing content (semantics), grammar (syntax), and intonation (prosody). The left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) is involved in sentence comprehension guided by these different cues, with neuroimaging studies preferentially locating syntactic and semantic processing in separate IFG subregions. However, this regional specialisation has not been confirmed with a neurostimulation method. Consequently, the causal role of such a specialisation remains unclear. This study probed the role of the posterior IFG (pIFG) for syntactic processing and the anterior IFG (aIFG) for semantic processing with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in a task that required the interpretation of the sentence's prosodic realisation. Healthy participants performed a sentence completion task with syntactic and semantic decisions, while receiving 10 Hz rTMS over either left aIFG, pIFG, or vertex (control). Initial behavioural analyses showed an inhibitory effect on accuracy without task-specificity. However, electric field simulations revealed differential effects for both subregions. In the aIFG, stronger stimulation led to slower semantic processing, with no effect of pIFG stimulation. In contrast, we found a facilitatory effect on syntactic processing in both aIFG and pIFG, where higher stimulation strength was related to faster responses. Our results provide first evidence for the functional relevance of left aIFG in semantic processing guided by intonation. The stimulation effect on syntactic responses emphasises the importance of the IFG for syntax processing, without supporting the hypothesis of a pIFG-specific involvement. Together, the results support the notion of functionally specialised IFG subregions for diverse but fundamental cues for language processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Constantijn L. van der Burght
- Department of NeuropsychologyMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain SciencesLeipzigGermany,Lise Meitner Research Group Cognition and PlasticityMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain SciencesLeipzigGermany,Psychology of Language DepartmentMax Planck Institute for PsycholinguisticsNijmegen
| | - Ole Numssen
- Lise Meitner Research Group Cognition and PlasticityMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain SciencesLeipzigGermany
| | - Benito Schlaak
- Lise Meitner Research Group Cognition and PlasticityMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain SciencesLeipzigGermany
| | - Tomás Goucha
- Department of NeuropsychologyMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain SciencesLeipzigGermany
| | - Gesa Hartwigsen
- Lise Meitner Research Group Cognition and PlasticityMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain SciencesLeipzigGermany
| |
Collapse
|
50
|
Uddén J, Hultén A, Schoffelen JM, Lam N, Harbusch K, van den Bosch A, Kempen G, Petersson KM, Hagoort P. Supramodal Sentence Processing in the Human Brain: fMRI Evidence for the Influence of Syntactic Complexity in More Than 200 Participants. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2022; 3:575-598. [PMID: 37215341 PMCID: PMC10158636 DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2021] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
This study investigated two questions. One is: To what degree is sentence processing beyond single words independent of the input modality (speech vs. reading)? The second question is: Which parts of the network recruited by both modalities is sensitive to syntactic complexity? These questions were investigated by having more than 200 participants read or listen to well-formed sentences or series of unconnected words. A largely left-hemisphere frontotemporoparietal network was found to be supramodal in nature, i.e., independent of input modality. In addition, the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) and the left posterior middle temporal gyrus (LpMTG) were most clearly associated with left-branching complexity. The left anterior temporal lobe showed the greatest sensitivity to sentences that differed in right-branching complexity. Moreover, activity in LIFG and LpMTG increased from sentence onset to end, in parallel with an increase of the left-branching complexity. While LIFG, bilateral anterior temporal lobe, posterior MTG, and left inferior parietal lobe all contribute to the supramodal unification processes, the results suggest that these regions differ in their respective contributions to syntactic complexity related processing. The consequences of these findings for neurobiological models of language processing are discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Julia Uddén
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Department of Linguistics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Annika Hultén
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Jan-Mathijs Schoffelen
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Nietzsche Lam
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Karin Harbusch
- Department of Computer Science, University of Koblenz-Landau, Koblenz, Germany
| | - Antal van den Bosch
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Gerard Kempen
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Karl Magnus Petersson
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Peter Hagoort
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|