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Gómez CM, Linares R, Rodríguez-Martínez EI, Pelegrina S. Age-related changes in brain oscillatory patterns during an n-back task in children and adolescents. Int J Psychophysiol 2024; 202:112372. [PMID: 38849088 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2024.112372] [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: 02/10/2024] [Revised: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 05/25/2024] [Indexed: 06/09/2024]
Abstract
The development of brain oscillatory responses and their possible role in the working memory (WM) performance of children, adolescents and young adults was investigated. A set of 0- and 1-back tasks with letter stimuli were administered to a final sample of 131 subjects (between 6 and 20 years of age). A decrease in response times (RTs) and an increase of the sensitivity index d-prime (d') were seen with increased age. RTs increased and d' decreased with load, indicating higher difficulty for higher loads. Event-related synchronization (ERS) and event-related desynchronization (ERD) were obtained by the convolution of Morlet wavelets on the recorded EEG. Statistical analyses were performed of the absolute and relative power of brain oscillations defined by topography, frequency and latency. Posterior alpha and beta ERD, and frontocentral theta ERS, were induced by the stimuli presented during the n-back task. While relative theta ERS increased with age, absolute theta ERS, absolute and relative alpha and, absolute beta ERD, decreased with age. Age-related improvement in behavioral performance was mediated by relative theta. Alpha and beta ERD were more pronounced for the most difficult task (1-back) and for the target condition. Globally, there was high consistency of the effects of target type and task load across development. Theta ERS maturation is a crucial step for improving WM performance during development, while alpha and beta ERD maturation seem to be less critical for behavioral performance improvement with age, possibly due to a sufficient level of alpha-beta ERD for good performance in young children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos M Gómez
- University of Sevilla, Experimental Psychology Department, Human Psychobiology Lab., Sevilla, Spain
| | - Rocío Linares
- University of Jaén, Department of Psychology, Jaén, Spain
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2
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Herff SA, Bonetti L, Cecchetti G, Vuust P, Kringelbach ML, Rohrmeier MA. Hierarchical syntax model of music predicts theta power during music listening. Neuropsychologia 2024; 199:108905. [PMID: 38740179 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2024.108905] [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: 05/17/2023] [Revised: 03/07/2024] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Linguistic research showed that the depth of syntactic embedding is reflected in brain theta power. Here, we test whether this also extends to non-linguistic stimuli, specifically music. We used a hierarchical model of musical syntax to continuously quantify two types of expert-annotated harmonic dependencies throughout a piece of Western classical music: prolongation and preparation. Prolongations can roughly be understood as a musical analogue to linguistic coordination between constituents that share the same function (e.g., 'pizza' and 'pasta' in 'I ate pizza and pasta'). Preparation refers to the dependency between two harmonies whereby the first implies a resolution towards the second (e.g., dominant towards tonic; similar to how the adjective implies the presence of a noun in 'I like spicy … '). Source reconstructed MEG data of sixty-five participants listening to the musical piece was then analysed. We used Bayesian Mixed Effects models to predict theta envelope in the brain, using the number of open prolongation and preparation dependencies as predictors whilst controlling for audio envelope. We observed that prolongation and preparation both carry independent and distinguishable predictive value for theta band fluctuation in key linguistic areas such as the Angular, Superior Temporal, and Heschl's Gyri, or their right-lateralised homologues, with preparation showing additional predictive value for areas associated with the reward system and prediction. Musical expertise further mediated these effects in language-related brain areas. Results show that predictions of precisely formalised music-theoretical models are reflected in the brain activity of listeners which furthers our understanding of the perception and cognition of musical structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steffen A Herff
- Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia; Digital and Cognitive Musicology Lab, College of Humanities, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
| | - Leonardo Bonetti
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus/Aalborg, Denmark; Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, Linacre College, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Gabriele Cecchetti
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia; Digital and Cognitive Musicology Lab, College of Humanities, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Peter Vuust
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus/Aalborg, Denmark
| | - Morten L Kringelbach
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus/Aalborg, Denmark; Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, Linacre College, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Martin A Rohrmeier
- Digital and Cognitive Musicology Lab, College of Humanities, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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Allal-Sumoto TK, Şahin D, Mizuhara H. Neural activity related to productive vocabulary knowledge effects during second language comprehension. Neurosci Res 2024; 203:8-17. [PMID: 38242177 DOI: 10.1016/j.neures.2024.01.002] [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: 11/22/2023] [Revised: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 01/21/2024]
Abstract
Second language learners and educators often believe that improving one's listening ability hinges on acquiring an extensive vocabulary and engaging in thorough listening practice. Our previous study suggested that listening comprehension is also impacted by the ability to produce vocabulary. Nevertheless, it remained uncertain whether quick comprehension could be attributed to a simple acceleration of processing or to changes in neural activity. To identify neural activity changes during sentence listening comprehension according to different levels of lexical knowledge (productive, only comprehensive, uncomprehensive), we measured participants' electrical activity in the brain via electroencephalography (EEG) and conducted a time-frequency-based EEG power analysis. Additionally, we employed a decoding model to verify the predictability of vocabulary knowledge levels based on neural activity. The decoding results showed that EEG activity could discriminate between listening to sentences containing phrases that include productive knowledge and ones without. The positive impact of productive vocabulary knowledge on sentence comprehension, driven by distinctive neural processing during sentence comprehension, was unequivocally evident. Our study emphasizes the importance of productive vocabulary knowledge acquisition to enhance the process of second language listening comprehension.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Duygu Şahin
- Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
| | - Hiroaki Mizuhara
- Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
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4
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Zioga I, Zhou YJ, Weissbart H, Martin AE, Haegens S. Alpha and Beta Oscillations Differentially Support Word Production in a Rule-Switching Task. eNeuro 2024; 11:ENEURO.0312-23.2024. [PMID: 38490743 PMCID: PMC10988358 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0312-23.2024] [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: 08/23/2023] [Revised: 01/26/2024] [Accepted: 02/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Research into the role of brain oscillations in basic perceptual and cognitive functions has suggested that the alpha rhythm reflects functional inhibition while the beta rhythm reflects neural ensemble (re)activation. However, little is known regarding the generalization of these proposed fundamental operations to linguistic processes, such as speech comprehension and production. Here, we recorded magnetoencephalography in participants performing a novel rule-switching paradigm. Specifically, Dutch native speakers had to produce an alternative exemplar from the same category or a feature of a given target word embedded in spoken sentences (e.g., for the word "tuna", an exemplar from the same category-"seafood"-would be "shrimp", and a feature would be "pink"). A cue indicated the task rule-exemplar or feature-either before (pre-cue) or after (retro-cue) listening to the sentence. Alpha power during the working memory delay was lower for retro-cue compared with that for pre-cue in the left hemispheric language-related regions. Critically, alpha power negatively correlated with reaction times, suggestive of alpha facilitating task performance by regulating inhibition in regions linked to lexical retrieval. Furthermore, we observed a different spatiotemporal pattern of beta activity for exemplars versus features in the right temporoparietal regions, in line with the proposed role of beta in recruiting neural networks for the encoding of distinct categories. Overall, our study provides evidence for the generalizability of the role of alpha and beta oscillations from perceptual to more "complex, linguistic processes" and offers a novel task to investigate links between rule-switching, working memory, and word production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ioanna Zioga
- Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6525 EN, The Netherlands
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen 6525 XD, The Netherlands
| | - Ying Joey Zhou
- Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6525 EN, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Hugo Weissbart
- Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6525 EN, The Netherlands
| | - Andrea E Martin
- Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6525 EN, The Netherlands
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen 6525 XD, The Netherlands
| | - Saskia Haegens
- Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6525 EN, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032
- Division of Systems Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York 10032
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5
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Desbordes T, King JR, Dehaene S. Tracking the neural codes for words and phrases during semantic composition, working-memory storage, and retrieval. Cell Rep 2024; 43:113847. [PMID: 38412098 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.113847] [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: 03/20/2023] [Revised: 11/02/2023] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024] Open
Abstract
The ability to compose successive words into a meaningful phrase is a characteristic feature of human cognition, yet its neural mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Here, we analyze the cortical mechanisms of semantic composition using magnetoencephalography (MEG) while participants read one-word, two-word, and five-word noun phrases and compared them with a subsequent image. Decoding of MEG signals revealed three processing stages. During phrase comprehension, the representation of individual words was sustained for a variable duration depending on phrasal context. During the delay period, the word code was replaced by a working-memory code whose activation increased with semantic complexity. Finally, the speed and accuracy of retrieval depended on semantic complexity and was faster for surface than for deep semantic properties. In conclusion, we propose that the brain initially encodes phrases using factorized dimensions for successive words but later compresses them in working memory and requires a period of decompression to access them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Théo Desbordes
- Meta AI, Paris, France; Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, NeuroSpin Center, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
| | - Jean-Rémi King
- Meta AI, Paris, France; École Normale Supérieure, PSL University, Paris, France
| | - Stanislas Dehaene
- Université Paris Saclay, INSERM, CEA, Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, NeuroSpin Center, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France; Collège de France, PSL University, Paris, France
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6
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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.
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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
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7
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Ortiz-Barajas MC, Guevara R, Gervain J. Neural oscillations and speech processing at birth. iScience 2023; 26:108187. [PMID: 37965146 PMCID: PMC10641252 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Revised: 08/29/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Are neural oscillations biologically endowed building blocks of the neural architecture for speech processing from birth, or do they require experience to emerge? In adults, delta, theta, and low-gamma oscillations support the simultaneous processing of phrasal, syllabic, and phonemic units in the speech signal, respectively. Using electroencephalography to investigate neural oscillations in the newborn brain we reveal that delta and theta oscillations differ for rhythmically different languages, suggesting that these bands underlie newborns' universal ability to discriminate languages on the basis of rhythm. Additionally, higher theta activity during post-stimulus as compared to pre-stimulus rest suggests that stimulation after-effects are present from birth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Clemencia Ortiz-Barajas
- Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, CNRS & Université Paris Cité, 45 rue des Saints-Pères, 75006 Paris, France
| | - Ramón Guevara
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Padua, Via Marzolo 8, 35131 Padua, Italy
| | - Judit Gervain
- Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, CNRS & Université Paris Cité, 45 rue des Saints-Pères, 75006 Paris, France
- Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padua, Italy
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8
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Persici V, Blain SD, Iversen JR, Key AP, Kotz SA, Devin McAuley J, Gordon RL. Individual differences in neural markers of beat processing relate to spoken grammar skills in six-year-old children. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2023; 246:105345. [PMID: 37994830 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2023.105345] [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: 04/20/2023] [Revised: 10/05/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023]
Abstract
Based on the idea that neural entrainment establishes regular attentional fluctuations that facilitate hierarchical processing in both music and language, we hypothesized that individual differences in syntactic (grammatical) skills will be partly explained by patterns of neural responses to musical rhythm. To test this hypothesis, we recorded neural activity using electroencephalography (EEG) while children (N = 25) listened passively to rhythmic patterns that induced different beat percepts. Analysis of evoked beta and gamma activity revealed that individual differences in the magnitude of neural responses to rhythm explained variance in six-year-olds' expressive grammar abilities, beyond and complementarily to their performance in a behavioral rhythm perception task. These results reinforce the idea that mechanisms of neural beat entrainment may be a shared neural resource supporting hierarchical processing across music and language and suggest a relevant marker of the relationship between rhythm processing and grammar abilities in elementary-school-age children, previously observed only behaviorally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Persici
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Milano - Bicocca, Milan, Italy; Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA; Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
| | - Scott D Blain
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - John R Iversen
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Institute for Neural Computation, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Alexandra P Key
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Sonja A Kotz
- Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - J Devin McAuley
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Reyna L Gordon
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA; Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA; Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
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9
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Zhang Z, Ma F, Guo T. Proactive and reactive language control in bilingual language production revealed by decoding sustained potentials and electroencephalography oscillations. Hum Brain Mapp 2023; 44:5065-5078. [PMID: 37515386 PMCID: PMC10502638 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26433] [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: 01/28/2023] [Revised: 07/04/2023] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Adopting highly sensitive multivariate electroencephalography (EEG) and alpha-band decoding analyses, the present study investigated proactive and reactive language control during bilingual language production. In a language-switching task, Chinese-English bilinguals were asked to name pictures based on visually presented cues. EEG and alpha-band decoding accuracy associated with switch and non-switch trials were used as indicators for inhibition over the non-target language. Multivariate EEG decoding analyses showed that the decoding accuracy in L1 but not in L2, was above chance level shortly after cue onset. In addition, alpha-band decoding results showed that the decoding accuracy in L1 rose above chance level in an early time window and a late time window locked to the stimulus. Together, these asymmetric patterns of decoding accuracy indicate that both proactive and reactive attentional control over the dominant L1 are exerted during bilingual word production, with a possibility of overlap between two control mechanisms. We addressed theoretical implications based on these findings for bilingual language control models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhaoqi Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain ResearchBeijing Normal UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Fengyang Ma
- School of EducationUniversity of CincinnatiCincinnatiOhioUSA
| | - Taomei Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain ResearchBeijing Normal UniversityBeijingChina
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10
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Kim HW, Happe J, Lee YS. Beta and gamma binaural beats enhance auditory sentence comprehension. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2023; 87:2218-2227. [PMID: 36854935 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-023-01808-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 02/11/2023] [Indexed: 03/02/2023]
Abstract
Binaural beats-an auditory illusion produced when two pure tones of slightly different frequencies are dichotically presented-have been shown to modulate various cognitive and psychological states. Here, we investigated the effects of binaural beat stimulation on auditory sentence processing that required interpretation of syntactic relations (Experiment 1) or an evaluation of syntactic well formedness (Experiment 2) with a large cohort of healthy young adults (N = 200). In both experiments, participants performed a language task after listening to one of four sounds (i.e., between-subject design): theta (7 Hz), beta (18 Hz), and gamma (40 Hz) binaural beats embedded in music, or the music only (baseline). In Experiment 1, 100 participants indicated the gender of a noun linked to a transitive action verb in spoken sentences containing either a subject or object-relative center-embedded clause. We found that both beta and gamma binaural beats yielded better performance, compared to the baseline, especially for syntactically more complex object-relative sentences. To determine if the binaural beat effect can be generalized to another type of syntactic analysis, we conducted Experiment 2 in which another 100 participants indicated whether or not there was a grammatical error in spoken sentences. However, none of the binaural beats yielded better performance for this task indicating that the benefit of beta and gamma binaural beats may be specific to the interpretation of syntactic relations. Together, we demonstrate, for the first time, the positive impact of binaural beats on auditory language comprehension. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyun-Woong Kim
- School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, USA
- Callier Center for Communication Disorders, The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, USA
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, USA
| | - Jenna Happe
- School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, USA
- Callier Center for Communication Disorders, The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, USA
| | - Yune Sang Lee
- School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, USA.
- Callier Center for Communication Disorders, The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, USA.
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing, The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, USA.
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11
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Lewis AG, Schoffelen JM, Bastiaansen M, Schriefers H. Is beta in agreement with the relatives? Using relative clause sentences to investigate MEG beta power dynamics during sentence comprehension. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14332. [PMID: 37203219 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2022] [Revised: 03/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
There remains some debate about whether beta power effects observed during sentence comprehension reflect ongoing syntactic unification operations (beta-syntax hypothesis), or instead reflect maintenance or updating of the sentence-level representation (beta-maintenance hypothesis). In this study, we used magnetoencephalography to investigate beta power neural dynamics while participants read relative clause sentences that were initially ambiguous between a subject- or an object-relative reading. An additional condition included a grammatical violation at the disambiguation point in the relative clause sentences. The beta-maintenance hypothesis predicts a decrease in beta power at the disambiguation point for unexpected (and less preferred) object-relative clause sentences and grammatical violations, as both signal a need to update the sentence-level representation. While the beta-syntax hypothesis also predicts a beta power decrease for grammatical violations due to a disruption of syntactic unification operations, it instead predicts an increase in beta power for the object-relative clause condition because syntactic unification at the point of disambiguation becomes more demanding. We observed decreased beta power for both the agreement violation and object-relative clause conditions in typical left hemisphere language regions, which provides compelling support for the beta-maintenance hypothesis. Mid-frontal theta power effects were also present for grammatical violations and object-relative clause sentences, suggesting that violations and unexpected sentence interpretations are registered as conflicts by the brain's domain-general error detection system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley Glen Lewis
- Neurobiology of Language Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Jan-Mathijs Schoffelen
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Marcel Bastiaansen
- Academy for Leisure and Events, Breda University of Applied Sciences, Breda, the Netherlands
- Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Tilburg University, Tilburg, the Netherlands
| | - Herbert Schriefers
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
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12
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Pei C, Huang X, Qiu Y, Peng Y, Gao S, Biswal B, Yao D, Liu Q, Li F, Xu P. Frequency-specific directed interactions between whole-brain regions during sentence processing using multimodal stimulus. Neurosci Lett 2023; 812:137409. [PMID: 37487970 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2023.137409] [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: 04/17/2023] [Revised: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/26/2023]
Abstract
Neural oscillations subserve a broad range of speech processing and language comprehension functions. Using an electroencephalogram (EEG), we investigated the frequency-specific directed interactions between whole-brain regions while the participants processed Chinese sentences using different modality stimuli (i.e., auditory, visual, and audio-visual). The results indicate that low-frequency responses correspond to the process of information flow aggregation in primary sensory cortices in different modalities. Information flow dominated by high-frequency responses exhibited characteristics of bottom-up flow from left posterior temporal to left frontal regions. The network pattern of top-down information flowing out of the left frontal lobe was presented by the joint dominance of low- and high-frequency rhythms. Overall, our results suggest that the brain may be modality-independent when processing higher-order language information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Changfu Pei
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Lab for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China; School of Life Science and Technology, Center for Information in BioMedicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Xunan Huang
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Lab for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China; School of Life Science and Technology, Center for Information in BioMedicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China; School of Foreign Languages, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Sichuan, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Yuan Qiu
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Lab for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China; School of Life Science and Technology, Center for Information in BioMedicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Yueheng Peng
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Lab for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China; School of Life Science and Technology, Center for Information in BioMedicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Shan Gao
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Lab for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China; School of Life Science and Technology, Center for Information in BioMedicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China; School of Foreign Languages, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Sichuan, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Bharat Biswal
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Lab for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China; School of Life Science and Technology, Center for Information in BioMedicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China; Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, USA
| | - Dezhong Yao
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Lab for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China; School of Life Science and Technology, Center for Information in BioMedicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Qiang Liu
- Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Sichuan, Chengdu 610066, China.
| | - Fali Li
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Lab for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China; School of Life Science and Technology, Center for Information in BioMedicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China.
| | - Peng Xu
- The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Lab for NeuroInformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China; School of Life Science and Technology, Center for Information in BioMedicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China.
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13
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Desbordes T, Lakretz Y, Chanoine V, Oquab M, Badier JM, Trébuchon A, Carron R, Bénar CG, Dehaene S, King JR. Dimensionality and Ramping: Signatures of Sentence Integration in the Dynamics of Brains and Deep Language Models. J Neurosci 2023; 43:5350-5364. [PMID: 37217308 PMCID: PMC10359032 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1163-22.2023] [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: 06/14/2022] [Revised: 02/07/2023] [Accepted: 02/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
A sentence is more than the sum of its words: its meaning depends on how they combine with one another. The brain mechanisms underlying such semantic composition remain poorly understood. To shed light on the neural vector code underlying semantic composition, we introduce two hypotheses: (1) the intrinsic dimensionality of the space of neural representations should increase as a sentence unfolds, paralleling the growing complexity of its semantic representation; and (2) this progressive integration should be reflected in ramping and sentence-final signals. To test these predictions, we designed a dataset of closely matched normal and jabberwocky sentences (composed of meaningless pseudo words) and displayed them to deep language models and to 11 human participants (5 men and 6 women) monitored with simultaneous MEG and intracranial EEG. In both deep language models and electrophysiological data, we found that representational dimensionality was higher for meaningful sentences than jabberwocky. Furthermore, multivariate decoding of normal versus jabberwocky confirmed three dynamic patterns: (1) a phasic pattern following each word, peaking in temporal and parietal areas; (2) a ramping pattern, characteristic of bilateral inferior and middle frontal gyri; and (3) a sentence-final pattern in left superior frontal gyrus and right orbitofrontal cortex. These results provide a first glimpse into the neural geometry of semantic integration and constrain the search for a neural code of linguistic composition.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Starting from general linguistic concepts, we make two sets of predictions in neural signals evoked by reading multiword sentences. First, the intrinsic dimensionality of the representation should grow with additional meaningful words. Second, the neural dynamics should exhibit signatures of encoding, maintaining, and resolving semantic composition. We successfully validated these hypotheses in deep neural language models, artificial neural networks trained on text and performing very well on many natural language processing tasks. Then, using a unique combination of MEG and intracranial electrodes, we recorded high-resolution brain data from human participants while they read a controlled set of sentences. Time-resolved dimensionality analysis showed increasing dimensionality with meaning, and multivariate decoding allowed us to isolate the three dynamical patterns we had hypothesized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Théo Desbordes
- Meta AI Research, Paris 75002, France; and Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit NeuroSpin center, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Yair Lakretz
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit NeuroSpin center, Gif-sur-Yvette, 91191, France
| | - Valérie Chanoine
- Institute of Language, Communication and the Brain, Aix-en-Provence, 13100, France; and Aix-Marseille Université, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, LPL, Aix-en-Provence, 13100, France
| | | | - Jean-Michel Badier
- Aix Marseille Université, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, CNRS, LPL, Aix-en-Provence 13100; and Inst Neurosci Syst, Marseille, 13005, France
| | - Agnès Trébuchon
- Aix Marseille Université, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, CNRS, LPL, Aix-en-Provence 13100, France; and Inst Neurosci Syst, Marseille, 13005, France; and Assistance Publique Hopitaux de Marseille, Timone hospital, Epileptology and Cerebral Rythmology, Marseille, 13385, France
| | - Romain Carron
- Aix Marseille Université, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, CNRS, LPL, Aix-en-Provence 13100, France; and Inst Neurosci Syst, Marseille, 13005, France; and Assistance Publique Hopitaux de Marseille, Timone hospital, Functional and Stereotactic Neurosurgery, Marseille, 13385, France
| | - Christian-G Bénar
- Aix Marseille Université, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, CNRS, LPL, Aix-en-Provence 13100, France; and Inst Neurosci Syst, Marseille, 13005, France
| | - Stanislas Dehaene
- Université Paris Saclay, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, NeuroSpin center, Saclay, 91191, France; and Collège de France, PSL University, Paris, 75231, France
| | - Jean-Rémi King
- Meta AI Research, Paris 75002, France; and Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit NeuroSpin center, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- LSP, École normale supérieure, PSL (Paris Sciences & Lettres) University, CNRS, 75005 Paris, France
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14
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Viswanathan V, Bharadwaj HM, Heinz MG, Shinn-Cunningham BG. Induced alpha and beta electroencephalographic rhythms covary with single-trial speech intelligibility in competition. Sci Rep 2023; 13:10216. [PMID: 37353552 PMCID: PMC10290148 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-37173-2] [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: 01/06/2023] [Accepted: 06/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Neurophysiological studies suggest that intrinsic brain oscillations influence sensory processing, especially of rhythmic stimuli like speech. Prior work suggests that brain rhythms may mediate perceptual grouping and selective attention to speech amidst competing sound, as well as more linguistic aspects of speech processing like predictive coding. However, we know of no prior studies that have directly tested, at the single-trial level, whether brain oscillations relate to speech-in-noise outcomes. Here, we combined electroencephalography while simultaneously measuring intelligibility of spoken sentences amidst two different interfering sounds: multi-talker babble or speech-shaped noise. We find that induced parieto-occipital alpha (7-15 Hz; thought to modulate attentional focus) and frontal beta (13-30 Hz; associated with maintenance of the current sensorimotor state and predictive coding) oscillations covary with trial-wise percent-correct scores; importantly, alpha and beta power provide significant independent contributions to predicting single-trial behavioral outcomes. These results can inform models of speech processing and guide noninvasive measures to index different neural processes that together support complex listening.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vibha Viswanathan
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA.
| | - Hari M Bharadwaj
- Department of Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA
| | - Michael G Heinz
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
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15
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Koirala N, Deroche MLD, Wolfe J, Neumann S, Bien AG, Doan D, Goldbeck M, Muthuraman M, Gracco VL. Dynamic networks differentiate the language ability of children with cochlear implants. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1141886. [PMID: 37409105 PMCID: PMC10318154 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1141886] [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: 01/10/2023] [Accepted: 05/29/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Cochlear implantation (CI) in prelingually deafened children has been shown to be an effective intervention for developing language and reading skill. However, there is a substantial proportion of the children receiving CI who struggle with language and reading. The current study-one of the first to implement electrical source imaging in CI population was designed to identify the neural underpinnings in two groups of CI children with good and poor language and reading skill. Methods Data using high density electroencephalography (EEG) under a resting state condition was obtained from 75 children, 50 with CIs having good (HL) or poor language skills (LL) and 25 normal hearing (NH) children. We identified coherent sources using dynamic imaging of coherent sources (DICS) and their effective connectivity computing time-frequency causality estimation based on temporal partial directed coherence (TPDC) in the two CI groups compared to a cohort of age and gender matched NH children. Findings Sources with higher coherence amplitude were observed in three frequency bands (alpha, beta and gamma) for the CI groups when compared to normal hearing children. The two groups of CI children with good (HL) and poor (LL) language ability exhibited not only different cortical and subcortical source profiles but also distinct effective connectivity between them. Additionally, a support vector machine (SVM) algorithm using these sources and their connectivity patterns for each CI group across the three frequency bands was able to predict the language and reading scores with high accuracy. Interpretation Increased coherence in the CI groups suggest overall that the oscillatory activity in some brain areas become more strongly coupled compared to the NH group. Moreover, the different sources and their connectivity patterns and their association to language and reading skill in both groups, suggest a compensatory adaptation that either facilitated or impeded language and reading development. The neural differences in the two groups of CI children may reflect potential biomarkers for predicting outcome success in CI children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nabin Koirala
- Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | | | - Jace Wolfe
- Hearts for Hearing Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
| | - Sara Neumann
- Hearts for Hearing Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
| | - Alexander G. Bien
- Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, University of Oklahoma Medical Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
| | - Derek Doan
- University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
| | - Michael Goldbeck
- University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
| | - Muthuraman Muthuraman
- Department of Neurology, Neural Engineering with Signal Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (NESA-AI), Universitätsklinikum Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Vincent L. Gracco
- Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
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16
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Champagne-Lavau M, Bolger D, Klein M. Impact of social knowledge about the speaker on irony understanding: Evidence from neural oscillations. Soc Neurosci 2023; 18:28-45. [PMID: 37161361 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2023.2203948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to explore neuronal oscillatory activity during a task of irony understanding. In this task, we manipulated implicit information about the speaker such as occupation stereotypes (i.e., sarcastic versus non-sarcastic). These stereotypes are social knowledge that influence the extent to which the speaker's ironic intent is understood. Time-frequency analyses revealed an early effect of speaker occupation stereotypes, as evidenced by greater synchronization in the upper gamma band (in the 150-250 ms time window) when the speaker had a sarcastic occupation, by a greater desynchronization for ironic context compared to literal context in the alpha1 band and by a greater synchronization in the theta band when the speaker had a non-sarcastic occupation. When the speaker occupation did not constrain the ironic interpretation, the interpretation of the sentence as ironic was revealed as resource-demanding and requiring pragmatic reanalysis, as shown mainly by the synchronization in the theta band and the desynchronization in the alpha1 band (in the 500-800 ms time window). These results support predictions of the constraint satisfaction model suggesting that during irony understanding, extra-linguistic information such as information on the speaker is used as soon as it is available, in the early stage of processing.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Madelyne Klein
- LPL, CNRS, Aix-Marseille University, Aix-en-Provence, France
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17
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Duan J, Ouyang H, Lu Y, Li L, Liu Y, Feng Z, Zhang W, Zheng L. Neural dynamics underlying the processing of implicit form-meaning connections: The dissociative roles of theta and alpha oscillations. Int J Psychophysiol 2023; 186:10-23. [PMID: 36702353 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2023.01.006] [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: 08/25/2022] [Revised: 11/04/2022] [Accepted: 01/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Implicit learning plays an important role in the language acquisition. In addition to helping people acquire the form-level rules (e.g., the word order regularities), implicit learning can also facilitate the acquisition of word meanings (i.e., the establishment of connections between the word form and its meanings). Although some behavioral studies have explored the processing of implicit form-meaning connections, the neural dynamics underlying this processing remains unclear. Through examining whether participants could implicitly acquire the literal and metaphorical meanings of novel words, and applying the time-frequency analysis on the electroencephalogram (EEG) data collected in the testing phase, the neural oscillations corresponding to the processing of implicit form-literal and form-metaphorical meaning connections were explored. The results showed that participants in the experimental group could implicitly acquire the form-literal and form-metaphorical meaning connections after training, while participants in the control group who were not trained did not have access to such form-meaning connections. Meanwhile, during the processing of form-literal meaning connections, the greater suppression of alpha oscillations was induced by the testing items that follow the same rules as the training items (i.e., the regular testing items) in the experimental group, whereas the stronger enhancement of theta oscillations was elicited by the regular testing items in the experimental group during the processing of form-metaphorical meaning connections. Our study provides insights for understanding the processing of implicit form-literal and form-metaphorical meaning connections and the neural dynamics underlying the processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jipeng Duan
- School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Hui Ouyang
- School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China; Lab for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Faculty of Psychology and Mental Health, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China; The Emotion & Cognition Lab, Faculty of Psychology and Mental Health, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yang Lu
- School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China; Fudan Institute on Ageing, Fudan university, Shanghai, China
| | - Lin Li
- School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China; National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yuting Liu
- School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhengning Feng
- School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Weidong Zhang
- School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Li Zheng
- Fudan Institute on Ageing, Fudan university, Shanghai, China
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18
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Hardy SM, Jensen O, Wheeldon L, Mazaheri A, Segaert K. Modulation in alpha band activity reflects syntax composition: an MEG study of minimal syntactic binding. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:497-511. [PMID: 35311899 PMCID: PMC9890467 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2021] [Revised: 02/06/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Successful sentence comprehension requires the binding, or composition, of multiple words into larger structures to establish meaning. Using magnetoencephalography, we investigated the neural mechanisms involved in binding at the syntax level, in a task where contributions from semantics were minimized. Participants were auditorily presented with minimal sentences that required binding (pronoun and pseudo-verb with the corresponding morphological inflection; "she grushes") and pseudo-verb wordlists that did not require binding ("cugged grushes"). Relative to no binding, we found that syntactic binding was associated with a modulation in alpha band (8-12 Hz) activity in left-lateralized language regions. First, we observed a significantly smaller increase in alpha power around the presentation of the target word ("grushes") that required binding (-0.05 to 0.1 s), which we suggest reflects an expectation of binding to occur. Second, during binding of the target word (0.15-0.25 s), we observed significantly decreased alpha phase-locking between the left inferior frontal gyrus and the left middle/inferior temporal cortex, which we suggest reflects alpha-driven cortical disinhibition serving to strengthen communication within the syntax composition neural network. Altogether, our findings highlight the critical role of rapid spatial-temporal alpha band activity in controlling the allocation, transfer, and coordination of the brain's resources during syntax composition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie M Hardy
- Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
- Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
| | - Ole Jensen
- Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Linda Wheeldon
- Department of Foreign Languages and Translations, University of Agder, Kristiansand 4630, Norway
| | - Ali Mazaheri
- Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Katrien Segaert
- Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
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19
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Lu Y, Jin P, Ding N, Tian X. Delta-band neural tracking primarily reflects rule-based chunking instead of semantic relatedness between words. Cereb Cortex 2022; 33:4448-4458. [PMID: 36124831 PMCID: PMC10110438 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2022] [Revised: 08/12/2022] [Accepted: 08/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
It is debated whether cortical responses matching the time scales of phrases and sentences mediate the mental construction of the syntactic chunks or are simply caused by the semantic properties of words. Here, we investigate to what extent delta-band neural responses to speech can be explained by semantic relatedness between words. To dissociate the contribution of semantic relatedness from sentential structures, participants listened to sentence sequences and paired-word sequences in which semantically related words repeated at 1 Hz. Semantic relatedness in the 2 types of sequences was quantified using a word2vec model that captured the semantic relation between words without considering sentential structure. The word2vec model predicted comparable 1-Hz responses with paired-word sequences and sentence sequences. However, empirical neural activity, recorded using magnetoencephalography, showed a weaker 1-Hz response to paired-word sequences than sentence sequences in a word-level task that did not require sentential processing. Furthermore, when listeners applied a task-related rule to parse paired-word sequences into multi-word chunks, 1-Hz response was stronger than that in word-level task on the same sequences. Our results suggest that cortical activity tracks multi-word chunks constructed by either syntactic rules or task-related rules, whereas the semantic relatedness between words contributes only in a minor way.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuhan Lu
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (Ministry of Education), School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.,NYU-ECNU Institute of Brain and Cognitive Science at NYU Shanghai, Shanghai 200062, China.,Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
| | - Peiqing Jin
- Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
| | - Nai Ding
- Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.,Research Center for Applied Mathematics and Machine Intelligence, Research Institute of Basic Theories, Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Xing Tian
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (Ministry of Education), School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.,NYU-ECNU Institute of Brain and Cognitive Science at NYU Shanghai, Shanghai 200062, China.,Division of Arts and Sciences, New York University Shanghai
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20
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Tomić A, Kaan E. Oscillatory brain responses to processing code-switches in the presence of others. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2022; 231:105139. [PMID: 35687945 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2022.105139] [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: 08/27/2021] [Revised: 05/23/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Code-switching, i.e. the alternation between languages in a conversation, is a typical, yet socially-constrained practice in bilingual communities. For instance, code-switching is permissible only when other conversation partners are fluent in both languages. Studying code-switching provides insight in the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying language control, and their modulation by linguistic and non-linguistic factors. Using time-frequency representations, we analyzed brain oscillation changes in EEG data recorded in a prior study (Kaan et al., 2020). In this study, Spanish-English bilinguals read sentences with and without switches in the presence of a bilingual or monolingual partner. Consistent with prior studies, code-switches were associated with a power decrease in the lower beta band (15-18 Hz). In addition, code-switches were associated with a power decrease in the upper gamma band (40-50 Hz), but only when a bilingual partner was present, suggesting the semantic/pragmatic processing of code-switches differs depending on who is present.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleksandra Tomić
- University of Florida, Department of Linguistics, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Department of Language and Culture, 9037 Tromsø, Norway.
| | - Edith Kaan
- University of Florida, Department of Linguistics, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
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21
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Egurtzegi A, Blasi DE, Bornkessel-Schlesewsky I, Laka I, Meyer M, Bickel B, Sauppe S. Cross-linguistic differences in case marking shape neural power dynamics and gaze behavior during sentence planning. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2022; 230:105127. [PMID: 35605312 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2022.105127] [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: 05/11/2021] [Revised: 04/07/2022] [Accepted: 04/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Languages differ in how they mark the dependencies between verbs and arguments, e.g., by case. An eye tracking and EEG picture description study examined the influence of case marking on the time course of sentence planning in Basque and Swiss German. While German assigns an unmarked (nominative) case to subjects, Basque specifically marks agent arguments through ergative case. Fixations to agents and event-related synchronization (ERS) in the theta and alpha frequency bands, as well as desynchronization (ERD) in the alpha and beta bands revealed multiple effects of case marking on the time course of early sentence planning. Speakers decided on case marking under planning early when preparing sentences with ergative-marked agents in Basque, whereas sentences with unmarked agents allowed delaying structural commitment across languages. These findings support hierarchically incremental accounts of sentence planning and highlight how cross-linguistic differences shape the neural dynamics underpinning language use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aitor Egurtzegi
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Switzerland; English Department, University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Damián E Blasi
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, United States; Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany
| | - Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky
- School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia, Australia; Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Research Hub, University of South Australia, Australia
| | - Itziar Laka
- Department of Linguistics and Basque Studies, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Spain
| | - Martin Meyer
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Cognitive Psychology Unit, Psychological Institute, University of Klagenfurt, Austria
| | - Balthasar Bickel
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Sebastian Sauppe
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
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22
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Zheng Y, Kirk I, Chen T, O'Hagan M, Waldie KE. Task-Modulated Oscillation Differences in Auditory and Spoken Chinese-English Bilingual Processing: An Electroencephalography Study. Front Psychol 2022; 13:823700. [PMID: 35712178 PMCID: PMC9197074 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.823700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2021] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Neurophysiological research on the bilingual activity of interpretation or interpreting has been very fruitful in understanding the bilingual brain and has gained increasing popularity recently. Issues like word interpreting and the directionality of interpreting have been attended to by many researchers, mainly with localizing techniques. Brain structures such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex have been repeatedly identified during interpreting. However, little is known about the oscillation and synchronization features of interpreting, especially sentence-level overt interpreting. In this study we implemented a Chinese-English sentence-level overt interpreting experiment with electroencephalography on 43 Chinese-English bilinguals and compared the oscillation and synchronization features of interpreting with those of listening, speaking and shadowing. We found significant time-frequency power differences in the delta-theta (1–7 Hz) and gamma band (above 30 Hz) between motor and silent tasks. Further theta-gamma coupling analysis revealed different synchronization networks in between speaking, shadowing and interpreting, indicating an idea-formulation dependent mechanism. Moreover, interpreting incurred robust right frontotemporal gamma coactivation network compared with speaking and shadowing, which we think may reflect the language conversion process inherent in interpreting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuxuan Zheng
- School of Psychology, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Ian Kirk
- School of Psychology, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.,Centre for Brain Research, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Tengfei Chen
- School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China
| | - Minako O'Hagan
- School of Cultures Languages and Linguistics, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Karen E Waldie
- School of Psychology, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.,Centre for Brain Research, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
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23
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Cross ZR, Corcoran AW, Schlesewsky M, Kohler MJ, Bornkessel-Schlesewsky I. Oscillatory and Aperiodic Neural Activity Jointly Predict Language Learning. J Cogn Neurosci 2022; 34:1630-1649. [PMID: 35640095 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01878] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Memory formation involves the synchronous firing of neurons in task-relevant networks, with recent models postulating that a decrease in low-frequency oscillatory activity underlies successful memory encoding and retrieval. However, to date, this relationship has been investigated primarily with face and image stimuli; considerably less is known about the oscillatory correlates of complex rule learning, as in language. Furthermore, recent work has shown that nonoscillatory (1/ƒ) activity is functionally relevant to cognition, yet its interaction with oscillatory activity during complex rule learning remains unknown. Using spectral decomposition and power-law exponent estimation of human EEG data (17 females, 18 males), we show for the first time that 1/ƒ and oscillatory activity jointly influence the learning of word order rules of a miniature artificial language system. Flexible word-order rules were associated with a steeper 1/ƒ slope, whereas fixed word-order rules were associated with a shallower slope. We also show that increased theta and alpha power predicts fixed relative to flexible word-order rule learning and behavioral performance. Together, these results suggest that 1/ƒ activity plays an important role in higher-order cognition, including language processing, and that grammar learning is modulated by different word-order permutations, which manifest in distinct oscillatory profiles.
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24
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Gattas S, Elias GA, Janecek J, Yassa MA, Fortin NJ. Proximal CA1 20-40 Hz power dynamics reflect trial-specific information processing supporting nonspatial sequence memory. eLife 2022; 11:e55528. [PMID: 35532116 PMCID: PMC9170241 DOI: 10.7554/elife.55528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2020] [Accepted: 05/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The hippocampus is known to play a critical role in processing information about temporal context. However, it remains unclear how hippocampal oscillations are involved, and how their functional organization is influenced by connectivity gradients. We examined local field potential activity in CA1 as rats performed a nonspatial odor sequence memory task. We found that odor sequence processing epochs were characterized by distinct spectral profiles and proximodistal CA1 gradients of theta and 20-40 Hz power than track running epochs. We also discovered that 20-40 Hz power was predictive of sequence memory performance, particularly in proximal CA1 and during the plateau of high power observed in trials in which animals had to maintain their decision until instructed to respond. Altogether, these results provide evidence that dynamics of 20-40 Hz power along the CA1 axis are linked to trial-specific processing of nonspatial information critical to order judgments and are consistent with a role for 20-40 Hz power in gating information processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Gattas
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of CaliforniaIrvineUnited States
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of CaliforniaIrvineUnited States
| | - Gabriel A Elias
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of CaliforniaIrvineUnited States
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of CaliforniaIrvineUnited States
| | - John Janecek
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of CaliforniaIrvineUnited States
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of CaliforniaIrvineUnited States
| | - Michael A Yassa
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of CaliforniaIrvineUnited States
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of CaliforniaIrvineUnited States
| | - Norbert J Fortin
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of CaliforniaIrvineUnited States
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of CaliforniaIrvineUnited States
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25
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Corcoran AW, Perera R, Koroma M, Kouider S, Hohwy J, Andrillon T. Expectations boost the reconstruction of auditory features from electrophysiological responses to noisy speech. Cereb Cortex 2022; 33:691-708. [PMID: 35253871 PMCID: PMC9890472 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2021] [Revised: 02/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/12/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Online speech processing imposes significant computational demands on the listening brain, the underlying mechanisms of which remain poorly understood. Here, we exploit the perceptual "pop-out" phenomenon (i.e. the dramatic improvement of speech intelligibility after receiving information about speech content) to investigate the neurophysiological effects of prior expectations on degraded speech comprehension. We recorded electroencephalography (EEG) and pupillometry from 21 adults while they rated the clarity of noise-vocoded and sine-wave synthesized sentences. Pop-out was reliably elicited following visual presentation of the corresponding written sentence, but not following incongruent or neutral text. Pop-out was associated with improved reconstruction of the acoustic stimulus envelope from low-frequency EEG activity, implying that improvements in perceptual clarity were mediated via top-down signals that enhanced the quality of cortical speech representations. Spectral analysis further revealed that pop-out was accompanied by a reduction in theta-band power, consistent with predictive coding accounts of acoustic filling-in and incremental sentence processing. Moreover, delta-band power, alpha-band power, and pupil diameter were all increased following the provision of any written sentence information, irrespective of content. Together, these findings reveal distinctive profiles of neurophysiological activity that differentiate the content-specific processes associated with degraded speech comprehension from the context-specific processes invoked under adverse listening conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew W Corcoran
- Corresponding author: Room E672, 20 Chancellors Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia.
| | - Ricardo Perera
- Cognition & Philosophy Laboratory, School of Philosophical, Historical, and International Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800 Australia
| | - Matthieu Koroma
- Brain and Consciousness Group (ENS, EHESS, CNRS), Département d’Études Cognitives, École Normale Supérieure-PSL Research University, Paris 75005, France
| | - Sid Kouider
- Brain and Consciousness Group (ENS, EHESS, CNRS), Département d’Études Cognitives, École Normale Supérieure-PSL Research University, Paris 75005, France
| | - Jakob Hohwy
- Cognition & Philosophy Laboratory, School of Philosophical, Historical, and International Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800 Australia,Monash Centre for Consciousness & Contemplative Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800 Australia
| | - Thomas Andrillon
- Monash Centre for Consciousness & Contemplative Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800 Australia,Paris Brain Institute, Sorbonne Université, Inserm-CNRS, Paris 75013, France
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26
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Pérez G, Hesse E, Dottori M, Birba A, Amoruso L, Martorell Caro M, Ibáñez A, García AM. The Bilingual Lexicon, Back and Forth: Electrophysiological Signatures of Translation Asymmetry. Neuroscience 2022; 481:134-143. [PMID: 34864107 PMCID: PMC11177278 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2021.11.046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2021] [Revised: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Mainstream theories of first and second language (L1, L2) processing in bilinguals are crucially informed by word translation research. A core finding is the translation asymmetry effect, typified by slower performance in forward translation (FT, from L1 into L2) than in backward translation (BT, from L2 into L1). Yet, few studies have explored its neural bases and none has employed (de)synchronization measures, precluding the integration of bilingual memory models with neural (de)coupling accounts of word processing. Here, 27 proficient Spanish-English bilinguals engaged in FT and BT of single words as we obtained high-density EEG recordings to perform cluster-based oscillatory and non-linear functional connectivity analyses. Relative to BT, FT yielded slower responses, higher frontal theta (4-7 Hz) power in an early window (0-300 ms), reduced centro-posterior lower-beta (14-20 Hz) and centro-frontal upper-beta (21-30 Hz) power in a later window (300-600 ms), and lower fronto-parietal connectivity below 10 Hz in the early window. Also, the greater the behavioral difference between FT and BT, the greater the power of the early theta cluster for FT over BT. These results reveal key (de)coupling dynamics underlying translation asymmetry, offering frequency-specific constraints for leading models of bilingual lexical processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gonzalo Pérez
- Cognitive Neuroscience Center (CNC), Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Eugenia Hesse
- Cognitive Neuroscience Center (CNC), Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Martín Dottori
- Cognitive Neuroscience Center (CNC), Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Agustina Birba
- Cognitive Neuroscience Center (CNC), Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Lucía Amoruso
- Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), San Sebastian, Spain; IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Miguel Martorell Caro
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Agustín Ibáñez
- Cognitive Neuroscience Center (CNC), Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Global Brain Health Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States; and Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; Latin American Brain Health (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Adolfo M García
- Cognitive Neuroscience Center (CNC), Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Global Brain Health Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States; and Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; Departamento de Lingüística y Literatura, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
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27
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Moon J, Chau T, Orlandi S. A comparison and classification of oscillatory characteristics in speech perception and covert speech. Brain Res 2022; 1781:147778. [PMID: 35007548 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2022.147778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2021] [Revised: 12/29/2021] [Accepted: 01/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Covert speech, the mental imagery of speaking, has been studied increasingly to understand and decode thoughts in the context of brain-computer interfaces. In studies of speech comprehension, neural oscillations are thought to play a key role in the temporal encoding of speech. However, little is known about the role of oscillations in covert speech. In this study, we investigated the oscillatory involvements in covert speech and speech perception. Data were collected from 10 participants with 64 channel EEG. Participants heard the words, 'blue' and 'orange', and subsequently mentally rehearsed them. First, continuous wavelet transform was performed on epoched signals and subsequently two-tailed t-tests between two classes were conducted to determine statistical differences in frequency and time (t-CWT). Features were also extracted using t-CWT and subsequently classified using a support vector machine. θ and γ phase amplitude coupling (PAC) was also assessed within and between tasks. All binary classifications produced accuracies significantly greater (80-90%) than chance level, supporting the use of t-CWT in determining relative oscillatory involvements. While the perception task dynamically invoked all frequencies with more prominent θ and α activity, the covert task favoured higher frequencies with significantly higher γ activity than perception. Moreover, the perception condition produced significant θ-γ PAC, corroborating a reported linkage between syllabic and phonemic sampling. Although this coupling was found to be suppressed in the covert condition, we found significant cross-task coupling between perception θ and covert speech γ. Covert speech processing appears to be largely associated with higher frequencies of EEG. Importantly, the significant cross-task coupling between speech perception and covert speech, in the absence of within-task covert speech PAC, supports the notion that the γ- and θ-bands subserve, respectively, shared and unique encoding processes across tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaewoong Moon
- Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
| | - Tom Chau
- Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Silvia Orlandi
- Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
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28
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Momsen JP, Abel AD. Neural oscillations reflect meaning identification for novel words in context. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2022; 3:132-148. [PMID: 36340747 PMCID: PMC9632687 DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
During language processing, people make rapid use of contextual information to promote comprehension of upcoming words. When new words are learned implicitly, information contained in the surrounding context can provide constraints on their possible meaning. In the current study, EEG was recorded as participants listened to a series of three sentences, each containing an identical target pseudoword, with the aim of using contextual information in the surrounding language to identify a meaning representation for the novel word. In half of trials, sentences were semantically coherent so that participants could develop a single representation for the novel word that fit all contexts. Other trials contained unrelated sentence contexts so that meaning associations were not possible. We observed greater theta band enhancement over the left-hemisphere across central and posterior electrodes in response to pseudowords processed across semantically related compared to unrelated contexts. Additionally, relative alpha and beta band suppression was increased prior to pseudoword onset in trials where contextual information more readily promoted pseudoword-meaning associations. Under the hypothesis that theta enhancement indexes processing demands during lexical access, the current study provides evidence for selective online memory retrieval to novel words learned implicitly in a spoken context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob Pohaku Momsen
- Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders, San Diego State University and UC San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
- * Corresponding Author:
| | - Alyson D. Abel
- School of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
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29
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Markiewicz R, Segaert K, Mazaheri A. How the healthy ageing brain supports semantic binding during language comprehension. Eur J Neurosci 2021; 54:7899-7917. [PMID: 34779069 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2021] [Revised: 11/01/2021] [Accepted: 11/05/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Semantic binding refers to constructing complex meaning based on elementary building blocks. Using electroencephalography (EEG), we investigated the age-related changes in modulations of oscillatory brain activity supporting lexical retrieval and semantic binding. Young and older adult participants were visually presented two-word phrases, which for the first word revealed a lexical retrieval signature (e.g., swift vs. swrfeq) and for the second word revealed a semantic binding signature (e.g., horse in a semantic binding "swift horse" vs. no binding "swrfeq horse" context). The oscillatory brain activity associated with lexical retrieval as well as semantic binding significantly differed between healthy older and young adults. Specifically for lexical retrieval, we found that different age groups exhibited opposite patterns of theta and alpha modulation, which as a combined picture suggest that lexical retrieval is associated with different and delayed signatures in older compared with young adults. For semantic binding, in young adults, we found a signature in the low-beta range centred around the target word onset (i.e., a smaller low-beta increase for binding relative to no binding), whereas in healthy older adults, we found an opposite binding signature about ~500 ms later in the low- and high-beta range (i.e., a smaller low- and high-beta decrease for binding relative to no binding). The novel finding of a different and delayed oscillatory signature for semantic binding in healthy older adults reflects that the integration of word meaning into the semantic context takes longer and relies on different mechanisms in healthy older compared with young adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roksana Markiewicz
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.,Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Katrien Segaert
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.,Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.,Centre for Developmental Science, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Ali Mazaheri
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.,Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
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30
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Kapteijns B, Hintz F. Comparing predictors of sentence self-paced reading times: Syntactic complexity versus transitional probability metrics. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0254546. [PMID: 34252165 PMCID: PMC8274840 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2021] [Accepted: 06/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
When estimating the influence of sentence complexity on reading, researchers typically opt for one of two main approaches: Measuring syntactic complexity (SC) or transitional probability (TP). Comparisons of the predictive power of both approaches have yielded mixed results. To address this inconsistency, we conducted a self-paced reading experiment. Participants read sentences of varying syntactic complexity. From two alternatives, we selected the set of SC and TP measures, respectively, that provided the best fit to the self-paced reading data. We then compared the contributions of the SC and TP measures to self-paced reading times when entered into the same model. Our results showed that while both measures explained significant portions of variance in reading times (over and above control variables: word/sentence length, word frequency and word position) when included in independent models, their contributions changed drastically when SC and TP were entered into the same model. Specifically, we only observed significant effects of TP. We conclude that in our experiment the control variables explained the bulk of variance. When comparing the small effects of SC and TP, the effects of TP appear to be more robust.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bob Kapteijns
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Florian Hintz
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
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31
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Neural signatures of syntactic variation in speech planning. PLoS Biol 2021; 19:e3001038. [PMID: 33497384 PMCID: PMC7837500 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2020] [Accepted: 12/31/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Planning to speak is a challenge for the brain, and the challenge varies between and within languages. Yet, little is known about how neural processes react to these variable challenges beyond the planning of individual words. Here, we examine how fundamental differences in syntax shape the time course of sentence planning. Most languages treat alike (i.e., align with each other) the 2 uses of a word like “gardener” in “the gardener crouched” and in “the gardener planted trees.” A minority keeps these formally distinct by adding special marking in 1 case, and some languages display both aligned and nonaligned expressions. Exploiting such a contrast in Hindi, we used electroencephalography (EEG) and eye tracking to suggest that this difference is associated with distinct patterns of neural processing and gaze behavior during early planning stages, preceding phonological word form preparation. Planning sentences with aligned expressions induces larger synchronization in the theta frequency band, suggesting higher working memory engagement, and more visual attention to agents than planning nonaligned sentences, suggesting delayed commitment to the relational details of the event. Furthermore, plain, unmarked expressions are associated with larger desynchronization in the alpha band than expressions with special markers, suggesting more engagement in information processing to keep overlapping structures distinct during planning. Our findings contrast with the observation that the form of aligned expressions is simpler, and they suggest that the global preference for alignment is driven not by its neurophysiological effect on sentence planning but by other sources, possibly by aspects of production flexibility and fluency or by sentence comprehension. This challenges current theories on how production and comprehension may affect the evolution and distribution of syntactic variants in the world’s languages. Little is known about the neural processes involved in planning to speak. This study uses eye-tracking and EEG to show that speakers prepare sentence structures in different ways and rely on alpha and theta oscillations differently when planning sentences with and without agent case marking, challenging theories on how production and comprehension affect language evolution.
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32
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Morett LM, Landi N, Irwin J, McPartland JC. N400 amplitude, latency, and variability reflect temporal integration of beat gesture and pitch accent during language processing. Brain Res 2020; 1747:147059. [PMID: 32818527 PMCID: PMC7493208 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2020.147059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2020] [Revised: 08/03/2020] [Accepted: 08/12/2020] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
This study examines how across-trial (average) and trial-by-trial (variability in) amplitude and latency of the N400 event-related potential (ERP) reflect temporal integration of pitch accent and beat gesture. Thirty native English speakers viewed videos of a talker producing sentences with beat gesture co-occurring with a pitch accented focus word (synchronous), beat gesture co-occurring with the onset of a subsequent non-focused word (asynchronous), or the absence of beat gesture (no beat). Across trials, increased amplitude and earlier latency were observed when beat gesture was temporally asynchronous with pitch accenting than when it was temporally synchronous with pitch accenting or absent. Moreover, temporal asynchrony of beat gesture relative to pitch accent increased trial-by-trial variability of N400 amplitude and latency and influenced the relationship between across-trial and trial-by-trial N400 latency. These results indicate that across-trial and trial-by-trial amplitude and latency of the N400 ERP reflect temporal integration of beat gesture and pitch accent during language comprehension, supporting extension of the integrated systems hypothesis of gesture-speech processing and neural noise theories to focus processing in typical adult populations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nicole Landi
- Haskins Laboratories, University of Connecticut, United States
| | - Julia Irwin
- Haskins Laboratories, Southern Connecticut State University, United States
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33
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Mousavi N, Nazari MA, Babapour J, Jahan A. Electroencephalographic characteristics of word finding during phonological and semantic verbal fluency tasks. Neuropsychopharmacol Rep 2020; 40:254-261. [PMID: 32757253 PMCID: PMC7722674 DOI: 10.1002/npr2.12129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2020] [Revised: 06/06/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Aims Verbal Fluency is sensitive to brain damage and is employed to assess language abilities like the size of vocabulary and the semantic‐lexical networks’ integrity and executive functioning abilities particularly inhibition, working memory, and self‐monitoring. Various studies revealed oscillatory changes related to word retrieval during different tasks. However, there are not enough studies on electroencephalographic characteristics of word retrieval routes (phonological or semantic pathway) during free recall. The purpose of our study was to investigate electroencephalography power relationship with semantic and phonological word finding routes during verbal fluency. Methods In this within‐subject study, the electroencephalography of 20 healthy participants was recorded during written category and letter fluency tasks and compared with the rest state. Absolute power of the signals in delta (1‐3.5 Hz), theta (4‐7.5 Hz), alpha (8‐12 Hz), and beta (12.5‐30 Hz) was calculated in three lobes (frontal, parietal, and temporal). Results A repeated measures ANOVA showed significant interaction of condition × lobe × frequency × side (P < .001). Post hoc test for each lobe showed significant changes in the absolute power of delta, theta and beta for frontal, delta and theta for parietal, and theta and beta for temporal lobes (P‐values < .05). Conclusion Searching the words by phonological entries is associated with decreased beta and increased theta in left frontal lobe. These changes are not necessary for semantic word retrieval strategy. Word retrieval either by phonological entries or semantic categories is accompanied by increased delta in frontal and parietal lobes. Decreased beta and increased theta bands in the left frontal lobe are associated with phonological word retrieval strategy while during semantic word finding, increased beta was observed in the left temporal lobe.![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Najva Mousavi
- Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
| | | | - Jalil Babapour
- Psychology Department, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Ali Jahan
- Department of Speech Therapy, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
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34
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Diminished large-scale functional brain networks in absolute pitch during the perception of naturalistic music and audiobooks. Neuroimage 2020; 216:116513. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2019] [Revised: 12/16/2019] [Accepted: 12/31/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
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35
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Scaltritti M, Job R, Alario FX, Sulpizio S. On the Boundaries between Decision and Action: Effector-selective Lateralization of Beta-frequency Power Is Modulated by the Lexical Frequency of Printed Words. J Cogn Neurosci 2020; 32:2131-2144. [PMID: 32662730 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Current computational and neuroscientific models of decision-making posit a discrete, serial processing distinction between upstream decisional stages and downstream processes of motor-response implementation. We investigated this framework in the context of two-alternative forced-choice tasks on linguistic stimuli, words and pseudowords. In two experiments, we assessed the impact of lexical frequency and action semantics on two effector-selective EEG indexes of motor-response activation: the lateralized readiness potential and the lateralization of beta-frequency power. This allowed us to track potentially continuous streams of processing progressively mapping the evaluation of linguistic stimuli onto corresponding response channels. Whereas action semantics showed no influence on EEG indexes of motor-response activation, lexical frequency affected the lateralization of response-locked beta-frequency power. We argue that these observations point toward a continuity between linguistic processing of word input stimuli and implementation of corresponding choice in terms of motor behavior. This interpretation challenges the commonly held assumption of a discrete processing distinction between decisional and motor-response processes in the context of decisions based on symbolic stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Scaltritti
- Università degli Studi di Trento, Italy.,Fondazione Marica De Vincenzi, ONLUS, Trento, Italy
| | - Remo Job
- Università degli Studi di Trento, Italy.,Fondazione Marica De Vincenzi, ONLUS, Trento, Italy
| | - F-Xavier Alario
- Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, LPC, France.,University of Pittsburgh
| | - Simone Sulpizio
- Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy.,Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Italy
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36
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Sheng J, Zheng L, Lyu B, Cen Z, Qin L, Tan LH, Huang MX, Ding N, Gao JH. The Cortical Maps of Hierarchical Linguistic Structures during Speech Perception. Cereb Cortex 2020; 29:3232-3240. [PMID: 30137249 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhy191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2018] [Revised: 06/27/2018] [Accepted: 07/20/2018] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The hierarchical nature of language requires human brain to internally parse connected-speech and incrementally construct abstract linguistic structures. Recent research revealed multiple neural processing timescales underlying grammar-based configuration of linguistic hierarchies. However, little is known about where in the whole cerebral cortex such temporally scaled neural processes occur. This study used novel magnetoencephalography source imaging techniques combined with a unique language stimulation paradigm to segregate cortical maps synchronized to 3 levels of linguistic units (i.e., words, phrases, and sentences). Notably, distinct ensembles of cortical loci were identified to feature structures at different levels. The superior temporal gyrus was found to be involved in processing all 3 linguistic levels while distinct ensembles of other brain regions were recruited to encode each linguistic level. Neural activities in the right motor cortex only followed the rhythm of monosyllabic words which have clear acoustic boundaries, whereas the left anterior temporal lobe and the left inferior frontal gyrus were selectively recruited in processing phrases or sentences. Our results ground a multi-timescale hierarchical neural processing of speech in neuroanatomical reality with specific sets of cortices responsible for different levels of linguistic units.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingwei Sheng
- Beijing City Key Lab for Medical Physics and Engineering, Institution of Heavy Ion Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China.,Center for MRI Research, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China.,McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Li Zheng
- Center for MRI Research, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China.,McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China.,Department of Biomedical Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Bingjiang Lyu
- Centre for Speech, Language and the Brain, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Zhehang Cen
- Beijing City Key Lab for Medical Physics and Engineering, Institution of Heavy Ion Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China.,Center for MRI Research, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China.,McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Lang Qin
- Center for MRI Research, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China.,Department of Linguistics, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Li Hai Tan
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.,Center for Language and Brain, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Ming-Xiong Huang
- Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.,Radiology, Research, and Psychiatry Services, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Nai Ding
- College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.,Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.,State Key Laboratory of Industrial Control Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Jia-Hong Gao
- Beijing City Key Lab for Medical Physics and Engineering, Institution of Heavy Ion Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China.,Center for MRI Research, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China.,McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China.,Center for Language and Brain, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.,Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Affective and Social Cognitive Science, Institute of Affective and Social Neuroscience, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
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37
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Archer K, Pammer K, Vidyasagar TR. A Temporal Sampling Basis for Visual Processing in Developmental Dyslexia. Front Hum Neurosci 2020; 14:213. [PMID: 32733217 PMCID: PMC7360833 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.00213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2019] [Accepted: 05/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Knowledge of oscillatory entrainment and its fundamental role in cognitive and behavioral processing has increasingly been applied to research in the field of reading and developmental dyslexia. Growing evidence indicates that oscillatory entrainment to theta frequency spoken language in the auditory domain, along with cross-frequency theta-gamma coupling, support phonological processing (i.e., cognitive encoding of linguistic knowledge gathered from speech) which is required for reading. This theory is called the temporal sampling framework (TSF) and can extend to developmental dyslexia, such that inadequate temporal sampling of speech-sounds in people with dyslexia results in poor theta oscillatory entrainment in the auditory domain, and thus a phonological processing deficit which hinders reading ability. We suggest that inadequate theta oscillations in the visual domain might account for the many magno-dorsal processing, oculomotor control and visual deficits seen in developmental dyslexia. We propose two possible models of a magno-dorsal visual correlate to the auditory TSF: (1) A direct correlate that involves "bottom-up" magnocellular oscillatory entrainment of the visual domain that occurs when magnocellular populations phase lock to theta frequency fixations during reading and (2) an inverse correlate whereby attending to text triggers "top-down" low gamma signals from higher-order visual processing areas, thereby organizing magnocellular populations to synchronize to a theta frequency to drive the temporal control of oculomotor movements and capturing of letter images at a higher frequency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kim Archer
- Applied Psychology and Human Factors Laboratory, School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
| | - Kristen Pammer
- Applied Psychology and Human Factors Laboratory, School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
| | - Trichur Raman Vidyasagar
- Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, Australia
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38
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Poulisse C, Wheeldon L, Limachya R, Mazaheri A, Segaert K. The oscillatory mechanisms associated with syntactic binding in healthy ageing. Neuropsychologia 2020; 146:107523. [PMID: 32553723 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2019] [Revised: 06/02/2020] [Accepted: 06/04/2020] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Older adults frequently display differential patterns of brain activity compared to young adults in the same task, alongside widespread neuroanatomical changes. Differing functional activity patterns in older adults are commonly interpreted as being compensatory (e.g., Cabeza et al., 2002). We examined the oscillatory activity in the EEG during syntactic binding in young and older adults, as well as the relationship between oscillatory activity and behavioural performance on a syntactic judgement task within the older adults. 19 young and 41 older adults listened to two-word sentences that differentially load onto morpho-syntactic binding: correct syntactic binding (morpho-syntactically correct, e.g., "I dotch"); incorrect syntactic binding (morpho-syntactic agreement violation, e.g., "they dotches") and no syntactic binding (minimizing morpho-syntactic binding, e.g., "dotches spuff"). Behavioural performance, assessed in a syntactic judgement task, was characterized by inter-individual variability especially in older adults, with accuracy ranging from 76 to 100% in young adults and 58-100% in older adults. Compared to young adults, older adults were slower, but not less accurate. Functional neural signatures for syntactic binding were assessed as the difference in oscillatory power between the correct and no syntactic binding condition. In older adults, syntactic binding was associated with a smaller increase in theta (4-7 Hz), alpha (8-12 Hz) and beta (15-20 Hz) power in a time window surrounding the second word. There was a significant difference between the older and young adults: in the alpha range, the condition difference seemed to be in the opposite direction for older versus young adults. Our findings thus suggest that the neural signature associated with syntactic binding in older adults is different from young adults. However, we found no evidence of a significant association between behavioural performance and the neural signatures of syntactic binding for older adults, which does not readily support the predictions of compensatory models of language and ageing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte Poulisse
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2SA, United Kingdom.
| | - Linda Wheeldon
- Department of Foreign Languages and Translation, University of Agder, Varemottak Universitetsveien 25 D, 4630, Kristiansand, Norway.
| | - Rupali Limachya
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2SA, United Kingdom.
| | - Ali Mazaheri
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2SA, United Kingdom; Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2SA, United Kingdom.
| | - Katrien Segaert
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2SA, United Kingdom; Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2SA, United Kingdom.
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39
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Baroni F, Morillon B, Trébuchon A, Liégeois-Chauvel C, Olasagasti I, Giraud AL. Converging intracortical signatures of two separated processing timescales in human early auditory cortex. Neuroimage 2020; 218:116882. [PMID: 32439539 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2019] [Revised: 03/30/2020] [Accepted: 04/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Neural oscillations in auditory cortex are argued to support parsing and representing speech constituents at their corresponding temporal scales. Yet, how incoming sensory information interacts with ongoing spontaneous brain activity, what features of the neuronal microcircuitry underlie spontaneous and stimulus-evoked spectral fingerprints, and what these fingerprints entail for stimulus encoding, remain largely open questions. We used a combination of human invasive electrophysiology, computational modeling and decoding techniques to assess the information encoding properties of brain activity and to relate them to a plausible underlying neuronal microarchitecture. We analyzed intracortical auditory EEG activity from 10 patients while they were listening to short sentences. Pre-stimulus neural activity in early auditory cortical regions often exhibited power spectra with a shoulder in the delta range and a small bump in the beta range. Speech decreased power in the beta range, and increased power in the delta-theta and gamma ranges. Using multivariate machine learning techniques, we assessed the spectral profile of information content for two aspects of speech processing: detection and discrimination. We obtained better phase than power information decoding, and a bimodal spectral profile of information content with better decoding at low (delta-theta) and high (gamma) frequencies than at intermediate (beta) frequencies. These experimental data were reproduced by a simple rate model made of two subnetworks with different timescales, each composed of coupled excitatory and inhibitory units, and connected via a negative feedback loop. Modeling and experimental results were similar in terms of pre-stimulus spectral profile (except for the iEEG beta bump), spectral modulations with speech, and spectral profile of information content. Altogether, we provide converging evidence from both univariate spectral analysis and decoding approaches for a dual timescale processing infrastructure in human auditory cortex, and show that it is consistent with the dynamics of a simple rate model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabiano Baroni
- Department of Fundamental Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; School of Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
| | - Benjamin Morillon
- Aix Marseille Université, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Institut de Neurosciences des Systémes (INS), Marseille, France
| | - Agnès Trébuchon
- Aix Marseille Université, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Institut de Neurosciences des Systémes (INS), Marseille, France; Clinical Neurophysiology and Epileptology Department, Timone Hospital, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Marseille, Marseille, France
| | - Catherine Liégeois-Chauvel
- Aix Marseille Université, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Institut de Neurosciences des Systémes (INS), Marseille, France; Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA
| | - Itsaso Olasagasti
- Department of Fundamental Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Anne-Lise Giraud
- Department of Fundamental Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
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40
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Liu H, Li B, Wang X, He Y. Role of joint language control during cross-language communication: evidence from cross-frequency coupling. Cogn Neurodyn 2020; 15:191-205. [PMID: 33854639 DOI: 10.1007/s11571-020-09594-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2019] [Revised: 04/17/2020] [Accepted: 04/29/2020] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
How do bilingual interlocutors inhibit interference from the non-target language to achieve brain-to-brain information exchange in a task to simulate a bilingual speaker-listener interaction. In the current study, two electroencephalogram devices were employed to record pairs of participants' performances in a joint language switching task. Twenty-eight (14 pairs) unbalanced Chinese-English bilinguals (L1 Chinese) were instructed to name pictures in the appropriate language according to the cue. The phase-amplitude coupling analysis was employed to reveal the large-scale brain network responsible for joint language control between interlocutors. We found that (1) speakers and listeners coordinately suppressed cross-language interference through cross-frequency coupling, as shown in the increased delta/theta phase-amplitude and delta/alpha phase-amplitude coupling when switching to L2 than switching to L1; (2) speakers and listeners were both able to simultaneously inhibit cross-person item-level interference which was demonstrated by stronger cross-frequency coupling in the cross person condition compared to the within person condition. These results indicate that current bilingual models (e.g., the inhibitory control model) should incorporate mechanisms that address inhibiting interference sourced in both language and person (i.e., cross-language and cross-person item-level interference) synchronously through joint language control in dynamic cross-language communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huanhuan Liu
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029 China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875 China.,Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neurosience, Liaoning Province, Dalian, 116029 China
| | - Baike Li
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029 China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875 China
| | - Xin Wang
- Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Yuying He
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029 China
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41
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Scaltritti M, Suitner C, Peressotti F. Language and motor processing in reading and typing: Insights from beta-frequency band power modulations. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2020; 204:104758. [PMID: 32032864 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2020.104758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2019] [Revised: 12/30/2019] [Accepted: 01/20/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Power modulations of the EEG activity within the beta-frequency band were investigated across silent-reading and copy-typing tasks featuring emotionally negative and neutral words in order to clarify the interplay between language and motor processing. In reading, a single desynchronization surfaced 200-600 ms after target presentation, with a stronger power-decrease in lower beta frequencies for neutral compared to negative words. The typing task revealed two distinct desynchronizations. A first one surfaced within spatio-temporal coordinates closely resembling those of the desynchronization observed in the reading task, thus pointing towards a common origin at the level of linguistic processing of the input word stimuli. Additionally, a second motor-related desynchronization surfaced during the typed response, from 700 to 2000 ms after stimulus onset. Here, words' emotional connotation affected the higher beta band. The comparison between tasks thus suggests that different beta desynchronizations reflect distinct EEG landmarks for language and motor processing. Further, the effect of emotional connotation on the motor-related desynchronization of the typing task suggests that language processing can propagate its influence onto the stage of motor response execution, pointing against a serial flow of information from language onto motor processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Scaltritti
- Dipartimento di Psicologia e Scienze Cognitive, Università degli Studi di Trento, Corso Bettini 84, 38068 Rovereto, TN, Italy; Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padova, PD, Italy.
| | - Caterina Suitner
- Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padova, PD, Italy.
| | - Francesca Peressotti
- Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padova, PD, Italy.
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42
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Micheli C, Schepers IM, Ozker M, Yoshor D, Beauchamp MS, Rieger JW. Electrocorticography reveals continuous auditory and visual speech tracking in temporal and occipital cortex. Eur J Neurosci 2020; 51:1364-1376. [PMID: 29888819 PMCID: PMC6289876 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.13992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2017] [Revised: 05/19/2018] [Accepted: 05/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
During natural speech perception, humans must parse temporally continuous auditory and visual speech signals into sequences of words. However, most studies of speech perception present only single words or syllables. We used electrocorticography (subdural electrodes implanted on the brains of epileptic patients) to investigate the neural mechanisms for processing continuous audiovisual speech signals consisting of individual sentences. Using partial correlation analysis, we found that posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) and medial occipital cortex tracked both the auditory and the visual speech envelopes. These same regions, as well as inferior temporal cortex, responded more strongly to a dynamic video of a talking face compared to auditory speech paired with a static face. Occipital cortex and pSTG carry temporal information about both auditory and visual speech dynamics. Visual speech tracking in pSTG may be a mechanism for enhancing perception of degraded auditory speech.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristiano Micheli
- Department of Psychology, Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, Germany
- Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Inga M Schepers
- Department of Psychology, Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, Germany
- Research Center Neurosensory Science, Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Müge Ozker
- Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Daniel Yoshor
- Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
- Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, Texas
| | | | - Jochem W Rieger
- Department of Psychology, Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, Germany
- Research Center Neurosensory Science, Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, Germany
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43
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Theta band (4~8 Hz) oscillations reflect syllables processing in Chinese spoken word production. ACTA PSYCHOLOGICA SINICA 2020. [DOI: 10.3724/sp.j.1041.2020.01199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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44
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Weissbart H, Kandylaki KD, Reichenbach T. Cortical Tracking of Surprisal during Continuous Speech Comprehension. J Cogn Neurosci 2020; 32:155-166. [DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Speech comprehension requires rapid online processing of a continuous acoustic signal to extract structure and meaning. Previous studies on sentence comprehension have found neural correlates of the predictability of a word given its context, as well as of the precision of such a prediction. However, they have focused on single sentences and on particular words in those sentences. Moreover, they compared neural responses to words with low and high predictability, as well as with low and high precision. However, in speech comprehension, a listener hears many successive words whose predictability and precision vary over a large range. Here, we show that cortical activity in different frequency bands tracks word surprisal in continuous natural speech and that this tracking is modulated by precision. We obtain these results through quantifying surprisal and precision from naturalistic speech using a deep neural network and through relating these speech features to EEG responses of human volunteers acquired during auditory story comprehension. We find significant cortical tracking of surprisal at low frequencies, including the delta band as well as in the higher frequency beta and gamma bands, and observe that the tracking is modulated by the precision. Our results pave the way to further investigate the neurobiology of natural speech comprehension.
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45
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Prystauka Y, Lewis AG. THE POWER OF NEURAL OSCILLATIONS TO INFORM SENTENCE COMPREHENSION: A LINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVE. LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS COMPASS 2019; 13:e12347. [PMID: 33042211 PMCID: PMC7546279 DOI: 10.1111/lnc3.12347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
The field of psycholinguistics is currently experiencing an explosion of interest in the analysis of neural oscillations - rhythmic brain activity synchronized at different temporal and spatial levels. Given that language comprehension relies on a myriad of processes, which are carried out in parallel in distributed brain networks, there is hope that this methodology might bring the field closer to understanding some of the more basic (spatially and temporally distributed, yet at the same time often overlapping) neural computations that support language function. In this review we discuss existing proposals linking oscillatory dynamics in different frequency bands to basic neural computations, and review relevant theories suggesting associations between band-specific oscillations and higher-level cognitive processes. More or less consistent patterns of oscillatory activity related to certain types of linguistic processing can already be derived from the evidence that has accumulated over the past few decades. The centerpiece of the current review is a synthesis of such patterns grouped by linguistic phenomenon. We restrict our review to evidence linking measures of oscillatory power to the comprehension of sentences, as well as linguistically (and/or pragmatically) more complex structures. For each grouping, we provide a brief summary and a table of associated oscillatory signatures that a psycholinguist might expect to find when employing a particular linguistic task. Summarizing across different paradigms, we conclude that a handful of basic neural oscillatory mechanisms are likely recruited in different ways and at different times for carrying out a variety of linguistic computations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanina Prystauka
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut
- Connecticut Institute for the Brain and Cognitive Sciences
| | - Ashley Glen Lewis
- Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
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46
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Frequency-specific brain dynamics related to prediction during language comprehension. Neuroimage 2019; 198:283-295. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.04.083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2018] [Revised: 04/17/2019] [Accepted: 04/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
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47
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Gehrig J, Michalareas G, Forster MT, Lei J, Hok P, Laufs H, Senft C, Seifert V, Schoffelen JM, Hanslmayr S, Kell CA. Low-Frequency Oscillations Code Speech during Verbal Working Memory. J Neurosci 2019; 39:6498-6512. [PMID: 31196933 PMCID: PMC6697399 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0018-19.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2019] [Revised: 05/09/2019] [Accepted: 05/10/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The way the human brain represents speech in memory is still unknown. An obvious characteristic of speech is its evolvement over time. During speech processing, neural oscillations are modulated by the temporal properties of the acoustic speech signal, but also acquired knowledge on the temporal structure of language influences speech perception-related brain activity. This suggests that speech could be represented in the temporal domain, a form of representation that the brain also uses to encode autobiographic memories. Empirical evidence for such a memory code is lacking. We investigated the nature of speech memory representations using direct cortical recordings in the left perisylvian cortex during delayed sentence reproduction in female and male patients undergoing awake tumor surgery. Our results reveal that the brain endogenously represents speech in the temporal domain. Temporal pattern similarity analyses revealed that the phase of frontotemporal low-frequency oscillations, primarily in the beta range, represents sentence identity in working memory. The positive relationship between beta power during working memory and task performance suggests that working memory representations benefit from increased phase separation.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Memory is an endogenous source of information based on experience. While neural oscillations encode autobiographic memories in the temporal domain, little is known on their contribution to memory representations of human speech. Our electrocortical recordings in participants who maintain sentences in memory identify the phase of left frontotemporal beta oscillations as the most prominent information carrier of sentence identity. These observations provide evidence for a theoretical model on speech memory representations and explain why interfering with beta oscillations in the left inferior frontal cortex diminishes verbal working memory capacity. The lack of sentence identity coding at the syllabic rate suggests that sentences are represented in memory in a more abstract form compared with speech coding during speech perception and production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes Gehrig
- Department of Neurology, Goethe University, 60528 Frankfurt, Germany
| | | | | | - Juan Lei
- Department of Neurology, Goethe University, 60528 Frankfurt, Germany
- Institute for Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Goethe University, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Pavel Hok
- Department of Neurology, Goethe University, 60528 Frankfurt, Germany
- Department of Neurology, Palacky University and University Hospital Olomouc, 77147 Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Helmut Laufs
- Department of Neurology, Goethe University, 60528 Frankfurt, Germany
- Department of Neurology, Christian-Albrechts-University, 24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Christian Senft
- Department of Neurosurgery, Goethe University, 60528 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Volker Seifert
- Department of Neurosurgery, Goethe University, 60528 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Jan-Mathijs Schoffelen
- Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, 6525 HR Nijmegen, The Netherlands, and
| | - Simon Hanslmayr
- School of Psychology at University of Birmingham, B15 2TT Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Christian A Kell
- Department of Neurology, Goethe University, 60528 Frankfurt, Germany,
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48
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Parietal low beta rhythm provides a dynamical substrate for a working memory buffer. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:16613-16620. [PMID: 31371513 PMCID: PMC6697799 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1902305116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Working memory (WM) is a component of the brain's memory systems vital for interpretation of sequential sensory inputs and consequent decision making. Anatomically, WM is highly distributed over the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the parietal cortex (PC). Here we present a biophysically detailed dynamical systems model for a WM buffer situated in the PC, making use of dynamical properties believed to be unique to this area. We show that the natural beta1 rhythm (12 to 20 Hz) of the PC provides a substrate for an episodic buffer that can synergistically combine executive commands (e.g., from PFC) and multimodal information into a flexible and updatable representation of recent sensory inputs. This representation is sensitive to distractors, it allows for a readout mechanism, and it can be readily terminated by executive input. The model provides a demonstration of how information can be usefully stored in the temporal patterns of activity in a neuronal network rather than just synaptic weights between the neurons in that network.
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49
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Beese C, Vassileiou B, Friederici AD, Meyer L. Age Differences in Encoding-Related Alpha Power Reflect Sentence Comprehension Difficulties. Front Aging Neurosci 2019; 11:183. [PMID: 31379561 PMCID: PMC6654000 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2019.00183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2019] [Accepted: 07/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
When sentence processing taxes verbal working memory, comprehension difficulties arise. This is specifically the case when processing resources decline with advancing adult age. Such decline likely affects the encoding of sentences into working memory, which constitutes the basis for successful comprehension. To assess age differences in encoding-related electrophysiological activity, we recorded the electroencephalogram from three age groups (24, 43, and 65 years). Using an auditory sentence comprehension task, age differences in encoding-related oscillatory power were examined with respect to the accuracy of the given response. That is, the difference in oscillatory power between correctly and incorrectly encoded sentences, yielding subsequent memory effects (SME), was compared across age groups. Across age groups, we observed an age-related SME inversion in the alpha band from a power decrease in younger adults to a power increase in older adults. We suggest that this SME inversion underlies age-related comprehension difficulties. With alpha being commonly linked to inhibitory processes, this shift may reflect a change in the cortical inhibition-disinhibition balance. A cortical disinhibition may imply enriched sentence encoding in younger adults. In contrast, resource limitations in older adults may necessitate an increase in cortical inhibition during sentence encoding to avoid an information overload. Overall, our findings tentatively suggest that age-related comprehension difficulties are associated with alterations to the electrophysiological dynamics subserving general higher cognitive functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Beese
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Benedict Vassileiou
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Angela D. Friederici
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Lars Meyer
- Research Group Language Cycles, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
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Fyshe A, Sudre G, Wehbe L, Rafidi N, Mitchell TM. The lexical semantics of adjective-noun phrases in the human brain. Hum Brain Mapp 2019; 40:4457-4469. [PMID: 31313467 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2019] [Revised: 06/14/2019] [Accepted: 06/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
As a person reads, the brain performs complex operations to create higher order semantic representations from individual words. While these steps are effortless for competent readers, we are only beginning to understand how the brain performs these actions. Here, we explore lexical semantics using magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings of people reading adjective-noun phrases presented one word at a time. We track the neural representation of single word representations over time, through different brain regions. Our results reveal two novel findings: (a) a neural representation of the adjective is present during noun presentation, but this representation is different from that observed during adjective presentation and (b) the neural representation of adjective semantics observed during adjective reading is reactivated after phrase reading, with remarkable consistency. We also note that while the semantic representation of the adjective during the reading of the adjective is very distributed, the later representations are concentrated largely to temporal and frontal areas previously associated with composition. Taken together, these results paint a picture of information flow in the brain as phrases are read and understood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alona Fyshe
- Department of Computing Science & Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Gustavo Sudre
- National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Leila Wehbe
- Machine Learning Department, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Nicole Rafidi
- Machine Learning Department, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Tom M Mitchell
- Machine Learning Department, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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