1
|
Ju P, Zhou Z, Xie Y, Hui J, Yang X. Music training is associated with better audio-visual integration in Chinese language. Int J Psychophysiol 2024; 203:112414. [PMID: 39134177 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2024.112414] [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: 01/28/2024] [Revised: 06/20/2024] [Accepted: 08/09/2024] [Indexed: 08/15/2024]
Abstract
In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether long-term music training could improve audio-visual speech integration in Chinese, using event-related brain potential (ERP) measurements. Specifically, we recruited musicians and non-musicians to participate in our experiment where visual Chinese characters were presented simultaneously with congruent or incongruent speech sounds. In order to maintain participants' focus on both auditory and visual modalities, they were instructed to perform a probe detection task. Our study revealed that for the musicians, audiovisual incongruent stimuli elicited larger N1 and N400 amplitudes compared to audiovisual congruent stimuli. Conversely, for the non-musicians, only a larger N400 amplitude was observed for incongruent stimuli relative to congruent stimuli, without a significant difference in N1 amplitude. Furthermore, correlation analyses indicated that more years of music training was associated with a larger N1 effect for the musicians. These results suggest that musicians were capable of detecting character-speech sound incongruence at an earlier time window compared to non-musicians. Overall, our findings provide compelling evidence that music training is associated with better integration of visual characters and auditory speech sounds in language processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ping Ju
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Zihang Zhou
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China; School of foreign languages, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Yuhan Xie
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Jiaying Hui
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaohong Yang
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Kong L, Sun Y, Jiang X. Exploring Pragmatic Factors on the Logical Relationships of Conditional Reasoning: A Study of Counterfactual and Hypothetical Conditionals. Behav Sci (Basel) 2024; 14:686. [PMID: 39199082 PMCID: PMC11351385 DOI: 10.3390/bs14080686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2024] [Revised: 08/02/2024] [Accepted: 08/05/2024] [Indexed: 09/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Previous theories have established the mental model activation of processing different types of conditionals, stating that counterfactual conditionals expressing events that contradict known facts (e.g., "If it had rained, then they would not go to the park.") are considered to trigger two mental models: (1) a hypothetical but factually wrong model (e.g., "rain" and "did not go to the park") and (2) a corresponding real-world model (e.g., "did not rain" and "went to the park"). This study aimed to investigate whether pragmatic factors differentially influence readers' comprehension and distinction between counterfactual and hypothetical conditional sentences in Mandarin Chinese. Participants were required to read and judge the comprehensibility of Chinese hypothetical and counterfactual conditionals, which were different in temporal indicators (past vs. future temporal indicators) in the antecedent. Different polarities (with vs. without negators) and different moving directions (different directional verbs: lai2 [come] vs. qu4 [go]) in the consequent were also manipulated. Linear mixed-effects models (LMEM) revealed that hypothetical conditionals (with future temporal indicators) were more comprehensible than counterfactual conditionals (with past temporal indicators). The semantic similarities within the subordinate clause revealed future temporal indicators had higher lexical-semantic co-occurrence than past indicators, suggesting that temporal indicators impact comprehension partly through lexical semantics in the premise, and hypothetical conditionals are more easily processed. However, the semantic similarity analysis of the main and the subordinate clauses showed no effect of temporal indicators, suggesting that lexical-semantic co-occurrence across clauses may not substantially contribute to the distinction between hypothetical conditionals and counterfactual conditionals. In conclusion, this study offers insights into the comprehension of Chinese conditional sentences by shedding light on the pragmatic factors influencing the activation of different mental models.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lingda Kong
- Institute of Corpus Studies & Applications, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai 201620, China; (L.K.); (Y.S.)
| | - Yanting Sun
- Institute of Corpus Studies & Applications, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai 201620, China; (L.K.); (Y.S.)
| | - Xiaoming Jiang
- Institute of Linguistics and Key Laboratory of Language Sciences and Multilingual Artificial Intelligence, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai 201620, China
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Wolpert M, Zhang H, Baum S, Steinhauer K. Native and non-native parsing of adjective placement - An ERP study of Mandarin and English sentence processing. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2024; 254:105427. [PMID: 38852263 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2024.105427] [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: 04/18/2023] [Revised: 05/28/2024] [Accepted: 05/29/2024] [Indexed: 06/11/2024]
Abstract
Adjectives in English and Mandarin are typically prenominal, but the corresponding grammatical rules vary in subtle ways. Our event-related potential (ERP) study shows that native speakers of both languages rely on similar processing mechanisms when reading sentences with anomalous noun-adjective order (e.g., the vase *white) in their first language, reflected by a biphasic N400-P600 profile. Only Mandarin native speakers showed an additional N400 on grammatical adjectives (e.g., the white vase), potentially due to atypical word-by-word presentation of lexicalized compounds. English native speakers with advanced Mandarin proficiency were tested in both languages. They processed ungrammatical noun-adjective pairs in English like English monolinguals (N400-P600), but only exhibited an N400 in Mandarin. The absent P600 effect corresponded to their (surprisingly) low proficiency with noun-adjective violations in Mandarin, questioning simple rule transfer from English grammar.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Max Wolpert
- Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China; Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Room 302 Irving Ludmer Building, 1033 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1A1, Canada; Centre for Research on Brain, Language and Music, 2001 Av. McGill College #6, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1G1, Canada.
| | - Hui Zhang
- School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Nanjing Normal University, Suiyuan Campus, Building 500, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210024, China.
| | - Shari Baum
- Centre for Research on Brain, Language and Music, 2001 Av. McGill College #6, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1G1, Canada; School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill University, 2001 Av. McGill College #8, Montréal, Quebec H3A 1G1, Canada.
| | - Karsten Steinhauer
- Centre for Research on Brain, Language and Music, 2001 Av. McGill College #6, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1G1, Canada; School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill University, 2001 Av. McGill College #8, Montréal, Quebec H3A 1G1, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Asaadi AH, Amiri SH, Bosaghzadeh A, Ebrahimpour R. Effects and prediction of cognitive load on encoding model of brain response to auditory and linguistic stimuli in educational multimedia. Sci Rep 2024; 14:9133. [PMID: 38644370 PMCID: PMC11033259 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-59411-x] [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: 03/27/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 04/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Multimedia is extensively used for educational purposes. However, certain types of multimedia lack proper design, which could impose a cognitive load on the user. Therefore, it is essential to predict cognitive load and understand how it impairs brain functioning. Participants watched a version of educational multimedia that applied Mayer's principles, followed by a version that did not. Meanwhile, their electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded. Subsequently, they participated in a post-test and completed a self-reported cognitive load questionnaire. The audio envelope and word frequency were extracted from the multimedia, and the temporal response functions (TRFs) were obtained using a linear encoding model. We observed that the behavioral data are different between the two groups and the TRFs of the two multimedia versions were different. We saw changes in the amplitude and latencies of both early and late components. In addition, correlations were found between behavioral data and the amplitude and latencies of TRF components. Cognitive load decreased participants' attention to the multimedia, and semantic processing of words also occurred with a delay and smaller amplitude. Hence, encoding models provide insights into the temporal and spatial mapping of the cognitive load activity, which could help us detect and reduce cognitive load in potential environments such as educational multimedia or simulators for different purposes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Amir Hosein Asaadi
- Department of Computer Engineering, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
- Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM), School of Cognitive Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - S Hamid Amiri
- Department of Computer Engineering, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
| | - Alireza Bosaghzadeh
- Department of Computer Engineering, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
| | - Reza Ebrahimpour
- Center for Cognitive Science, Institute for Convergence Science and Technology (ICST), Sharif University of Technology, P.O. Box:14588-89694, Tehran, Iran.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Coderre EL, Cohn N. Individual differences in the neural dynamics of visual narrative comprehension: The effects of proficiency and age of acquisition. Psychon Bull Rev 2024; 31:89-103. [PMID: 37578688 PMCID: PMC10866750 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-023-02334-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023]
Abstract
Understanding visual narrative sequences, as found in comics, is known to recruit similar cognitive mechanisms to verbal language. As measured by event-related potentials (ERPs), these manifest as initial negativities (N400, LAN) and subsequent positivities (P600). While these components are thought to index discrete processing stages, they differentially arise across participants for any given stimulus. In language contexts, proficiency modulates brain responses, with smaller N400 effects and larger P600 effects appearing with increasing proficiency. In visual narratives, recent work has also emphasized the role of proficiency in neural response patterns. We thus explored whether individual differences in proficiency modulate neural responses to visual narrative sequencing in similar ways as in language. We combined ERP data from 12 studies examining semantic and/or grammatical processing of visual narrative sequences. Using linear mixed effects modeling, we demonstrate differential effects of visual language proficiency and "age of acquisition" on N400 and P600 responses. Our results align with those reported in language contexts, providing further evidence for the similarity of linguistic and visual narrative processing, and emphasize the role of both proficiency and age of acquisition in visual narrative comprehension.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emily L Coderre
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Vermont, 489 Main St, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA
| | - Neil Cohn
- Department of Communication and Cognition, Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences, Tilburg Center for Cognition and Communication (TiCC), Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Kong L, Jiang Y, Huang Y, Jiang X. Temporal Shift Length and Antecedent Occurrence Likelihood Modulate Counterfactual Conditional Comprehension: Evidence from Event-Related Potentials. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1724. [PMID: 38137172 PMCID: PMC10741727 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13121724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2023] [Revised: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Counterfactual conditionals posit hypothetical scenarios in which antecedent events contradict reality. This study examined whether and how the processing difficulty of Chinese counterfactual conditionals (yaobushi, equivalent to if it had not been for in English) can be affected by the length of temporal shifts of the events across clauses and the likelihood of the antecedent occurrence. Participants read Chinese counterfactuals that contained either long (e.g., qunian-xianzai [last year-right now]) or short temporal shifts (e.g., zuotian-xianzai [yesterday-right now]) within highly likely (e.g., sign up for school activity) or less likely contexts (e.g., sign up for Arctic scientific research). ERP results revealed a significant N400 interaction between the temporal shift length and antecedent likelihood on the temporal indicators in the consequent and the sentence-ending verbs. Specifically, the less likely events elicited larger negativity than highly likely events with short temporal shifts on the temporal indicator. On the sentence-ending word, the long temporal shift elicited enlarged negativity than the short temporal shift when the antecedent was highly likely. These findings have two key implications regarding the interplay of implied causality and falsity constraints during counterfactual comprehension. First, salient falsity constraints can override effects of causal coherence on processing. Second, greater negativity for unlikely antecedents suggests that counterfactual markers concurrently activate factual and hypothetical representations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lingda Kong
- Institute of Corpus Studies & Applications, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai 200083, China; (L.K.); (Y.J.)
| | - Yong Jiang
- Institute of Corpus Studies & Applications, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai 200083, China; (L.K.); (Y.J.)
| | - Yan Huang
- School of Foreign Languages, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China;
| | - Xiaoming Jiang
- Institute of Linguistics, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai 200083, China
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Cabbai G, Brown CRH, Dance C, Simner J, Forster S. Mental imagery and visual attentional templates: A dissociation. Cortex 2023; 169:259-278. [PMID: 37967476 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.09.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2023] [Revised: 08/10/2023] [Accepted: 09/26/2023] [Indexed: 11/17/2023]
Abstract
There is a growing interest in the relationship between mental images and attentional templates as both are considered pictorial representations that involve similar neural mechanisms. Here, we investigated the role of mental imagery in the automatic implementation of attentional templates and their effect on involuntary attention. We developed a novel version of the contingent capture paradigm designed to encourage the generation of a new template on each trial and measure contingent spatial capture by a template-matching visual feature (color). Participants were required to search at four different locations for a specific object indicated at the start of each trial. Immediately prior to the search display, color cues were presented surrounding the potential target locations, one of which matched the target color (e.g., red for strawberry). Across three experiments, our task induced a robust contingent capture effect, reflected by faster responses when the target appeared in the location previously occupied by the target-matching cue. Contrary to our predictions, this effect remained consistent regardless of self-reported individual differences in visual mental imagery (Experiment 1, N = 216) or trial-by-trial variation of voluntary imagery vividness (Experiment 2, N = 121). Moreover, contingent capture was observed even among aphantasic participants, who report no imagery (Experiment 3, N = 91). The magnitude of the effect was not reduced in aphantasics compared to a control sample of non-aphantasics, although the two groups reported substantial differences in their search strategy and exhibited differences in overall speed and accuracy. Our results hence establish a dissociation between the generation and implementation of attentional templates for a visual feature (color) and subjectively experienced imagery.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Cabbai
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom; Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom.
| | | | - Carla Dance
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Julia Simner
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom; Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Sophie Forster
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom; Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Zhang Y, Ding R, Frassinelli D, Tuomainen J, Klavinskis-Whiting S, Vigliocco G. The role of multimodal cues in second language comprehension. Sci Rep 2023; 13:20824. [PMID: 38012193 PMCID: PMC10682458 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-47643-2] [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: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/29/2023] Open
Abstract
In face-to-face communication, multimodal cues such as prosody, gestures, and mouth movements can play a crucial role in language processing. While several studies have addressed how these cues contribute to native (L1) language processing, their impact on non-native (L2) comprehension is largely unknown. Comprehension of naturalistic language by L2 comprehenders may be supported by the presence of (at least some) multimodal cues, as these provide correlated and convergent information that may aid linguistic processing. However, it is also the case that multimodal cues may be less used by L2 comprehenders because linguistic processing is more demanding than for L1 comprehenders, leaving more limited resources for the processing of multimodal cues. In this study, we investigated how L2 comprehenders use multimodal cues in naturalistic stimuli (while participants watched videos of a speaker), as measured by electrophysiological responses (N400) to words, and whether there are differences between L1 and L2 comprehenders. We found that prosody, gestures, and informative mouth movements each reduced the N400 in L2, indexing easier comprehension. Nevertheless, L2 participants showed weaker effects for each cue compared to L1 comprehenders, with the exception of meaningful gestures and informative mouth movements. These results show that L2 comprehenders focus on specific multimodal cues - meaningful gestures that support meaningful interpretation and mouth movements that enhance the acoustic signal - while using multimodal cues to a lesser extent than L1 comprehenders overall.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ye Zhang
- Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Rong Ding
- Language and Computation in Neural Systems, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Diego Frassinelli
- Department of Linguistics, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Jyrki Tuomainen
- Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
9
|
Zhang X, Pan X, Yang X, Yang Y. Conventionality determines the time course of indirect replies comprehension: An ERP study. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2023; 239:105253. [PMID: 37001318 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2023.105253] [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: 07/29/2022] [Revised: 01/22/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Indirect language comprehension requires decoding both the literal meaning and the intended meaning of an utterance, in which pragmatic inference is involved. This study tests the role of conventionality in the time course of indirect reply processing by comparing conventional and non-conventional indirect replies with direct reply, respectively. We constructed discourses which consist of a context and a dialogue with one question (e.g., May I buy a necklace for you) and one reply (e.g., I really have too many). The reply utterance was segmented into three phrases and presented orderly for EEG recording, e.g., with the subject as the first phrase (e.g., I), the adverbial as the second phrase (e.g., really), and the predicate as the third phrase (e.g., have too many). Our results showed that for conventional indirect replies, the second phrase elicited a larger anterior negativity, and the third phrase elicited a larger anterior N400 compared with those in direct replies. By contrast, for the non-conventional indirect reply, only the third phrase elicited a larger late negativity than the direct replies. These findings suggest that conventionality determines the time course of the pragmatic inferences for the most relevant interpretation during indirect replies comprehension.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xiuping Zhang
- School of Psychology, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Xiaoxi Pan
- School of Psychology, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Xiaohong Yang
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China; Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Language Ability, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, China.
| | - Yufang Yang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Beijing 100101, China.
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Lazar-Kurz Z, Aziz J, McKearney KJ, Hamon-Hill C, MacDonald A, Newman A, Eskes G. Age-related changes to electroencephalographic markers of visuomotor error processing and learning in prism adaptation. Neuropsychologia 2023; 184:108546. [PMID: 36965703 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Revised: 02/20/2023] [Accepted: 03/17/2023] [Indexed: 03/27/2023]
Abstract
Aging is associated with changes in cognitive function, including declines in learning, memory, and executive function. Prism adaptation (PA) is a useful paradigm to measure changes in explicit and implicit mechanisms of visuo-motor learning with age, but the neural correlates are not well understood. In the present study, we used PA to investigate visuo-motor learning and error processing in older adults. Twenty older adults (56-85 yrs) and 20 younger adults (18-33 yrs) underwent a goal-oriented reaching task while wearing prism goggles as continuous EEG was recorded to examine neural correlates of error detection. We examined behavioural measures of PA, as well as ERP components previously found associated with the early and late phases of adaptation to visual distortion caused by the prism goggles. Our results indicate important age-related behavioural and neurophysiological differences. Older adults reached more slowly than younger adults but showed the same accuracy throughout the prism exposure. Older adults also displayed larger aftereffects, indicating preserved visuomotor adaptation. EEG results indicated similar initial error processing in older and younger adults, as measured by the feedback error related negativity (FRN). As seen previously in young adults, the P3a and P3b declined over the prism exposure phase in both groups. Older adults displayed reduced P3a amplitude compared to the younger group in the early phase of adaptation, however, suggesting reduced attentional orienting. Finally, the older group exhibited a greater P3b amplitude compared to the younger group in the later phases of adaptation, potentially a marker of enhanced context updating underlying spatial realignment, leading to their larger aftereffect. Implications for age-related learning differences and clinical applications are discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zoë Lazar-Kurz
- Cognitive Health and Recovery Research Lab, Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Brain Repair Centre, Dalhousie University, 1348 Summer St, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada; Neurocognitive Imaging Lab, Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, NS, B3H 4J1, Canada.
| | - Jasmine Aziz
- Cognitive Health and Recovery Research Lab, Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Brain Repair Centre, Dalhousie University, 1348 Summer St, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada.
| | - Katelyn J McKearney
- Cognitive Health and Recovery Research Lab, Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Brain Repair Centre, Dalhousie University, 1348 Summer St, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada.
| | - Cindy Hamon-Hill
- Cognitive Health and Recovery Research Lab, Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Brain Repair Centre, Dalhousie University, 1348 Summer St, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada; Neurocognitive Imaging Lab, Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, NS, B3H 4J1, Canada.
| | - Arthur MacDonald
- Cognitive Health and Recovery Research Lab, Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Brain Repair Centre, Dalhousie University, 1348 Summer St, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada.
| | - Aaron Newman
- Neurocognitive Imaging Lab, Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, NS, B3H 4J1, Canada.
| | - Gail Eskes
- Cognitive Health and Recovery Research Lab, Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Brain Repair Centre, Dalhousie University, 1348 Summer St, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Shen L, Li X, Huang S, Huang Y, Gao X, You Z, Mao Z, Tang X. Comprehending scientific metaphors in the bilingual brain: Evidence from event-related potentials. Front Psychol 2022; 13:1037525. [PMID: 36578691 PMCID: PMC9791987 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1037525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Accepted: 11/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
While the processing mechanisms of novel and conventional metaphors were widely investigated in previous monolingual studies, little attention has been devoted to how metaphoric utterances are processed by the bilingual brain as well as how scientific context might modulate such processes. Using event-related potentials (ERPs), this paper investigates the way in which scientific metaphors are electrophysiologically processed in Chinese (L1) and English (L2), with the aim of investigating the different mechanisms for understanding metaphorical language in first (L1) and second (L2) languages. By time-locking the N400 and later LPC time windows, the research show how meaning integration differs between L1 and L2 at different stages when comprehending figurative language. We found that compared with Chinese scientific metaphors, English scientific metaphors elicited greater N400, smaller late positive component (LPC), and greater late negativity, and English literals elicited greater late negativity. Our findings suggest that the dynamics of processing figurative meaning in bilingual brains over time show a complex pattern, with language, context, inference and salience jointly modulating temporal dynamics and possible cerebral asymmetries, supporting the revised hierarchical model.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lexian Shen
- School of Foreign Studies, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, China
| | - Xiaoguang Li
- School of Foreign Studies, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, China
| | - Shaojuan Huang
- School of Foreign Studies, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, China
| | - Yanhong Huang
- School of Foreign Studies, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, China
| | - Xinyu Gao
- School of Foreign Studies, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, China
| | - Ziqing You
- School of Foreign Studies, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, China
| | | | - Xuemei Tang
- School of Foreign Studies, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, China,*Correspondence: Xuemei Tang,
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Andersson A, Gullberg M. First Language Matters: Event-Related Potentials Show Crosslinguistic Influence on the Processing of Placement Verb Semantics. Front Psychol 2022; 13:815801. [PMID: 35874339 PMCID: PMC9301051 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.815801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2021] [Accepted: 06/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Second language (L2) learners experience challenges when word meanings differ across L1 and L2, and often display crosslinguistic influence (CLI) in speech production. In contrast, studies of online comprehension show more mixed results. Therefore, this study explored how L2 learners process fine-grained L2 verb semantics in the domain of caused motion (placement) and specifically the impact of having similar vs. non-similar semantics in the L1 and L2. Specifically, we examined English (20) and German (21) L2 learners of Swedish and native Swedish speakers (16) and their online neurophysiological processing and offline appropriateness ratings of three Swedish placement verbs obligatory for placement supported from below: sätta "set," ställa "stand," and lägga "lay." The learners' L1s differed from Swedish in that their placement verbs either shared or did not share semantic characteristics with the target language. English has a general placement verb put, whereas German has specific verbs similar but not identical to Swedish, stellen "set/stand" and legen "lay." Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants watched still frames (images) of objects being placed on a table and listened to sentences describing the event with verbs that either matched the image or not. Participants also performed an offline appropriateness rating task. Both tasks suggested CLI. English learners' appropriateness ratings of atypical verb use differed from those of both native Swedish speakers' and German learners, with no difference in the latter pair. Similarly, German learners' ERP effects were more similar to those of the native Swedish speakers (increased lateral negativity to atypical verb use) than to those of the English learners (increased positivity to atypical verb use). The results of this explorative study thus suggest CLI both offline and online with similarity between L1 and L2 indicating more similar processing and judgments, in line with previous production findings, but in contrast to previous ERP work on semantic L2 processing.
Collapse
|
13
|
Tang X, Shen L, Yang P, Huang Y, Huang S, Huang M, Ren W. Bilingual Processing Mechanisms of Scientific Metaphors and Conventional Metaphors: Evidence via a Contrastive Event-Related Potentials Study. Front Psychol 2022; 13:894114. [PMID: 35795431 PMCID: PMC9251417 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.894114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2022] [Accepted: 05/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
To study the different mechanisms of understanding figurative language in a speaker’s native language (L1) and their second language (L2), this study investigated how scientific metaphors in Chinese (L1) and English (L2) are electrophysiologically processed via event-related potential experimentation. Compared with the metaphors from daily life or in literary works, scientific metaphors tend to involve both a more complicated context structure and a distinct knowledge-inferencing process. During the N400 time window (300–500 ms), English scientific metaphors elicited more negative N400s than Chinese ones at the parietal region. In the late positive component (LPC) time window (550–800 ms), English scientific metaphors elicited less positive LPCs than Chinese ones at the parietal region, and larger late negativities encompassing smaller areas of the brain. The findings might indicate that for late unbalanced bilingual speakers, L2 scientific metaphor comprehension requires more effort in information retrieval or access to the non-literal route. Altogether, the possible findings are that non-native and non-dominant language processing involves decreased automaticity of cognitive mechanisms, and decreased sensitivity to the levels of conventionality of metaphoric meanings.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xuemei Tang
- School of Foreign Studies, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, China
| | - Lexian Shen
- School of Foreign Studies, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, China
| | - Peng Yang
- School of Foreign Studies, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, China
| | - Yanhong Huang
- School of Foreign Studies, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, China
| | - Shaojuan Huang
- School of Foreign Studies, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, China
| | - Min Huang
- School of Foreign Studies, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, China
- *Correspondence: Min Huang,
| | - Wei Ren
- Key Laboratory of Modern Teaching Technology, Ministry of Education, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, China
- Wei Ren,
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Pishghadam R, Jajarmi H, Shayesteh S, Khodaverdi A, Nassaji H. Vocabulary Repetition Following Multisensory Instruction Is Ineffective on L2 Sentence Comprehension: Evidence From the N400. Front Psychol 2022; 13:707234. [PMID: 35153946 PMCID: PMC8834063 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.707234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2021] [Accepted: 01/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Putting the principles of multisensory teaching into practice, this study investigated the effect of audio-visual vocabulary repetition on L2 sentence comprehension. Forty participants were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. A sensory-based model of instruction (i.e., emotioncy) was used to teach a list of unfamiliar vocabularies to the two groups. Following the instruction, the experimental group repeated the instructed words twice, while the control group received no vocabulary repetition. Afterward, their electrophysiological neural activities were recorded through electroencephalography while doing a sentence acceptability judgment task with 216 sentences under acceptable (correct) and unacceptable (pragmatically violated) conditions. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), and a Bayesian repeated-measures ANOVA were used to compare the behavioral and neurocognitive responses [N400 as the main language-related event-related brain potential (ERP) effect] of the two groups. The results showed no significant N400 amplitude difference in favor of any of the groups. The findings corroborated the ineffectiveness of two repetitions preceded by multisensory instruction on L2 sentence comprehension.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Reza Pishghadam
- Department of English, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Haniyeh Jajarmi
- Department of English, Bahar Institute of Higher Education, Mashhad, Iran
| | | | - Azin Khodaverdi
- Department of English, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Hossein Nassaji
- Department of English, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Li F, Hong X, He Z, Wu S, Zhang C. Investigating Heritage Language Processing: Meaning Composition in Chinese Classifier-Noun Phrasal Contexts. Front Psychol 2021; 12:782016. [PMID: 34975671 PMCID: PMC8718634 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.782016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate how Chinese-Malay bilingual speakers with Chinese as heritage language process semantic congruency effects in Chinese and how their brain activities compare to those of monolingual Chinese speakers using electroencephalography (EEG) recordings. To this end, semantic congruencies were manipulated in Chinese classifier-noun phrases, resulting in four conditions: (i) a strongly constraining/high-cloze, plausible (SP) condition, (ii) a weakly constraining/low-cloze, plausible (WP) condition, (iii) a strongly constraining/implausible (SI) condition, and (iv) a weakly constraining/implausible (WI) condition. The analysis of EEG data focused on two event-related potential components, i.e., the N400, which is known for its sensitivity to semantic fit of a target word to its context, and a post-N400 late positive complex (LPC), which is linked to semantic integration after prediction violations and retrospective, evaluative processes. We found similar N400/LPC effects in response to the manipulations of semantic congruency in the mono- and bilingual groups, with a gradient N400 pattern (WI/SI > WP > SP), a larger frontal LPC in response to WP compared to SP, SI, and WI, as well as larger centro-parietal LPCs in response to WP compared to SI and WI, and a larger centro-parietal LPC for SP compared to SI. These results suggest that, in terms of event-related potential (ERP) data, Chinese-Malay early bilingual speakers predict and integrate upcoming semantic information in Chinese classifier-noun phrase to the same extent as monolingual Chinese speakers. However, the global field power (GFP) data showed significant differences between SP and WP in the N400 and LPC time windows in bilinguals, whereas no such effects were observed in monolinguals. This finding was interpreted as showing that bilinguals differ from their monolingual peers in terms of global field power intensity of the brain by processing plausible classifier-noun pairs with different congruency effects.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fei Li
- School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiangfei Hong
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhaoying He
- School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Sixuan Wu
- School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Chenyi Zhang
- School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
von Grebmer Zu Wolfsthurn S, Pablos L, Schiller NO. Noun-phrase production as a window to language selection: An ERP study. Neuropsychologia 2021; 162:108055. [PMID: 34626618 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.108055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Revised: 09/09/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Characterising the time course of non-native language production is critical in understanding the mechanisms behind successful communication. Yet, little is known about the modulating role of cross-linguistic influence (CLI) on the temporal unfolding of non-native production and the locus of target language selection. In this study, we explored CLI effects on non-native noun phrase production with behavioural and neural methods. We were particularly interested in the modulation of the P300 as an index for inhibitory control, and the N400 as an index for co-activation and CLI. German late learners of Spanish overtly named pictures while their EEG was monitored. Our results indicate traceable CLI effects at the behavioural and neural level in both early and late production stages. This suggests that speakers faced competition between the target and non-target language until advanced production stages. Our findings add important behavioural and neural evidence to the underpinnings of non-native production processes, in particular for late learners.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sarah von Grebmer Zu Wolfsthurn
- Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL), Reuvensplaats 3-4, 2311, BE Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), LUMC, PO Box 9600, 2300, RC Leiden, the Netherlands.
| | - Leticia Pablos
- Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL), Reuvensplaats 3-4, 2311, BE Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), LUMC, PO Box 9600, 2300, RC Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Niels O Schiller
- Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL), Reuvensplaats 3-4, 2311, BE Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), LUMC, PO Box 9600, 2300, RC Leiden, the Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Nichols ES, Gao Y, Fregni S, Liu L, Joanisse MF. Individual differences in representational similarity of first and second languages in the bilingual brain. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:5433-5445. [PMID: 34469016 PMCID: PMC8519873 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2021] [Revised: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 08/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Current theories of bilingualism disagree on the extent to which separate brain regions are used to maintain or process one's first and second language. The present study took a novel multivariate approach to address this question. We examined whether bilinguals maintain distinct neural representations of two languages; specifically, we tested whether brain areas that are involved in processing word meaning in either language are reliably representing each language differently, and whether language representation is influenced by individual differences in proficiency level and age of acquisition (AoA) of L2. Thirty‐one English–Mandarin bilingual adults performed a picture–word matching task in both languages. We then used representational similarity analysis to examine which brain regions reliably showed different patterns of activity for each language. We found that both proficiency and AoA predicted dissimilarity between language representations in several brain areas within the language network as well as several regions of the ventral visual pathway, demonstrating that top‐down language knowledge and individual language experience shapes concept representation in this processing stream. The results support the model of an integrated language system in bilinguals, along with a novel description of how representations for each language change with proficiency level and L2 AoA.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emily S Nichols
- Department of Applied Psychology, Faculty of Education, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.,Brain and Mind Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
| | - Yue Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Sofia Fregni
- Faculty of Psychology, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany
| | - Li Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Marc F Joanisse
- Brain and Mind Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.,Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Zhong F, Dong Y, Liu Y. Neural correlates of contributions of interpreting training to second language semantic integration. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2021; 75:118-129. [PMID: 34428974 DOI: 10.1177/17470218211041842] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
How interpreting training may enhance semantic integration in general language processing (instead of language processing during interpreting) was not clear, and its neural correlates remained unexplored. Two groups of university students with different amounts of interpreting training experience (more-IE and less-IE) performed a second language (L2) reading task, in which the target sentence ended with three types of lateralized words: expected words, words of related semantic violation (related violation), and words of unrelated semantic violation (unrelated violation). N400 responses elicited by the final words were used to index semantic integration. Two major findings suggested potential contributions of interpreting training to L2 semantic integration. First, the more-IE group exhibited smaller N400 amplitudes than the less-IE group for expected words, and no group differences were obtained for the two violations. Second, N400 amplitudes for related violations were generally smaller than those for unrelated violations in the right visual field, and this difference was more fully captured (more broadly distributed over the scalp) in the more-IE group than in the less-IE group. Therefore, smaller N400 amplitudes for expected words but not for violations, and broader scalp distribution of the differences between related and unrelated violations constitute the neural correlates for the potential contributions of interpreting training to general L2 semantic integration. The results also suggest possible connections between different types of language experience.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fei Zhong
- School of Foreign Languages for Business, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, China
| | - Yanping Dong
- Department of Linguistics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yaqiong Liu
- Faculty of English Language and Culture, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Ihara AS, Matsumoto A, Ojima S, Katayama J, Nakamura K, Yokota Y, Watanabe H, Naruse Y. Prediction of Second Language Proficiency Based on Electroencephalographic Signals Measured While Listening to Natural Speech. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:665809. [PMID: 34335208 PMCID: PMC8322447 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.665809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2021] [Accepted: 06/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
This study had two goals: to clarify the relationship between electroencephalographic (EEG) features estimated while non-native speakers listened to a second language (L2) and their proficiency in L2 determined by a conventional paper test and to provide a predictive model for L2 proficiency based on EEG features. We measured EEG signals from 205 native Japanese speakers, who varied widely in English proficiency while they listened to natural speech in English. Following the EEG measurement, they completed a conventional English listening test for Japanese speakers. We estimated multivariate temporal response functions separately for word class, speech rate, word position, and parts of speech. We found significant negative correlations between listening score and 17 EEG features, which included peak latency of early components (corresponding to N1 and P2) for both open and closed class words and peak latency and amplitude of a late component (corresponding to N400) for open class words. On the basis of the EEG features, we generated a predictive model for Japanese speakers’ English listening proficiency. The correlation coefficient between the true and predicted listening scores was 0.51. Our results suggest that L2 or foreign language ability can be assessed using neural signatures measured while listening to natural speech, without the need of a conventional paper test.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aya S Ihara
- National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, and Osaka University, Kobe, Japan
| | - Atsushi Matsumoto
- National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, and Osaka University, Kobe, Japan
| | - Shiro Ojima
- Department of English, College of Education, Yokohama National University, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Jun'ichi Katayama
- Department of Psychological Science, and Center for Applied Psychological Science (CAPS), Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya, Japan
| | | | - Yusuke Yokota
- National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, and Osaka University, Kobe, Japan
| | - Hiroki Watanabe
- National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, and Osaka University, Kobe, Japan
| | - Yasushi Naruse
- National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, and Osaka University, Kobe, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Caballero JA, Mauchand M, Jiang X, Pell MD. Cortical processing of speaker politeness: Tracking the dynamic effects of voice tone and politeness markers. Soc Neurosci 2021; 16:423-438. [PMID: 34102955 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2021.1938667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Information in the tone of voice alters social impressions and underlying brain activity as listeners evaluate the interpersonal relevance of utterances. Here, we presented requests that expressed politeness distinctions through the voice (polite/rude) and explicit linguistic markers (half of the requests began with Please). Thirty participants performed a social perception task (rating friendliness) while their electroencephalogram was recorded. Behaviorally, vocal politeness strategies had a much stronger influence on the perceived friendliness than the linguistic marker. Event-related potentials revealed rapid effects of (im)polite voices on cortical activity prior to ~300 ms; P200 amplitudes increased for polite versus rude voices, suggesting that the speaker's polite stance was registered as more salient in our task. At later stages, politeness distinctions encoded by the speaker's voice and their use of Please interacted, modulating activity in the N400 (300-500 ms) and late positivity (600-800 ms) time windows. Patterns of results suggest that initial attention deployment to politeness cues is rapidly influenced by the motivational significance of a speaker's voice. At later stages, processes for integrating vocal and lexical information resulted in increased cognitive effort to reevaluate utterances with ambiguous/contradictory cues. The potential influence of social anxiety on the P200 effect is also discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan A Caballero
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders 2001 McGill College, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Maël Mauchand
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders 2001 McGill College, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Xiaoming Jiang
- Shanghai International Studies University, Institute of Linguistics (IoL), Shanghai, China
| | - Marc D Pell
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders 2001 McGill College, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Esfandiari L, Nilipour R, Nejati V, Maftoon P, Khosrowabadi R. An Event-related Potential Study of Second Language Semantic and Syntactic Processing: Evidence From the Declarative/Procedural Model. Basic Clin Neurosci 2021; 11:841-854. [PMID: 33850621 PMCID: PMC8019844 DOI: 10.32598/bcn.11.6.2401.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2020] [Revised: 02/10/2020] [Accepted: 05/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction: This study examined the effect of proficiency level on the second Language (L2) syntactic and semantic processing by addressing the role of procedural and declarative memory systems in light of the Declarative/Procedural (DP) model. The primary purpose was to determine to what extent proficiency accounts for native-like language processing in L2 in adult bilinguals who learned English (L2) after the age of 15 under explicit instruction. Methods: Using a mixed-method design and an oddball violation paradigm, we examined the functional neural correlates of syntactic and semantic processing in two groups of Persian-English bilinguals (L1=Persian, L2=English; N=10 high-proficient, N=10 pre-intermediate levels; Gender= Female; mean age=25.50 years, SD = 5.09 years, age range = 19–35 years of age) across 6 different conditions. They included a visual stimulus task of 240 English sentences with three different experimental conditions (violated regular past forms or phrase structure rules or final-word semantic violation) and three control conditions (sets of correct sentences for each experimental condition). Both groups started learning English late (age of onset=15+) and under an explicit learning context. To evaluate the effect of L2 proficiency, Event-related potentials (ERPs) to target words in each condition were elicited across the N400 time window (300–500 ms) and the P600 time window (500–700 ms). Results: Results showed different cortical responses in the two groups. Upon processing the violated forms, high-proficient subjects showed more native-like patterns of scalp activity in both lexical-semantic and syntactic processing. In contrast, less proficient learners have shown delayed onsets and or peaks of components, reduced amplitudes, or absent components in some regions. For instance, the difference in N400 amplitude for the incorrect regular past conditions was observed only in the pre-intermediate (PI) subjects in the O1 channel. This finding is compatible with the DP Model in that at lower levels of L2 proficiency, the participants show N400s or N400-like posterior negativities instead of Anterior Negativities (ANs). This finding shows the initial reliance on the declarative memory system for syntactic processing at lower levels of L2. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that attained proficiency was a more determinant factor in the L1-like cortical representation of L2 than the age of acquisition and or the type of instruction/context. Several brain areas, similar to those observed for L1, were activated during L2 syntactic processing in high-proficient subjects addressing their reliance on the procedural memory system for syntactic processing to gain more proficiency. For instance, our results showed a significant difference in N400 amplitude for the incorrect regular past conditions in O1 for the PI subjects, which shows the initial reliance on the declarative memory system for syntactic processing at lower levels of L2.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Laleh Esfandiari
- Department of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Literature, Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Reza Nilipour
- Department of Speech Therapy, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Vahid Nejati
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Parviz Maftoon
- Department of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Literature, Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Reza Khosrowabadi
- Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Heidlmayr K, Ferragne E, Isel F. Neuroplasticity in the phonological system: The PMN and the N400 as markers for the perception of non-native phonemic contrasts by late second language learners. Neuropsychologia 2021; 156:107831. [PMID: 33753084 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2020] [Revised: 12/28/2020] [Accepted: 03/17/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Second language (L2) learners frequently encounter persistent difficulty in perceiving certain non-native sound contrasts, i.e., a phenomenon called "phonological deafness". However, if extensive L2 experience leads to neuroplastic changes in the phonological system, then the capacity to discriminate non-native phonemic contrasts should progressively improve. Such perceptual changes should be attested by modifications at the neurophysiological level. We designed an EEG experiment in which the listeners' perceptual capacities to discriminate second language phonemic contrasts influence the processing of lexical-semantic violations. Semantic congruency of critical words in a sentence context was driven by a phonemic contrast that was unique to the L2, English (e.g.,/ɪ/-/i:/, ship - sheep). Twenty-eight young adult native speakers of French with intermediate proficiency in English listened to sentences that contained either a semantically congruent or incongruent critical word (e.g., The anchor of theship/*sheepwas let down) while EEG was recorded. Three ERP effects were found to relate to increasing L2 proficiency: (1) a left frontal auditory N100 effect, (2) a smaller fronto-central phonological mismatch negativity (PMN) effect and (3) a semantic N400 effect. No effect of proficiency was found on oscillatory markers. The current findings suggest that neuronal plasticity in the human brain allows for the late acquisition of even hard-wired linguistic features such as the discrimination of phonemic contrasts in a second language. This is the first time that behavioral and neurophysiological evidence for the critical role of neural plasticity underlying L2 phonological processing and its interdependence with semantic processing has been provided. Our data strongly support the idea that pieces of information from different levels of linguistic processing (e.g., phonological, semantic) strongly interact and influence each other during online language processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Karin Heidlmayr
- UMR 1253, iBrain, University of Tours, Inserm, Tours, France; Max-Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Laboratory CLILLAC-ARP - URP3967, Université de Paris, Paris, France; Laboratory Models, Dynamics, Corpus, CNRS/University Paris Nanterre, Paris Lumières, France.
| | - Emmanuel Ferragne
- Laboratory CLILLAC-ARP - URP3967, Université de Paris, Paris, France
| | - Frédéric Isel
- Laboratory Models, Dynamics, Corpus, CNRS/University Paris Nanterre, Paris Lumières, France
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Liu P, Rigoulot S, Jiang X, Zhang S, Pell MD. Unattended Emotional Prosody Affects Visual Processing of Facial Expressions in Mandarin-Speaking Chinese: A Comparison With English-Speaking Canadians. JOURNAL OF CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021; 52:275-294. [PMID: 33958813 PMCID: PMC8053741 DOI: 10.1177/0022022121990897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Emotional cues from different modalities have to be integrated during communication, a process that can be shaped by an individual’s cultural background. We explored this issue in 25 Chinese participants by examining how listening to emotional prosody in Mandarin influenced participants’ gazes at emotional faces in a modified visual search task. We also conducted a cross-cultural comparison between data of this study and that of our previous work in English-speaking Canadians using analogous methodology. In both studies, eye movements were recorded as participants scanned an array of four faces portraying fear, anger, happy, and neutral expressions, while passively listening to a pseudo-utterance expressing one of the four emotions (Mandarin utterance in this study; English utterance in our previous study). The frequency and duration of fixations to each face were analyzed during 5 seconds after the onset of faces, both during the presence of the speech (early time window) and after the utterance ended (late time window). During the late window, Chinese participants looked more frequently and longer at faces conveying congruent emotions as the speech, consistent with findings from English-speaking Canadians. Cross-cultural comparison further showed that Chinese, but not Canadians, looked more frequently and longer at angry faces, which may signal potential conflicts and social threats. We hypothesize that the socio-cultural norms related to harmony maintenance in the Eastern culture promoted Chinese participants’ heightened sensitivity to, and deeper processing of, angry cues, highlighting culture-specific patterns in how individuals scan their social environment during emotion processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pan Liu
- McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Western University, London, ON, Canada
| | - Simon Rigoulot
- McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada
| | - Xiaoming Jiang
- McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
24
|
Reetzke R, Gnanateja GN, Chandrasekaran B. Neural tracking of the speech envelope is differentially modulated by attention and language experience. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2021; 213:104891. [PMID: 33290877 PMCID: PMC7856208 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2020.104891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2020] [Revised: 09/22/2020] [Accepted: 11/18/2020] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
The ability to selectively attend to a speech signal amid competing sounds is a significant challenge, especially for listeners trying to comprehend non-native speech. Attention is critical to direct neural processing resources to the most essential information. Here, neural tracking of the speech envelope of an English story narrative and cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) to non-speech stimuli were simultaneously assayed in native and non-native listeners of English. Although native listeners exhibited higher narrative comprehension accuracy, non-native listeners exhibited enhanced neural tracking of the speech envelope and heightened CAEP magnitudes. These results support an emerging view that although attention to a target speech signal enhances neural tracking of the speech envelope, this mechanism itself may not confer speech comprehension advantages. Our findings suggest that non-native listeners may engage neural attentional processes that enhance low-level acoustic features, regardless if the target signal contains speech or non-speech information.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rachel Reetzke
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, United States; Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Kennedy Krieger Institute, United States
| | - G Nike Gnanateja
- Department of Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, United States
| | - Bharath Chandrasekaran
- Department of Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, United States.
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Seyednozadi Z, Pishghadam R, Pishghadam M. Functional Role of the N400 and P600 in Language-Related ERP Studies with Respect to Semantic Anomalies: An Overview. Noro Psikiyatr Ars 2021; 58:249-252. [PMID: 34526850 PMCID: PMC8419728 DOI: 10.29399/npa.27422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2020] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study, the language-related ERP studies relevant to the functional role of the N400 and P600 in semantically anomalous sentences and the underlying reasons which may affect their functions were reviewed. Since their discovery, the N400 and P600 have been the most important language-related ERP components. The N400 has been mostly elicited as a result of processing sentences with lexical and semantic anomalies, but later on, in many studies instead of the expected lexical-semantic N400 effect, semantic anomalies elicited a P600 effect called semantic P600. However, the functional interpretation of these two ERP components has constantly been a matter of debate. Perhaps most notably, it is proposed that it is not just the N400 which is related to semantic anomalies but the P600 can also be reflected as a result of these kinds of anomalies. Reviewing the literature for explaining the functions of the two ERP components, the N400 and the P600, during the processing of semantic anomalies revealed that still there is a need for more research on language processing in order to make the researchers capable of describing the underlying factors influencing them, especially more focused investigations of the functional-anatomical and neurocomputational models may provide a clearer understanding of them. Moreover, any practical theory or model of the N400 and the P600 in language comprehension needs to consider the apparent inconsistencies in the elicitation pattern of the N400 and the P600 in order to successfully capture the full data spectrum.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zahra Seyednozadi
- Department of English, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad 9177948974, Iran
| | - Reza Pishghadam
- Department of English, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad 9177948974, Iran
| | - Morteza Pishghadam
- Department of Medical Studies, Faculty of Medicine, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd 7487794149, Iran
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Picture naming in bilingual and monolingual Chinese speakers: Capturing similarity and variability. Behav Res Methods 2021; 53:1677-1688. [PMID: 33483940 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-020-01521-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Picture-naming latency differs across languages in bilingual speakers. We compared the effects of key psycholinguistic variables on picture naming among two groups of Chinese bilingual speakers and Mandarin monolingual speakers. First, we asked bilingual and monolingual speakers to estimate the age of acquisition, familiarity, visual complexity, name agreement, and imageability of a set of object and action pictures in Mandarin and Cantonese. Next, we recruited 60 Cantonese-English speakers, 50 Mandarin-Cantonese bilingual speakers, and 30 monolingual speakers who named the object and action pictures in Cantonese and Mandarin, respectively. We observed variability in the effects of item-level characteristics among groups, suggesting an interaction between item-level and individual-level characteristics as predicted. This variability was higher in bilingual speakers who spoke similar languages (Mandarin-Cantonese) in comparison to those speaking more distant languages (Cantonese-English). Our results suggest that monolingual norms and bilingual norms capture the same amount of variability; however, grammatical class interactions with other variables are explained differentially by the bilingual and monolingual norms. We discuss the implications of our findings in terms of norming studies for timed picture naming and effects of bilingualism on language processing.
Collapse
|
27
|
Calma-Roddin N, Drury JE. Music, Language, and The N400: ERP Interference Patterns Across Cognitive Domains. Sci Rep 2020; 10:11222. [PMID: 32641708 PMCID: PMC7343814 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-66732-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2018] [Accepted: 04/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies of the relationship of language and music have suggested these two systems may share processing resources involved in the computation/maintenance of abstract hierarchical structure (syntax). One type of evidence comes from ERP interference studies involving concurrent language/music processing showing interaction effects when both processing streams are simultaneously perturbed by violations (e.g., syntactically incorrect words paired with incongruent completion of a chord progression). Here, we employ this interference methodology to target the mechanisms supporting long term memory (LTM) access/retrieval in language and music. We used melody stimuli from previous work showing out-of-key or unexpected notes may elicit a musical analogue of language N400 effects, but only for familiar melodies, and not for unfamiliar ones. Target notes in these melodies were time-locked to visually presented target words in sentence contexts manipulating lexical/conceptual semantic congruity. Our study succeeded in eliciting expected N400 responses from each cognitive domain independently. Among several new findings we argue to be of interest, these data demonstrate that: (i) language N400 effects are delayed in onset by concurrent music processing only when melodies are familiar, and (ii) double violations with familiar melodies (but not with unfamiliar ones) yield a sub-additive N400 response. In addition: (iii) early negativities (RAN effects), which previous work has connected to musical syntax, along with the music N400, were together delayed in onset for familiar melodies relative to the timing of these effects reported in the previous music-only study using these same stimuli, and (iv) double violation cases involving unfamiliar/novel melodies also delayed the RAN effect onset. These patterns constitute the first demonstration of N400 interference effects across these domains and together contribute previously undocumented types of interactions to the available pool of findings relevant to understanding whether language and music may rely on shared underlying mechanisms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicole Calma-Roddin
- Department of Behavioral Sciences, New York Institute of Technology, Old Westbury, New York, USA.
- Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, New York, USA.
| | - John E Drury
- School of Linguistic Sciences and Arts, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, China
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Kotzor S, Zhou B, Lahiri A. (A)Symmetry in vowel features in verbs and pseudoverbs: ERP evidence. Neuropsychologia 2020; 143:107474. [PMID: 32333935 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2019] [Revised: 03/20/2020] [Accepted: 04/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
This paper examines the processing of height and place contrasts in vowels in words and pseudowords, using mismatch negativity (MMN) to determine firstly whether asymmetries resulting from underlying representations found in the processing of vowels in isolation will remain in a word context and secondly whether there is any difference in the way these phonological differences manifest in pseudowords. The stimuli are two sets of English ablaut verbs and corresponding pseudowords (sit ~ sat/*sif~*saf and get ~ got/*gef~*gof) contrasting in vowel height ([high] vs. [low]) and place of articulation ([coronal] vs. [dorsal]). In line with previous research, the results show a processing asymmetry for place of articulation in both words and nonwords, while different vowel heights result in symmetrical MMN patterns. These findings confirm that an underspecification account provides the best explanation for featural processing and that phonological information is independent of lexical status.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Kotzor
- Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics, University of Oxford, Walton Street, Oxford, OX1 2HG, United Kingdom; School of Education, Oxford Brookes University, Harcourt Hill Campus, Oxford, OX2 9AT, United Kingdom.
| | - Beinan Zhou
- Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics, University of Oxford, Walton Street, Oxford, OX1 2HG, United Kingdom
| | - Aditi Lahiri
- Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics, University of Oxford, Walton Street, Oxford, OX1 2HG, United Kingdom.
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Dalenberg JR, Patel BP, Denis R, Veldhuizen MG, Nakamura Y, Vinke PC, Luquet S, Small DM. Short-Term Consumption of Sucralose with, but Not without, Carbohydrate Impairs Neural and Metabolic Sensitivity to Sugar in Humans. Cell Metab 2020; 31:493-502.e7. [PMID: 32130881 PMCID: PMC7784207 DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2020.01.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2019] [Revised: 11/07/2019] [Accepted: 01/28/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
There is a general consensus that overconsumption of sugar-sweetened beverages contributes to the prevalence of obesity and related comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes (T2D). Whether a similar relationship exists for no- or low-calorie "diet" drinks is a subject of intensive debate and controversy. Here, we demonstrate that consuming seven sucralose-sweetened beverages with, but not without, a carbohydrate over 10 days decreases insulin sensitivity in healthy human participants, an effect that correlates with reductions in midbrain, insular, and cingulate responses to sweet, but not sour, salty, or savory, taste as assessed with fMRI. Taste perception was unaltered and consuming the carbohydrate alone had no effect. These findings indicate that consumption of sucralose in the presence of a carbohydrate rapidly impairs glucose metabolism and results in longer-term decreases in brain, but not perceptual sensitivity to sweet taste, suggesting dysregulation of gut-brain control of glucose metabolism.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jelle R Dalenberg
- Modern Diet and Physiology Research Center (MDPRC), Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA; Department of Neurology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Barkha P Patel
- Modern Diet and Physiology Research Center (MDPRC), Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA; Division of Endocrinology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON M5G 1X8, Canada
| | - Raphael Denis
- Unite de Biologie Fonctionnelle et Adaptative, Centre National la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 8251, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 75205 Paris, France
| | - Maria G Veldhuizen
- Modern Diet and Physiology Research Center (MDPRC), Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
| | - Yuko Nakamura
- Modern Diet and Physiology Research Center (MDPRC), Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA; The UTokyo Center for Integrative Science of Human Behavior, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Petra C Vinke
- Modern Diet and Physiology Research Center (MDPRC), Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA; Department of Neuroendocrinology, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Serge Luquet
- Unite de Biologie Fonctionnelle et Adaptative, Centre National la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 8251, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 75205 Paris, France
| | - Dana M Small
- Modern Diet and Physiology Research Center (MDPRC), Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA; Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06510, USA; Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Tübingen, Otfried Müller Strasse 47, Tübingen 72076, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Bailey LM, McMillan LE, Newman AJ. A sinister subject: Quantifying handedness-based recruitment biases in current neuroimaging research. Eur J Neurosci 2019; 51:1642-1656. [PMID: 31408571 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2019] [Revised: 06/20/2019] [Accepted: 08/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Approximately ten per cent of humans are left-handed or ambidextrous (adextral). It has been suggested that, despite their sizable representation at the whole-population level, this demographic is largely avoided by researchers within the neuroimaging community. To date, however, no formal effort has been made to quantify the extent to which adextrals are excluded from neuroimaging-based research. Here, we aimed to address this question in a review of over 1,000 recent articles published in high-impact, peer-reviewed, neuroimaging-focused journals. Specifically, we sought to ascertain whether, and the extent to which adextrals are underrepresented in neuroimaging study samples, and to delineate potential trends in this bias. Handedness data were available for over 30,000 research subjects; only around 3%-4% of these individuals were adextral-considerably less than the 10% benchmark one would expect if neuroimaging samples were truly representative of the general population. This observation was generally consistent across different areas of research, but was modulated by the demographic characteristics of neuroimaging participants. The epistemological and ethical implications of these findings are discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lyam M Bailey
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
| | - Laura E McMillan
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
| | - Aaron J Newman
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
31
|
Jiang X, Gossack-Keenan K, Pell MD. To believe or not to believe? How voice and accent information in speech alter listener impressions of trust. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2019; 73:55-79. [DOI: 10.1177/1747021819865833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Our decision to believe what another person says can be influenced by vocally expressed confidence in speech and by whether the speaker–listener are members of the same social group. The dynamic effects of these two information sources on neurocognitive processes that promote believability impressions from vocal cues are unclear. Here, English Canadian listeners were presented personal statements ( She has access to the building) produced in a confident or doubtful voice by speakers of their own dialect (in-group) or speakers from two different “out-groups” (regional or foreign-accented English). Participants rated how believable the speaker is for each statement and event-related potentials (ERPs) were analysed from utterance onset. Believability decisions were modulated by both the speaker’s vocal confidence level and their perceived in-group status. For in-group speakers, ERP effects revealed an early differentiation of vocally expressed confidence (i.e., N100, P200), highlighting the motivational significance of doubtful voices for drawing believability inferences. These early effects on vocal confidence perception were qualitatively different or absent when speakers had an accent; evaluating out-group voices was associated with increased demands on contextual integration and re-analysis of a non-native representation of believability (i.e., increased N400, late negativity response). Accent intelligibility and experience with particular out-group accents each influenced how vocal confidence was processed for out-group speakers. The N100 amplitude was sensitive to out-group attitudes and predicted actual believability decisions for certain out-group speakers. We propose a neurocognitive model in which vocal identity information (social categorization) dynamically influences how vocal expressions are decoded and used to derive social inferences during person perception.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoming Jiang
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Department of Psychology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Kira Gossack-Keenan
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Marc D Pell
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
The “semantic P600” in second language processing: When syntax conflicts with semantics. Neuropsychologia 2019; 127:131-147. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.02.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2018] [Revised: 12/21/2018] [Accepted: 02/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
|
33
|
Monaco E, Jost LB, Gygax PM, Annoni JM. Embodied Semantics in a Second Language: Critical Review and Clinical Implications. Front Hum Neurosci 2019; 13:110. [PMID: 30983983 PMCID: PMC6449436 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2019.00110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2018] [Accepted: 03/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The role of the sensorimotor system in second language (L2) semantic processing as well as its clinical implications for bilingual patients has hitherto been neglected. We offer an overview of the issues at stake in this under-investigated field, presenting the theoretical and clinical relevance of studying L2 embodiment and reviewing the few studies on this topic. We highlight that (a) the sensorimotor network is involved in L2 processing, and that (b) in most studies, L2 is differently embodied than L1, reflected in a lower degree or in a different pattern of L2 embodiment. Importantly, we outline critical issues to be addressed in order to guide future research. We also delineate the subsequent steps needed to confirm or dismiss the value of language therapeutic approaches based on embodiment theories as a complement of speech and language therapies in adult bilinguals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Monaco
- Laboratory for Cognitive and Neurological Sciences, Neurology Unit, Medicine Section, Department of Neuroscience and Movement Science, Faculty of Science and Medicine, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Lea B. Jost
- Laboratory for Cognitive and Neurological Sciences, Neurology Unit, Medicine Section, Department of Neuroscience and Movement Science, Faculty of Science and Medicine, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Pascal M. Gygax
- Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Jean-Marie Annoni
- Laboratory for Cognitive and Neurological Sciences, Neurology Unit, Medicine Section, Department of Neuroscience and Movement Science, Faculty of Science and Medicine, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
- Neurology Unit, Fribourg Cantonal Hospital, Fribourg, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Hendrickson K, Love T, Walenski M, Friend M. The organization of words and environmental sounds in the second year: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence. Dev Sci 2019; 22:e12746. [PMID: 30159958 PMCID: PMC6294716 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2016] [Accepted: 05/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The majority of research examining early auditory-semantic processing and organization is based on studies of meaningful relations between words and referents. However, a thorough investigation into the fundamental relation between acoustic signals and meaning requires an understanding of how meaning is associated with both lexical and non-lexical sounds. Indeed, it is unknown how meaningful auditory information that is not lexical (e.g., environmental sounds) is processed and organized in the young brain. To capture the structure of semantic organization for words and environmental sounds, we record event-related potentials as 20-month-olds view images of common nouns (e.g., dog) while hearing words or environmental sounds that match the picture (e.g., "dog" or barking), that are within-category violations (e.g., "cat" or meowing), or that are between-category violations (e.g., "pen" or scribbling). Results show both words and environmental sounds exhibit larger negative amplitudes to between-category violations relative to matches. Unlike words, which show a greater negative response early and consistently to within-category violations, such an effect for environmental sounds occurs late in semantic processing. Thus, as in adults, the young brain represents semantic relations between words and between environmental sounds, though it more readily differentiates semantically similar words compared to environmental sounds.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kristi Hendrickson
- Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, University of Iowa, USA
| | - Tracy Love
- Center for Research in Language, University of California, San Diego, USA
- School of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, San Diego State University, USA
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
35
|
Cheimariou S, Farmer TA, Gordon JK. Lexical prediction in the aging brain: The effects of predictiveness and congruency on the N400 ERP component. AGING NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITION 2018; 26:781-806. [PMID: 30293520 DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2018.1529733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Although the N400 ERP component has been extensively studied in younger adults, the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. In older adults, N400 ERP studies have shown less efficient use of context compared to younger adults. Here, we asked whether the mechanisms underlying the N400 effect are the same in terms of predictiveness and congruency in younger and older adults. We used a simple picture-word matching task in which we crossed predictiveness and congruency. Our results indicate a three-way interaction between predictiveness, congruency, and age, in that, younger adults showed an N400 effect only in strongly constrained conditions; whereas, older adults showed an effect in both strongly- and weakly constrained conditions. This interaction was not modulated by language experience or cognitive decline. Our results support either two separate mechanisms (lexical access and integration) that run in parallel and are modulated by age or a common prediction error mechanism that changes with age.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Thomas A Farmer
- b Department of Psychology and Center for Mind and Brain, University of California , Davis , USA
| | - Jean K Gordon
- c Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, University of Iowa , Iowa City , USA
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Momenian M, Nilipour R, Samar RG, Cappa SF, Golestani N. Morpho-syntactic complexity modulates brain activation in Persian-English bilinguals: An fMRI study. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2018; 185:9-18. [PMID: 29990719 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2018.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2017] [Revised: 06/30/2018] [Accepted: 07/04/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The Persian language can be considered to have a relatively more complex and combinatorial morpho-syntax than languages like Chinese and English. For example, the Persian verbal system is largely constituted of light verb constructions, in which light verbs are combined with specific items coming from other grammatical classes to generate entirely new verbal entities. This study was designed to examine the mediating effect of language-inherent properties related to morpho-syntax on activation of the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG), a brain area involved in morpho-syntactic processing. To this end, 20 late Persian-English bilinguals were required to covertly generate verbs and nouns from object and action pictures, within a cued grammatical context. Consistent with predictions, the results of an ROI analysis revealed an interaction between task and language in BA 44 of the LIFG and its right homologue, with greater activation of this region during the production of Persian compared to English verbs. In contrast, there was greater activation of the BA 44 during the production of English compared to Persian nouns, consistent with the more effortful processing of their less proficient second language (English). The findings suggest that language-specific properties such as morpho-syntactic complexity can modulate the recruitment of Broca's area, over and above the more well-documented effects of language proficiency.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Momenian
- Laboratory for Communication Science, Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Department of Applied Linguistics, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
| | - Reza Nilipour
- Department of Speech Therapy, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Reza Ghafar Samar
- Department of Applied Linguistics, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Stefano F Cappa
- Institute for Advanced Studies (IUSS), Pavia, Italy; IRCCS S. Giovanni di Dio, Brescia, Italy
| | - Narly Golestani
- Brain and Language Lab, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Yang CL, Perfetti CA, Tan LH, Jiang Y. ERP indicators of L2 proficiency in word-to-text integration processes. Neuropsychologia 2018; 117:287-301. [PMID: 29879422 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2017] [Revised: 05/31/2018] [Accepted: 06/02/2018] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
Studies of bilingual proficiency have largely focused on word and sentence processing, whereas the text level has received relatively little attention. We examined on-line second language (L2) text comprehension in relation to L2 proficiency with ERPs recorded on critical words separated across a sentence boundary from their co-referential antecedents. The integration processes on the critical words were designed to reflect different levels of text representation: word-form, word-meaning, and situational level (Kintsch, 1998). Across proficiency level, bilinguals showed biphasic N400/late positive component (LPC) effects related to word meaning integration (N400) and mental model updating (LPC) processes. More proficient bilinguals, compared with less proficient bilinguals, showed reduced amplitudes in both N400 and LPC when the integration depended on semantic and conceptual meanings. When the integration was based on word repetitions and inferences, both groups showed reduced N400 negativity while elevated LPC positivity. These effects reflect how memory mechanisms (processes and resources) support the tight coupling among word meaning, readers' memory of the text meaning and the referentially-specified meaning of the text. They further demonstrate the importance of L2 semantic and conceptual processing in modulating the L2 proficiency effect on L2 text integration processes. These results align with the assumption that word meaning processes are causal components in variations of comprehension ability for both monolinguals and bilinguals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chin Lung Yang
- Laboratory of Theoretical Psycholinguistics, Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, Faculty of Arts, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
| | - Charles A Perfetti
- Learning, Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Li-Hai Tan
- Shenzhen University Health Science Center, Shenzhen, China
| | | |
Collapse
|
38
|
Daltrozzo J, Valdez GE. ENHANCING IMPLICIT LEARNING WITH POSTHYPNOTIC SUGGESTION: An ERP Study. Int J Clin Exp Hypn 2018; 66:174-210. [PMID: 29601280 PMCID: PMC6130821 DOI: 10.1080/00207144.2018.1421358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Can posthypnotic suggestion (PHS) enhance cognitive abilities? The authors tested behaviorally and with event-related potentials (ERP) if sequential learning (SL), the ability to learn statistical regularities, can be enhanced with PHS. Thirty adults were assessed with the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale (Form C) and an auditory SL task. Before this task, half the sample received a PHS to enhance SL, and the other half received the same suggestion under normal waking state. Response times and ERPs indicated a strong effect of PHS. Compared to the control group, PHS inverted, attenuated, or left unaffected the response time SL effect in low, medium, and high hypnotizability participants, respectively. These results suggest that PHS cannot be used to enhance SL.
Collapse
|
39
|
The relationship between semantic access and introspective awareness. Brain Cogn 2018. [PMID: 29518670 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2018.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
There have long been speculations about the relationship between consciousness and language. This study aimed to determine whether an individual's level of introspective awareness, based on self-report, relates to accessibility of their semantic system as evaluated by the N400. Thirty-five university students completed the study. All were right-handed, with normal or corrected-to-normal vision, without known neurological or psychological health issues. They first performed on a lexical decision task while their brain electrophysiological responses were recorded. Then, they provided assessment ratings about their levels of introspective awareness. Analysis revealed moderate to strong correlations (Pearson's rs = 0.49-0.62) between awareness self-ratings and ease of semantic access as indexed by the N400. Correlation between the self-report measure and the objective neurophysiological measure suggests that subjective assessment of awareness may deserve more credibility, which in addition to reflecting subjective perception and evaluation about one's own higher order mental functioning, may also interact with the neurophysiological processes contributive and subject to such awareness. Implications for future research on the role of semantic network in the mechanism of introspective awareness are discussed.
Collapse
|
40
|
Singh S, Daltrozzo J, Conway CM. Effect of pattern awareness on the behavioral and neurophysiological correlates of visual statistical learning. Neurosci Conscious 2017; 2017:nix020. [PMID: 29877520 PMCID: PMC5858025 DOI: 10.1093/nc/nix020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2016] [Revised: 08/11/2017] [Accepted: 11/14/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Statistical learning is the ability to extract predictive patterns from structured input. A common assumption is that statistical learning is a type of implicit learning that does not result in explicit awareness of learned patterns. However, there is also some evidence that statistical learning may involve explicit processing to some extent. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of pattern awareness on behavioral and neurophysiological correlates of visual statistical learning. Participants completed a visual learning task while behavioral responses and event-related potentials were recorded. Following the completion of the task, awareness of statistical patterns was assessed through a questionnaire scored by three independent raters. Behavioral findings indicated learning only for participants exhibiting high pattern awareness levels. Neurophysiological data indicated that only the high-pattern awareness group showed expected P300 event-related potential learning effects, although there was also some indication that the low awareness groups showed a sustained mid- to late-latency negativity. Linear mixed-model analyses confirmed that only the high awareness group showed neurophysiological indications of learning. Finally, source estimation results revealed left hemispheric activation was associated with statistical learning extending from frontal to occipital and parietal regions. Further analyses suggested that left insula, left parahippocampal, and right precentral regions showed different levels of activation based on pattern awareness. To conclude, we found that pattern awareness, a dimension associated with explicit processing, strongly influences the behavioral and neurophysiological correlates of visual statistical learning.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sonia Singh
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Urban Life Building 11th Floor, 140 Decatur Street, Atlanta, GA 30303-3083, USA
| | - Jerome Daltrozzo
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Urban Life Building 11th Floor, 140 Decatur Street, Atlanta, GA 30303-3083, USA
| | - Christopher M Conway
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Urban Life Building 11th Floor, 140 Decatur Street, Atlanta, GA 30303-3083, USA.,Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, 880 Petit Science Center, 100 Piedmont Ave. SE, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Mehravari AS, Emmorey K, Prat CS, Klarman L, Osterhout L. Brain-based individual difference measures of reading skill in deaf and hearing adults. Neuropsychologia 2017; 101:153-168. [PMID: 28479187 PMCID: PMC5536185 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.05.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2016] [Revised: 04/18/2017] [Accepted: 05/03/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Most deaf children and adults struggle to read, but some deaf individuals do become highly proficient readers. There is disagreement about the specific causes of reading difficulty in the deaf population, and consequently, disagreement about the effectiveness of different strategies for teaching reading to deaf children. Much of the disagreement surrounds the question of whether deaf children read in similar or different ways as hearing children. In this study, we begin to answer this question by using real-time measures of neural language processing to assess if deaf and hearing adults read proficiently in similar or different ways. Hearing and deaf adults read English sentences with semantic, grammatical, and simultaneous semantic/grammatical errors while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. The magnitude of individuals' ERP responses was compared to their standardized reading comprehension test scores, and potentially confounding variables like years of education, speechreading skill, and language background of deaf participants were controlled for. The best deaf readers had the largest N400 responses to semantic errors in sentences, while the best hearing readers had the largest P600 responses to grammatical errors in sentences. These results indicate that equally proficient hearing and deaf adults process written language in different ways, suggesting there is little reason to assume that literacy education should necessarily be the same for hearing and deaf children. The results also show that the most successful deaf readers focus on semantic information while reading, which suggests aspects of education that may promote improved literacy in the deaf population.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alison S Mehravari
- Program in Neuroscience, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, United States.
| | - Karen Emmorey
- School of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 98182, United States
| | - Chantel S Prat
- Program in Neuroscience, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, United States; Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, United States
| | - Lindsay Klarman
- Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, United States
| | - Lee Osterhout
- Program in Neuroscience, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, United States
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
Hendrickson K, Poulin-Dubois D, Zesiger P, Friend M. Assessing a continuum of lexical-semantic knowledge in the second year of life: A multimodal approach. J Exp Child Psychol 2017; 158:95-111. [PMID: 28242363 PMCID: PMC5669052 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2017.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2016] [Revised: 01/04/2017] [Accepted: 01/05/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Behavioral dissociations in young children's visual and haptic responses have been taken as evidence that word knowledge is not all-or-none but instead exists on a continuum from absence of knowledge, to partial knowledge, to robust knowledge. This longitudinal study tested a group of 16- to 18-month-olds, 6months after their initial visit, to replicate results of partial understanding as shown by visual-haptic dissociations and to determine whether partial knowledge of word-referent relations can be leveraged for future word recognition. Results show that, like 16-month-olds, 22-month-olds demonstrate behavioral dissociations exhibited by rapid visual reaction times to a named referent but incorrect haptic responses. Furthermore, results suggest that partial word knowledge at one time predicts the degree to which that word will be understood in the future.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kristi Hendrickson
- Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders, San Diego State University and University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA 92120, USA.
| | - Diane Poulin-Dubois
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec H3G 1M8, Canada
| | - Pascal Zesiger
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Université de Genève, 1211 Genève 4, Switzerland
| | - Margaret Friend
- Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
To electrify bilingualism: Electrophysiological insights into bilingual metaphor comprehension. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0175578. [PMID: 28414742 PMCID: PMC5393611 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0175578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2016] [Accepted: 03/28/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Though metaphoric language comprehension has previously been investigated with event-related potentials, little attention has been devoted to extending this research from the monolingual to the bilingual context. In the current study, late proficient unbalanced Polish (L1)–English (L2) bilinguals performed a semantic decision task to novel metaphoric, conventional metaphoric, literal, and anomalous word pairs presented in L1 and L2. The results showed more pronounced P200 amplitudes to L2 than L1, which can be accounted for by differences in the subjective frequency of the native and non-native lexical items. Within the early N400 time window (300–400 ms), L2 word dyads evoked delayed and attenuated amplitudes relative to L1 word pairs, possibly indicating extended lexical search during foreign language processing, and weaker semantic interconnectivity for L2 compared to L1 words within the memory system. The effect of utterance type was observed within the late N400 time window (400–500 ms), with smallest amplitudes evoked by literal, followed by conventional metaphoric, novel metaphoric, and anomalous word dyads. Such findings are interpreted as reflecting more resource intensive cognitive mechanisms governing novel compared to conventional metaphor comprehension in both the native and non-native language. Within the late positivity time window (500–800 ms), Polish novel metaphors evoked reduced amplitudes relative to literal utterances. In English, on the other hand, this effect was observed for both novel and conventional metaphoric word dyads. This finding might indicate continued effort in information retrieval or access to the non-literal route during novel metaphor comprehension in L1, and during novel and conventional metaphor comprehension in L2. Altogether, the present results point to decreased automaticity of cognitive mechanisms engaged in non-native and non-dominant language processing, and suggest a decreased sensitivity to the levels of conventionality of metaphoric meanings in late proficient unbalanced bilingual speakers.
Collapse
|
44
|
Qi Z, Beach SD, Finn AS, Minas J, Goetz C, Chan B, Gabrieli JDE. Native-language N400 and P600 predict dissociable language-learning abilities in adults. Neuropsychologia 2017; 98:177-191. [PMID: 27737775 PMCID: PMC5885768 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2016] [Revised: 10/03/2016] [Accepted: 10/08/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Language learning aptitude during adulthood varies markedly across individuals. An individual's native-language ability has been associated with success in learning a new language as an adult. However, little is known about how native-language processing affects learning success and what neural markers of native-language processing, if any, are related to success in learning. We therefore related variation in electrophysiology during native-language processing to success in learning a novel artificial language. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while native English speakers judged the acceptability of English sentences prior to learning an artificial language. There was a trend towards a double dissociation between native-language ERPs and their relationships to novel syntax and vocabulary learning. Individuals who exhibited a greater N400 effect when processing English semantics showed better future learning of the artificial language overall. The N400 effect was related to syntax learning via its specific relationship to vocabulary learning. In contrast, the P600 effect size when processing English syntax predicted future syntax learning but not vocabulary learning. These findings show that distinct neural signatures of native-language processing relate to dissociable abilities for learning novel semantic and syntactic information.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zhenghan Qi
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
| | - Sara D Beach
- Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Division of Medical Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
| | - Amy S Finn
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
| | - Jennifer Minas
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
| | - Calvin Goetz
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
| | - Brian Chan
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
| | - John D E Gabrieli
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
Daltrozzo J, Emerson SN, Deocampo J, Singh S, Freggens M, Branum-Martin L, Conway CM. Visual statistical learning is related to natural language ability in adults: An ERP study. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2017; 166:40-51. [PMID: 28086142 PMCID: PMC5293669 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2016.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2015] [Revised: 10/06/2016] [Accepted: 12/17/2016] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Statistical learning (SL) is believed to enable language acquisition by allowing individuals to learn regularities within linguistic input. However, neural evidence supporting a direct relationship between SL and language ability is scarce. We investigated whether there are associations between event-related potential (ERP) correlates of SL and language abilities while controlling for the general level of selective attention. Seventeen adults completed tests of visual SL, receptive vocabulary, grammatical ability, and sentence completion. Response times and ERPs showed that SL is related to receptive vocabulary and grammatical ability. ERPs indicated that the relationship between SL and grammatical ability was independent of attention while the association between SL and receptive vocabulary depended on attention. The implications of these dissociative relationships in terms of underlying mechanisms of SL and language are discussed. These results further elucidate the cognitive nature of the links between SL mechanisms and language abilities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jerome Daltrozzo
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
| | | | - Joanne Deocampo
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Sonia Singh
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Marjorie Freggens
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Lee Branum-Martin
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Christopher M Conway
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
46
|
Mtss1 promotes maturation and maintenance of cerebellar neurons via splice variant-specific effects. Brain Struct Funct 2017; 222:2787-2805. [DOI: 10.1007/s00429-017-1372-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2016] [Accepted: 01/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
|
47
|
Nichols ES, Joanisse MF. Functional activity and white matter microstructure reveal the independent effects of age of acquisition and proficiency on second-language learning. Neuroimage 2016; 143:15-25. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.08.053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2016] [Revised: 08/23/2016] [Accepted: 08/24/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022] Open
|
48
|
Foucart A, Romero-Rivas C, Gort BL, Costa A. Discourse comprehension in L2: Making sense of what is not explicitly said. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2016; 163:32-41. [PMID: 27664779 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2016.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2016] [Revised: 08/25/2016] [Accepted: 09/06/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Using ERPs, we tested whether L2 speakers can integrate multiple sources of information (e.g., semantic, pragmatic information) during discourse comprehension. We presented native speakers and L2 speakers with three-sentence scenarios in which the final sentence was highly causally related, intermediately related, or causally unrelated to its context; its interpretation therefore required simple or complex inferences. Native speakers revealed a gradual N400-like effect, larger in the causally unrelated condition than in the highly related condition, and falling in-between in the intermediately related condition, replicating previous results. In the crucial intermediately related condition, L2 speakers behaved like native speakers, however, showing extra processing in a later time-window. Overall, the results show that, when reading, L2 speakers are able to process information from the local context and prior information (e.g., world knowledge) to build global coherence, suggesting that they process different sources of information to make inferences online during discourse comprehension, like native speakers.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alice Foucart
- Center for Brain and Cognition, University Pompeu Fabra, Roc Boronat, 138, 08018 Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Carlos Romero-Rivas
- Center for Brain and Cognition, University Pompeu Fabra, Roc Boronat, 138, 08018 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Bernharda Lottie Gort
- University of Groningen, Oude Kijk in 't Jatstraat 26, 9712 EK Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Albert Costa
- Center for Brain and Cognition, University Pompeu Fabra, Roc Boronat, 138, 08018 Barcelona, Spain; ICREA, Institució Catalana de Recerca I Estudis Avançats, Barcelona, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
49
|
Kasparian K, Vespignani F, Steinhauer K. First Language Attrition Induces Changes in Online Morphosyntactic Processing and Re-Analysis: An ERP Study of Number Agreement in Complex Italian Sentences. Cogn Sci 2016; 41:1760-1803. [PMID: 27868225 PMCID: PMC5638100 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2016] [Revised: 06/12/2016] [Accepted: 07/29/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
First language (L1) attrition in adulthood offers new insight on neuroplasticity and the role of language experience in shaping neurocognitive responses to language. Attriters are multilinguals for whom advancing L2 proficiency comes at the cost of the L1, as they experience a shift in exposure and dominance (e.g., due to immigration). To date, the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying L1 attrition are largely unexplored. Using event‐related potentials (ERPs), we examined L1‐Italian grammatical processing in 24 attriters and 30 Italian native‐controls. We assessed whether (a) attriters differed from non‐attriting native speakers in their online detection and re‐analysis/repair of number agreement violations, and whether (b) differences in processing were modulated by L1‐proficiency. To test both local and non‐local agreement violations, we manipulated agreement between three inflected constituents and examined ERP responses on two of these (subject, verb, modifier). Our findings revealed group differences in amplitude, scalp distribution, and duration of LAN/N400 + P600 effects. We discuss these differences as reflecting influence of attriters’ L2‐English, as well as shallower online sentence repair processes than in non‐attriting native speakers. ERP responses were also predicted by L1‐Italian proficiency scores, with smaller N400/P600 amplitudes in lower proficiency individuals. Proficiency only modulated P600 amplitude between 650 and 900 ms, whereas the late P600 (beyond 900 ms) depended on group membership and amount of L1 exposure within attriters. Our study is the first to show qualitative and quantitative differences in ERP responses in attriters compared to non‐attriting native speakers. Our results also emphasize that proficiency predicts language processing profiles, even in native‐speakers, and that the P600 should not be considered a monolithic component.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kristina Kasparian
- School of Communication Sciences & Disorders, McGill University.,Centre for Research on Brain, Language and Music (CRBLM), McGill University
| | | | - Karsten Steinhauer
- School of Communication Sciences & Disorders, McGill University.,Centre for Research on Brain, Language and Music (CRBLM), McGill University
| |
Collapse
|
50
|
Confusing similar words: ERP correlates of lexical-semantic processing in first language attrition and late second language acquisition. Neuropsychologia 2016; 93:200-217. [PMID: 27751710 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.10.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2016] [Revised: 10/12/2016] [Accepted: 10/13/2016] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
First language (L1) attrition is a socio-linguistic circumstance where second language (L2) learning coincides with changes in exposure and use of the native-L1. Attriters often report experiencing a decline in automaticity or proficiency in their L1 after a prolonged period in the L2 environment, while their L2 proficiency continues to strengthen. Investigating the neurocognitive correlates of attrition alongside those of late L2 acquisition addresses the question of whether the brain mechanisms underlying both L1 and L2 processing are strongly determined by proficiency, irrespective of whether the language was acquired from birth or in adulthood. Using event-related-potentials (ERPs), we examined lexical-semantic processing in Italian L1 attriters, compared to adult Italian L2 learners and to Italian monolingual native speakers. We contrasted the processing of classical lexical-semantic violations (Mismatch condition) with sentences that were equally semantically implausible but arguably trickier, as the target-noun was "swapped" with an orthographic neighbor that differed only in its final vowel and gender-marking morpheme (e.g., cappello (hat) vs. cappella (chapel)). Our aim was to determine whether sentences with such "confusable nouns" (Swap condition) would be processed as semantically correct by late L2 learners and L1 attriters, especially for those individuals with lower Italian proficiency scores. We found that lower-proficiency Italian speakers did not show significant N400 effects for Swap violations relative to correct sentences, regardless of whether Italian was the L1 or the L2. Crucially, N400 response profiles followed a continuum of "nativelikeness" predicted by Italian proficiency scores - high-proficiency attriters and high-proficiency Italian learners were indistinguishable from native controls, whereas attriters and L2 learners in the lower-proficiency range showed significantly reduced N400 effects for "Swap" errors. Importantly, attriters and late L2 learners did not differ in their N400 responses when they belonged to the same proficiency subgroup. Attriters also showed an enhanced P600 response to both kinds of lexical-semantic anomalies, which we discuss as reflecting increased conflict-monitoring and conscious "second thought" processes specifically in attriters. Our findings provide some of the first ERP evidence of attrition effects, and are compatible with accounts of ongoing neuroplasticity for language in adulthood. Proficiency, rather than age-of-acquisition, seems to be the key factor in modulating certain neurocognitive responses, not only within L2 learners but also in L1 attriters.
Collapse
|