Converging language streams in the human temporal lobe

Verbal semantic expertise is associated with reduced functional connectivity between left and right anterior temporal lobes

The left and right anterior temporal lobes (ATLs) encode semantic representations. They show graded hemispheric specialization in function, with the left ATL contributing preferentially to verbal semantic processing. We investigated the cognitive correlates of this organization, using resting-state functional connectivity as a measure of functional segregation between ATLs. We analyzed two independent resting-state fMRI datasets (n = 86 and n = 642) in which participants' verbal semantic expertise was measured using vocabulary tests. In both datasets, people with more advanced verbal semantic knowledge showed weaker functional connectivity between left and right ventral ATLs. This effect was highly specific. It was not observed for within-hemisphere connections between semantic regions (ventral ATL and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), though it was found for left-right IFG connectivity in one dataset). Effects were not found for tasks probing semantic control, nonsemantic cognition, or face recognition. Our results suggest that hemispheric specialization in the ATLs is not an innate property but rather emerges as people develop highly detailed verbal semantic representations. We speculate that this effect is a consequence of the left ATL's greater connectivity with left-lateralized written word recognition regions, which causes it to preferentially represent meaning for advanced vocabulary acquired primarily through reading.

Genetic and environmental influence on resting state networks in young male and female adults: a cartographer mapping study

We propose a unique, minimal assumption, approach based on variance analyses (compared with standard approaches) to investigate genetic influence on individual differences on the functional connectivity of the brain using 65 monozygotic and 65 dizygotic healthy young adult twin pairs' low-frequency oscillation resting state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) data from the Human Connectome Project. Overall, we found high number of genetically-influenced functional (GIF) connections involving posterior to posterior brain regions (occipital/temporal/parietal) implicated in low-level processes such as vision, perception, motion, categorization, dorsal/ventral stream visuospatial, and long-term memory processes, as well as high number across midline brain regions (cingulate) implicated in attentional processes, and emotional responses to pain. We found low number of GIF connections involving anterior to anterior/posterior brain regions (frontofrontal > frontoparietal, frontotemporal, frontooccipital) implicated in high-level processes such as working memory, reasoning, emotional judgment, language, and action planning. We found very low number of GIF connections involving subcortical/noncortical networks such as basal ganglia, thalamus, brainstem, and cerebellum. In terms of sex-specific individual differences, individual differences in males were more genetically influenced while individual differences in females were more environmentally influenced in terms of the interplay of interactions of Task positive networks (brain regions involved in various task-oriented processes and attending to and interacting with environment), extended Default Mode Network (a central brain hub for various processes such as internal monitoring, rumination, and evaluation of self and others), primary sensorimotor systems (vision, audition, somatosensory, and motor systems), and subcortical/noncortical networks. There were >8.5-19.1 times more GIF connections in males than females. These preliminary (young adult cohort-specific) findings suggest that individual differences in the resting state brain may be more genetically influenced in males and more environmentally influenced in females; furthermore, standard approaches may suggest that it is more substantially nonadditive genetics, rather than additive genetics, which contribute to the differences in sex-specific individual differences based on this young adult (male and female) specific cohort. Finally, considering the preliminary cohort-specific results, based on standard approaches, environmental influences on individual differences may be substantially greater than that of genetics, for either sex, frontally and brain-wide. [Correction added on 10 May 2023, after first online publication: added: functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Added: individual differences in, twice. Added statement between furthermore … based on standard approaches.].

Non-Invasive Mapping of the Neuronal Networks of Language

This review consists of three main sections. In the first, the Introduction, the main theories of the neuronal mediation of linguistic operations, derived mostly from studies of the effects of focal lesions on linguistic performance, are summarized. These models furnish the conceptual framework on which the design of subsequent functional neuroimaging investigations is based. In the second section, the methods of functional neuroimaging, especially those of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and of Magnetoencephalography (MEG), are detailed along with the specific activation tasks employed in presurgical functional mapping. The reliability of these non-invasive methods and their validity, judged against the results of the invasive methods, namely, the "Wada" procedure and Cortical Stimulation Mapping (CSM), is assessed and their use in presurgical mapping is justified. In the third and final section, the applications of fMRI and MEG in basic research are surveyed in the following six sub-sections, each dealing with the assessment of the neuronal networks for (1) the acoustic and phonological, (2) for semantic, (3) for syntactic, (4) for prosodic operations, (5) for sign language and (6) for the operations of reading and the mechanisms of dyslexia.

Functional geometry of auditory cortical resting state networks derived from intracranial electrophysiology

Understanding central auditory processing critically depends on defining underlying auditory cortical networks and their relationship to the rest of the brain. We addressed these questions using resting state functional connectivity derived from human intracranial electroencephalography. Mapping recording sites into a low-dimensional space where proximity represents functional similarity revealed a hierarchical organization. At a fine scale, a group of auditory cortical regions excluded several higher-order auditory areas and segregated maximally from the prefrontal cortex. On mesoscale, the proximity of limbic structures to the auditory cortex suggested a limbic stream that parallels the classically described ventral and dorsal auditory processing streams. Identities of global hubs in anterior temporal and cingulate cortex depended on frequency band, consistent with diverse roles in semantic and cognitive processing. On a macroscale, observed hemispheric asymmetries were not specific for speech and language networks. This approach can be applied to multivariate brain data with respect to development, behavior, and disorders.

How can graph theory inform the dual-stream model of speech processing? a resting-state fMRI study of post-stroke aphasia

The dual-stream model of speech processing has been proposed to represent the cortical networks involved in speech comprehension and production. Although it is arguably the prominent neuroanatomical model of speech processing, it is not yet known if the dual-stream model represents actual intrinsic functional brain networks. Furthermore, it is unclear how disruptions after a stroke to the functional connectivity of the dual-stream model's regions are related to specific types of speech production and comprehension impairments seen in aphasia. To address these questions, in the present study, we examined two independent resting-state fMRI datasets: (1) 28 neurotypical matched controls and (2) 28 chronic left-hemisphere stroke survivors with aphasia collected at another site. Structural MRI, as well as language and cognitive behavioral assessments, were collected. Using standard functional connectivity measures, we successfully identified an intrinsic resting-state network amongst the dual-stream model's regions in the control group. We then used both standard functional connectivity analyses and graph theory approaches to determine how the functional connectivity of the dual-stream network differs in individuals with post-stroke aphasia, and how this connectivity may predict performance on clinical aphasia assessments. Our findings provide strong evidence that the dual-stream model is an intrinsic network as measured via resting-state MRI, and that weaker functional connectivity of the hub nodes of the dual-stream network defined by graph theory methods, but not overall average network connectivity, is weaker in the stroke group than in the control participants. Also, the functional connectivity of the hub nodes predicted specific types of impairments on clinical assessments. In particular, the relative strength of connectivity of the right hemisphere's homologues of the left dorsal stream hubs to the left dorsal hubs versus right ventral stream hubs is a particularly strong predictor of post-stroke aphasia severity and symptomology.

Late dominance of the right hemisphere during narrative comprehension

PET and fMRI studies suggest that auditory narrative comprehension is supported by a bilateral multilobar cortical network. The superior temporal resolution of magnetoencephalography (MEG) makes it an attractive tool to investigate the dynamics of how different neuroanatomic substrates engage during narrative comprehension. Using beta-band power changes as a marker of cortical engagement, we studied MEG responses during an auditory story comprehension task in 31 healthy adults. The protocol consisted of two runs, each interleaving 7 blocks of the story comprehension task with 15 blocks of an auditorily presented math task as a control for phonological processing, working memory, and attention processes. Sources at the cortical surface were estimated with a frequency-resolved beamformer. Beta-band power was estimated in the frequency range of 16-24 Hz over 1-sec epochs starting from 400 msec after stimulus onset until the end of a story or math problem presentation. These power estimates were compared to 1-second epochs of data before the stimulus block onset. The task-related cortical engagement was inferred from beta-band power decrements. Group-level source activations were statistically compared using non-parametric permutation testing. A story-math contrast of beta-band power changes showed greater bilateral cortical engagement within the fusiform gyrus, inferior and middle temporal gyri, parahippocampal gyrus, and left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) during story comprehension. A math-story contrast of beta power decrements showed greater bilateral but left-lateralized engagement of the middle frontal gyrus and superior parietal lobule. The evolution of cortical engagement during five temporal windows across the presentation of stories showed significant involvement during the first interval of the narrative of bilateral opercular and insular regions as well as the ventral and lateral temporal cortex, extending more posteriorly on the left and medially on the right. Over time, there continued to be sustained right anterior ventral temporal engagement, with increasing involvement of the right anterior parahippocampal gyrus, STG, MTG, posterior superior temporal sulcus, inferior parietal lobule, frontal operculum, and insula, while left hemisphere engagement decreased. Our findings are consistent with prior imaging studies of narrative comprehension, but in addition, they demonstrate increasing right-lateralized engagement over the course of narratives, suggesting an important role for these right-hemispheric regions in semantic integration as well as social and pragmatic inference processing.

Speech decoding from a small set of spatially segregated minimally invasive intracranial EEG electrodes with a compact and interpretable neural network

Objective. Speech decoding, one of the most intriguing brain-computer interface applications, opens up plentiful opportunities from rehabilitation of patients to direct and seamless communication between human species. Typical solutions rely on invasive recordings with a large number of distributed electrodes implanted through craniotomy. Here we explored the possibility of creating speech prosthesis in a minimally invasive setting with a small number of spatially segregated intracranial electrodes.Approach. We collected one hour of data (from two sessions) in two patients implanted with invasive electrodes. We then used only the contacts that pertained to a single stereotactic electroencephalographic (sEEG) shaft or an electrocorticographic (ECoG) stripe to decode neural activity into 26 words and one silence class. We employed a compact convolutional network-based architecture whose spatial and temporal filter weights allow for a physiologically plausible interpretation.Mainresults. We achieved on average 55% accuracy using only six channels of data recorded with a single minimally invasive sEEG electrode in the first patient and 70% accuracy using only eight channels of data recorded for a single ECoG strip in the second patient in classifying 26+1 overtly pronounced words. Our compact architecture did not require the use of pre-engineered features, learned fast and resulted in a stable, interpretable and physiologically meaningful decision rule successfully operating over a contiguous dataset collected during a different time interval than that used for training. Spatial characteristics of the pivotal neuronal populations corroborate with active and passive speech mapping results and exhibit the inverse space-frequency relationship characteristic of neural activity. Compared to other architectures our compact solution performed on par or better than those recently featured in neural speech decoding literature.Significance. We showcase the possibility of building a speech prosthesis with a small number of electrodes and based on a compact feature engineering free decoder derived from a small amount of training data.

Parallel transmit (pTx) with online pulse design for task-based fMRI at 7 T

PURPOSE

Parallel transmission (pTx) is an approach to improve image uniformity for ultra-high field imaging. In this study, we modified an echo planar imaging (EPI) sequence to design subject-specific pTx pulses online. We compared its performance against EPI with conventional circularly polarised (CP) pulses.

METHODS

We compared the pTx-EPI and CP-EPI sequences in a short EPI acquisition protocol and for two different functional paradigms in six healthy volunteers (2 female, aged 23-36 years, mean age 29.2 years). We chose two paradigms that are typically affected by signal dropout at 7 T: a visual objects localiser to determine face/scene selective brain regions and a semantic-processing task.

RESULTS

Across all subjects, pTx-EPI improved whole-brain mean temporal signal-to-noise ratio (tSNR) by 11.0% compared to CP-EPI. We also compared the ability of pTx-EPI and CP-EPI to detect functional activation for three contrasts over the two paradigms: face > object and scene > object for the visual objects localiser and semantic association > pattern matching for the semantic-processing paradigm. Across all three contrasts, pTx-EPI showed higher median z-scores and detected more active voxels in relevant areas, as determined from previous 3 T studies.

CONCLUSION

We have demonstrated a workflow for EPI acquisitions with online per-subject pulse calculations. We saw improved performance in both tSNR and functional acquisitions from pTx-EPI. Thus, we believe that online calculation pTx-EPI is robust enough for future fMRI studies, especially where activation is expected in brain areas liable to significant signal dropout.

The role of the ventrolateral anterior temporal lobes in social cognition

A key challenge for neurobiological models of social cognition is to elucidate whether brain regions are specialised for that domain. In recent years, discussion surrounding the role of anterior temporal regions epitomises such debates; some argue the anterior temporal lobe (ATL) is part of a domain‐specific network for social processing, while others claim it comprises a domain‐general hub for semantic representation. In the present study, we used ATL‐optimised fMRI to map the contribution of different ATL structures to a variety of paradigms frequently used to probe a crucial social ability, namely ‘theory of mind’ (ToM). Using multiple tasks enables a clearer attribution of activation to ToM as opposed to idiosyncratic features of stimuli. Further, we directly explored whether these same structures are also activated by a non‐social task probing semantic representations. We revealed that common to all of the tasks was activation of a key ventrolateral ATL region that is often invisible to standard fMRI. This constitutes novel evidence in support of the view that the ventrolateral ATL contributes to social cognition via a domain‐general role in semantic processing and against claims of a specialised social function.

Perceptual coupling and decoupling of the default mode network during mind-wandering and reading

While reading, our mind can wander to unrelated autobiographical information, creating a perceptually decoupled state detrimental to narrative comprehension. To understand how this mind-wandering state emerges, we asked whether retrieving autobiographical content necessitates functional disengagement from visual input. In Experiment 1, brain activity was recorded using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in an experimental situation mimicking naturally occurring mind-wandering, allowing us to precisely delineate neural regions involved in memory and reading. Individuals read expository texts and ignored personally relevant autobiographical memories, as well as the opposite situation. Medial regions of the default mode network (DMN) were recruited during memory retrieval. In contrast, left temporal and lateral prefrontal regions of the DMN, as well as ventral visual cortex, were recruited when reading for comprehension. Experiment two used functional connectivity both at rest and during tasks to establish that (i) DMN regions linked to memory are more functionally decoupled from regions of ventral visual cortex than regions in the same network engaged when reading; and (ii) individuals with more self-generated mental contents and poorer comprehension, while reading in the lab, showed more decoupling between visually connected DMN sites important for reading and primary visual cortex. A similar pattern of connectivity was found in Experiment 1, with greater coupling between this DMN site and visual cortex when participants reported greater focus on reading in the face of conflict from autobiographical memory cues; moreover, the retrieval of personally relevant memories increased the decoupling of these sites. These converging data suggest we lose track of the narrative when our minds wander because generating autobiographical mental content relies on cortical regions within the DMN which are functionally decoupled from ventral visual regions engaged during reading.

As your eyes scan these words, you may be thinking about what to make for dinner, how to address an unexpected hurdle at work, or how many emails are sitting, unread, in your inbox. This type of mind-wandering disrupts our focus and limits how much information we comprehend, whilst also being conducive to creative thinking and problem-solving.

Despite being an everyday occurrence, exactly how our mind wanders remains elusive. One possible explanation is that the brain disengages from visual information from the external world and turns its attention inwards. A greater understanding of which neural circuits are involved in this process could reveal insights about focus, attention, and reading comprehension.

Here, Zhang et al. investigated whether the brain becomes disengaged from visual input when our mind wanders while reading. Recalling personal events was used as a proxy for mind-wandering. Brain activity was recorded as participants were shown written statements; sometimes these were preceded by cues to personal memories. People were asked to focus on reading the statements or they were instructed to concentrate on their memories while ignoring the text. The analyses showed that recalling memories and reading stimulated distinct parts of the brain, which were in direct competition during mind-wandering.

Further work examined how these regions were functionally connected. In individuals who remained focused on reading despite memory cues, the areas activated by reading showed strong links to the visual cortex. Conversely, these reading-related areas became ‘decoupled’ from visual processing centres in people who were focusing more on their internal thoughts.

These results shed light on why we lose track of what we are reading when our mind wanders: recalling personal memories activates certain brain areas which are functionally decoupled from the regions involved in processing external information – such as the words on a page.

In summary, the work by Zhang et al. builds a mechanistic understanding of mind-wandering, a natural feature of our daily brain activity. These insights may help to inform future interventions in education to improve reading, comprehension and focus.

The importance of basal-temporal white matter to pre- and post-surgical naming ability in temporal lobe epilepsy

OBJECTIVE

Emerging research highlights the importance of basal-temporal cortex, centered on the fusiform gyrus, to both pre-surgical naming ability and post-surgical naming outcomes in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). In this study, we investigate whether integrity of the white matter network that interconnects this basal region to the distributed language network affects naming ability and risk for post-surgical naming decline.

METHODS

Patients with drug-resistant TLE were recruited from two epilepsy centers in a prospective longitudinal study. The pre-surgical dataset included 50 healthy controls, 47 left TLE (L-TLE), and 41 right TLE (R-TLE) patients. All participants completed pre-surgical T1- and diffusion-weighted MRI (dMRI), as well as neuropsychological tests of auditory and visual naming. Nineteen L-TLE and 18 R-TLE patients underwent anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) and also completed post-surgical neuropsychological testing. Pre-surgical fractional anisotropy (FA) of the white matter directly beneath the fusiform neocortex (i.e., superficial white matter; SWM) and of deep white matter tracts with connections to the basal-temporal cortex [inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) and inferior frontal occipital fasciculus (IFOF)] was calculated. Clinical variables, hippocampal volume, and FA of each white matter tract or region were examined in linear regressions with naming scores, or change in naming scores, as the primary outcomes.

RESULTS

Pre-surgically, higher FA in the bilateral ILF, bilateral IFOF, and left fusiform SWM was associated with better visual and auditory naming scores (all ps < 0.05 with FDR correction). In L-TLE, higher pre-surgical FA was also associated with less naming decline post-surgically, but results varied across tracts. When including only patients with typical language dominance, only integrity of the right fusiform SWM was associated with less visual naming decline (p = .0018).

DISCUSSION

Although a broad network of white matter network matter may contribute to naming ability pre-surgically, the reserve capacity of the contralateral (right) fusiform SWM may be important for mitigating visual naming decline following ATL in L-TLE. This shows that the study of the structural network interconnecting the basal-temporal region to the wider language network has implications for understanding both pre- and post-surgical naming in TLE.

Story reading with incidental comprehension and memory: left hemisphere dominance

BACKGROUND

There are no studies on adults with unilateral brain lesions regarding story reading with incidental/implicit comprehension and memory, in which memory is only assessed through delayed recall. There is a need for validation of cerebral laterality in this type of verbal recall, which includes spontaneous performance (free or uncued condition (UC)), and induced-through-question performance regarding the forgotten units (cued condition (CC)).

OBJECTIVES

To explore the effects of unilateral brain lesions, of oral reading with expression (RE) and comprehension (RC) on delayed recall of a story, as either UC or CC; and to validate the ability of UC and CC to discriminate the side of brain injury.

METHODS

Data were obtained from 200 right-handed volunteers, among whom 42 had left-hemisphere injury (LHI), 49 had right-hemisphere injury (RHI) and 109 were demographically-matched healthy participants (HP). Patients who were unable to read, understand or speak were excluded.

RESULTS

LHI individuals presented impairment of both UC and CC, in relation to the other two groups (non-LHI) with sensitivity and specificity above 70%. LHI and RHI individuals were not significantly different in RE and RC, but they were both different from HP in all the assessments except CC, in which RHI individuals resembled HP. Despite this lack of abnormality in RHI individuals during CC, about half of this group showed impairment in UC. Additionally, whereas RE had a significant effect on UC, the moral of the story (RC) had a significant effect on both UC and CC.

CONCLUSIONS

The left hemisphere was dominant for this memory task involving implicit processing.

Does the temporal cortex make us human? A review of structural and functional diversity of the primate temporal lobe

Temporal cortex is a primate specialization that shows considerable variation in size, morphology, and connectivity across species. Human temporal cortex is involved in many behaviors that are considered especially well developed in humans, including semantic processing, language, and theory of mind. Here, we ask whether the involvement of temporal cortex in these behaviors can be explained in the context of the 'general' primate organization of the temporal lobe or whether the human temporal lobe contains unique specializations indicative of a 'step change' in the lineage leading to modern humans. We propose that many human behaviors can be explained as elaborations of temporal cortex functions observed in other primates. However, changes in temporal lobe white matter suggest increased integration of information within temporal cortex and between posterior temporal cortex and other association areas, which likely enable behaviors not possible in other species.

Disease Burden Affects Aging Brain Function

BACKGROUND

Most older adults live with multiple chronic disease conditions, yet the effect of multiple diseases on brain function remains unclear.

METHODS

We examine the relationship between disease multimorbidity and brain activity using regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) 15O-water PET scans from 97 cognitively normal participants (mean baseline age 76.5) in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA). Multimorbidity index scores, generated from the presence of 13 health conditions, were correlated with PET data at baseline and in longitudinal change (n=74) over 5.05 (2.74 SD) years.

RESULTS

At baseline, voxel-based analysis showed that higher multimorbidity scores were associated with lower relative activity in orbitofrontal, superior frontal, temporal pole and parahippocampal regions, and greater activity in lateral temporal, occipital and cerebellar regions. Examination of the individual health conditions comprising the index score showed hypertension and chronic kidney disease individually contributed to the overall multimorbidity pattern of altered activity. Longitudinally, both increases and decreases in activity were seen in relation to increasing multimorbidity over time. These associations were identified in orbitofrontal, lateral temporal, brainstem, and cerebellar areas.

CONCLUSION

Together, these results show that greater multimorbidity is associated with widespread areas of altered brain activity, supporting a link between health and changes in aging brain function.

Cortical Regions Activated by Spectrally Degraded Speech in Adults With Single Sided Deafness or Bilateral Normal Hearing

Those with profound sensorineural hearing loss from single sided deafness (SSD) generally experience greater cognitive effort and fatigue in adverse sound environments. We studied cases with right ear, SSD compared to normal hearing (NH) individuals. SSD cases were significantly less correct in naming last words in spectrally degraded 8- and 16-band vocoded sentences, despite high semantic predictability. Group differences were not significant for less intelligible 4-band sentences, irrespective of predictability. SSD also had diminished BOLD percent signal changes to these same sentences in left hemisphere (LH) cortical regions of early auditory, association auditory, inferior frontal, premotor, inferior parietal, dorsolateral prefrontal, posterior cingulate, temporal-parietal-occipital junction, and posterior opercular. Cortical regions with lower amplitude responses in SSD than NH were mostly components of a LH language network, previously noted as concerned with speech recognition. Recorded BOLD signal magnitudes were averages from all vertices within predefined parcels from these cortex regions. Parcels from different regions in SSD showed significantly larger signal magnitudes to sentences of greater intelligibility (e.g., 8- or 16- vs. 4-band) in all except early auditory and posterior cingulate cortex. Significantly lower response magnitudes occurred in SSD than NH in regions prior studies found responsible for phonetics and phonology of speech, cognitive extraction of meaning, controlled retrieval of word meaning, and semantics. The findings suggested reduced activation of a LH fronto-temporo-parietal network in SSD contributed to difficulty processing speech for word meaning and sentence semantics. Effortful listening experienced by SSD might reflect diminished activation to degraded speech in the affected LH language network parcels. SSD showed no compensatory activity in matched right hemisphere parcels.

Primary Progressive Aphasia: Toward a Pathophysiological Synthesis

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The term primary progressive aphasia (PPA) refers to a diverse group of dementias that present with prominent and early problems with speech and language. They present considerable challenges to clinicians and researchers.

RECENT FINDINGS

Here, we review critical issues around diagnosis of the three major PPA variants (semantic variant PPA, nonfluent/agrammatic variant PPA, logopenic variant PPA), as well as considering 'fragmentary' syndromes. We next consider issues around assessing disease stage, before discussing physiological phenotyping of proteinopathies across the PPA spectrum. We also review evidence for core central auditory impairments in PPA, outline critical challenges associated with treatment, discuss pathophysiological features of each major PPA variant, and conclude with thoughts on key challenges that remain to be addressed. New findings elucidating the pathophysiology of PPA represent a major step forward in our understanding of these diseases, with implications for diagnosis, care, management, and therapies.

Lower Cardiac Output Relates to Longitudinal Cognitive Decline in Aging Adults

Background

Subclinical reductions in cardiac output correspond to lower cerebral blood flow (CBF), placing the brain at risk for functional changes.

Objectives

This study aims to establish the consequences of reduced cardiac output on longitudinal cognitive outcomes in aging adults.

Methods

Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project participants free of clinical dementia and heart failure (n = 306, 73 ± 7, 58% male) underwent baseline echocardiography to assess cardiac output (L/min) and longitudinal neuropsychological assessment at baseline, 18 months, 3 and 5 years. Linear mixed-effects regressions related cardiac output to trajectory for each longitudinal neuropsychological outcome, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, body surface area, Framingham Stroke Risk Profile score, apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 status and follow-up time. Models were repeated, testing interactions with cognitive diagnosis and APOE-ε4 status.

Results

Lower baseline cardiac output related to faster declines in language (β = 0.11, p = 0.01), information processing speed (β = 0.31, p = 0.006), visuospatial skills (β = 0.09, p = 0.03), and episodic memory (β = 0.02, p = 0.001). No cardiac output x cognitive diagnosis interactions were observed (p > 0.26). APOE-ε4 status modified the association between cardiac output and longitudinal episodic memory (β = 0.03, p = 0.047) and information processing speed outcomes (β = 0.55, p = 0.02) with associations stronger in APOE-ε4 carriers.

Conclusion

The present study provides evidence that even subtle reductions in cardiac output may be associated with more adverse longitudinal cognitive health, including worse language, information processing speed, visuospatial skills, and episodic memory performances. Preservation of healthy cardiac functioning is important for maintaining optimal brain aging among older adults.

Electrophysiology of the Human Superior Temporal Sulcus during Speech Processing

The superior temporal sulcus (STS) is a crucial hub for speech perception and can be studied with high spatiotemporal resolution using electrodes targeting mesial temporal structures in epilepsy patients. Goals of the current study were to clarify functional distinctions between the upper (STSU) and the lower (STSL) bank, hemispheric asymmetries, and activity during self-initiated speech. Electrophysiologic properties were characterized using semantic categorization and dialog-based tasks. Gamma-band activity and alpha-band suppression were used as complementary measures of STS activation. Gamma responses to auditory stimuli were weaker in STSL compared with STSU and had longer onset latencies. Activity in anterior STS was larger during speaking than listening; the opposite pattern was observed more posteriorly. Opposite hemispheric asymmetries were found for alpha suppression in STSU and STSL. Alpha suppression in the STS emerged earlier than in core auditory cortex, suggesting feedback signaling within the auditory cortical hierarchy. STSL was the only region where gamma responses to words presented in the semantic categorization tasks were larger in subjects with superior task performance. More pronounced alpha suppression was associated with better task performance in Heschl's gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, and STS. Functional differences between STSU and STSL warrant their separate assessment in future studies.

Movies and narratives as naturalistic stimuli in neuroimaging

Using movies and narratives as naturalistic stimuli in human neuroimaging studies has yielded significant advances in understanding of cognitive and emotional functions. The relevant literature was reviewed, with emphasis on how the use of naturalistic stimuli has helped advance scientific understanding of human memory, attention, language, emotions, and social cognition in ways that would have been difficult otherwise. These advances include discovering a cortical hierarchy of temporal receptive windows, which supports processing of dynamic information that accumulates over several time scales, such as immediate reactions vs. slowly emerging patterns in social interactions. Naturalistic stimuli have also helped elucidate how the hippocampus supports segmentation and memorization of events in day-to-day life and have afforded insights into attentional brain mechanisms underlying our ability to adopt specific perspectives during natural viewing. Further, neuroimaging studies with naturalistic stimuli have revealed the role of the default-mode network in narrative-processing and in social cognition. Finally, by robustly eliciting genuine emotions, these stimuli have helped elucidate the brain basis of both basic and social emotions apparently manifested as highly overlapping yet distinguishable patterns of brain activity.

MEG Sensor Selection for Neural Speech Decoding

Direct decoding of speech from the brain is a faster alternative to current electroencephalography (EEG) speller-based brain-computer interfaces (BCI) in providing communication assistance to locked-in patients. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) has recently shown great potential as a non-invasive neuroimaging modality for neural speech decoding, owing in part to its spatial selectivity over other high-temporal resolution devices. Standard MEG systems have a large number of cryogenically cooled channels/sensors (200 - 300) encapsulated within a fixed liquid helium dewar, precluding their use as wearable BCI devices. Fortunately, recently developed optically pumped magnetometers (OPM) do not require cryogens, and have the potential to be wearable and movable making them more suitable for BCI applications. This design is also modular allowing for customized montages to include only the sensors necessary for a particular task. As the number of sensors bears a heavy influence on the cost, size, and weight of MEG systems, minimizing the number of sensors is critical for designing practical MEG-based BCIs in the future. In this study, we sought to identify an optimal set of MEG channels to decode imagined and spoken phrases from the MEG signals. Using a forward selection algorithm with a support vector machine classifier we found that nine optimally located MEG gradiometers provided higher decoding accuracy compared to using all channels. Additionally, the forward selection algorithm achieved similar performance to dimensionality reduction using a stacked-sparse-autoencoder. Analysis of spatial dynamics of speech decoding suggested that both left and right hemisphere sensors contribute to speech decoding. Sensors approximately located near Broca's area were found to be commonly contributing among the higher-ranked sensors across all subjects.

Syntax-Sensitive Regions of the Posterior Inferior Frontal Gyrus and the Posterior Temporal Lobe Are Differentially Recruited by Production and Perception

Matchin and Hickok (2020) proposed that the left posterior inferior frontal gyrus (PIFG) and the left posterior temporal lobe (PTL) both play a role in syntactic processing, broadly construed, attributing distinct functions to these regions with respect to production and perception. Consistent with this hypothesis, functional dissociations between these regions have been demonstrated with respect to lesion-symptom mapping in aphasia. However, neuroimaging studies of syntactic comprehension typically show similar activations in these regions. In order to identify whether these regions show distinct activation patterns with respect to syntactic perception and production, we performed an fMRI study contrasting the subvocal articulation and perception of structured jabberwocky phrases (syntactic), sequences of real words (lexical), and sequences of pseudowords (phonological). We defined two sets of language-selective regions of interest (ROIs) in individual subjects for the PIFG and the PTL using the contrasts [syntactic > lexical] and [syntactic > phonological]. We found robust significant interactions of comprehension and production between these 2 regions at the syntactic level, for both sets of language-selective ROIs. This suggests a core difference in the function of these regions with respect to production and perception, consistent with the lesion literature.

Network organization during probabilistic learning via taste outcomes

Reinforcement learning guides food decisions, yet how the brain learns from taste in humans is not fully understood. Existing research examines reinforcement learning from taste using passive condition paradigms, but response-dependent instrumental conditioning better reflects natural eating behavior. Here, we examined brain response during a taste-motivated reinforcement learning task and how measures of task-based network structure were related to behavioral outcomes. During a functional MRI scan, 85 participants completed a probabilistic selection task with feedback via sweet taste or bitter taste. Whole brain response and functional network topology measures, including identification of communities and community segregation, were examined during choice, sweet taste, and bitter taste conditions. Relative to the bitter taste, sweet taste was associated with increased whole brain response in the hippocampus, oral somatosensory cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex. Sweet taste was also related to differential community assignment of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex compared to bitter taste. During choice, increasing segregation of a community containing the amygdala, hippocampus, and right fusiform gyrus was associated with increased sensitivity to punishment on the task's posttest. Further, normal BMI was associated with differential community structure compared to overweight and obese BMI, where high BMI reflected increased connectivity of visual regions. Together, results demonstrate that network topology of learning and memory regions during choice is related to avoiding a bitter taste, and that BMI is associated with increased connectivity of area involved in processing external stimuli. Network organization and topology provide unique insight into individual differences in brain response to instrumental conditioning via taste reinforcers.

Connectivity Gradient in the Human Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus: Intraoperative Cortico-Cortical Evoked Potential Study

In the dual-stream model of language processing, the exact connectivity of the ventral stream to the anterior temporal lobe remains elusive. To investigate the connectivity between the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the lateral part of the temporal and parietal lobes, we integrated spatiotemporal profiles of cortico-cortical evoked potentials (CCEPs) recorded intraoperatively in 14 patients who had undergone surgical resection for a brain tumor or epileptic focus. Four-dimensional visualization of the combined CCEP data showed that the pars opercularis (Broca’s area) is connected to the posterior temporal cortices and the supramarginal gyrus, whereas the pars orbitalis is connected to the anterior lateral temporal cortices and angular gyrus. Quantitative topographical analysis of CCEP connectivity confirmed an anterior–posterior gradient of connectivity from IFG stimulus sites to the temporal response sites. Reciprocality analysis indicated that the anterior part of the IFG is bidirectionally connected to the temporal or parietal area. This study shows that each IFG subdivision has different connectivity to the temporal lobe with an anterior–posterior gradient and supports the classical connectivity concept of Dejerine; that is, the frontal lobe is connected to the temporal lobe through the arcuate fasciculus and also a double fan-shaped structure anchored at the limen insulae.

Linking individual differences in semantic cognition to white matter microstructure

Semantic cognition is thought to involve the interaction of heteromodal conceptual representations with control processes that (i) focus retrieval on currently-relevant information, and (ii) suppress dominant yet irrelevant features and associations. Research suggests that semantic control demands are higher when retrieving a link between weakly-associated word pairs, since there is a mismatch between the pattern of semantic retrieval required by the task and the dominant associations of individual words. In addition, given that heteromodal concepts are thought to reflect the integration of vision, audition, valence and other features, the control demands of semantic tasks should be higher when there is less consistency between these features. In the present study, 62 volunteers completed a semantic decision task, where association strength and semantic-affective congruence were manipulated. We used diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging to obtain fractional anisotropy (FA) measures of white matter tracts hypothesized to be part of the semantic network. The behavioural data revealed an interaction between semantic-affective congruence and strength of association, suggesting these manipulations both contribute to semantic control demands. Next we considered how individual differences in these markers of semantic control relate to the microstructure of canonical white matter tracts, complementing previous studies that have largely focused on measures of intrinsic functional connectivity. Repeated-measures analysis of covariance showed opposing interactions between semantic control markers and FA of two tracts: left inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) and right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF). Participants with higher FA in left ILF showed more efficient retrieval of weak associations, and more accurate performance for weak associations when meaning and valence were incongruent, consistent with the hypothesis that this left hemisphere tract supports semantic control. In contrast, participants with higher FA in right IFOF were more accurate for trials in which meaning and valence were congruent, and consequently when semantic control demands were minimised. These findings are consistent with recent studies showing that semantic control processes are strongly left-lateralised. In contrast, long-range connections from vision to semantic regions in the right hemisphere might support relatively automatic patterns of semantic retrieval.

Sensory Modality-Independent Activation of the Brain Network for Language

The meaning of a sentence can be understood, whether presented in written or spoken form. Therefore, it is highly probable that brain processes supporting language comprehension are at least partly independent of sensory modality. To identify where and when in the brain language processing is independent of sensory modality, we directly compared neuromagnetic brain signals of 200 human subjects (102 males) either reading or listening to sentences. We used multiset canonical correlation analysis to align individual subject data in a way that boosts those aspects of the signal that are common to all, allowing us to capture word-by-word signal variations, consistent across subjects and at a fine temporal scale. Quantifying this consistency in activation across both reading and listening tasks revealed a mostly left-hemispheric cortical network. Areas showing consistent activity patterns included not only areas previously implicated in higher-level language processing, such as left prefrontal, superior and middle temporal areas, and anterior temporal lobe, but also parts of the control network as well as subcentral and more posterior temporal-parietal areas. Activity in this supramodal sentence-processing network starts in temporal areas and rapidly spreads to the other regions involved. The findings indicate not only the involvement of a large network of brain areas in supramodal language processing but also that the linguistic information contained in the unfolding sentences modulates brain activity in a word-specific manner across subjects.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The brain can extract meaning from written and spoken messages alike. This requires activity of both brain circuits capable of processing sensory modality-specific aspects of the input signals as well as coordinated brain activity to extract modality-independent meaning from the input. Using traditional methods, it is difficult to disentangle modality-specific activation from modality-independent activation. In this work, we developed and applied a multivariate methodology that allows for a direct quantification of sensory modality-independent brain activity, revealing fast activation of a wide network of brain areas, both including and extending beyond the core network for language.

Mapping eloquent cortex: A voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping study of core speech production capacities in brain tumour patients

This study used voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping to examine the cortical and white matter regions associated with language production impairments in a sample of 63 preoperative tumour patients. We identified four cognitive functions considered crucial for spoken language production: semantic-to-lexical mapping (selecting the appropriate lexical label for the intended concept); phonological encoding (retrieving the word's phonological form); articulatory-motor planning (programming the articulatory motor movements); and goal-driven language selection (exerting top-down control over the words selected for production). Each participant received a score estimating their competence on each function. We then mapped the region(s) where pathology was significantly associated with low scores. For semantic-to-lexical mapping, the critical map encompassed portions of the left posterior middle and inferior temporal gyri, extending into posterior fusiform gyrus, overlapping substantially with the territory of the inferior longitudinal fasciculus. For phonological encoding, the map encompassed the left inferior parietal lobe and posterior middle temporal gyrus, overlapping with the territory of the inferior longitudinal and posterior arcuate fasciculi. For articulatory-motor planning, the map encompassed parts of the left frontal pole, frontal operculum, and inferior frontal gyrus, and overlapped with the territory of the frontal aslant tract. Finally, the map for goal-driven language selection encompassed the left frontal pole and the anterior cingulate cortex. We compare our findings with those from other neuropsychological samples, and conclude that the study of tumour patients offers evidence that complements that available from other populations.

Written sentence context effects on acoustic-phonetic perception: fMRI reveals cross-modal semantic-perceptual interactions

This study examines cross-modality effects of a semantically-biased written sentence context on the perception of an acoustically-ambiguous word target identifying neural areas sensitive to interactions between sentential bias and phonetic ambiguity. Of interest is whether the locus or nature of the interactions resembles those previously demonstrated for auditory-only effects. FMRI results show significant interaction effects in right mid-middle temporal gyrus (RmMTG) and bilateral anterior superior temporal gyri (aSTG), regions along the ventral language comprehension stream that map sound onto meaning. These regions are more anterior than those previously identified for auditory-only effects; however, the same cross-over interaction pattern emerged implying similar underlying computations at play. The findings suggest that the mechanisms that integrate information across modality and across sentence and phonetic levels of processing recruit amodal areas where reading and spoken lexical and semantic access converge. Taken together, results support interactive accounts of speech and language processing.

Task-General and Acoustic-Invariant Neural Representation of Speech Categories in the Human Brain

A significant neural challenge in speech perception includes extracting discrete phonetic categories from continuous and multidimensional signals despite varying task demands and surface-acoustic variability. While neural representations of speech categories have been previously identified in frontal and posterior temporal-parietal regions, the task dependency and dimensional specificity of these neural representations are still unclear. Here, we asked native Mandarin participants to listen to speech syllables carrying 4 distinct lexical tone categories across passive listening, repetition, and categorization tasks while they underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We used searchlight classification and representational similarity analysis (RSA) to identify the dimensional structure underlying neural representation across tasks and surface-acoustic properties. Searchlight classification analyses revealed significant "cross-task" lexical tone decoding within the bilateral superior temporal gyrus (STG) and left inferior parietal lobule (LIPL). RSA revealed that the LIPL and LSTG, in contrast to the RSTG, relate to 2 critical dimensions (pitch height, pitch direction) underlying tone perception. Outside this core representational network, we found greater activation in the inferior frontal and parietal regions for stimuli that are more perceptually similar during tone categorization. Our findings reveal the specific characteristics of fronto-tempo-parietal regions that support speech representation and categorization processing.

Distinct individual differences in default mode network connectivity relate to off-task thought and text memory during reading

Often, as we read, we find ourselves thinking about something other than the text; this tendency to mind-wander is linked to poor comprehension and reduced subsequent memory for texts. Contemporary accounts argue that periods of off-task thought are related to the tendency for attention to be decoupled from external input. We used fMRI to understand the neural processes that underpin this phenomenon. First, we found that individuals with poorer text-based memory tend to show reduced recruitment of left middle temporal gyrus in response to orthographic input, within a region located at the intersection of default mode, dorsal attention and frontoparietal networks. Voxels within these networks were taken as seeds in a subsequent resting-state study. The default mode network region (i) had greater connectivity with medial prefrontal cortex, falling within the same network, for individuals with better text-based memory, and (ii) was more decoupled from medial visual regions in participants who mind-wandered more frequently. These findings suggest that stronger intrinsic connectivity within the default mode network is linked to better text processing, while reductions in default mode network coupling to the visual system may underpin individual variation in the tendency for our attention to become disengaged from what we are reading.

The Ventral Anterior Temporal Lobe has a Necessary Role in Exception Word Reading

An influential account of reading holds that words with exceptional spelling-to-sound correspondences (e.g., PINT) are read via activation of their lexical-semantic representations, supported by the anterior temporal lobe (ATL). This account has been inconclusive because it is based on neuropsychological evidence, in which lesion-deficit relationships are difficult to localize precisely, and functional neuroimaging data, which is spatially precise but cannot demonstrate whether the ATL activity is necessary for exception word reading. To address these issues, we used a technique with good spatial specificity-repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)-to demonstrate a necessary role of ATL in exception word reading. Following rTMS to left ventral ATL, healthy Japanese adults made more regularization errors in reading Japanese exception words. We successfully simulated these results in a computational model in which exception word reading was underpinned by semantic activations. The ATL is critically and selectively involved in reading exception words.

Perirhinal circuits for memory processing

The perirhinal cortex (PRC) serves as the gateway to the hippocampus for episodic memory formation and plays a part in retrieval through its backward connectivity to various neocortical areas. First, I present the evidence suggesting that PRC neurons encode both experientially acquired object features and their associative relations. Recent studies have revealed circuit mechanisms in the PRC for the retrieval of cue-associated information, and have demonstrated that, in monkeys, PRC neuron-encoded information can be behaviourally read out. These studies, among others, support the theory that the PRC converts visual representations of an object into those of its associated features and initiates backward-propagating, interareal signalling for retrieval of nested associations of object features that, combined, extensionally represent the object meaning. I propose that the PRC works as the ventromedial hub of a 'two-hub model' at an apex of the hierarchy of a distributed memory network and integrates signals encoded in other downstream cortical areas that support diverse aspects of knowledge about an object.

The Representation of Semantic Information Across Human Cerebral Cortex During Listening Versus Reading Is Invariant to Stimulus Modality

An integral part of human language is the capacity to extract meaning from spoken and written words, but the precise relationship between brain representations of information perceived by listening versus reading is unclear. Prior neuroimaging studies have shown that semantic information in spoken language is represented in multiple regions in the human cerebral cortex, while amodal semantic information appears to be represented in a few broad brain regions. However, previous studies were too insensitive to determine whether semantic representations were shared at a fine level of detail rather than merely at a coarse scale. We used fMRI to record brain activity in two separate experiments while participants listened to or read several hours of the same narrative stories, and then created voxelwise encoding models to characterize semantic selectivity in each voxel and in each individual participant. We find that semantic tuning during listening and reading are highly correlated in most semantically selective regions of cortex, and models estimated using one modality accurately predict voxel responses in the other modality. These results suggest that the representation of language semantics is independent of the sensory modality through which the semantic information is received.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Humans can comprehend the meaning of words from both spoken and written language. It is therefore important to understand the relationship between the brain representations of spoken or written text. Here, we show that although the representation of semantic information in the human brain is quite complex, the semantic representations evoked by listening versus reading are almost identical. These results suggest that the representation of language semantics is independent of the sensory modality through which the semantic information is received.

A lexical semantic hub for heteromodal naming in middle fusiform gyrus

Semantic memory underpins our understanding of objects, people, places, and ideas. Anomia, a disruption of semantic memory access, is the most common residual language disturbance and is seen in dementia and following injury to temporal cortex. While such anomia has been well characterized by lesion symptom mapping studies, its pathophysiology is not well understood. We hypothesize that inputs to the semantic memory system engage a specific heteromodal network hub that integrates lexical retrieval with the appropriate semantic content. Such a network hub has been proposed by others, but has thus far eluded precise spatiotemporal delineation. This limitation in our understanding of semantic memory has impeded progress in the treatment of anomia. We evaluated the cortical structure and dynamics of the lexical semantic network in driving speech production in a large cohort of patients with epilepsy using electrocorticography (n = 64), functional MRI (n = 36), and direct cortical stimulation (n = 30) during two generative language processes that rely on semantic knowledge: visual picture naming and auditory naming to definition. Each task also featured a non-semantic control condition: scrambled pictures and reversed speech, respectively. These large-scale data of the left, language-dominant hemisphere uniquely enable convergent, high-resolution analyses of neural mechanisms characterized by rapid, transient dynamics with strong interactions between distributed cortical substrates. We observed three stages of activity during both visual picture naming and auditory naming to definition that were serially organized: sensory processing, lexical semantic processing, and articulation. Critically, the second stage was absent in both the visual and auditory control conditions. Group activity maps from both electrocorticography and functional MRI identified heteromodal responses in middle fusiform gyrus, intraparietal sulcus, and inferior frontal gyrus; furthermore, the spectrotemporal profiles of these three regions revealed coincident activity preceding articulation. Only in the middle fusiform gyrus did direct cortical stimulation disrupt both naming tasks while still preserving the ability to repeat sentences. These convergent data strongly support a model in which a distinct neuroanatomical substrate in middle fusiform gyrus provides access to object semantic information. This under-appreciated locus of semantic processing is at risk in resections for temporal lobe epilepsy as well as in trauma and strokes that affect the inferior temporal cortex-it may explain the range of anomic states seen in these conditions. Further characterization of brain network behaviour engaging this region in both healthy and diseased states will expand our understanding of semantic memory and further development of therapies directed at anomia.

Concepts, control, and context: A connectionist account of normal and disordered semantic cognition

Semantic cognition requires conceptual representations shaped by verbal and nonverbal experience and executive control processes that regulate activation of knowledge to meet current situational demands. A complete model must also account for the representation of concrete and abstract words, of taxonomic and associative relationships, and for the role of context in shaping meaning. We present the first major attempt to assimilate all of these elements within a unified, implemented computational framework. Our model combines a hub-and-spoke architecture with a buffer that allows its state to be influenced by prior context. This hybrid structure integrates the view, from cognitive neuroscience, that concepts are grounded in sensory-motor representation with the view, from computational linguistics, that knowledge is shaped by patterns of lexical co-occurrence. The model successfully codes knowledge for abstract and concrete words, associative and taxonomic relationships, and the multiple meanings of homonyms, within a single representational space. Knowledge of abstract words is acquired through (a) their patterns of co-occurrence with other words and (b) acquired embodiment, whereby they become indirectly associated with the perceptual features of co-occurring concrete words. The model accounts for executive influences on semantics by including a controlled retrieval mechanism that provides top-down input to amplify weak semantic relationships. The representational and control elements of the model can be damaged independently, and the consequences of such damage closely replicate effects seen in neuropsychological patients with loss of semantic representation versus control processes. Thus, the model provides a wide-ranging and neurally plausible account of normal and impaired semantic cognition.

Frontal and Insular Input to the Dorsolateral Temporal Pole in Primates: Implications for Auditory Memory

The temporal pole (TP) has been involved in multiple functions from emotional and social behavior, semantic processing, memory, language in humans and epilepsy surgery, to the fronto-temporal neurodegenerative disorder (semantic) dementia. However, the role of the TP subdivisions is still unclear, in part due to the lack of quantitative data about TP connectivity. This study focuses in the dorsolateral subdivision of the TP: area 38_DL. Area 38_DL main input originates in the auditory processing areas of the rostral superior temporal gyrus. Among other connections, area 38_DL conveys this auditory highly processed information to the entorhinal, rostral perirhinal, and posterior parahippocampal cortices, presumably for storage in long-term memory (Muñoz-López et al., 2015). However, the connections of the TP with cortical areas beyond the temporal cortex suggest that this area is part of a wider network. With the aim to quantitatively determine the topographical, laminar pattern and weighting of the lateral TP afferents from the frontal and insular cortices, we placed a total of 11 tracer injections of the fluorescent retrograde neuronal tracers Fast Blue and Diamidino Yellow at different levels of the lateral TP in rhesus monkeys. The results showed that circa 50% of the total cortical input to area 38_DL originates in medial frontal areas 14, 25, 32, and 24 (25%); orbitofrontal areas Pro and PAll (15%); and the agranular, parainsular and disgranular insula (10%). This study sets the anatomical bases to better understand the function of the dorsolateral division of the TP. More specifically, these results suggest that area 38_DL forms part of the wider limbic circuit that might contribute, among other functions, with an auditory component to multimodal memory processing.

Cortical regions supporting reading comprehension skill for single words and discourse

A substantial amount of variation in reading comprehension skill is explained by listening comprehension skill, suggesting tight links between printed and spoken discourse processing. In addition, both word level (e.g., vocabulary) and discourse-level sub-skills (e.g., inference-making) support overall comprehension. However, while these contributions to variation in comprehension skill have been well-studied behaviorally, the underlying neurobiological basis of these relationships is less well understood. In order to examine the neural bases of individual differences in reading comprehension as a function of input modality and processing level, we examined functional neural activation to both spoken and printed single words and passages in adolescents with a range of comprehension skill. Data driven Partial Least Squares Correlation (PLSC) analyses revealed that comprehension skill was positively related to activation in a number of regions associated with discourse comprehension and negatively related to activation in regions associated with executive function and memory across processing levels and input modalities.

The posterior semantic asymmetry (PSA): specific to written not auditory semantic word processing

The present study replicates the finding of a posterior semantic asymmetry (PSA; Koppehele-Gossel et al., Brain Lang 157-158:35-43, 2016), a lateralized event-related potential (ERP) suggested to reflect semantic activation from visually presented single words. This ERP negativity, derived from the subtraction of right-side from left-side scalp activity, again peaked around 300 ms at temporoparietal electrodes and was more pronounced in a semantic task, compared to both a silent naming task and a passive viewing task. With analogous tasks, no comparable negativity was found for auditorily presented words. This suggests that the PSA specifically reflects visual-verbal semantic activation. For auditory words, a later variation with the demands on semantic processing was observed for a left-lateralized late positive potential (500-800 ms), which, however, showed a remarkably similar topography as the PSA. Thus, while semantic processing of visual and auditory words converges on left temporoparietal brain areas, the exact patterns of brain electrical activation in terms of time course and polarity are different.

Shared understanding of narratives is correlated with shared neural responses

Humans have a striking ability to infer meaning from even the sparsest and most abstract forms of narratives. At the same time, flexibility in the form of a narrative is matched by inherent ambiguity in its interpretation. How does the brain represent subtle, idiosyncratic differences in the interpretation of abstract and ambiguous narratives? In this fMRI study, subjects were scanned either watching a novel 7-min animation depicting a complex narrative through the movement of geometric shapes, or listening to a narration of the animation's social story. Using an intersubject representational similarity analysis that compared interpretation similarity and neural similarity across subjects, we found that the more similar two people's interpretations of the abstract shapes animation were, the more similar were their neural responses in regions of the default mode network (DMN) and fronto-parietal network. Moreover, these shared responses were modality invariant: the shapes movie and the verbal interpretation of the movie elicited shared responses in linguistic areas and a subset of the DMN when subjects shared interpretations. Together, these results suggest a network of high-level regions that are not only sensitive to subtle individual differences in narrative interpretation during naturalistic conditions, but also resilient to large differences in the modality of the narrative.

Primary progressive aphasia: a clinical approach

The primary progressive aphasias are a heterogeneous group of focal 'language-led' dementias that pose substantial challenges for diagnosis and management. Here we present a clinical approach to the progressive aphasias, based on our experience of these disorders and directed at non-specialists. We first outline a framework for assessing language, tailored to the common presentations of progressive aphasia. We then consider the defining features of the canonical progressive nonfluent, semantic and logopenic aphasic syndromes, including 'clinical pearls' that we have found diagnostically useful and neuroanatomical and other key associations of each syndrome. We review potential diagnostic pitfalls and problematic presentations not well captured by conventional classifications and propose a diagnostic 'roadmap'. After outlining principles of management, we conclude with a prospect for future progress in these diseases, emphasising generic information processing deficits and novel pathophysiological biomarkers.

Convergence of spoken and written language processing in the superior temporal sulcus

Spoken and written language processing streams converge in the superior temporal sulcus (STS), but the functional and anatomical nature of this convergence is not clear. We used functional MRI to quantify neural responses to spoken and written language, along with unintelligible stimuli in each modality, and employed several strategies to segregate activations on the dorsal and ventral banks of the STS. We found that intelligible and unintelligible inputs in both modalities activated the dorsal bank of the STS. The posterior dorsal bank was able to discriminate between modalities based on distributed patterns of activity, pointing to a role in encoding of phonological and orthographic word forms. The anterior dorsal bank was agnostic to input modality, suggesting that this region represents abstract lexical nodes. In the ventral bank of the STS, responses to unintelligible inputs in both modalities were attenuated, while intelligible inputs continued to drive activation, indicative of higher level semantic and syntactic processing. Our results suggest that the processing of spoken and written language converges on the posterior dorsal bank of the STS, which is the first of a heterogeneous set of language regions within the STS, with distinct functions spanning a broad range of linguistic processes.

Distinguishable brain networks relate disease susceptibility to symptom expression in schizophrenia

Disease association studies have characterized altered resting-state functional connectivities describing schizophrenia, but failed to model symptom expression well. We developed a model that could account for symptom severity and meanwhile relate this to disease-related functional pathology. We correlated BOLD signal across brain regions and tested separately for associations with disease (disease edges) and with symptom severity (symptom edges) in a prediction-based scheme. We then integrated them in an "edge bi-color" graph, and adopted mediation analysis to test for causality between the disease and symptom networks and symptom scores. For first-episode schizophrenics (FES, 161 drug-naïve patients and 150 controls), the disease network (with inferior frontal gyrus being the hub) and the symptom-network (posterior occipital-parietal cortex being the hub) were found to overlap in the temporal lobe. For chronic schizophrenis (CS, 69 medicated patients and 62 controls), disease network was dominated by thalamocortical connectivities, and overlapped with symptom network in the middle frontal gyrus. We found that symptom network mediates the relationship between disease network and symptom scores in FEP, but was unable to define a relationship between them for the smaller CS population. Our results suggest that the disease network distinguishing core functional pathology in resting-state brain may be responsible for symptom expression in FES through a wider brain network associated with core symptoms. We hypothesize that top-down control from heteromodal prefrontal cortex to posterior transmodal cortex contributes to positive symptoms of schizophrenia. Our work also suggests differences in mechanisms of symptom expression between FES and CS, highlighting a need to distinguish between these groups.

A supplementary functional connectivity microstate attached to the default mode network in depression revealed by resting-state magnetoencephalography

Default mode network (DMN) has discernable involvement in the representation of negative, self-referential information in depression. Both increased and decreased resting-state functional connectivity between the anterior and posterior DMN have been observed in depression. These conflicting connectivity differences necessitated further exploration of the resting-state DMN dysfunction in depression. Hence, we investigated the time-varying dynamic interactions within the DMN via functional connectivity microstates in a sub-second level. 25 patients with depression and 25 matched healthy controls were enrolled in the MEG analysis. Spherical K-means algorithms embedded within an iterative optimization frame were applied to sliding windowed correlation matrices, resulting in sub-second alternations of two functional connectivity microstates for groups and highlighting the presence of functional variability. In the power dominant state, depressed patients showed a transient decreased pattern that reflected inter/intra-subnetwork deregulation. A supplementary negatively correlated state simultaneously presented with increased connectivity between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), two core nodes for the anterior and posterior DMN respectively. Additionally, depressed patients stayed longer in the supplementary microstate compared to healthy controls. During the time spent in the supplementary microstate, an attempt to compensate for the aberrant effect of vmPFC on PCC across DMN subnetworks was possibly made to balance the self-related processes disturbed by the dominant pattern. The functional compensation mechanism of the supplementary microstate attached to the dominant disrupted one provided a possible explanation to the existing inconsistent findings between the anterior and posterior DMN in depression.

From percept to concept in the ventral temporal lobes: Graded hemispheric specialisation based on stimulus and task

The left and right ventral anterior temporal lobes (vATL) have been implicated as key regions for the representation of conceptual knowledge. However, the nature and degree of hemispheric specialisation in their function is unclear. To address this issue, we investigated hemispheric specialisation in the ventral temporal lobes using a distortion-corrected spin-echo fMRI protocol that enhanced signal in vATL. We employed an orthogonal manipulation of stimulus (written words vs pictured objects) and task (naming vs recognition). Words elicited left-lateralised vATL activation while objects elicited bilateral activation with no hemispheric bias. In contrast, posterior ventral temporal cortex exhibited a rightward bias for objects as well as a leftward bias for words. Naming tasks produced left-lateralised activation in vATL while activity for recognition was equal in left and right vATLs. These findings are incompatible with proposals that left and right ATLs are strongly modular in function, since these predict rightward as well as leftward biases. Instead, they support an alternative model in which (a) left and right ATL together form a bilateral, integrated system for the representation of concepts and (b) within this system, graded hemispheric specialisation emerges as a consequence of differential connectivity with other neural systems. On this view, greater left vATL activation for written word processing develops as a consequence of the inputs this region receives from left-lateralised visual word processing system in posterior temporal cortex. Greater left vATL activation during naming tasks is most likely due to connectivity with left-lateralised speech output systems in prefrontal and motor cortices.

The Neurobiology of Agrammatic Sentence Comprehension: A Lesion Study

Broca's area has long been implicated in sentence comprehension. Damage to this region is thought to be the central source of "agrammatic comprehension" in which performance is substantially worse (and near chance) on sentences with noncanonical word orders compared with canonical word order sentences (in English). This claim is supported by functional neuroimaging studies demonstrating greater activation in Broca's area for noncanonical versus canonical sentences. However, functional neuroimaging studies also have frequently implicated the anterior temporal lobe (ATL) in sentence processing more broadly, and recent lesion-symptom mapping studies have implicated the ATL and mid temporal regions in agrammatic comprehension. This study investigates these seemingly conflicting findings in 66 left-hemisphere patients with chronic focal cerebral damage. Patients completed two sentence comprehension measures, sentence-picture matching and plausibility judgments. Patients with damage including Broca's area (but excluding the temporal lobe; n = 11) on average did not exhibit the expected agrammatic comprehension pattern-for example, their performance was >80% on noncanonical sentences in the sentence-picture matching task. Patients with ATL damage ( n = 18) also did not exhibit an agrammatic comprehension pattern. Across our entire patient sample, the lesions of patients with agrammatic comprehension patterns in either task had maximal overlap in posterior superior temporal and inferior parietal regions. Using voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping, we find that lower performances on canonical and noncanonical sentences in each task are both associated with damage to a large left superior temporal-inferior parietal network including portions of the ATL, but not Broca's area. Notably, however, response bias in plausibility judgments was significantly associated with damage to inferior frontal cortex, including gray and white matter in Broca's area, suggesting that the contribution of Broca's area to sentence comprehension may be related to task-related cognitive demands.

Brain grey and white matter predictors of verbal ability traits in older age: The Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

Cerebral grey and white matter MRI parameters are related to general intelligence and some specific cognitive abilities. Less is known about how structural brain measures relate specifically to verbal processing abilities. We used multi-modal structural MRI to investigate the grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) correlates of verbal ability in 556 healthy older adults (mean age = 72.68 years, s.d. = .72 years). Structural equation modelling was used to decompose verbal performance into two latent factors: a storage factor that indexed participants' ability to store representations of verbal knowledge and an executive factor that measured their ability to regulate their access to this information in a flexible and task-appropriate manner. GM volumes and WM fractional anisotropy (FA) for components of the language/semantic network were used as predictors of these verbal ability factors. Volume of the ventral temporal cortices predicted participants' storage scores (β = .12, FDR-adjusted p = .04), consistent with the theory that this region acts as a key substrate of semantic knowledge. This effect was mediated by childhood IQ, suggesting a lifelong association between ventral temporal volume and verbal knowledge, rather than an effect of cognitive decline in later life. Executive ability was predicted by FA fractional anisotropy of the arcuate fasciculus (β = .19, FDR-adjusted p = .001), a major language-related tract implicated in speech production. This result suggests that this tract plays a role in the controlled retrieval of word knowledge during speech. At a more general level, these data highlight a basic distinction between information representation, which relies on the accumulation of tissue in specialised GM regions, and executive control, which depends on long-range WM pathways for efficient communication across distributed cortical networks.

The Role of the Left Anterior Temporal Lobe for Unpredictable and Complex Mappings in Word Reading

The anterior temporal lobes (ATLs) have been consistently associated with semantic processing which, in turn, has a key role in reading aloud single words. This study aimed to investigate (1) the reading abilities in patients with the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (svPPA), and (2) the relationship between gray matter (GM) volume of the left ATL and word reading performance using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Three groups of participants (svPPA, Alzheimer’s Disease, AD and healthy elderly adults) performed a reading task with exception words, regular words and pseudowords, along with a structural magnetic resonance imaging scan. For exception words, the svPPA group had a lower accuracy and a greater number of regularization errors as compared to the control groups of healthy participants and AD patients. Similarly, for regular words, svPPA patients had a lower accuracy in comparison with AD patients, and a greater number of errors related to complex orthography-to-phonology mappings (OPM) in comparison to both control groups. VBM analyses revealed that GM volume of the left ATL was associated with the number of regularization errors. Also, GM volume of the left lateral ATL was associated with the number of errors with complex OPM during regular word reading. Our results suggest that the left ATL might play a role in the reading of exception words, in accordance with its role in semantic processing. Results further support the involvement of the left lateral ATL in combinatorial processes, including the integration of semantic and phonological information, for both exception and regular words.