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Pan X, Liang B, Li X. Flexible and fine-grained simulation of speed in language processing. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1333598. [PMID: 38659688 PMCID: PMC11040083 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1333598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2023] [Accepted: 03/21/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
According to the embodied cognition theory, language comprehension is achieved through mental simulation. This account is supported by a number of studies reporting action simulations during language comprehension. However, which details of sensory-motor experience are included in these simulations is still controversial. Here, three experiments were carried out to examine the simulation of speed in action language comprehension. Experiment 1 adopted a lexical decision task and a semantic similarity judgment task on isolated fast and slow action verbs. It has been shown that fast action verbs were processed significantly faster than slow action verbs when deep semantic processing is required. Experiment 2 and Experiment 3 investigated the contextual influence on the simulation of speed, showing that the processing of verbs, either depicting fast actions or neutral actions, would be slowed down when embedded in the slow action sentences. These experiments together demonstrate that the fine-gained information, speed, is an important part of action representation and can be simulated but may not in an automatic way. Moreover, the speed simulation is flexible and can be modulated by the context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xueyao Pan
- School of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
| | - Bingqian Liang
- School of Foreign Studies, Anhui Xinhua University, Hefei, China
| | - Xi Li
- Foreign Language College, Chengdu Normal University, Chengdu, China
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2
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Ibáñez A, Kühne K, Miklashevsky A, Monaco E, Muraki E, Ranzini M, Speed LJ, Tuena C. Ecological Meanings: A Consensus Paper on Individual Differences and Contextual Influences in Embodied Language. J Cogn 2023; 6:59. [PMID: 37841670 PMCID: PMC10573819 DOI: 10.5334/joc.228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2022] [Accepted: 05/20/2022] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Embodied theories of cognition consider many aspects of language and other cognitive domains as the result of sensory and motor processes. In this view, the appraisal and the use of concepts are based on mechanisms of simulation grounded on prior sensorimotor experiences. Even though these theories continue receiving attention and support, increasing evidence indicates the need to consider the flexible nature of the simulation process, and to accordingly refine embodied accounts. In this consensus paper, we discuss two potential sources of variability in experimental studies on embodiment of language: individual differences and context. Specifically, we show how factors contributing to individual differences may explain inconsistent findings in embodied language phenomena. These factors include sensorimotor or cultural experiences, imagery, context-related factors, and cognitive strategies. We also analyze the different contextual modulations, from single words to sentences and narratives, as well as the top-down and bottom-up influences. Similarly, we review recent efforts to include cultural and language diversity, aging, neurodegenerative diseases, and brain disorders, as well as bilingual evidence into the embodiment framework. We address the importance of considering individual differences and context in clinical studies to drive translational research more efficiently, and we indicate recommendations on how to correctly address these issues in future research. Systematically investigating individual differences and context may contribute to understanding the dynamic nature of simulation in language processes, refining embodied theories of cognition, and ultimately filling the gap between cognition in artificial experimental settings and cognition in the wild (i.e., in everyday life).
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Affiliation(s)
- Agustín Ibáñez
- Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago de Chile, Chile
- Cognitive Neuroscience Center (CNC), Universidad de San Andrés and CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), University of California San Francisco (UCSF), California, US
- Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Dublin, Ireland, IE
| | - Katharina Kühne
- Potsdam Embodied Cognition Group, Cognitive Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, DE
| | - Alex Miklashevsky
- Potsdam Embodied Cognition Group, Cognitive Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, DE
| | - Elisa Monaco
- Laboratory for Cognitive and Neurological Sciences, Department of Neuroscience and Movement Science, Faculty of Science and Medicine, University of Fribourg, CH
| | - Emiko Muraki
- Department of Psychology & Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, CA
| | | | | | - Cosimo Tuena
- Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, IT
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Tian L, Chen H, Heikkinen PP, Liu W, Parviainen T. Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Activation in Motor and Language Areas Suggest a Compensatory Role of the Motor Cortex in Second Language Processing. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2023; 4:178-197. [PMID: 37229145 PMCID: PMC10205076 DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/14/2022] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
The involvement of the motor cortex in language understanding has been intensively discussed in the framework of embodied cognition. Although some studies have provided evidence for the involvement of the motor cortex in different receptive language tasks, the role that it plays in language perception and understanding is still unclear. In the present study, we explored the degree of involvement of language and motor areas in a visually presented sentence comprehension task, modulated by language proficiency (L1: native language, L2: second language) and linguistic abstractness (literal, metaphorical, and abstract). Magnetoencephalography data were recorded from 26 late Chinese learners of English. A cluster-based permutation F test was performed on the amplitude of the source waveform for each motor and language region of interest (ROI). Results showed a significant effect of language proficiency in both language and motor ROIs, manifested as overall greater involvement of language ROIs (short insular gyri and planum polare of the superior temporal gyrus) in the L1 than the L2 during 300-500 ms, and overall greater involvement of motor ROI (central sulcus) in the L2 than the L1 during 600-800 ms. We interpreted the over-recruitment of the motor area in the L2 as a higher demand for cognitive resources to compensate for the inadequate engagement of the language network. In general, our results indicate a compensatory role of the motor cortex in L2 understanding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lili Tian
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
- School of Foreign Languages, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China
- Language and Brain Research Centre, Sichuan International Studies University, Chongqing, China
| | - Hongjun Chen
- School of Foreign Languages, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China
| | - Pyry Petteri Heikkinen
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Wenya Liu
- Faculty of Information Technology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Tiina Parviainen
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
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Carlozzi NE, Boileau NR, Roberts A, Dayalu P, Hanifan DL, Miner JA, Claassen D, Provost EM. Understanding speech and swallowing difficulties in individuals with Huntington disease: Validation of the HDQLIFE Speech Difficulties and Swallowing Difficulties Item Banks. Qual Life Res 2021; 30:251-265. [PMID: 32839864 PMCID: PMC7854808 DOI: 10.1007/s11136-020-02608-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE As Huntington disease (HD) progresses, speech and swallowing difficulties become more profound. These difficulties have an adverse effect on health-related quality of life (HRQOL), thus psychometrically robust measures of speech and swallowing are needed to better understand the impact of these domains across the course of the disease. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to establish the clinical utility of two new patient-reported outcome measures (PROs), HDQLIFE Speech Difficulties and HDQLIFE Swallowing Difficulties. METHODS Thirty-one participants with premanifest or manifest HD, and 31 age- and sex-matched healthy control participants were recruited for this study. Participants completed several PROs [HDQLIFE Speech Difficulties, HDQLIFE Swallowing Difficulties, Communication Participation Item Bank (CPIB)], as well as several clinician-rated assessments of speech and functioning. A computational algorithm designed to detect features of spoken discourse was also examined. Analyses were focused on establishing the reliability and validity of these new measures. RESULTS Internal consistency was good for Swallowing (Cronbach's alpha = 0.89) and excellent for Speech and the CPIB (both Cronbach's alpha ≥ 0.94), and convergent/discriminant validity was supported. Known groups validity for the PROs was supported by significant group differences among control participants and persons with different stages of HD (all p < 0.0001). All PROs were able to distinguish those with and without clinician-rated dysarthria (likelihood ratios far exceeded the threshold for clinical decision making [all ≥ 3.28]). CONCLUSIONS Findings support the clinical utility of the HDQLIFE Speech and Swallowing PROs and the CPIB for use across the HD disease spectrum. These PROs also have the potential to be clinically useful in other populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noelle E Carlozzi
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Michigan, North Campus Research Complex, 2800 Plymouth Road, Building NCRC B14, Room G216, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2800, USA.
| | - Nicholas R Boileau
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Michigan, North Campus Research Complex, 2800 Plymouth Road, Building NCRC B14, Room G216, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2800, USA
| | - Angela Roberts
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Praveen Dayalu
- Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Dana L Hanifan
- Department of Speech-Language Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jennifer A Miner
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Michigan, North Campus Research Complex, 2800 Plymouth Road, Building NCRC B14, Room G216, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2800, USA
| | - Daniel Claassen
- Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Emily Mower Provost
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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Vitale F, Padrón I, Avenanti A, de Vega M. Enhancing Motor Brain Activity Improves Memory for Action Language: A tDCS Study. Cereb Cortex 2020; 31:1569-1581. [PMID: 33136142 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2019] [Revised: 08/17/2020] [Accepted: 08/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The embodied cognition approach to linguistic meaning posits that action language understanding is grounded in sensory-motor systems. However, evidence that the human motor cortex is necessary for action language memory is meager. To address this issue, in two groups of healthy individuals, we perturbed the left primary motor cortex (M1) by means of either anodal or cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), before participants had to memorize lists of manual action and attentional sentences. In each group, participants received sham and active tDCS in two separate sessions. Following anodal tDCS (a-tDCS), participants improved the recall of action sentences compared with sham tDCS. No similar effects were detected following cathodal tDCS (c-tDCS). Both a-tDCS and c-tDCS induced variable changes in motor excitability, as measured by motor-evoked potentials induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation. Remarkably, across groups, action-specific memory improvements were positively predicted by changes in motor excitability. We provide evidence that excitatory modulation of the motor cortex selectively improves performance in a task requiring comprehension and memory of action sentences. These findings indicate that M1 is necessary for accurate processing of linguistic meanings and thus provide causal evidence that high-order cognitive functions are grounded in the human motor system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Vitale
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia, Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 38200, Spain
| | - Iván Padrón
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia, Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 38200, Spain
| | - Alessio Avenanti
- Dipartimento di Psicologia, Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna, Cesena 47521, Italy
- Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca 3460000, Chile
| | - Manuel de Vega
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia, Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 38200, Spain
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6
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Eyigoz E, Courson M, Sedeño L, Rogg K, Orozco-Arroyave JR, Nöth E, Skodda S, Trujillo N, Rodríguez M, Rusz J, Muñoz E, Cardona JF, Herrera E, Hesse E, Ibáñez A, Cecchi G, García AM. From discourse to pathology: Automatic identification of Parkinson's disease patients via morphological measures across three languages. Cortex 2020; 132:191-205. [PMID: 32992069 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.08.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2019] [Revised: 06/02/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Embodied cognition research on Parkinson's disease (PD) points to disruptions of frontostriatal language functions as sensitive targets for clinical assessment. However, no existing approach has been tested for crosslinguistic validity, let alone by combining naturalistic tasks with machine-learning tools. To address these issues, we conducted the first classifier-based examination of morphological processing (a core frontostriatal function) in spontaneous monologues from PD patients across three typologically different languages. The study comprised 330 participants, encompassing speakers of Spanish (61 patients, 57 matched controls), German (88 patients, 88 matched controls), and Czech (20 patients, 16 matched controls). All subjects described the activities they perform during a regular day, and their monologues were automatically coded via morphological tagging, a computerized method that labels each word with a part-of-speech tag (e.g., noun, verb) and specific morphological tags (e.g., person, gender, number, tense). The ensuing data were subjected to machine-learning analyses to assess whether differential morphological patterns could classify between patients and controls and reflect the former's degree of motor impairment. Results showed robust classification rates, with over 80% of patients being discriminated from controls in each language separately. Moreover, the most discriminative morphological features were associated with the patients' motor compromise (as indicated by Pearson r correlations between predicted and collected motor impairment scores that ranged from moderate to moderate-to-strong across languages). Taken together, our results suggest that morphological patterning, an embodied frontostriatal domain, may be distinctively affected in PD across languages and even under ecological testing conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elif Eyigoz
- IBM Research, T. J. Watson Research Center, New York, USA
| | - Melody Courson
- Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, CRIUGM Research Center, Montréal, Canada
| | - Lucas Sedeño
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Katharina Rogg
- Department of Social Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Juan Rafael Orozco-Arroyave
- Pattern Recognition Lab, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany; GITA Lab, Faculty of Engineering, University of Antioquia (UdeA), Medellín, Colombia
| | - Elmar Nöth
- Pattern Recognition Lab, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
| | - Sabine Skodda
- Department of Neurology, Knappschaftskrankenhaus, Ruhr-University, Bochum, Germany
| | - Natalia Trujillo
- Neuroscience Group, Faculty of Medicine, University of Antioquia (UdeA), Medellín, Colombia; School of Public Health, University of Antioquia (UdeA), Medellín, Colombia
| | - Mabel Rodríguez
- National Institute of Mental Health, Prague, Czech Republic; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Rusz
- Department of Circuit Theory, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Edinson Muñoz
- Departamento de Lingüística y Literatura, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Juan F Cardona
- Instituto de Psicología, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia
| | - Eduar Herrera
- Departamento de Estudios Psicológicos, Universidad Icesi, Cali, Colombia
| | - Eugenia Hesse
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Agustín Ibáñez
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia; Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago de Chile, Chile; Global Brain Health Institute, University of California, San Francisco, United States
| | | | - Adolfo M García
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Departamento de Lingüística y Literatura, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile; Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Global Brain Health Institute, University of California, San Francisco, United States; Faculty of Education, National University of Cuyo (UNCuyo), Mendoza, Argentina.
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Liu B, Gu B, Beltrán D, Wang H, de Vega M. Presetting an inhibitory state modifies the neural processing of negated action sentences. An ERP study. Brain Cogn 2020; 143:105598. [PMID: 32645511 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2020.105598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2020] [Revised: 06/13/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
It has been proposed that understanding negated action sentences (You don't cut the bread) uses the neural networks of action inhibition. The evidence comes from studies in which affirmative or negative action language immediately preceded a Go/NoGo task. It was found that negation selectively modulates inhibition-related signatures of NoGo trials, supporting the Reusing Inhibition for Negation (RIN) hypothesis. To further explore this hypothesis, this study tested the reverse effects; namely, how presetting an inhibitory state affects the processing of negated action sentences. To this end, Go/NoGo responses preceded sentence reading and EEG activities were recorded throughout the entire trials. ERP results indicate that the presetting of inhibition by the NoGo cue induced a sustained modulation of waveform for negated action sentences relative to affirmative ones, which began shortly after the negation operator onset and remained beyond the action verb onset. Crucially, the estimated sources of such effect were the right inferior frontal gyrus and the left middle frontal gyrus, both relevant regions in the action inhibition circuitry. These results, complemented by previous findings, support the idea that action inhibition and negated action language share neural mechanisms and influence each other, thus confirming and extending the RIN hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Liu
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
| | - Beixian Gu
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
| | - David Beltrán
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain; Departamento de Psicología Cognitiva, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
| | - Huili Wang
- Institute for Language and Cognition, School of Foreign Languages, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
| | - Manuel de Vega
- Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain; Departamento de Psicología Cognitiva, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain.
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Humphries S, Klooster N, Cardillo E, Weintraub D, Rick J, Chatterjee A. From action to abstraction: The sensorimotor grounding of metaphor in Parkinson's disease. Cortex 2019; 121:362-384. [PMID: 31678683 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2019] [Accepted: 09/06/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Embodied cognition theories propose that the semantic representations engaged in during language comprehension are partly supported by perceptual and motor systems, via simulation. Activation in modality-specific regions of cortex is associated with the comprehension of literal language that describes the analogous modalities, but studies addressing the grounding of non-literal or figurative language, such as metaphors, have yielded mixed results. Differences in the psycholinguistic characteristics of sentence stimuli across studies have likely contributed to this lack of consensus. Furthermore, previous studies have been largely correlational, whilst patient studies are a critical way of determining if intact sensorimotor function is necessary to understand language drawing on sensorimotor information. We designed a battery of metaphorical and literal sentence stimuli using action and sound words, with an unprecedented level of control over critical psycholinguistic variables, to test hypotheses about the grounding of metaphorical language. In this Registered Report, we assessed the comprehension of these sentences in 41 patients with Parkinson's disease, who were predicted to be disproportionately affected by the action sentences relative to the sound sentences, and compared their performance to that of 39 healthy age-matched controls who were predicted to show no difference in performance due to sensory modality. Using preregistered Bayesian model comparison methods, we found that PD patients' comprehension of literal action sentences was not impaired, while there was some evidence for a slowing of responses to action metaphors. Follow up exploratory analyses suggest that this response time modality effect was driven by one type of metaphor (predicate) and was absent in another (nominal), despite the fact that the action semantics were similar in both syntactic forms. These results suggest that the conditions under which PD patients demonstrate hypothesized embodiment effects are limited. We offer a critical assessment of the PD action language literature and discuss implications for the embodiment debate. In addition, we suggest how future studies could leverage Bayesian statistical methods to provide more convincing evidence for or against embodied cognition effects.
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9
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Valdés Hernández MDC, Abu-Hussain J, Qiu X, Priller J, Parra Rodríguez M, Pino M, Báez S, Ibáñez A. Structural neuroimaging differentiates vulnerability from disease manifestation in colombian families with Huntington's disease. Brain Behav 2019; 9:e01343. [PMID: 31276317 PMCID: PMC6710228 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.1343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2018] [Revised: 04/29/2019] [Accepted: 05/28/2019] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The volume of the striatal structures has been associated with disease progression in individuals with Huntington's disease (HD) from North America, Europe, and Australia. However, it is not known whether the gray matter (GM) volume in the striatum is also sensitive in differentiating vulnerability from disease manifestation in HD families from a South-American region known to have high incidence of the disease. In addition, the association of enlarged brain perivascular spaces (PVS) with cognitive, behavioral, and motor symptoms of HD is unknown. MATERIALS AND METHODS We have analyzed neuroimaging indicators of global atrophy, PVS burden, and GM tissue volume in the basal ganglia and thalami, in relation to behavioral, motor, and cognitive scores, in 15 HD patients with overt disease manifestation and 14 first-degree relatives not genetically tested, which represent a vulnerable group, from the region of Magdalena, Colombia. RESULTS Poor fluid intelligence as per the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices was associated with global brain atrophy (p = 0.002) and PVS burden (p ≤ 0.02) in HD patients, where the GM volume in all subcortical structures, with the exception of the right globus pallidus, was associated with motor or cognitive scores. Only the GM volume in the right putamen was associated with envy and MOCA scores (p = 0.008 and 0.015 respectively) in first-degree relatives. CONCLUSION Striatal GM volume, global brain atrophy and PVS burden may serve as differential indicators of disease manifestation in HD. The Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices could be a cognitive test worth to consider in the differentiation of vulnerability versus overt disease in HD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Del C Valdés Hernández
- Department of Neuroimaging Sciences, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.,Dementia Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Janna Abu-Hussain
- College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Xinyi Qiu
- Glan Clwyd Hospital, North Wales, UK
| | - Josef Priller
- Dementia Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.,Department of Neuropsychiatry, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Mario Parra Rodríguez
- School of Psychological Sciences and Health, Strathclyde University, Glasgow, UK.,Department of Psychology, Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia
| | - Mariana Pino
- Department of Psychology, Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia
| | - Sandra Báez
- Department of Psychology, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Agustín Ibáñez
- Department of Psychology, Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia.,Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australian Research Council (ARC), Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
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10
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE A systematic review examining the presence and nature of language disorders associated with Huntington disease (HD). BACKGROUND HD is characterized by gradual motor dysfunction, psychiatric problems, and cognitive decline. Communication abilities in HD may be affected not only by dysarthria but also by language impairment. However, the nature and type of this impairment is not well defined. METHODS We searched the PubMed and PsycINFO databases and selected studies on the basis of the original language of the article, peer-review status, and specificity of the results regarding language and communication disorders. RESULTS Thirty-one articles meeting the selection criteria were selected for this review. According to most of the studies, individuals with HD present with primary deficits of language. However, a few authors suggested that language deficits in HD result from nonlinguistic impairments, or that language abilities are largely preserved. More specifically, studies showed that HD is associated with difficulties in producing and understanding sentences and discourse, processing semantic representations of object and action concepts, retrieving lexical forms of nouns, and applying morphological and syntactic rules. There is some disagreement regarding whether HD affects reading abilities, sentence production, semantic processing, and application of morphological rules in verb conjugation. CONCLUSIONS Although people with HD present with language impairment, further studies are needed to identify their functional origin. Clinical studies are also needed to determine the impact of such impairments on an individual's functional communication in daily living and to chart the progression of the impairments over the course of the disease.
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11
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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.
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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
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12
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Steeb B, García-Cordero I, Huizing MC, Collazo L, Borovinsky G, Ferrari J, Cuitiño MM, Ibáñez A, Sedeño L, García AM. Progressive Compromise of Nouns and Action Verbs in Posterior Cortical Atrophy. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1345. [PMID: 30123155 PMCID: PMC6085559 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2018] [Accepted: 07/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Processing of nouns and action verbs can be differentially compromised following lesions to posterior and anterior/motor brain regions, respectively. However, little is known about how these deficits progress in the course of neurodegeneration. To address this issue, we assessed productive lexical skills in a patient with posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) at two different stages of his pathology. On both occasions, he underwent a structural brain imaging protocol and completed semantic fluency tasks requiring retrieval of animals (nouns) and actions (verbs). Imaging results were compared with those of controls via voxel-based morphometry (VBM), whereas fluency performance was compared to age-matched norms through Crawford's t-tests. In the first assessment, the patient exhibited atrophy of more posterior regions supporting multimodal semantics (medial temporal and lingual gyri), together with a selective deficit in noun fluency. Then, by the second assessment, the patient's atrophy had progressed mainly toward fronto-motor regions (rolandic operculum, inferior and superior frontal gyri) and subcortical motor hubs (cerebellum, thalamus), and his fluency impairments had extended to action verbs. These results offer unprecedented evidence of the specificity of the pathways related to noun and action-verb impairments in the course of neurodegeneration, highlighting the latter's critical dependence on damage to regions supporting motor functions, as opposed to multimodal semantic processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brenda Steeb
- Laboratory of Language Research (LILEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Indira García-Cordero
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Marjolein C Huizing
- Laboratory of Language Research (LILEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Lucas Collazo
- Laboratory of Language Research (LILEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Geraldine Borovinsky
- Laboratory of Language Research (LILEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Jesica Ferrari
- Department of Language Speech, Institute of Cognitive Neurology, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Macarena M Cuitiño
- Laboratory of Language Research (LILEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Faculty of Psychology, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Faculty of Psychology, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Agustín Ibáñez
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia.,Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago de Chile, Chile.,Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australian Research Council, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Lucas Sedeño
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Adolfo M García
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Faculty of Education, National University of Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
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13
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Cervetto S, Abrevaya S, Martorell Caro M, Kozono G, Muñoz E, Ferrari J, Sedeño L, Ibáñez A, García AM. Action Semantics at the Bottom of the Brain: Insights From Dysplastic Cerebellar Gangliocytoma. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1194. [PMID: 30050490 PMCID: PMC6052139 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2018] [Accepted: 06/20/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent embodied cognition research shows that access to action verbs in shallow-processing tasks becomes selectively compromised upon atrophy of the cerebellum, a critical motor region. Here we assessed whether cerebellar damage also disturbs explicit semantic processing of action pictures and its integration with ongoing motor responses. We evaluated a cognitively preserved 33-year-old man with severe dysplastic cerebellar gangliocytoma (Lhermitte-Duclos disease), encompassing most of the right cerebellum and the posterior part of the left cerebellum. The patient and eight healthy controls completed two semantic association tasks (involving pictures of objects and actions, respectively) that required motor responses. Accuracy results via Crawford’s modified t-tests revealed that the patient was selectively impaired in action association. Moreover, reaction-time analysis through Crawford’s Revised Standardized Difference Test showed that, while processing of action concepts involved slower manual responses in controls, no such effect was observed in the patient, suggesting that motor-semantic integration dynamics may be compromised following cerebellar damage. Notably, a Bayesian Test for a Deficit allowing for Covariates revealed that these patterns remained after covarying for executive performance, indicating that they were not secondary to extra-linguistic impairments. Taken together, our results extend incipient findings on the embodied functions of the cerebellum, offering unprecedented evidence of its crucial role in processing non-verbal action meanings and integrating them with concomitant movements. These findings illuminate the relatively unexplored semantic functions of this region while calling for extensions of motor cognition models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina Cervetto
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience, Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience, INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Departamento de Educación Física y Salud, Instituto Superior de Educación Física, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Sofía Abrevaya
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience, Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience, INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Miguel Martorell Caro
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience, Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience, INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Giselle Kozono
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience, Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience, INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Edinson Muñoz
- Departamento de Lingüística y Literatura, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Jesica Ferrari
- Neuropsychiatry Department, Institute of Cognitive Neurology, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Lucas Sedeño
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience, Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience, INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Agustín Ibáñez
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience, Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience, INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia.,Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago de Chile, Chile.,Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australian Research Council (ARC), Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Adolfo M García
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience, Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience, INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Faculty of Education, National University of Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
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14
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Calvo N, Ibáñez A, Muñoz E, García AM. A core avenue for transcultural research on dementia: on the cross-linguistic generalization of language-related effects in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2018; 33:814-823. [PMID: 28370288 DOI: 10.1002/gps.4712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2016] [Accepted: 03/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Language is a key source of cross-cultural variability, which may have both subtle and major effects on neurocognition. However, this issue has been largely overlooked in two flourishing lines of research assessing the relationship between language-related neural systems and dementia. This paper assesses the limitations of the evidence on (i) the neuroprotective effects of bilingualism in Alzheimer's disease and (ii) specific language deficits as markers of Parkinson's disease. DESIGN First, we outline the rationale behind each line of research. Second, we review available evidence and discuss the potential impact of cross-linguistic factors. Third, we outline ideas to foster progress in both fields and, with it, in cross-cultural neuroscience at large. RESULTS On the one hand, studies on bilingualism suggest that sustained use of more than one language may protect against Alzheimer's disease symptoms. On the other hand, insights from the embodied cognition framework point to syntactic and action-verb deficits as early (and even preclinical) markers of Parkinson's disease. However, both fields share a key limitation that lies at the heart of cultural neuroscience: the issue of cross-linguistic generalizability. CONCLUSION Relevant evidence for both research trends comes from only a handful of (mostly Indo-European) languages, which are far from capturing the full scope of structural and typological diversity of the linguistic landscape worldwide. This raises questions on the external validity of reported findings. Greater collaboration between linguistic typology and cognitive neuroscience seems crucial as a first step to assess the impact of transcultural differences on language-related effects across neurodegenerative diseases. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noelia Calvo
- Institute of Philosophy, School of Philosophy, Humanities and Arts
- , National University of San Juan, San Juan, Argentina.,Faculty of Psychology, National University of Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina.,Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Agustín Ibáñez
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia.,Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago de Chile, Chile.,Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australian Research Council (ARC), Sydney, Australia
| | - Edinson Muñoz
- Departamento de Lingüística y Literatura, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Adolfo M García
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Faculty of Education, National University of Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
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15
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García AM, Ibáñez A. When embodiment breaks down: Language deficits as novel avenues into movement disorders. Cortex 2018; 100:1-7. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.12.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2017] [Revised: 12/14/2017] [Accepted: 12/18/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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16
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Bayram E, Akbostanci MC. Verb naming fluency in hypokinetic and hyperkinetic movement disorders. Cortex 2018; 100:21-31. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.06.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2016] [Revised: 11/29/2016] [Accepted: 06/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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17
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Cardona JF. Embodied Cognition: A Challenging Road for Clinical Neuropsychology. Front Aging Neurosci 2017; 9:388. [PMID: 29213236 PMCID: PMC5702630 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2017.00388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2017] [Accepted: 11/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Juan F Cardona
- Instituto de Psicología, Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Colombia
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18
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Birba A, García-Cordero I, Kozono G, Legaz A, Ibáñez A, Sedeño L, García AM. Losing ground: Frontostriatal atrophy disrupts language embodiment in Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2017; 80:673-687. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.07.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2017] [Revised: 07/25/2017] [Accepted: 07/27/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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19
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Contribution of language studies to the understanding of cognitive impairment and its progression over time in Parkinson’s disease. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2017; 80:657-672. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.07.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2017] [Revised: 06/28/2017] [Accepted: 07/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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20
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García AM, Bocanegra Y, Herrera E, Pino M, Muñoz E, Sedeño L, Ibáñez A. Action-semantic and syntactic deficits in subjects at risk for Huntington's disease. J Neuropsychol 2017; 12:389-408. [PMID: 28296213 DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2016] [Revised: 01/23/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Frontostriatal networks play critical roles in grounding action semantics and syntactic skills. Indeed, their atrophy distinctively disrupts both domains, as observed in patients with Huntington's disease (HD) and Parkinson's disease, even during early disease stages. However, frontostriatal degeneration in these conditions may begin up to 15 years before the onset of clinical symptoms, opening avenues for pre-clinical detection via sensitive tasks. Such a mission is particularly critical in HD, given that patients' children have 50% chances of inheriting the disease. Against this background, we assessed whether deficits in the above-mentioned domains emerge in subjects at risk to develop HD. We administered tasks tapping action semantics, object semantics, and two forms of syntactic processing to 18 patients with HD, 19 asymptomatic first-degree relatives, and sociodemographically matched controls for each group. The patients evinced significant deficits in all tasks, but only those in the two target domains were independent of overall cognitive state. More crucially, relative to controls, the asymptomatic relatives were selectively impaired in action semantics and in the more complex syntactic task, with both patterns emerging irrespective of the subjects' overall cognitive state. Our findings highlight the relevance of these dysfunctions as potential prodromal biomarkers of HD. Moreover, they offer theoretical insights into the differential contributions of frontostriatal hubs to both domains while paving the way for innovations in diagnostic procedures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adolfo M García
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Faculty of Education, National University of Cuyo (UNCuyo), Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Yamile Bocanegra
- Neuroscience Group, Faculty of Medicine, University of Antioquia (UDEA), Medellín, Colombia.,Group of Neuropsychology and Conduct (GRUNECO), Faculty of Medicine, University of Antioquia (UDEA), Medellín, Colombia
| | - Eduar Herrera
- Psychological Studies Department, Icesi University, Cali, Colombia
| | - Mariana Pino
- Autonomous University of the Caribbean, Barranquilla, Colombia
| | - Edinson Muñoz
- Departamento de Lingüística y Literatura, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Chile
| | - Lucas Sedeño
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Agustín Ibáñez
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Autonomous University of the Caribbean, Barranquilla, Colombia.,Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago de Chile, Chile.,Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australian Research Council (ACR), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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21
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Language Deficits as a Preclinical Window into Parkinson's Disease: Evidence from Asymptomatic Parkin and Dardarin Mutation Carriers. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2017; 23:150-158. [PMID: 28205494 DOI: 10.1017/s1355617716000710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The worldwide spread of Parkinson's disease (PD) calls for sensitive and specific measures enabling its early (or, ideally, preclinical) detection. Here, we use language measures revealing deficits in PD to explore whether similar disturbances are present in asymptomatic individuals at risk for the disease. METHODS We administered executive, semantic, verb-production, and syntactic tasks to sporadic PD patients, genetic PD patients with PARK2 (parkin) or LRRK2 (dardarin) mutation, asymptomatic first-degree relatives of the latter with similar mutations, and socio-demographically matched controls. Moreover, to detect sui generis language disturbances, we ran analysis of covariance tests using executive functions as covariate. RESULTS The two clinical groups showed impairments in all measures, most of which survived covariation with executive functions. However, the key finding concerned asymptomatic mutation carriers. While these subjects showed intact executive, semantic, and action-verb production skills, they evinced deficits in a syntactic test with minimal working memory load. CONCLUSIONS We propose that this sui generis disturbance may constitute a prodromal sign anticipating eventual development of PD. Moreover, our results suggest that mutations on specific genes (PARK2 and LRRK2) compromising basal ganglia functioning may be subtly related to language-processing mechanisms. (JINS, 2017, 23, 150-158).
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22
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Baez S, Ibáñez A. Dementia in Latin America: An Emergent Silent Tsunami. Front Aging Neurosci 2016; 8:253. [PMID: 27840605 PMCID: PMC5083841 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2016.00253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2016] [Accepted: 10/14/2016] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Baez
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience, Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience, INECO Foundation, Favaloro UniversityBuenos Aires, Argentina
- Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de los AndesBogotá, Colombia
| | - Agustín Ibáñez
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience, Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience, INECO Foundation, Favaloro UniversityBuenos Aires, Argentina
- Departamento de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma del CaribeBarranquilla, Colombia
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo IbáñezSantiago de Chile, Chile
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its DisordersSydney, NSW, Australia
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23
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Baez S, Santamaría-García H, Orozco J, Fittipaldi S, García AM, Pino M, Ibáñez A. Your misery is no longer my pleasure: Reduced schadenfreude in Huntington's disease families. Cortex 2016; 83:78-85. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2016.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2016] [Revised: 05/31/2016] [Accepted: 07/09/2016] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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24
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García AM, Ibáñez A. A touch with words: Dynamic synergies between manual actions and language. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2016; 68:59-95. [PMID: 27189784 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.04.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2015] [Revised: 04/14/2016] [Accepted: 04/27/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Manual actions are a hallmark of humanness. Their underlying neural circuitry gives rise to species-specific skills and interacts with language processes. In particular, multiple studies show that hand-related expressions - verbal units evoking manual activity - variously affect concurrent manual actions, yielding apparently controversial results (interference, facilitation, or null effects) in varied time windows. Through a systematic review of 108 experiments, we show that such effects are driven by several factors, such as the level of verbal processing, action complexity, and the time-lag between linguistic and motor processes. We reconcile key empirical patterns by introducing the Hand-Action-Network Dynamic Language Embodiment (HANDLE) model, an integrative framework based on neural coupling dynamics and predictive-coding principles. To conclude, we assess HANDLE against the backdrop of other action-cognition theories, illustrate its potential applications to understand high-level deficits in motor disorders, and discuss key challenges for further development. In sum, our work aligns with the 'pragmatic turn', moving away from passive and static representationalist perspectives to a more dynamic, enactive, and embodied conceptualization of cognitive processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adolfo M García
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Faculty of Elementary and Special Education (FEEyE), National University of Cuyo (UNCuyo), Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Agustín Ibáñez
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia; Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Adolfo Ibáñez University, Santiago de Chile, Chile; Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australian Research Council (ACR), Sydney, Australia.
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25
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García AM, Ibáñez A. Hands typing what hands do: Action-semantic integration dynamics throughout written verb production. Cognition 2016; 149:56-66. [PMID: 26803393 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2016.01.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2015] [Revised: 08/21/2015] [Accepted: 01/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Processing action verbs, in general, and manual action verbs, in particular, involves activations in gross and hand-specific motor networks, respectively. While this is well established for receptive language processes, no study has explored action-semantic integration during written production. Moreover, little is known about how such crosstalk unfolds from motor planning to execution. Here we address both issues through our novel "action semantics in typing" paradigm, which allows to time keystroke operations during word typing. Specifically, we created a primed-verb-copying task involving manual action verbs, non-manual action verbs, and non-action verbs. Motor planning processes were indexed by first-letter lag (the lapse between target onset and first keystroke), whereas execution dynamics were assessed considering whole-word lag (the lapse between first and last keystroke). Each phase was differently delayed by action verbs. When these were processed for over one second, interference was strong and magnified by effector compatibility during programming, but weak and effector-blind during execution. Instead, when they were processed for less than 900ms, interference was reduced by effector compatibility during programming and it faded during execution. Finally, typing was facilitated by prime-target congruency, irrespective of the verbs' motor content. Thus, action-verb semantics seems to extend beyond its embodied foundations, involving conceptual dynamics not tapped by classical reaction-time measures. These findings are compatible with non-radical models of language embodiment and with predictions of event coding theory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adolfo M García
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Translational and Cognitive Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Faculty of Elementary and Special Education (FEEyE), National University of Cuyo (UNCuyo), Mendoza, Argentina; UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile.
| | - Agustín Ibáñez
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Translational and Cognitive Neuroscience (INCyT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia; Department of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile; ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, New South Wales, Australia
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26
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Syntax, action verbs, action semantics, and object semantics in Parkinson's disease: Dissociability, progression, and executive influences. Cortex 2015; 69:237-54. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.05.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 118] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2014] [Revised: 03/25/2015] [Accepted: 05/18/2015] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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27
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Melloni M, Sedeño L, Hesse E, García-Cordero I, Mikulan E, Plastino A, Marcotti A, López JD, Bustamante C, Lopera F, Pineda D, García AM, Manes F, Trujillo N, Ibáñez A. Cortical dynamics and subcortical signatures of motor-language coupling in Parkinson's disease. Sci Rep 2015; 5:11899. [PMID: 26152329 PMCID: PMC4495549 DOI: 10.1038/srep11899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2015] [Accepted: 06/09/2015] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Impairments of action language have been documented in early stage Parkinson’s disease (EPD). The action-sentence compatibility effect (ACE) paradigm has revealed that EPD involves deficits to integrate action-verb processing and ongoing motor actions. Recent studies suggest that an abolished ACE in EPD reflects a cortico-subcortical disruption, and recent neurocognitive models highlight the role of the basal ganglia (BG) in motor-language coupling. Building on such breakthroughs, we report the first exploration of convergent cortical and subcortical signatures of ACE in EPD patients and matched controls. Specifically, we combined cortical recordings of the motor potential, functional connectivity measures, and structural analysis of the BG through voxel-based morphometry. Relative to controls, EPD patients exhibited an impaired ACE, a reduced motor potential, and aberrant frontotemporal connectivity. Furthermore, motor potential abnormalities during the ACE task were predicted by overall BG volume and atrophy. These results corroborate that motor-language coupling is mainly subserved by a cortico-subcortical network including the BG as a key hub. They also evince that action-verb processing may constitute a neurocognitive marker of EPD. Our findings suggest that research on the relationship between language and motor domains is crucial to develop models of motor cognition as well as diagnostic and intervention strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margherita Melloni
- 1] Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, 1854, Argentina [2] National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, 1033 Argentina [3] UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Faculty of Psychology, Diego Portales University, Santiago, 8370076, Chile
| | - Lucas Sedeño
- 1] Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, 1854, Argentina [2] National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, 1033 Argentina [3] UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Faculty of Psychology, Diego Portales University, Santiago, 8370076, Chile
| | - Eugenia Hesse
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, 1854, Argentina
| | - Indira García-Cordero
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, 1854, Argentina
| | - Ezequiel Mikulan
- 1] Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, 1854, Argentina [2] National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, 1033 Argentina [3] UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Faculty of Psychology, Diego Portales University, Santiago, 8370076, Chile
| | - Angelo Plastino
- 1] National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, 1033 Argentina [2] National University La Plata, Physics Institute, (IFLP-CCT-CONICET) La Plata, 1900, Argentina [3] Physics Department, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca, 07122, Spain
| | - Aida Marcotti
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, 1854, Argentina
| | - José David López
- SISTEMIC, Engineering Faculty, Universidad de Antioquia (UDEA), Medellín, 1226, Colombia
| | - Catalina Bustamante
- Department of Research, Instituto de Alta Tecnología Médica de Antioquia, Medellín, 1234, Colombia
| | - Francisco Lopera
- Neuroscience Group, Faculty of Medicine, University of Antioquia (UDEA), Medellín, 1226, Colombia
| | - David Pineda
- 1] Group of Neuropsychology and Conduct (GRUNECO), Faculty of Medicine, University of Antioquia (UDEA), Medellín,1226, Colombia [2] Neuroscience Group, Faculty of Medicine, University of Antioquia (UDEA), Medellín, 1226, Colombia
| | - Adolfo M García
- 1] Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, 1854, Argentina [2] National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, 1033 Argentina [3] UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Faculty of Psychology, Diego Portales University, Santiago, 8370076, Chile [4] Faculty of Elementary and Special Education (FEEyE), National University of Cuyo (UNCuyo), Mendoza, 5502, Argentina
| | - Facundo Manes
- 1] Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, 1854, Argentina [2] National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, 1033 Argentina [3] UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Faculty of Psychology, Diego Portales University, Santiago, 8370076, Chile [4] Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australian Research Council (ACR), New South Wales, 2109, Australia
| | - Natalia Trujillo
- 1] Mental Health Group. School of Public Health. Universidad de Antioquia (UDEA), Medellín, 1226, Colombia [2] Group of Neuropsychology and Conduct (GRUNECO), Faculty of Medicine, University of Antioquia (UDEA), Medellín,1226, Colombia [3] Neuroscience Group, Faculty of Medicine, University of Antioquia (UDEA), Medellín, 1226, Colombia
| | - Agustín Ibáñez
- 1] Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, 1854, Argentina [2] National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, 1033 Argentina [3] UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Faculty of Psychology, Diego Portales University, Santiago, 8370076, Chile [4] Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Barranquilla, 1234, Colombia [5] Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australian Research Council (ACR), New South Wales, 2109, Australia
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Impairments in negative emotion recognition and empathy for pain in Huntington's disease families. Neuropsychologia 2015; 68:158-67. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.01.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2014] [Revised: 01/06/2015] [Accepted: 01/09/2015] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
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Abstract
AbstractA growing body of evidence indicates that neurodegenerative motor disorders involved high-order cognitive dysfunctions. Crucially, evidence obtained in multiple behavioral, neuroimaging, and electrophysiological studies points to selective impairments of action language -that is, processing of linguistic stimuli denoting motor actions, including idioms (e.g., cut a rug) and action verbs (e.g., clap). Action-verb deficits (with relative preservation of noun processing) have been repeatedly documented in Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, research on relevant biomarkers is still scant, and clinical implications of these findings have not yet been formally discussed. Relevant insights may be obtained through the assessment of motor-language coupling (i.e., the behavioral and neural integration of action-verb processing and ongoing motor actions). We propose that motorlanguage coupling deficits, as indexed by a cortical-subcortical network, may constitute an early neurocognitive marker of PD. Specifically, deficits in this domain at the prodromal stage may be detected through the actionsentence compatibility (ACE) paradigm, which induces a contextual coupling of ongoing motor actions and action-verb processing. Our translational proposal is supported and illustrated by recent studies demonstrating the sensitivity of the ACE technique as well as its potential to assist in differential diagnosis and interventionprogram design.
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García AM, Ibáñez A. Two-person neuroscience and naturalistic social communication: the role of language and linguistic variables in brain-coupling research. Front Psychiatry 2014; 5:124. [PMID: 25249986 PMCID: PMC4155792 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2014] [Accepted: 08/22/2014] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Social cognitive neuroscience (SCN) seeks to understand the brain mechanisms through which we comprehend others' emotions and intentions in order to react accordingly. For decades, SCN has explored relevant domains by exposing individual participants to predesigned stimuli and asking them to judge their social (e.g., emotional) content. Subjects are thus reduced to detached observers of situations that they play no active role in. However, the core of our social experience is construed through real-time interactions requiring the active negotiation of information with other people. To gain more relevant insights into the workings of the social brain, the incipient field of two-person neuroscience (2PN) advocates the study of brain-to-brain coupling through multi-participant experiments. In this paper, we argue that the study of online language-based communication constitutes a cornerstone of 2PN. First, we review preliminary evidence illustrating how verbal interaction may shed light on the social brain. Second, we advance methodological recommendations to design experiments within language-based 2PN. Finally, we formulate outstanding questions for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adolfo M García
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Favaloro University , Buenos Aires , Argentina ; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) , Buenos Aires , Argentina ; School of Languages, National University of Córdoba , Córdoba , Argentina ; UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Diego Portales University , Santiago , Chile
| | - Agustín Ibáñez
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Favaloro University , Buenos Aires , Argentina ; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) , Buenos Aires , Argentina ; UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience (UIFCoN), Diego Portales University , Santiago , Chile ; Universidad Autónoma del Caribe , Barranquilla , Colombia ; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders , Sydney, NSW , Australia
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