1
|
Adezati E, Liu X, Ding J, Thye M, Szaflarski JP, Mirman D. Phase synchronization during the processing of taxonomic and thematic relations. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2024; 249:105379. [PMID: 38241856 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2024.105379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2023] [Revised: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 01/06/2024] [Indexed: 01/21/2024]
Abstract
Semantic relations include "taxonomic" relations based on shared features and "thematic" relations based on co-occurrence in events. The "dual-hub" account proposes that the anterior temporal lobe (ATL) is functionally specialized for taxonomic relations and the inferior parietal lobule (IPL) for thematic relations. This study examined this claim by analyzing the intra- and inter-region phase synchronization of intracranial EEG data from electrodes in the ATL, IPL, and two subregions of the semantic control network: left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG). Ten participants with epilepsy completed a semantic relatedness judgment task during intracranial EEG recording and had electrodes in at least one hub and at least one semantic control region. Theta band phase synchronization was partially consistent with the dual-hub account: synchronization between the ATL and IFG/pMTG increased when processing taxonomic relations, and synchronization within the IPL and between IPL and pMTG increased when processing thematic relations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Erica Adezati
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Xianqing Liu
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Junhua Ding
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Melissa Thye
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Jerzy P Szaflarski
- Department of Neurology and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Epilepsy Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Daniel Mirman
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Tompary A, Xia A, Coslett BH, Thompson-Schill SL. Disruption of Anterior Temporal Lobe Reduces Distortions in Memory From Category Knowledge. J Cogn Neurosci 2023; 35:1899-1918. [PMID: 37713660 PMCID: PMC10860667 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_02053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/17/2023]
Abstract
Memory retrieval does not provide a perfect recapitulation of past events, but instead an imperfect reconstruction of event-specific details and general knowledge. However, it remains unclear whether this reconstruction relies on mixtures of signals from different memory systems, including one supporting general knowledge. Here, we investigate whether the anterior temporal lobe (ATL) distorts new memories because of prior category knowledge. In this preregistered experiment (n = 36), participants encoded and retrieved image-location associations. Most images' locations were clustered according to their category, but some were in random locations. With this protocol, we previously demonstrated that randomly located images were retrieved closer to their category cluster relative to their encoded locations, suggesting an influence of category knowledge. We combined this procedure with TMS delivered to the left ATL before retrieval. We separately examined event-specific details (error) and category knowledge (bias) to identify distinct signals attributable to different memory systems. We found that TMS to ATL attenuated bias in location memory, but this effect was limited to exploratory analyses of atypical category members of animal categories. The magnitude of error was not impacted, suggesting that a memory's fidelity can be decoupled from its distortion by category knowledge. This raises the intriguing possibility that retrieval is jointly supported by separable memory systems.
Collapse
|
3
|
Benn Y, Ivanova AA, Clark O, Mineroff Z, Seikus C, Silva JS, Varley R, Fedorenko E. The language network is not engaged in object categorization. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:10380-10400. [PMID: 37557910 PMCID: PMC10545444 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2021] [Revised: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The relationship between language and thought is the subject of long-standing debate. One claim states that language facilitates categorization of objects based on a certain feature (e.g. color) through the use of category labels that reduce interference from other, irrelevant features. Therefore, language impairment is expected to affect categorization of items grouped by a single feature (low-dimensional categories, e.g. "Yellow Things") more than categorization of items that share many features (high-dimensional categories, e.g. "Animals"). To test this account, we conducted two behavioral studies with individuals with aphasia and an fMRI experiment with healthy adults. The aphasia studies showed that selective low-dimensional categorization impairment was present in some, but not all, individuals with severe anomia and was not characteristic of aphasia in general. fMRI results revealed little activity in language-responsive brain regions during both low- and high-dimensional categorization; instead, categorization recruited the domain-general multiple-demand network (involved in wide-ranging cognitive tasks). Combined, results demonstrate that the language system is not implicated in object categorization. Instead, selective low-dimensional categorization impairment might be caused by damage to brain regions responsible for cognitive control. Our work adds to the growing evidence of the dissociation between the language system and many cognitive tasks in adults.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yael Benn
- Department of Psychology, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M15 6BH, United Kingdom
| | - Anna A Ivanova
- Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| | - Oliver Clark
- Department of Psychology, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M15 6BH, United Kingdom
| | - Zachary Mineroff
- Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| | - Chloe Seikus
- Division of Psychology & Language Sciences, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Jack Santos Silva
- Division of Psychology & Language Sciences, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Rosemary Varley
- Division of Psychology & Language Sciences, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Evelina Fedorenko
- Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Bonnì S, Borghi I, Maiella M, Casula EP, Koch G, Caltagirone C, Gainotti G. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Effects on the Neural Substrate of Conceptual Representations. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1037. [PMID: 37508969 PMCID: PMC10376965 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13071037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Revised: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 07/04/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The aim of this study was to shed light on the neural substrate of conceptual representations starting from the construct of higher-order convergence zones and trying to evaluate the unitary or non-unitary nature of this construct. We used the 'Thematic and Taxonomic Semantic (TTS) task' to investigate (a) the neural substrate of stimuli belonging to biological and artifact categories, (b) the format of stimuli presentation, i.e., verbal or pictorial, and (c) the relation between stimuli, i.e., categorial or contextual. We administered anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to different brain structures during the execution of the TTS task. Twenty healthy participants were enrolled and divided into two groups, one investigating the role of the anterior temporal lobes (ATL) and the other the temporo-parietal junctions (TPJ). Each participant underwent three sessions of stimulation to facilitate a control condition and to investigate the role of both hemispheres. Results showed that ATL stimulation influenced all conceptual representations in relation to the format of presentation (i.e., left-verbal and right-pictorial). Moreover, ATL stimulation modulated living categories and taxonomic relations specifically, whereas TPJ stimulation did not influence semantic task performances.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sonia Bonnì
- Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Unit, Department of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Ilaria Borghi
- Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Unit, Department of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Section of Human Physiology, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - Michele Maiella
- Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Unit, Department of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Elias Paolo Casula
- Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Unit, Department of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Giacomo Koch
- Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Unit, Department of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Section of Human Physiology, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - Carlo Caltagirone
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
- Department of Clinical and Behavioral Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Guido Gainotti
- Department of Clinical and Behavioral Neurology, Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Institute of Neurology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 00168 Rome, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Zhang Y, Mirman D, Hoffman P. Taxonomic and thematic relations rely on different types of semantic features: Evidence from an fMRI meta-analysis and a semantic priming study. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2023; 242:105287. [PMID: 37263104 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2023.105287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2022] [Revised: 03/20/2023] [Accepted: 05/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Taxonomic and thematic relations are major components of semantic representation but their neurocognitive underpinnings are still debated. We hypothesised that taxonomic relations preferentially activate parts of anterior temporal lobe (ATL) because they rely more on colour and shape features, while thematic relations preferentially activate temporoparietal cortex (TPC) because they rely more on action and location knowledge. We first conducted activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis to assess evidence for neural specialisation in the existing fMRI literature (Study 1), then used a primed semantic judgement task to examine if the two relations are primed by different feature types (Study 2). We find that taxonomic relations show minimal feature-based specialisation but preferentially activate the lingual gyrus. Thematic relations are more dependent on action and location features and preferentially engage TPC. The meta-analysis also showed that lateral ATL is preferentially engaged by Thematic relations, which may reflect their greater reliance on verbal associations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yueyang Zhang
- School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK
| | - Daniel Mirman
- School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK
| | - Paul Hoffman
- School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Nie A, Wu Y. Differentiation of the Contribution of Familiarity and Recollection to the Old/New Effects in Associative Recognition: Insight from Semantic Relation. Brain Sci 2023; 13:brainsci13040553. [PMID: 37190517 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13040553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2023] [Revised: 03/17/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous research has revealed two different old/new effects, the early mid-frontal old/new effect (a.k.a., FN400) and the late parietal old/new effect (a.k.a., LPC), which relate to familiarity and recollection processes, respectively. Although associative recognition is thought to be more based on recollection, recent studies have confirmed that familiarity can make a great contribution when the items of a pair are unitized. However, it remains unclear whether the old/new effects are sensitive to the nature of different semantic relations. The current ERP (event-related potentials) study aimed to address this, where picture pairs of thematic, taxonomic, and unrelated relations served as stimuli and participants were required to discriminate the pair type: intact, rearranged, “old + new”, or new. We confirmed both FN400 and LPC. Our findings, by comparing the occurrence and the amplitudes of these two components, implicate that the neural activity of associative recognition is sensitive to the semantic relation of stimuli and depends more on stimulus properties, that the familiarity of a single item can impact the neural activities in discriminating associative pairs, and that the interval length between encoding and test modulates the familiarity of unrelated pairs. In addition, the dissociation between FN400 and LPC reinforces the dual-process models.
Collapse
|
7
|
Semantic cognition in healthy ageing: Neural signatures of representation and control mechanisms in naming typical and atypical objects. Neuropsychologia 2023; 184:108545. [PMID: 36934809 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2022] [Revised: 11/19/2022] [Accepted: 03/16/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2023]
Abstract
Effective use of conceptual knowledge engages semantic representation and control processes to access information in a goal-driven manner. Neuropsychological findings of patients presenting either degraded knowledge (e.g., semantic dementia) or disrupted control (e.g., semantic aphasia) converge with neuroimaging evidence from young adults, and delineate the neural segregation of representation and control mechanisms. However, there is still scarce research on the neurofunctional underpinnings of such mechanisms in healthy ageing. To address this, we conducted an fMRI study, wherein young and older adults performed a covert naming task of typical and atypical objects. Three main age-related differences were found. As shown by age group and typicality interactions, older adults exhibited overactivation during naming of atypical (e.g., avocado) relative to typical concepts in brain regions associated to semantic representation, including anterior and medial portions of left temporal lobe (respectively, ATL and MTG). This provides evidence for the reorganization of neural activity in these brain regions contingent to the enrichment of semantic repositories in older ages. The medial orbitofrontal gyrus was also overactivated, indicating that the processing of atypical concepts (relative to typical items) taxes additional control resources in the elderly. Increased activation in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) was observed in naming typical items (relative to atypical ones), but only for young adults. This suggests that naming typical items (e.g., strawberry) taxes more on control processes in younger ages, presumably due to the semantic competition set by other items that share multiple features with the target (e.g., raspberry, blackberry, cherry). Together, these results reveal the dynamic nature of semantic control interplaying with conceptual representations as people grow older, by indicating that distinct neural bases uphold semantic performance from young to older ages. These findings may be explained by neural compensation mechanisms coming into play to support neurocognitive changes in healthy ageing.
Collapse
|
8
|
Mesulam MM. Temporopolar regions of the human brain. Brain 2023; 146:20-41. [PMID: 36331542 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awac339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Revised: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 08/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Following prolonged neglect during the formative decades of behavioural neurology, the temporopolar region has become a site of vibrant research on the neurobiology of cognition and conduct. This turnaround can be attributed to increasing recognition of neurodegenerative diseases that target temporopolar regions for peak destruction. The resultant syndromes include behavioural dementia, associative agnosia, semantic forms of primary progressive aphasia and semantic dementia. Clinicopathological correlations show that object naming and word comprehension are critically dependent on the language-dominant (usually left) temporopolar region, whereas behavioural control and non-verbal object recognition display a more bilateral representation with a rightward bias. Neuroanatomical experiments in macaques and neuroimaging in humans show that the temporoparietal region sits at the confluence of auditory, visual and limbic streams of processing at the downstream (deep) pole of the 'what' pathway. The functional neuroanatomy of this region revolves around three axes, an anterograde horizontal axis from unimodal to heteromodal and paralimbic cortex; a radial axis where visual (ventral), auditory (dorsal) and paralimbic (medial) territories encircle temporopolar cortex and display hemispheric asymmetry; and a vertical depth-of-processing axis for the associative elaboration of words, objects and interoceptive states. One function of this neural matrix is to support the transformation of object and word representations from unimodal percepts to multimodal concepts. The underlying process is likely to start at canonical gateways that successively lead to generic (superordinate), specific (basic) and unique levels of recognition. A first sign of left temporopolar dysfunction takes the form of taxonomic blurring where boundaries among categories are preserved but not boundaries among exemplars of a category. Semantic paraphasias and coordinate errors in word-picture verification tests are consequences of this phenomenon. Eventually, boundaries among categories are also blurred and comprehension impairments become more profound. The medial temporopolar region belongs to the amygdalocentric component of the limbic system and stands to integrate exteroceptive information with interoceptive states underlying social interactions. Review of the pertinent literature shows that word comprehension and conduct impairments caused by temporopolar strokes and temporal lobectomy are far less severe than those seen in temporopolar atrophies. One explanation for this unexpected discrepancy invokes the miswiring of residual temporopolar neurons during the many years of indolently progressive neurodegeneration. According to this hypothesis, the temporopolar regions become not only dysfunctional but also sources of aberrant outputs that interfere with the function of areas elsewhere in the language and paralimbic networks, a juxtaposition not seen in lobectomy or stroke.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- M Marsel Mesulam
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Seghier ML. Multiple functions of the angular gyrus at high temporal resolution. Brain Struct Funct 2023; 228:7-46. [PMID: 35674917 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-022-02512-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2022] [Accepted: 05/22/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Here, the functions of the angular gyrus (AG) are evaluated in the light of current evidence from transcranial magnetic/electric stimulation (TMS/TES) and EEG/MEG studies. 65 TMS/TES and 52 EEG/MEG studies were examined in this review. TMS/TES literature points to a causal role in semantic processing, word and number processing, attention and visual search, self-guided movement, memory, and self-processing. EEG/MEG studies reported AG effects at latencies varying between 32 and 800 ms in a wide range of domains, with a high probability to detect an effect at 300-350 ms post-stimulus onset. A three-phase unifying model revolving around the process of sensemaking is then suggested: (1) early AG involvement in defining the current context, within the first 200 ms, with a bias toward the right hemisphere; (2) attention re-orientation and retrieval of relevant information within 200-500 ms; and (3) cross-modal integration at late latencies with a bias toward the left hemisphere. This sensemaking process can favour accuracy (e.g. for word and number processing) or plausibility (e.g. for comprehension and social cognition). Such functions of the AG depend on the status of other connected regions. The much-debated semantic role is also discussed as follows: (1) there is a strong TMS/TES evidence for a causal semantic role, (2) current EEG/MEG evidence is however weak, but (3) the existing arguments against a semantic role for the AG are not strong. Some outstanding questions for future research are proposed. This review recognizes that cracking the role(s) of the AG in cognition is possible only when its exact contributions within the default mode network are teased apart.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mohamed L Seghier
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE. .,Healthcare Engineering Innovation Center (HEIC), Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Merck C, Noël A, Jamet E, Robert M, Salmon A, Belliard S, Kalénine S. Nonspecific Effects of Normal Aging on Taxonomic and Thematic Semantic Processing. Exp Aging Res 2023; 49:18-40. [PMID: 35234091 DOI: 10.1080/0361073x.2022.2046948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This study aimed to assess the effect of normal aging on the processing of taxonomic and thematic semantic relations. METHOD We used the Visual-World-Paradigm coupled with eye-movement recording. We compared performance of healthy younger and older adults on a word-to-picture matching task in which participants had to identify each target among semantically related (taxonomic or thematic) and unrelated distractors. RESULTS Younger and older participants exhibited similar patterns of gaze fixations in the two semantic conditions. The effect of aging took the form of an overall reduction in sensitivity to semantic competitors, with no difference between the taxonomic and thematic conditions. Moreover, comparison of the proportions of fixations between the younger and older participants indicated that targets were identified equally quickly in both age groups. This was not the case when mouse-click reaction times were analyzed. CONCLUSIONS Findings argue in favor of nonspecific effects of normal aging on semantic processing that similarly affect taxonomic and thematic processing. There are important clinical implications, as pathological aging has been repeatedly shown to selectively affect either taxonomic or thematic relations. Measuring eye-movements in a semantic task is also an interesting approach in the elderly, as these seem to be less impacted by aging than other motor responses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Catherine Merck
- Service de Neurologie, Cmrr Haute Bretagne, Chu Pontchaillou, Rennes, France.,Normandie Univ, Unicaen, Psl Research University, Ephe, Inserm, U1077, Chu de Caen, Neuropsychologie Et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, Caen, France
| | - Audrey Noël
- Univ Rennes, LP3C (Psychology of Cognition, Behavior & Communication Laboratory) - Ea 1285, Rennes, France
| | - Eric Jamet
- Univ Rennes, LP3C (Psychology of Cognition, Behavior & Communication Laboratory) - Ea 1285, Rennes, France
| | - Maxime Robert
- Univ Rennes, LP3C (Psychology of Cognition, Behavior & Communication Laboratory) - Ea 1285, Rennes, France
| | - Anne Salmon
- Service de Neurologie, Cmrr Haute Bretagne, Chu Pontchaillou, Rennes, France
| | - Serge Belliard
- Service de Neurologie, Cmrr Haute Bretagne, Chu Pontchaillou, Rennes, France.,Normandie Univ, Unicaen, Psl Research University, Ephe, Inserm, U1077, Chu de Caen, Neuropsychologie Et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine, Caen, France
| | - Solène Kalénine
- Univ. Lille, Cnrs, Chu Lille, Umr 9193 - SCALab - Sciences Cognitives Et Sciences Affectives, Lille, France
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Schwen Blackett D, Varkey J, Wilmskoetter J, Roth R, Andrews K, Busby N, Gleichgerrcht E, Desai RH, Riccardi N, Basilakos A, Johnson LP, Kristinsson S, Johnson L, Rorden C, Spell LA, Fridriksson J, Bonilha L. Neural network bases of thematic semantic processing in language production. Cortex 2022; 156:126-143. [PMID: 36244204 PMCID: PMC10041939 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Revised: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Semantic processing is a central component of language and cognition. The anterior temporal lobe is postulated to be a key hub for semantic processing, but the posterior temporoparietal cortex is also involved in thematic associations during language. It is possible that these regions act in concert and depend on an anteroposterior network linking the temporal pole with posterior structures to support thematic semantic processing during language production. We employed connectome-based lesion-symptom mapping to examine the causal relationship between lesioned white matter pathways and thematic processing language deficits among individuals with post-stroke aphasia. Seventy-nine adults with chronic aphasia completed the Philadelphia Naming Test, and semantic errors were coded as either thematic or taxonomic to control for taxonomic errors. Controlling for nonverbal conceptual-semantic knowledge as measured by the Pyramids and Palm Trees Test, lesion size, and the taxonomic error rate, thematic error rate was associated with loss of white matter connections from the temporal pole traversing in peri-Sylvian regions to the posterior cingulate and the insula. These findings support the existence of a distributed network underlying thematic relationship processing in language as opposed to discrete cortical areas.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Deena Schwen Blackett
- Department of Otolaryngology, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA; Division of Speech-Language Pathology, College of Health Professions, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
| | - Jesse Varkey
- Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
| | - Janina Wilmskoetter
- Division of Speech-Language Pathology, College of Health Professions, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
| | - Rebecca Roth
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
| | - Keeghan Andrews
- Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
| | - Natalie Busby
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
| | - Ezequiel Gleichgerrcht
- Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
| | - Rutvik H Desai
- Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Barnwell College, Columbia, SC, USA.
| | - Nicholas Riccardi
- Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Barnwell College, Columbia, SC, USA.
| | - Alexandra Basilakos
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
| | - Lorelei P Johnson
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
| | - Sigfus Kristinsson
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
| | - Lisa Johnson
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
| | - Chris Rorden
- Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Barnwell College, Columbia, SC, USA.
| | - Leigh A Spell
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
| | - Julius Fridriksson
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
| | - Leonardo Bonilha
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Plunkett K, Delle Luche C, Hills T, Floccia C. Tracking the associative boost in infancy. INFANCY 2022; 27:1179-1196. [PMID: 36066941 DOI: 10.1111/infa.12502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2021] [Revised: 07/09/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Do words that are both associatively and taxonomically related prime each other in the infant mental lexicon? We explore the impact of these semantic relations in the emerging lexicon. Using the head-turn preference procedure, we show that 18-month-old infants have begun to construct a semantic network of associatively and taxonomically related words, such as dog-cat or apple-cheese. We demonstrate that priming between words is longer-lasting when the relationship is both taxonomic and associative, as opposed to purely taxonomic, reflecting the associative boost reported in the adult priming literature. Our results demonstrate that 18-month-old infants are able to construct a lexical-semantic network based on associative and taxonomic relations between words in the network, and that lexical-semantic links are more robust when they are both associative and taxonomic in character. Furthermore, the manner in which activation is propagated through the emerging lexical-semantic network appears to depend upon the type of semantic relation between words. We argue that 18-month-old infants have a mental lexicon that shares important structural and processing properties with that of the adult system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kim Plunkett
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Claire Delle Luche
- Centre for Research in Language Development Throughout the Lifespan, Department of Language and Linguistics, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
| | - Thomas Hills
- Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, University Road, Coventry, UK
| | | |
Collapse
|
13
|
Litovsky CP, Finley AM, Zuckerman B, Sayers M, Schoenhard JA, Kenett YN, Reilly J. Semantic flow and its relation to controlled semantic retrieval deficits in the narrative production of people with aphasia. Neuropsychologia 2022; 170:108235. [PMID: 35430236 PMCID: PMC9978996 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2021] [Revised: 04/04/2022] [Accepted: 04/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Aphasia has had a profound influence on our understanding of how language is instantiated within the human brain. Historically, aphasia has yielded an in vivo model for elucidating the effects of impaired lexical-semantic access on language comprehension and production. Aphasiology has focused intensively on single word dissociations. Yet, less is known about the integrity of combinatorial semantic processes required to construct well-formed narratives. Here we addressed the question of how controlled lexical-semantic retrieval deficits (a hallmark of aphasia) might compound over the course of longer narratives. We specifically examined word-by-word flow of taxonomic vs. thematic semantic distance in the storytelling narratives of individuals with chronic post-stroke aphasia (n = 259) relative to age-matched controls (n = 203). We first parsed raw transcribed narratives into content words and computed inter-word semantic distances for every running pair of words in each narrative (N = 232,490 word transitions). The narratives of people with aphasia showed significant reductions in taxonomic and thematic semantic distance relative to controls. Both distance metrics were strongly predictive of offline measures of semantic impairment and aphasia severity. Since individuals with aphasia often exhibit perseverative language output (i.e., repetitions), we performed additional analyses with repetitions excluded. When repetitions were excluded, group differences in semantic distances persisted and thematic distance was still predictive of semantic impairment, although some findings changed. These results demonstrate the cumulative impact of deficits in controlled word retrieval over the course of narrative production. We discuss the nature of semantic flow between words as a novel metric of characterizing discourse and elucidating the nature of lexical-semantic access impairment in aphasia at multiword levels.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Celia P. Litovsky
- Eleanor M. Saffran Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA,Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA,Corresponding author. Eleanor M. Saffran Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA. (C.P. Litovsky)
| | - Ann Marie Finley
- Eleanor M. Saffran Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA,Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Bonnie Zuckerman
- Eleanor M. Saffran Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA,Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Matthew Sayers
- Eleanor M. Saffran Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA,Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Julie A. Schoenhard
- Eleanor M. Saffran Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA,Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Yoed N. Kenett
- Faculty of Industrial Engineering & Management, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Jamie Reilly
- Eleanor M. Saffran Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA,Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Tan KM, Daitch AL, Pinheiro-Chagas P, Fox KCR, Parvizi J, Lieberman MD. Electrocorticographic evidence of a common neurocognitive sequence for mentalizing about the self and others. Nat Commun 2022; 13:1919. [PMID: 35395826 PMCID: PMC8993891 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29510-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2021] [Accepted: 03/11/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Neuroimaging studies of mentalizing (i.e., theory of mind) consistently implicate the default mode network (DMN). Nevertheless, the social cognitive functions of individual DMN regions remain unclear, perhaps due to limited spatiotemporal resolution in neuroimaging. Here we use electrocorticography (ECoG) to directly record neuronal population activity while 16 human participants judge the psychological traits of themselves and others. Self- and other-mentalizing recruit near-identical cortical sites in a common spatiotemporal sequence. Activations begin in the visual cortex, followed by temporoparietal DMN regions, then finally in medial prefrontal regions. Moreover, regions with later activations exhibit stronger functional specificity for mentalizing, stronger associations with behavioral responses, and stronger self/other differentiation. Specifically, other-mentalizing evokes slower and longer activations than self-mentalizing across successive DMN regions, implying lengthier processing at higher levels of representation. Our results suggest a common neurocognitive pathway for self- and other-mentalizing that follows a complex spatiotemporal gradient of functional specialization across DMN and beyond.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kevin M. Tan
- grid.19006.3e0000 0000 9632 6718Social Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA USA
| | - Amy L. Daitch
- grid.168010.e0000000419368956Laboratory of Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA USA
| | - Pedro Pinheiro-Chagas
- grid.168010.e0000000419368956Laboratory of Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA USA
| | - Kieran C. R. Fox
- grid.168010.e0000000419368956Laboratory of Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA USA ,grid.168010.e0000000419368956School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA USA
| | - Josef Parvizi
- grid.168010.e0000000419368956Laboratory of Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA USA ,grid.168010.e0000000419368956School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA USA
| | - Matthew D. Lieberman
- grid.19006.3e0000 0000 9632 6718Social Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA USA
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Wu MH, Anderson AJ, Jacobs RA, Raizada RDS. Analogy-Related Information Can Be Accessed by Simple Addition and Subtraction of fMRI Activation Patterns, Without Participants Performing any Analogy Task. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2022; 3:1-17. [PMID: 37215331 PMCID: PMC10158578 DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2020] [Accepted: 06/15/2021] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Analogical reasoning, for example, inferring that teacher is to chalk as mechanic is to wrench, plays a fundamental role in human cognition. However, whether brain activity patterns of individual words are encoded in a way that could facilitate analogical reasoning is unclear. Recent advances in computational linguistics have shown that information about analogical problems can be accessed by simple addition and subtraction of word embeddings (e.g., wrench = mechanic + chalk - teacher). Critically, this property emerges in artificial neural networks that were not trained to produce analogies but instead were trained to produce general-purpose semantic representations. Here, we test whether such emergent property can be observed in representations in human brains, as well as in artificial neural networks. fMRI activation patterns were recorded while participants viewed isolated words but did not perform analogical reasoning tasks. Analogy relations were constructed from word pairs that were categorically or thematically related, and we tested whether the predicted fMRI pattern calculated with simple arithmetic was more correlated with the pattern of the target word than other words. We observed that the predicted fMRI patterns contain information about not only the identity of the target word but also its category and theme (e.g., teaching-related). In summary, this study demonstrated that information about analogy questions can be reliably accessed with the addition and subtraction of fMRI patterns, and that, similar to word embeddings, this property holds for task-general patterns elicited when participants were not explicitly told to perform analogical reasoning.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Meng-Huan Wu
- Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA
| | - Andrew J. Anderson
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA
- Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA
| | - Robert A. Jacobs
- Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA
| | - Rajeev D. S. Raizada
- Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Rahimi S, Farahibozorg SR, Jackson R, Hauk O. Task modulation of spatiotemporal dynamics in semantic brain networks: An EEG/MEG study. Neuroimage 2022; 246:118768. [PMID: 34856376 PMCID: PMC8784826 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Revised: 11/09/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/02/2022] Open
Abstract
How does brain activity in distributed semantic brain networks evolve over time, and how do these regions interact to retrieve the meaning of words? We compared spatiotemporal brain dynamics between visual lexical and semantic decision tasks (LD and SD), analysing whole-cortex evoked responses and spectral functional connectivity (coherence) in source-estimated electroencephalography and magnetoencephalography (EEG and MEG) recordings. Our evoked analysis revealed generally larger activation for SD compared to LD, starting in primary visual area (PVA) and angular gyrus (AG), followed by left posterior temporal cortex (PTC) and left anterior temporal lobe (ATL). The earliest activation effects in ATL were significantly left-lateralised. Our functional connectivity results showed significant connectivity between left and right ATL, PTC and right ATL in an early time window, as well as between left ATL and IFG in a later time window. The connectivity of AG was comparatively sparse. We quantified the limited spatial resolution of our source estimates via a leakage index for careful interpretation of our results. Our findings suggest that the different demands on semantic information retrieval in lexical and semantic decision tasks first modulate visual and attentional processes, then multimodal semantic information retrieval in the ATLs and finally control regions (PTC and IFG) in order to extract task-relevant semantic features for response selection. Whilst our evoked analysis suggests a dominance of left ATL for semantic processing, our functional connectivity analysis also revealed significant involvement of right ATL in the more demanding semantic task. Our findings demonstrate the complementarity of evoked and functional connectivity analysis, as well as the importance of dynamic information for both types of analyses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Setareh Rahimi
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge CB2 7EF, United Kingdom.
| | - Seyedeh-Rezvan Farahibozorg
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Nuffield Department of Neurosciences, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Rebecca Jackson
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge CB2 7EF, United Kingdom
| | - Olaf Hauk
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge CB2 7EF, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Functional differentiation in the language network revealed by lesion-symptom mapping. Neuroimage 2021; 247:118778. [PMID: 34896587 PMCID: PMC8830186 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2021] [Revised: 11/17/2021] [Accepted: 12/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Theories of language organization in the brain commonly posit that different regions underlie distinct linguistic mechanisms. However, such theories have been criticized on the grounds that many neuroimaging studies of language processing find similar effects across regions. Moreover, condition by region interaction effects, which provide the strongest evidence of functional differentiation between regions, have rarely been offered in support of these theories. Here we address this by using lesion-symptom mapping in three large, partially-overlapping groups of aphasia patients with left hemisphere brain damage due to stroke (N = 121, N = 92, N = 218). We identified multiple measure by region interaction effects, associating damage to the posterior middle temporal gyrus with syntactic comprehension deficits, damage to posterior inferior frontal gyrus with expressive agrammatism, and damage to inferior angular gyrus with semantic category word fluency deficits. Our results are inconsistent with recent hypotheses that regions of the language network are undifferentiated with respect to high-level linguistic processing.
Collapse
|
18
|
Nie A, Pan R, Shen H. How Processing Fluency Contributes to the Old/New Effects of Familiarity and Recollection: Evidence From the Remember/Know Paradigm. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.5406/amerjpsyc.134.3.0297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Previous investigations have demonstrated FN400 and LPC, 2 event-related potential old/new effects that respectively reflect familiarity- and recollection-based processes in memory. However, it is unclear whether these effects are susceptible to processing fluency, particularly different types of processing fluency. To address this issue, applying a masked priming paradigm, we conducted an event-related potential experiment by manipulating semantic relations between the prime and the target as identical (reflecting perceptual fluency), thematically and taxonomically related (referring to conceptual fluency), and unrelated. A remember/know (R/K) judgment task in the test phase was used to distinguish familiarity- and recollection-based processes. Behaviorally, both task performance and response speed were modulated by the variables of priming condition, item type, and response type. All 4 priming conditions elicited significant FN400 and LPC. Compared with the K response, the R response was more relevant to the recollection-based processes reflected by LPC. Both FN400 and LPC were modulated by whether there was a response of R, K, or new. The former was susceptible only to conceptual fluency, and the latter was sensitive to both perceptual fluency and conceptual fluency, which offered telling evidence for the dual process model. Considerations for future investigations are proposed. See supplemental materials here: https://www.press.uillinois.edu/journals/ajp/media/evidence_in_remember_know_paradigm/
Collapse
|
19
|
Choi M, Yoon S. Asymmetric Underlying Mechanisms of Relation-Based and Property-Based Noun-Noun Conceptual Combination. Front Psychol 2021; 12:567971. [PMID: 34393869 PMCID: PMC8359794 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.567971] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2020] [Accepted: 06/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Conceptual combination is a fundamental human cognitive ability by which people can experience infinite thinking by artfully combining finite knowledge. For example, one can instantly combine “cactus” and “fish” together as “prickly fish” even if one has never previously heard of a “cactus fish.” Although two major combinatorial types—property and relational combinations—have been identified, the underlying processes of each remain elusive. This study investigates the asymmetric processing mechanisms underlying property and relational combinations by examining differential semantic activation during noun–noun conceptual combination. Across two experiments utilizing each combinatorial process as semantic priming and implementing a lexical decision task immediately after combination, we measure and compare the semantic activation patterns of intrinsic and extrinsic semantic features in these two combinatorial types. We found converging evidence that property and relational combinations involve asymmetric semantic information and entail distinct processing mechanisms. In property combination, the intrinsic feature in the modifier concept showed greater activation than the semantic feature of the same dimension in the head concept. In contrast, in relational combination, the extrinsic semantic feature in the head concept and the whole modifier concept showed similar levels of activation. Moreover, our findings also showed that these patterns of semantic activation occurred only when the combinatorial process was complete, indicating that accessing the same lexical-semantic information is not sufficient to observe asymmetric patterns. These findings demonstrate that property combination involves replacing a specific semantic feature of the head noun with that of the modifier noun, whereas relational combination involves completing the semantic feature of the head noun with the whole modifier concept. We discuss the implications of these findings, research limitations, and future research directions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mingyeong Choi
- Institute of Social Science Research, Pusan National University, Busan, South Korea
| | - Sangsuk Yoon
- Department of Marketing, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, United States
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Abstract
Syntax, the structure of sentences, enables humans to express an infinite range of meanings through finite means. The neurobiology of syntax has been intensely studied but with little consensus. Two main candidate regions have been identified: the posterior inferior frontal gyrus (pIFG) and the posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG). Integrating research in linguistics, psycholinguistics, and neuroscience, we propose a neuroanatomical framework for syntax that attributes distinct syntactic computations to these regions in a unified model. The key theoretical advances are adopting a modern lexicalized view of syntax in which the lexicon and syntactic rules are intertwined, and recognizing a computational asymmetry in the role of syntax during comprehension and production. Our model postulates a hierarchical lexical-syntactic function to the pMTG, which interconnects previously identified speech perception and conceptual-semantic systems in the temporal and inferior parietal lobes, crucial for both sentence production and comprehension. These relational hierarchies are transformed via the pIFG into morpho-syntactic sequences, primarily tied to production. We show how this architecture provides a better account of the full range of data and is consistent with recent proposals regarding the organization of phonological processes in the brain.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- William Matchin
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA
| | - Gregory Hickok
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA.,Department of Language Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Nie A, Ke C, Guo B, Li M, Xiao Y. Collaborative memory for categorized lists: ongoing and lasting effects are sensitive to episodic memory tasks. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-021-01684-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
|
22
|
Ivanova AA, Mineroff Z, Zimmerer V, Kanwisher N, Varley R, Fedorenko E. The Language Network Is Recruited but Not Required for Nonverbal Event Semantics. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2021; 2:176-201. [PMID: 37216147 PMCID: PMC10158592 DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2020] [Accepted: 01/07/2021] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
The ability to combine individual concepts of objects, properties, and actions into complex representations of the world is often associated with language. Yet combinatorial event-level representations can also be constructed from nonverbal input, such as visual scenes. Here, we test whether the language network in the human brain is involved in and necessary for semantic processing of events presented nonverbally. In Experiment 1, we scanned participants with fMRI while they performed a semantic plausibility judgment task versus a difficult perceptual control task on sentences and line drawings that describe/depict simple agent-patient interactions. We found that the language network responded robustly during the semantic task performed on both sentences and pictures (although its response to sentences was stronger). Thus, language regions in healthy adults are engaged during a semantic task performed on pictorial depictions of events. But is this engagement necessary? In Experiment 2, we tested two individuals with global aphasia, who have sustained massive damage to perisylvian language areas and display severe language difficulties, against a group of age-matched control participants. Individuals with aphasia were severely impaired on the task of matching sentences to pictures. However, they performed close to controls in assessing the plausibility of pictorial depictions of agent-patient interactions. Overall, our results indicate that the left frontotemporal language network is recruited but not necessary for semantic processing of nonverbally presented events.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anna A. Ivanova
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Zachary Mineroff
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Vitor Zimmerer
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Nancy Kanwisher
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Rosemary Varley
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Evelina Fedorenko
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Lukic S, Thompson CK, Barbieri E, Chiappetta B, Bonakdarpour B, Kiran S, Rapp B, Parrish TB, Caplan D. Common and distinct neural substrates of sentence production and comprehension. Neuroimage 2021; 224:117374. [PMID: 32949711 PMCID: PMC10134242 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2020] [Revised: 09/08/2020] [Accepted: 09/12/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Functional neuroimaging and lesion-symptom mapping investigations implicate a left frontal-temporal-parietal network for sentence processing. The majority of studies have focused on sentence comprehension, with fewer in the domain of sentence production, which have not fully elucidated overlapping and/or unique brain structures associated with the two domains, particularly for sentences with noncanonical word order. Using voxel-based lesion symptom mapping (VLSM) we examined the relationship between lesions within the left hemisphere language network and both sentence comprehension and production of simple and complex syntactic structures in 76 participants with chronic stroke-induced aphasia. Results revealed shared regions across domains in the anterior and posterior superior temporal gyri (aSTG, pSTG), and the temporal pole (adjusted for verb production/comprehension). Additionally, comprehension was associated with lesions in the anterior and posterior middle temporal gyri (aMTG, pMTG), the MTG temporooccipital regions, SMG/AG, central and parietal operculum, and the insula. Subsequent VLSM analyses (production versus comprehension) revealed critical regions associated with each domain: anterior temporal lesions were associated with production; posterior temporo-parietal lesions were associated with comprehension, implicating important roles for regions within the ventral and dorsal stream processing routes, respectively. Processing of syntactically complex, noncanonical (adjusted for canonical), sentences was associated with damage to the pSTG across domains, with additional damage to the pMTG and IPL associated with impaired sentence comprehension, suggesting that the pSTG is crucial for computing noncanonical sentences across domains and that the pMTG, and IPL are necessary for re-analysis of thematic roles as required for resolution of long-distance dependencies. These findings converge with previous studies and extend our knowledge of the neural mechanisms of sentence comprehension to production, highlighting critical regions associated with both domains, and further address the mechanism engaged for syntactic computation, controlled for the contribution of verb processing.
Collapse
|
24
|
Zhang M, Varga D, Wang X, Krieger-Redwood K, Gouws A, Smallwood J, Jefferies E. Knowing what you need to know in advance: The neural processes underpinning flexible semantic retrieval of thematic and taxonomic relations. Neuroimage 2021; 224:117405. [PMID: 32992002 PMCID: PMC7779371 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2020] [Revised: 08/22/2020] [Accepted: 09/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Semantic retrieval is flexible, allowing us to focus on subsets of features and associations that are relevant to the current task or context: for example, we use taxonomic relations to locate items in the supermarket (carrots are a vegetable), but thematic associations to decide which tools we need when cooking (carrot goes with peeler). We used fMRI to investigate the neural basis of this form of semantic flexibility; in particular, we asked how retrieval unfolds differently when participants have advanced knowledge of the type of link to retrieve between concepts (taxonomic or thematic). Participants performed a semantic relatedness judgement task: on half the trials, they were cued to search for a taxonomic or thematic link, while on the remaining trials, they judged relatedness without knowing which type of semantic relationship would be relevant. Left inferior frontal gyrus showed greater activation when participants knew the trial type in advance. An overlapping region showed a stronger response when the semantic relationship between the items was weaker, suggesting this structure supports both top-down and bottom-up forms of semantic control. Multivariate pattern analysis further revealed that the neural response in left inferior frontal gyrus reflects goal information related to different conceptual relationships. Top-down control specifically modulated the response in visual cortex: when the goal was unknown, there was greater deactivation to the first word, and greater activation to the second word. We conclude that top-down control of semantic retrieval is primarily achieved through the gating of task-relevant 'spoke' regions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Meichao Zhang
- Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York, UK, YO10 5DD.
| | - Dominika Varga
- Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York, UK, YO10 5DD
| | - Xiuyi Wang
- Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York, UK, YO10 5DD
| | | | - Andre Gouws
- Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York, UK, YO10 5DD
| | - Jonathan Smallwood
- Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York, UK, YO10 5DD
| | - Elizabeth Jefferies
- Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York, UK, YO10 5DD.
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Abstract
Recognition-induced forgetting is the category-specific forgetting of pictures that occurs when a subset of a category of pictures is recognized, leading to forgetting of the remaining pictures. We have previously shown that recognition-induced forgetting does not operate over categories created by temporal relationships, suggesting that this effect does not operate over episodic memory representations. Here we systematically tested whether schematically related categories of pictures are immune to recognition-induced forgetting. We found that sufficiently weak schematically related memories are vulnerable to recognition-induced forgetting. These results offer an alternative interpretation for evidence that recognition-induced forgetting does not operate over episodic memory representations. Evidence that the strength of schematic grouping modulates forgetting supports a model of recognition-induced forgetting in which the key determinant of forgetting is moderate activation. This is the first demonstration that recognition-induced forgetting operates over perceptually distinct objects, demonstrating the ubiquity of such forgetting.
Collapse
|
26
|
Lewis GA, Poeppel D, Murphy GL. Contrasting Semantic versus Inhibitory Processing in the Angular Gyrus: An fMRI Study. Cereb Cortex 2020; 29:2470-2481. [PMID: 29878066 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhy118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2018] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent studies of semantic memory have focused on dissociating the neural bases of two foundational components of human thought: taxonomic categories, which group similar objects like dogs and seals based on features, and thematic categories, which group dissimilar objects like dogs and leashes based on events. While there is emerging consensus that taxonomic concepts are represented in the anterior temporal lobe, there is disagreement over whether thematic concepts are represented in the angular gyrus (AG). We previously found AG sensitivity to both kinds of concepts; however, some accounts suggest that such activity reflects inhibition of irrelevant information rather than thematic activation. To test these possibilities, an fMRI experiment investigated both types of conceptual relations in the AG during two semantic judgment tasks. Each task trained participants to give negative responses (inhibition) or positive responses (activation) to word pairs based on taxonomic and thematic criteria of relatedness. Results showed AG engagement during both negative judgments and thematic judgments, but not during positive judgments about taxonomic pairs. Together, the results suggest that activity in the AG reflects functions that include both thematic (but not taxonomic) processing and inhibiting irrelevant semantic information.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gwyneth A Lewis
- Department of Psychology, New York University, 6 Washington Place, New York, NY, USA
| | - David Poeppel
- Department of Psychology, New York University, 6 Washington Place, New York, NY, USA.,Department of Neuroscience, Max-Planck-Institute (MPIEA), Grüneburgweg, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Gregory L Murphy
- Department of Psychology, New York University, 6 Washington Place, New York, NY, USA
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Honke G, Kurtz KJ, Laszlo S. Similarity judgments predict N400 amplitude differences between taxonomic category members and thematic associates. Neuropsychologia 2020; 141:107388. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2019] [Revised: 02/01/2020] [Accepted: 02/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
|
28
|
A Case of Right Temporal Lobectomy for Brain Tumor With Selective Semantic Pictorial Disorder. Cogn Behav Neurol 2020; 33:52-62. [PMID: 32132403 DOI: 10.1097/wnn.0000000000000220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Disagreement exists regarding representational and connectionist interpretations of semantic knowledge subserved by the right versus left anterior temporal lobes (ATLs). These interpretations predict a different pattern of impairment in patients with a right unilateral ATL lesion. We conducted a neuropsychological study of a selective semantic pictorial defect exhibited by a 57-year-old man who had undergone a right temporal lobectomy due to the presence of a glioblastoma. The patient was given the Thematic and Taxonomic Semantic task, in which individuals must select, within triplets of words or pictures, the best associates of living or nonliving stimuli, related by thematic or taxonomic links, and presented in the verbal or pictorial modality. The selectivity of the defect was documented by a comparison between the results obtained by our patient and those obtained by healthy controls on living items and on pictures with a thematic relation. The selectivity of the defect was confirmed by a within-subject analysis of the results obtained on all of the task's triplets and those obtained on the stimuli representing living entities with a taxonomic relation. The selectivity of this semantic pictorial defect mainly concerning living entities is consistent with the representational account of semantic defects observed in our patient. In the present case report, a right temporal lobectomy resulted in a selective semantic pictorial defect with the qualitative features predicted by the representational account of semantic defects observed after a unilateral ATL lesion.
Collapse
|
29
|
Relaciones conceptuales: comparación entre Niños, Adultos Jóvenes y Adultos Mayores. REVISTA IBEROAMERICANA DE PSICOLOGÍA 2020. [DOI: 10.33881/2027-1786.rip.13106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
El estudio de la organización del conocimiento en la memoria semántica suscita gran interés en Psicología Cognitiva y Neuropsicología. El conocimiento semántico está representado por conceptos que comparten características y forman una jerarquía inclusiva -organización taxonómica-, o que se vinculan en tiempo y espacio -organización temática o situacional-. Se considera que a lo largo del desarrollo cambia la preferencia por estos tipos de organización, pero son pocos los estudios que comparan las organizaciones conceptuales de niños en edad escolar, adultos jóvenes y mayores, y sus resultados son divergentes. Asimismo, la organización conceptual también varía en función del dominio al que pertenece el concepto (vivo vs no vivo). Por lo tanto, el objetivo general de este estudio fue estudiar qué tipos de organización conceptual empleaban esos grupos en una tarea de producción de atributos para conceptos de seres vivos y no vivos. Los resultados indican que la producción de atributos taxonómicos fue significativamente mayor para los adultos jóvenes que para los adultos mayores y los niños, en tanto la producción taxonómica de estos dos últimos grupos fue pareja. En cuanto a la producción temática, fue alta y homogénea en los tres grupos de edad. Por último, para el dominio de los seres no vivos los atributos resultaron en su mayoría temáticos y perceptivos, y para el dominio de los seres vivos, mayormente perceptivos.
Collapse
|
30
|
Taxonomic relations evoke more fear than thematic relations after fear conditioning: An EEG study. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2020; 167:107099. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2019.107099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2018] [Revised: 08/14/2019] [Accepted: 10/09/2019] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
|
31
|
Bouyeure A, Noulhiane M. Memory: Normative development of memory systems. HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL NEUROLOGY 2020; 173:201-213. [PMID: 32958174 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-444-64150-2.00018-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
During the past decades, abundant behavioral, clinical, and neuroimaging data have shown several memory systems in the brain. A memory system is a type of memory that processes a particular type of information, using specific mechanisms, with distinct neural correlates. What we call memory is therefore not a unitary capacity but a collection of distinct systems. From a developmental perspective, each memory system has its own developmental course. This explains the heterogeneity of children's mnemonic competencies: for example, 3-year-olds learn many new words and concepts every day but have trouble recalling in detail an event that happened the week before. In this chapter, we sum up major findings regarding the development from infancy to early adulthood of the main memory systems. Specifically, we report recent data regarding the development of declarative memory (i.e., episodic and semantic memory), and the relationship between the maturation of their neural correlates and the phenomena of infantile and childhood amnesia. We conclude by indicating some of the possible avenues for future research.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Bouyeure
- Translational and Applicative Neuroimaging Research Unit, NeuroSpin, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Marion Noulhiane
- Translational and Applicative Neuroimaging Research Unit, NeuroSpin, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
García Coni A, Ison M, Vivas J. Conceptual flexibility in school children: Switching between taxonomic and thematic relations. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2019.100827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
|
33
|
Liu F, Han J, Zhang L, Li F. Inductive Reasoning Differs Between Taxonomic and Thematic Contexts: Electrophysiological Evidence. Front Psychol 2019; 10:1702. [PMID: 31402887 PMCID: PMC6669940 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2019] [Accepted: 07/08/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Inductive reasoning can be performed in different contexts, but it is unclear whether the neural mechanism of reasoning performed in a thematic context (e.g., bee has x, so honey has x) is the same as that performed in a taxonomic context (e.g., bee has x, so butterfly has x). In the present study, participants were required to judge whether a conclusion was acceptable or not based on its premise, for which the taxonomic or thematic distances between premise and conclusion objects were either far or near. The Event related potential (ERP) results indicated that the effect of context (taxonomic vs. thematic) was initially observed in the P2 component; while the distance effect (far vs. near) was observed in N400 and late components. Moreover, the distance effect on thematic-based inductive reasoning was found in the anterior regions, while the distance effect on taxonomic-based inductive reasoning conditions was found in the posterior regions. These results support the view that inductive reasoning is performed differently under different semantic contexts.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fangfang Liu
- School of Psychology, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China.,School of Educational Science, Minnan Normal University, Zhangzhou, China
| | - Jiahui Han
- School of Psychology, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
| | - Lingcong Zhang
- School of Educational Science, Minnan Normal University, Zhangzhou, China
| | - Fuhong Li
- School of Psychology, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Merck C, Noël A, Jamet E, Robert M, Hou C, Salmon A, Belliard S, Kalénine S. Identification of taxonomic and thematic relationships: Do the two semantic systems have the same status in semantic dementia? J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 2019; 41:946-964. [PMID: 31305211 DOI: 10.1080/13803395.2019.1641186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Introduction: Disequilibrium between the taxonomic and thematic semantic systems was previously hypothesized in participants with semantic dementia (SD), without rigorously assessing their ability to identify the two types of semantic relationships. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to directly compare the ability of 10 participants with SD, 10 participants with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 20 controls to identify thematic versus taxonomic relationships. Methods: Participants performed an explicit forced-choice picture-matching task in which they had to determine which of two pictures of choice was semantically related to the target picture. Target pictures could display natural or artifact objects. Each target was presented once with a taxonomically related picture and once with a thematically related picture. Results: Analyses of correct thematic and taxonomic matches as a function of target domain showed that the performance of the two groups of patients differed in the taxonomic conditions but not in the thematic conditions, demonstrating a relative preservation of thematic knowledge in SD. Additional correlation analyses further indicated that the particular status of thematic relationships in SD was even stronger for artifact concepts. Conclusions: Results provide evidence of the heterogeneous nature of semantic knowledge disruption in SD, and could be regarded as being consistent with the existence of two neuroanatomically and functionally distinct semantic systems. Results further stress the relevance of performing a more detailed and complete assessment of semantic performance in participants with SD, in order to capture the impaired but also preserved aspects of their knowledge.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Catherine Merck
- Service de neurologie, CMRR Haute Bretagne, CHU Pontchaillou , Rennes , France.,Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine , Caen , France
| | - Audrey Noël
- Université Rennes 2, Laboratoire de Psychologie: Cognition, Comportement et Communication (EA 1285, laboratoire LP3C) , Rennes , France
| | - Eric Jamet
- Université Rennes 2, Laboratoire de Psychologie: Cognition, Comportement et Communication (EA 1285, laboratoire LP3C) , Rennes , France
| | - Maxime Robert
- Université Rennes 2, Laboratoire de Psychologie: Cognition, Comportement et Communication (EA 1285, laboratoire LP3C) , Rennes , France
| | - Camille Hou
- Service de neurologie, CMRR Haute Bretagne, CHU Pontchaillou , Rennes , France
| | - Anne Salmon
- Service de neurologie, CMRR Haute Bretagne, CHU Pontchaillou , Rennes , France
| | - Serge Belliard
- Service de neurologie, CMRR Haute Bretagne, CHU Pontchaillou , Rennes , France.,Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, PSL Research University, EPHE, INSERM, U1077, CHU de Caen, Neuropsychologie et Imagerie de la Mémoire Humaine , Caen , France
| | - Solène Kalénine
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, CHU Lille, UMR 9193 - SCALab - Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives , Lille , France
| |
Collapse
|
35
|
Teige C, Cornelissen PL, Mollo G, Gonzalez Alam TRDJ, McCarty K, Smallwood J, Jefferies E. Dissociations in semantic cognition: Oscillatory evidence for opposing effects of semantic control and type of semantic relation in anterior and posterior temporal cortex. Cortex 2019; 120:308-325. [PMID: 31394366 PMCID: PMC6854548 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2018] [Revised: 02/04/2019] [Accepted: 07/07/2019] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
How does the brain represent and process different types of knowledge? The Dual Hub account postulates that anterior temporal lobes (ATL) support taxonomic relationships based on shared physical features (mole – cat), while temporoparietal regions, including posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG), support thematic associations (mole – earth). Conversely, the Controlled Semantic Cognition account proposes that ATL supports both aspects of knowledge, while left pMTG contributes to controlled retrieval. This study used magnetoencephalography to test these contrasting predictions of functional dissociations within the temporal lobe. ATL and pMTG responded more strongly to taxonomic and thematic trials respectively, matched for behavioural performance, in line with predictions of the Dual Hub account. In addition, ATL showed a greater response to strong than weak thematic associations, while pMTG showed the opposite pattern, supporting a key prediction of the Controlled Semantic Cognition account. ATL showed a stronger response for word pairs that were more semantically coherent, either because they shared physical features (in taxonomic trials) or a strong thematic association. These effects largely coincided in time and frequency (although an early oscillatory response in ATL was specific to taxonomic trials). In contrast, pMTG showed non-overlapping effects of semantic control demands and thematic judgements: this site showed a larger oscillatory response to weak associations, when ongoing retrieval needed to be shaped to suit the task demands, and also a larger response to thematic judgements contrasted with taxonomic trials (which was reduced but not eliminated when the thematic trials were easier). Consequently, time-sensitive neuroimaging supports a complex pattern of functional dissociations within the left temporal lobe, which reflects both coherence versus control and distinctive oscillatory responses for taxonomic overlap (in ATL) and thematic relations (in pMTG).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Catarina Teige
- Department of Psychology and York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, UK
| | | | - Giovanna Mollo
- Department of Psychology and York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, UK
| | | | | | - Jonathan Smallwood
- Department of Psychology and York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, UK
| | - Elizabeth Jefferies
- Department of Psychology and York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Murphy GL. On Fodor's First Law of the Nonexistence of Cognitive Science. Cogn Sci 2019; 43:e12735. [DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2018] [Revised: 04/02/2019] [Accepted: 04/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
|
37
|
Matchin W, Liao CH, Gaston P, Lau E. Same words, different structures: An fMRI investigation of argument relations and the angular gyrus. Neuropsychologia 2019; 125:116-128. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.01.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2018] [Revised: 01/09/2019] [Accepted: 01/31/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
|
38
|
Europa E, Gitelman DR, Kiran S, Thompson CK. Neural Connectivity in Syntactic Movement Processing. Front Hum Neurosci 2019; 13:27. [PMID: 30814941 PMCID: PMC6381040 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2019.00027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2018] [Accepted: 01/21/2019] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Linguistic theory suggests non-canonical sentences subvert the dominant agent-verb-theme order in English via displacement of sentence constituents to argument (NP-movement) or non-argument positions (wh-movement). Both processes have been associated with the left inferior frontal gyrus and posterior superior temporal gyrus, but differences in neural activity and connectivity between movement types have not been investigated. In the current study, functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired from 21 adult participants during an auditory sentence-picture verification task using passive and active sentences contrasted to isolate NP-movement, and object- and subject-cleft sentences contrasted to isolate wh-movement. Then, functional magnetic resonance imaging data from regions common to both movement types were entered into a dynamic causal modeling analysis to examine effective connectivity for wh-movement and NP-movement. Results showed greater left inferior frontal gyrus activation for Wh > NP-movement, but no activation for NP > Wh-movement. Both types of movement elicited activity in the opercular part of the left inferior frontal gyrus, left posterior superior temporal gyrus, and left medial superior frontal gyrus. The dynamic causal modeling analyses indicated that neither movement type significantly modulated the connection from the left inferior frontal gyrus to the left posterior superior temporal gyrus, nor vice-versa, suggesting no connectivity differences between wh- and NP-movement. These findings support the idea that increased complexity of wh-structures, compared to sentences with NP-movement, requires greater engagement of cognitive resources via increased neural activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus, but both movement types engage similar neural networks.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo Europa
- Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
| | - Darren R Gitelman
- Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge, IL, United States.,Department of Medicine, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL, United States.,The Ken and Ruth Davee Department of Neurology Department of Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Swathi Kiran
- College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Cynthia K Thompson
- Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States.,The Ken and Ruth Davee Department of Neurology Department of Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States.,Mesulam Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| |
Collapse
|
39
|
Walenski M, Europa E, Caplan D, Thompson CK. Neural networks for sentence comprehension and production: An ALE-based meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies. Hum Brain Mapp 2019; 40:2275-2304. [PMID: 30689268 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2018] [Revised: 12/14/2018] [Accepted: 12/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Comprehending and producing sentences is a complex endeavor requiring the coordinated activity of multiple brain regions. We examined three issues related to the brain networks underlying sentence comprehension and production in healthy individuals: First, which regions are recruited for sentence comprehension and sentence production? Second, are there differences for auditory sentence comprehension vs. visual sentence comprehension? Third, which regions are specifically recruited for the comprehension of syntactically complex sentences? Results from activation likelihood estimation (ALE) analyses (from 45 studies) implicated a sentence comprehension network occupying bilateral frontal and temporal lobe regions. Regions implicated in production (from 15 studies) overlapped with the set of regions associated with sentence comprehension in the left hemisphere, but did not include inferior frontal cortex, and did not extend to the right hemisphere. Modality differences between auditory and visual sentence comprehension were found principally in the temporal lobes. Results from the analysis of complex syntax (from 37 studies) showed engagement of left inferior frontal and posterior temporal regions, as well as the right insula. The involvement of the right hemisphere in the comprehension of these structures has potentially important implications for language treatment and recovery in individuals with agrammatic aphasia following left hemisphere brain damage.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Walenski
- Center for the Neurobiology of Language Recovery, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.,Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, School of Communication, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
| | - Eduardo Europa
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco
| | - David Caplan
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Cynthia K Thompson
- Center for the Neurobiology of Language Recovery, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.,Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, School of Communication, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.,Department of Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
| |
Collapse
|
40
|
Composing lexical versus functional adjectives: Evidence for uniformity in the left temporal lobe. Psychon Bull Rev 2018; 25:2309-2322. [DOI: 10.3758/s13423-018-1469-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
|
41
|
Xu Y, Wang X, Wang X, Men W, Gao JH, Bi Y. Doctor, Teacher, and Stethoscope: Neural Representation of Different Types of Semantic Relations. J Neurosci 2018; 38:3303-3317. [PMID: 29476016 PMCID: PMC6596060 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2562-17.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2017] [Revised: 02/08/2018] [Accepted: 02/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Concepts can be related in many ways. They can belong to the same taxonomic category (e.g., "doctor" and "teacher," both in the category of people) or be associated with the same event context (e.g., "doctor" and "stethoscope," both associated with medical scenarios). How are these two major types of semantic relations coded in the brain? We constructed stimuli from three taxonomic categories (people, manmade objects, and locations) and three thematic categories (school, medicine, and sports) and investigated the neural representations of these two dimensions using representational similarity analyses in human participants (10 men and nine women). In specific regions of interest, the left anterior temporal lobe (ATL) and the left temporoparietal junction (TPJ), we found that, whereas both areas had significant effects of taxonomic information, the taxonomic relations had stronger effects in the ATL than in the TPJ ("doctor" and "teacher" closer in ATL neural activity), with the reverse being true for thematic relations ("doctor" and "stethoscope" closer in TPJ neural activity). A whole-brain searchlight analysis revealed that widely distributed regions, mainly in the left hemisphere, represented the taxonomic dimension. Interestingly, the significant effects of the thematic relations were only observed after the taxonomic differences were controlled for in the left TPJ, the right superior lateral occipital cortex, and other frontal, temporal, and parietal regions. In summary, taxonomic grouping is a primary organizational dimension across distributed brain regions, with thematic grouping further embedded within such taxonomic structures.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT How are concepts organized in the brain? It is well established that concepts belonging to the same taxonomic categories (e.g., "doctor" and "teacher") share neural representations in specific brain regions. How concepts are associated in other manners (e.g., "doctor" and "stethoscope," which are thematically related) remains poorly understood. We used representational similarity analyses to unravel the neural representations of these different types of semantic relations by testing the same set of words that could be differently grouped by taxonomic categories or by thematic categories. We found that widely distributed brain areas primarily represented taxonomic categories, with the thematic categories further embedded within the taxonomic structure.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yangwen Xu
- National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, 100875
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, 100875
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, 100875
| | - Xiaosha Wang
- National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, 100875
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, 100875
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, 100875
| | - Xiaoying Wang
- National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, 100875
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, 100875
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, 100875
| | - Weiwei Men
- Center for MRI Research, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China, 100871
- Beijing City Key Laboratory for Medical Physics and Engineering, Institute of Heavy Ion Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China, 100871, and
| | - Jia-Hong Gao
- Center for MRI Research, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China, 100871
- Beijing City Key Laboratory for Medical Physics and Engineering, Institute of Heavy Ion Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China, 100871, and
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China, 100871
| | - Yanchao Bi
- National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, 100875,
- IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, 100875
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, 100875
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
Abstract
Although the parietal lobe was considered by many of the earliest investigators of disordered language to be a major component of the neural systems instantiating language, most views of the anatomic substrate of language emphasize the role of temporal and frontal lobes in language processing. We review evidence from lesion studies as well as functional neuroimaging, demonstrating that the left parietal lobe is also crucial for several aspects of language. First, we argue that the parietal lobe plays a major role in semantic processing, particularly for "thematic" relationships in which information from multiple sensory and motor domains is integrated. Additionally, we review a number of accounts that emphasize the role of the left parietal lobe in phonologic processing. Although the accounts differ somewhat with respect to the nature of the linguistic computations subserved by the parietal lobe, they share the view that the parietal lobe is essential for the processes by which sound-based representations are transcoded into a format that can drive action systems. We suggest that investigations of the linguistic capacities of the parietal lobe constrained by the understanding of the parietal lobe in action and multimodal sensory integration may serve to enhance not only our understanding of language, but also the relationship between language and more basic brain functions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- H Branch Coslett
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
| | - Myrna F Schwartz
- Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, Elkins Park, PA, United States
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Buxbaum LJ. Learning, remembering, and predicting how to use tools: Distributed neurocognitive mechanisms: Comment on Osiurak and Badets (2016). Psychol Rev 2017; 124:346-360. [PMID: 28358565 DOI: 10.1037/rev0000051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The reasoning-based approach championed by Francois Osiurak and Arnaud Badets (Osiurak & Badets, 2016) denies the existence of sensory-motor memories of tool use except in limited circumstances, and suggests instead that most tool use is subserved solely by online technical reasoning about tool properties. In this commentary, I highlight the strengths and limitations of the reasoning-based approach and review a number of lines of evidence that manipulation knowledge is in fact used in tool action tasks. In addition, I present a "two route" neurocognitive model of tool use called the "Two Action Systems Plus (2AS+)" framework that posits a complementary role for online and stored information and specifies the neurocognitive substrates of task-relevant action selection. This framework, unlike the reasoning based approach, has the potential to integrate the existing psychological and functional neuroanatomic data in the tool use domain. (PsycINFO Database Record
Collapse
|
44
|
Boylan C, Trueswell JC, Thompson-Schill SL. Relational vs. attributive interpretation of nominal compounds differentially engages angular gyrus and anterior temporal lobe. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2017; 169:8-21. [PMID: 28236762 PMCID: PMC5810541 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2017.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2015] [Revised: 12/22/2016] [Accepted: 01/26/2017] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
The angular gyrus (AG) and anterior temporal lobe (ATL) have been found to respond to a number of tasks involving combinatorial processing. In this study, we investigate the conceptual combination of nominal compounds, and ask whether ATL/AG activity is modulated by the type of combinatorial operation applied to a nominal compound. We compare relational and attributive interpretations of nominal compounds and find that ATL and AG both discriminate these two types, but in distinct ways. While right AG demonstrated greater positive task-responsive activity for relational compounds, there was a greater negative deflection in the BOLD response in left AG for relational compounds. In left ATL, we found an earlier peak in subjects' BOLD response curves for attributive interpretations. In other words, we observed dissociations in both AG and ATL between relational and attributive nominal compounds, with regard to magnitude in the former and to timing in the latter. These findings expand on prior studies that posit roles for both AG and ATL in conceptual processing generally, and in conceptual combination specifically, by indicating possible functional specializations of these two regions within a larger conceptual knowledge network.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christine Boylan
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, United States.
| | - John C Trueswell
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, United States
| | | |
Collapse
|
45
|
Williams A, Reddigari S, Pylkkänen L. Early sensitivity of left perisylvian cortex to relationality in nouns and verbs. Neuropsychologia 2017; 100:131-143. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.04.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2016] [Revised: 04/09/2017] [Accepted: 04/23/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
|
46
|
Abstract
Object concepts are critical for nearly all aspects of human cognition, from perception tasks like object recognition, to understanding and producing language, to making meaningful actions. Concepts can have 2 very different kinds of relations: similarity relations based on shared features (e.g., dog-bear), which are called "taxonomic" relations, and contiguity relations based on co-occurrence in events or scenarios (e.g., dog-leash), which are called "thematic" relations. Here, we report a systematic review of experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience evidence of this distinction in the structure of semantic memory. We propose 2 principles that may drive the development of distinct taxonomic and thematic semantic systems: differences between which features determine taxonomic versus thematic relations, and differences in the processing required to extract taxonomic versus thematic relations. This review brings together distinct threads of behavioral, computational, and neuroscience research on semantic memory in support of a functional and neural dissociation, and defines a framework for future studies of semantic memory. (PsycINFO Database Record
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Mirman
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
47
|
Matchin W, Hammerly C, Lau E. The role of the IFG and pSTS in syntactic prediction: Evidence from a parametric study of hierarchical structure in fMRI. Cortex 2017; 88:106-123. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2016.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2016] [Revised: 09/01/2016] [Accepted: 12/09/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
|
48
|
Kalénine S, Buxbaum LJ. Thematic knowledge, artifact concepts, and the left posterior temporal lobe: Where action and object semantics converge. Cortex 2016; 82:164-178. [PMID: 27389801 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2016.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2015] [Revised: 03/21/2016] [Accepted: 06/11/2016] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Converging evidence supports the existence of functionally and neuroanatomically distinct taxonomic (similarity-based; e.g., hammer-screwdriver) and thematic (event-based; e.g., hammer-nail) semantic systems. Processing of thematic relations between objects has been shown to selectively recruit the left posterior temporoparietal cortex. Similar posterior regions have also been shown to be critical for knowledge of relationships between actions and manipulable human-made objects (artifacts). Based on the hypothesis that thematic relationships for artifacts rely, at least in part, on action relationships, we assessed the prediction that the same regions of the left posterior temporoparietal cortex would be critical for conceptual processing of artifact-related actions and thematic relations for artifacts. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated processing of taxonomic and thematic relations for artifacts and natural objects as well as artifact action knowledge (gesture recognition) abilities in a large sample of 48 stroke patients with a range of lesion foci in the left hemisphere. Like control participants, patients identified thematic relations faster than taxonomic relations for artifacts, whereas they identified taxonomic relations faster than thematic relations for natural objects. Moreover, response times (RTs) for identifying thematic relations for artifacts selectively predicted performance in gesture recognition. Whole brain Voxel-based Lesion-Symptom Mapping (VLSM) analyses and Region of Interest (ROI) regression analyses further demonstrated that lesions to the left posterior temporal cortex, overlapping with LTO and visual motion area hMT+, were associated both with relatively slower RTs in identifying thematic relations for artifacts and poorer artifact action knowledge in patients. These findings provide novel insights into the functional role of left posterior temporal cortex in thematic knowledge, and suggest that the close association between thematic relations for artifacts and action representations may reflect their common dependence on visual motion and manipulation information.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Solène Kalénine
- Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, Elkins Park, PA, USA; Univ. Lille, CNRS, CHU Lille, UMR 9193 SCALab - Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, Lille, France.
| | | |
Collapse
|
49
|
Role of features and categories in the organization of object knowledge: Evidence from adaptation fMRI. Cortex 2016; 78:174-194. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2016.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2015] [Revised: 12/11/2015] [Accepted: 01/05/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
|
50
|
Pluciennicka E, Coello Y, Kalénine S. Development of implicit processing of thematic and functional similarity relations during manipulable artifact object identification: Evidence from eye-tracking in the Visual World Paradigm. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2016.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
|