scholarly journals Influence of Manner Adverbs on Action Verb Processing

2021 ◽  
pp. 439-461
Author(s):  
Jan Sieksmeyer ◽  
Anne Klepp ◽  
Valentina Niccolai ◽  
Jacqueline Metzlaff ◽  
Alfons Schnitzler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Motor Behavior ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Color Changes ◽  
Motor Priming ◽  
Related Language ◽  
Semantic Decision ◽  
Verb Processing ◽  
Cortical Involvement ◽  
Action Verbs

AbstractLanguage-motor interaction is suggested by the involvement of motor areas in action-related language processing. In a double-dissociation paradigm we aimed to investigate motor cortical involvement in the processing of hand- and foot-related action verbs combined with manner adverbs. In two experiments using different tasks, subjects were instructed to respond with their hand or foot following the presentation of an adverb-verb combination. Experiment 1, which prompted reactions via color changes of the stimuli combined with a semantic decision, showed an influence of manner adverbs on response times. This was visible in faster responses following intensifying adverbs compared with attenuating adverbs. Additionally, an interaction between implied verb effector and response effector manifested in faster response times for matching verb-response conditions. Experiment 2, which prompted reactions directly by the adverb type (intensifying vs. attenuating), revealed an interaction between manner adverbs and response effector with faster hand responses following intensifying compared with attenuating adverbs. Additional electroencephalography (EEG) recordings in Experiment 2 revealed reduced beta-desynchronization for congruent verb-response conditions in the case of foot responses along with faster response times. Yet, a direct modulation of verb-motor priming by adverbs was not found. Taken together, our results indicate an influence of manner adverbs on the interplay of language processing and motor behavior. Results are discussed with respect to embodied cognition theories.

scholarly journals Multifaceted aspects of chunking enable robust algorithms

2014 ◽  
Vol 112 (8) ◽  
pp. 1849-1856 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel E. Acuna ◽  
Nicholas F. Wymbs ◽  
Chelsea A. Reynolds ◽  
Nathalie Picard ◽  
Robert S. Turner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Behavior ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Physiological Data ◽  
Bayesian Algorithm ◽  
Robust Algorithms ◽  
Sequence Production ◽  
Standard Tool

Sequence production tasks are a standard tool to analyze motor learning, consolidation, and habituation. As sequences are learned, movements are typically grouped into subsets or chunks. For example, most Americans memorize telephone numbers in two chunks of three digits, and one chunk of four. Studies generally use response times or error rates to estimate how subjects chunk, and these estimates are often related to physiological data. Here we show that chunking is simultaneously reflected in reaction times, errors, and their correlations. This multimodal structure enables us to propose a Bayesian algorithm that better estimates chunks while avoiding overfitting. Our algorithm reveals previously unknown behavioral structure, such as an increased error correlations with training, and promises a useful tool for the characterization of many forms of sequential motor behavior.

Automated Aircraft Trajectory Prediction Based on Formal Intent-Related Language Processing

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 1067-1082 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan A. Besada ◽  
Guillermo Frontera ◽  
Jesus Crespo ◽  
Enrique Casado ◽  
Javier Lopez-Leones
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Trajectory Prediction ◽  
Related Language ◽  
Aircraft Trajectory

scholarly journals Faulty Suppression of Irrelevant Material in Patients with Thought Disorder Linked to Attenuated Frontotemporal Activation

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Arcuri ◽  
M. R. Broome ◽  
V. Giampietro ◽  
E. Amaro ◽  
T. T. J. Kircher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Thought Disorder ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Formal Thought Disorder ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Semantic Decision ◽  
Semantic Decision Task ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients

Formal thought disorder is a feature schizophrenia that manifests as disorganized, incoherent speech, and is associated with a poor clinical outcome. The neurocognitive basis of this symptom is unclear but it is thought to involve an impairment in semantic processing classically described as a loosening of meaningful associations. Using a paradigm derived from the n400 event-related, potential, we examined the extent to which regional activation during semantic processing is altered in schizophrenic patients with formal thought disorder. Ten healthy control and 18 schizophrenic participants (9 with and 9 without formal thought disorder) performed a semantic decision sentence task during an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment. We employed analysis of variance to estimate the main effects of semantic congruency and groups on activation and specific effects of formal thought disorder were addressed using post-hoc comparisons. We found that the frontotemporal network, normally engaged by a semantic decision task, was underactivated in schizophrenia, particularly in patients with FTD. This network is implicated in the inhibition of automatically primed stimuli and impairment of its function interferes with language processing and contributes to the production of incoherent speech.

scholarly journals The motor cortex wants the full story: The influence of sentence context on corticospinal excitability in action language processing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
W Dupont ◽  
F Lebon ◽  
C Papaxanthis ◽  
C Madden-Lombardi
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Sentence Context ◽  
Corticospinal Excitability ◽  
General Increase ◽  
Embodied Language ◽  
Action Language ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Motor Representations ◽  
Action Verbs

According to the embodied language framework, reading action verbs leads to a mental representation involving motor cortex activation. As sentence context has been shown to greatly influence the meaning of words, the present study aimed at better understanding its role in motor representations. We manipulated the presence of manual actions and sentence context. We hypothesized that context would serve to focus the representation of the described actions in the motor cortex, reflected in context-specific modulation of corticospinal excitability.Participants read manual action verbs and non-manual verbs, preceded by a full sentence (rich context) or not (minimal context). We assessed the level of corticospinal excitability by means of transcranial magnetic stimulation pulses delivered at rest or shortly after verb presentation. The coil was positioned over the cortical representation of right first dorsal interosseous (pointer finger).We observed a general increase of corticospinal excitability while reading both verb types in minimal context, whereas the modulation was action-specific in rich context: corticospinal excitability increased while reading manual verbs, but did not differ from baseline for non-manual verbs. These findings suggest that the context sharpens motor representations, activating the motor cortex when relevant and eliminating any residual motor activation when no action is present.

Using Network Science Measures to Predict the Lexical Decision Performance of Adults Who Stutter

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (7) ◽  
pp. 1911-1918 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nichol Castro ◽  
Kristin M. Pelczarski ◽  
Michael S. Vitevitch
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Network Science ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Neighborhood Density ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
Adults Who Stutter

Purpose Methods from network science have examined various aspects of language processing. Clinical populations may also benefit from these novel analyses. Phonological and lexical factors have been examined in adults who stutter (AWS) as potential contributing factors to stuttering, although differences reported are often subtle. We reexamined the performance of AWS and adults who do not stutter (AWNS) from a previously conducted lexical decision task in an attempt to determine if network science measures would provide additional insight into the phonological network of AWS beyond traditional psycholinguistic measures. Method Multiple regression was used to examine the influence of several traditional psycholinguistic measures as well as several new measures from network science on response times. Results AWS responded to low-frequency words more slowly than AWNS; responses for both groups were equivalent for high-frequency words. AWS responded to shorter words more slowly than AWNS, producing a reverse word-length effect. For the network measures, degree/neighborhood density and closeness centrality, but not whether a word was inside or outside the giant component, influenced response times similarly between groups. Conclusions Network analyses suggest that multiple levels of the phonological network might influence phonological processing, not just the micro-level traditionally considered by mainstream psycholinguistics.

scholarly journals Cross-talk between Language Processes and Overt Motor Behavior in the First 200 msec of Processing

2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 1607-1615 ◽  
Author(s):  
Véronique Boulenger ◽  
Alice C. Roy ◽  
Yves Paulignan ◽  
Viviane Deprez ◽  
Marc Jeannerod ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cross Talk ◽  
Motor Behavior ◽  
Language Understanding ◽  
Motor Action ◽  
Reaching Movement ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Cortical Motor ◽  
Concrete Nouns ◽  
Action Verbs ◽  
Cortical Representations

A recently emerging view sees language understanding as closely linked to sensory and motor processes. The present study investigates this issue by examining the influence of processing action verbs and concrete nouns on the execution of a reaching movement. Fine-grained analyses of movement kinematics revealed that relative to nouns, processing action verbs significantly affects overt motor performance. Within 200 msec after onset, processing action verbs interferes with a concurrent reaching movement. By contrast, the same words assist reaching movement when processed before movement onset. The cross-talk between language processes and overt motor behavior provides unambiguous evidence that action words and motor action share common cortical representations and could thus suggest that cortical motor regions are indeed involved in action word retrieval.

scholarly journals Working memory load reduces corticospinal suppression to former go and trained no-go cues

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominic M. D. Tran ◽  
William G. Nicholson ◽  
Justin A. Harris ◽  
Irina M. Harris ◽  
Evan J. Livesey
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Motor System ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Short Interval ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
Intracortical Inhibition ◽  
System Activity ◽  
Motor Priming

AbstractEnvironmental cues associated with an action can prime the motor system, decreasing response times and activating motor regions of the brain. However, when task goals change, the same responses to former go-associated cues are no longer required and motor priming needs to be inhibited to avoid unwanted behavioural errors. The present study tested whether the inhibition of motor system activity to presentations of former go cues is reliant on top-down, goal-directed cognitive control processes using a working memory (WM) load manipulation. Applying transcranial magnetic stimulation over the primary motor cortex to measure motor system activity during a Go/No-go task, we found that under low WM, corticospinal excitability was suppressed to former go and trained no-go cues relative to control cues. Under high WM, the cortical suppression to former go cues was reduced, suggesting that the underlying mechanism required executive control. Unexpectedly, we found a similar result for trained no-go cues and showed in a second experiment that the corticospinal suppression and WM effects were unrelated to local inhibitory function as indexed by short-interval intracortical inhibition. Our findings reveal that the interaction between former response cues and WM is complex and we discuss possible explanations of our findings in relation to models of response inhibition.

Neural correlates of second language acquisition of tone-grammar associations

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Hed ◽  
Andrea Schremm ◽  
Merle Horne ◽  
Mikael Roll
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Second Language Processing ◽  
Before And After

Abstract Native speakers of Swedish use tones on stems to predict which suffix is to follow. This is seen behaviorally in reduced response times for matching tone-suffix pairs. Neurophysiologically, online prediction is reflected in the event-related potential (ERP) component pre-activation negativity (PrAN) occurring for tones with a higher predictive value. Invalid suffixes relative to the tone produce a left anterior negativity (LAN), or a broadly distributed negativity, and a P600. When native speakers make decisions about the inflection of words, response times are also longer for invalid tone-suffix combinations. In this study, low to intermediate level second language learners with non-tonal native languages trained tone-suffix associations for two weeks. Before and after training, they participated in a perception test where they listened to nouns with valid and invalid tone-suffix combinations and performed a singular/plural judgment task. During the test, electroencephalography (EEG) and response times were measured. After training, the PrAN effect increased, and a LAN emerged for invalid stimuli, indicating that the participants had acquired the tone-suffix association, using the tones as predictors more extensively post-training. However, neither a P600 nor longer response times for invalidity were found, suggesting potential differences in native and second language processing of the tone-suffix association.

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