Electrophysiological and experimental-behavioral approaches to the study of intra-sentential code-switching

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet G. van Hell ◽  
Carla B. Fernandez ◽  
Gerrit Jan Kootstra ◽  
Kaitlyn A. Litcofsky ◽  
Caitlin Y. Ting
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Electrophysiological Response ◽  
Time Frequency ◽  
Behavioral Techniques ◽  
Approaches To Study ◽  
Response Profiles

Abstract A hallmark of bilingual language processing is intra-sentential code-switching. An emergent body of research seeks to understand the intricate neural and cognitive mechanisms that underlie this seemingly effortless skill. In this paper, we discuss electrophysiological and experimental-behavioral research approaches that have been used to study intra-sentential code-switching, and illustrate the use of these techniques by discussing a select number of empirical studies. More specifically, we discuss electrophysiological approaches that are used to study the comprehension of visually and auditorily presented code-switched sentences, including the Event-Related brain Potentials (ERPs) method, time-frequency analysis, and approaches to study inter-individual variation in electrophysiological response profiles. This is followed by a discussion of experimental-behavioral techniques to study the comprehension and production of code-switched sentences, including self-paced reading, shadowing, and confederate scripting.

Neural Mechanisms of Music and Language

2019 ◽  
pp. 906-952
Author(s):  
Mattson Ogg ◽  
L. Robert Slevc
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Cortex ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Cortical Plasticity ◽  
Speaker Identification ◽  
Auditory Pathway ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Cross Domain ◽  
Music And Language ◽  
Cortical Regions

Music and language are uniquely human forms of communication. What neural structures facilitate these abilities? This chapter conducts a review of music and language processing that follows these acoustic signals as they ascend the auditory pathway from the brainstem to auditory cortex and on to more specialized cortical regions. Acoustic, neural, and cognitive mechanisms are identified where processing demands from both domains might overlap, with an eye to examples of experience-dependent cortical plasticity, which are taken as strong evidence for common neural substrates. Following an introduction describing how understanding musical processing informs linguistic or auditory processing more generally, findings regarding the major components (and parallels) of music and language research are reviewed: pitch perception, syntax and harmonic structural processing, semantics, timbre and speaker identification, attending in auditory scenes, and rhythm. Overall, the strongest evidence that currently exists for neural overlap (and cross-domain, experience-dependent plasticity) is in the brainstem, followed by auditory cortex, with evidence and the potential for overlap becoming less apparent as the mechanisms involved in music and speech perception become more specialized and distinct at higher levels of processing.

scholarly journals A starring role for inference in the neurocognition of visual narratives

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Cohn
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Mental Model ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Visual Narratives ◽  
Inferential Processing

AbstractResearch in verbal and visual narratives has often emphasized backward-looking inferences, where absent information is subsequently inferred. However, comics use conventions like star-shaped “action stars” where a reader knows events are undepicted at that moment, rather than omitted entirely. We contrasted the event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to visual narratives depicting an explicit event, an action star, or a “noise” panel of scrambled lines. Both action stars and noise panels evoked large N400s compared to explicit-events (300–500 ms), but action stars and noise panels then differed in their later effects (500–900 ms). Action stars elicited sustained negativities and P600s, which could indicate further interpretive processes and integration of meaning into a mental model, while noise panels evoked late frontal positivities possibly indexing that they were improbable narrative units. Nevertheless, panels following action stars and noise panels both evoked late sustained negativities, implying further inferential processing. Inference in visual narratives thus uses cascading mechanisms resembling those in language processing that differ based on the inferential techniques.

scholarly journals From cognitive to neural models of working memory

2007 ◽  
Vol 362 (1481) ◽  
pp. 761-772 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark D'Esposito
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Cognitive Models ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Internal Representations ◽  
Active Maintenance

Working memory refers to the temporary retention of information that was just experienced or just retrieved from long-term memory but no longer exists in the external environment. These internal representations are short-lived, but can be stored for longer periods of time through active maintenance or rehearsal strategies, and can be subjected to various operations that manipulate the information in such a way that makes it useful for goal-directed behaviour. Empirical studies of working memory using neuroscientific techniques, such as neuronal recordings in monkeys or functional neuroimaging in humans, have advanced our knowledge of the underlying neural mechanisms of working memory. This rich dataset can be reconciled with behavioural findings derived from investigating the cognitive mechanisms underlying working memory. In this paper, I review the progress that has been made towards this effort by illustrating how investigations of the neural mechanisms underlying working memory can be influenced by cognitive models and, in turn, how cognitive models can be shaped and modified by neuroscientific data. One conclusion that arises from this research is that working memory can be viewed as neither a unitary nor a dedicated system. A network of brain regions, including the prefrontal cortex (PFC), is critical for the active maintenance of internal representations that are necessary for goal-directed behaviour. Thus, working memory is not localized to a single brain region but probably is an emergent property of the functional interactions between the PFC and the rest of the brain.

Brain Responses to World Knowledge Violations: A Comparison of Stimulus- and Fixation-triggered Event-related Potentials and Neural Oscillations

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 1017-1028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Metzner ◽  
Titus von der Malsburg ◽  
Shravan Vasishth ◽  
Frank Rösler
Keyword(s):  
Word Meaning ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
World Knowledge ◽  
N400 Effect ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Time Frequency ◽  
Gamma Range ◽  
Brain Responses ◽  
Related Potentials

Recent research has shown that brain potentials time-locked to fixations in natural reading can be similar to brain potentials recorded during rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP). We attempted two replications of Hagoort, Hald, Bastiaansen, and Petersson [Hagoort, P., Hald, L., Bastiaansen, M., & Petersson, K. M. Integration of word meaning and world knowledge in language comprehension. Science, 304, 438–441, 2004] to determine whether this correspondence also holds for oscillatory brain responses. Hagoort et al. reported an N400 effect and synchronization in the theta and gamma range following world knowledge violations. Our first experiment (n = 32) used RSVP and replicated both the N400 effect in the ERPs and the power increase in the theta range in the time–frequency domain. In the second experiment (n = 49), participants read the same materials freely while their eye movements and their EEG were monitored. First fixation durations, gaze durations, and regression rates were increased, and the ERP showed an N400 effect. An analysis of time–frequency representations showed synchronization in the delta range (1–3 Hz) and desynchronization in the upper alpha range (11–13 Hz) but no theta or gamma effects. The results suggest that oscillatory EEG changes elicited by world knowledge violations are different in natural reading and RSVP. This may reflect differences in how representations are constructed and retrieved from memory in the two presentation modes.

Decomposition of Event-Related Brain Potentials into Multiple Functional Components Using Wavelet Transform

2001 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 122-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamer Demiralp ◽  
Ahmet Ademoglu
Keyword(s):  
Wavelet Transform ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Experimental Session ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Time Frequency ◽  
Similar Characterization ◽  
Component Identification ◽  
Frequency Components ◽  
Neurophysiological Mechanisms ◽  
Functional Components

Event related brain potential (ERP) waveforms consist of several components extending in time, frequency and topographical space. Therefore, an efficient processing of data which involves the time, frequency and space features of the signal, may facilitate understanding the plausible connections among the functions, the anatomical structures and neurophysiological mechanisms of the brain. Wavelet transform (WT) is a powerful signal processing tool for extracting the ERP components occurring at different time and frequency spots. A technical explanation of WT in ERP processing and its four distinct applications are presented here. The first two applications aim to identify and localize the functional oddball ERP components in terms of certain wavelet coefficients in delta, theta and alpha bands in a topographical recording. The third application performs a similar characterization that involves a three stimulus paradigm. The fourth application is a single sweep ERP processing to detect the P300 in single trials. The last case is an extension of ERP component identification by combining the WT with a source localization technique. The aim is to localize the time-frequency components in three dimensional brain structure instead of the scalp surface. The time-frequency analysis using WT helps isolate and describe sequential and/or overlapping functional processes during ERP generation, and provides a possibility for studying these cognitive processes and following their dynamics in single trials during an experimental session.

scholarly journals Cognition blindness and cognitive gadgets

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia Heyes
Keyword(s):  
Human Evolution ◽  
Niche Construction ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Extended Mind ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Thinking Process ◽  
Scientific Value ◽  
Central Purpose ◽  
The Continuum

Abstract Responding to commentaries from psychologists, neuroscientists, philosophers, and anthropologists, I clarify a central purpose of Cognitive Gadgets – to overcome “cognition blindness” in research on human evolution. I defend this purpose against Brunerian, extended mind, and niche construction critiques of computationalism – that is, views prioritising meaning over information, or asserting that behaviour and objects can be intrinsic parts of a thinking process. I argue that empirical evidence from cognitive science is needed to locate distinctively human cognitive mechanisms on the continuum between gadgets and instincts. Focussing on that requirement, I also address specific challenges, and applaud extensions and refinements, of the evidence surveyed in my book. It has been said that “a writer's idea of sound criticism is ten thousand words of closely reasoned adulation.” I cannot disagree with this untraceable wag, but the 30 commentators on Cognitive Gadgets provided some 30,000 words of criticism that are of much greater scientific value than adulation. I am grateful to them all. The response that follows is V-shaped. It starts with the broadest conceptual and methodological issues and funnels down to matters arising from specific empirical studies.

scholarly journals Functional topography of auditory areas derived from the combination of electrophysiological recordings and cortical electrical stimulation.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnès Trébuchon ◽  
F.-Xavier Alario ◽  
Catherine Liégeois-Chauvel
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Hemispheric Specialization ◽  
Functional Characterization ◽  
Posterior Part ◽  
Epileptic Seizures ◽  
Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Time Frequency ◽  
Depth Electrodes ◽  
Electrophysiological Recordings

The posterior part of the superior temporal gyrus (STG) has long been known to be a crucial hub for auditory and language processing, at the crossroad of the functionally defined ventral and dorsal pathways. Anatomical studies have shown that this “auditory cortex” is composed of several cytoarchitectonic areas whose limits do not consistently match macro-anatomic landmarks like gyral and sulcal borders. The functional characterization of these areas derived from brain imaging studies has some limitations, even when high field functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is used, because of the variability observed in the extension of these areas between hemispheres and individuals. In patients implanted with depth electrodes, in vivo recordings and direct electrical stimulations of the different sub-parts of the posterior STG allow to delineate different auditory sub-fields in Heschl’s gyrus (HG), Planum Temporale (PT), the posterior part of the superior temporal gyrus anterior to HG, the posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS), and the region at the parietal-temporal boundary commonly labelled “Spt”. We describe how this delineation can be achieved using data from electrical cortical stimulation combined with local field potentials and time frequency analysis recorded as responses to pure tones and syllables. We show the differences in functional roles between the primary and non-primary auditory areas, in the left and the right hemispheres. We discuss how these findings help understanding the auditory semiology of certain epileptic seizures and, more generally, the neural substrate of hemispheric specialization for language.

Neural Systems for Sentence Processing in Stuttering

2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 814-825 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Weber-Fox
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Neural Systems ◽  
Linguistic Processing ◽  
Brain Organization ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Closed Class ◽  
Functional Brain Organization ◽  
Open Class

The role of neurolinguistic factors in stuttering was investigated by determining whether individuals who stutter display atypical neural functions for language processing, even with no speech production demands. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were obtained while 9 individuals who stutter (IWS) and 9 normally fluent speakers (NS) read sentences silently. The ERPs were elicited by: (a) closed-class words that provide structural or grammatical information, (b) open-class words that convey referential meaning, and (c) semantic anomalies (violations in semantic expectation). In standardized tests, adult IWS displayed similar grammatical and lexical abilities in both comprehension and production tasks compared to their matched, normally fluent peers. Yet the ERPs elicited in IWS for linguistic processing tasks revealed differences in functional brain organization. The ERPs elicited in IWS were characterized by reduced negative amplitudes for closed-class words (N280), open-class words (N350), and semantic anomalies (N400) in a temporal window of approximately 200–450 ms after word onsets. The overall pattern of results indicates that alterations in processing for IWS are related to neural functions that are common to word classes and perhaps involve shared, underlying processes for lexical access.

Media and Economic Inequality

2020 ◽  
pp. 70-88
Author(s):  
Andrea Grisold ◽  
Hendrik Theine
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Economic Inequality ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Data Analyses ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Approaches To Study ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Power ◽  
Information Providers

Chapter 4 reviews a focused selection of the existing research which sheds light on the role that the media play in relation to the circulation of certain sets of ideas and discourses concerning inequality issues and redistribution policies (i.e., the shaping of inequality preferences and beliefs). The main aim in this chapter is to analyse prior empirical studies which explore how this is shaped and informed by media coverage and engagement. To do so, the authors first outline the findings of survey data analyses on individuals’ perception of inequality, and their related position towards the necessity of redistribution. After that, the chapter provides a systematic overview of contemporary empirical studies which examine the media coverage of economic inequality and redistribution policies, and thus debate the role mass media play as information providers. We assess the underlying assumptions and the methodological approaches guiding the respective empirical findings, highlight the merits of this body of work and identify open questions for further research. The last part of this chapter provides a discussion of (currently rather neglected) political economy theories that offer rich theoretical approaches to study media, power, and inequality, thus an enhanced theoretically informed understanding beyond the mere empiricism.

scholarly journals An Electrophysiological Probe of Incidental Semantic Association

1989 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Kutas ◽  
Steven A. Hillyard
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Contextual Influences ◽  
Semantic Association ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Semantic Relationships ◽  
N400 Amplitude ◽  
Recording Session ◽  
Long Latency ◽  
Meaningful Text

Long-latency components of event-related brain potentials (ERPs) recorded from subjects reading meaningful text are sensitive to semantic relationships among the major lexical items of sentences. In particular, the N400 components are enlarged to words that are semantically unrelated to or incongruous with the context provided by preceding items in a sentence. The present experiment was aimed at finding out whether this inverse relationship between N400 amplitude and semantic association would extend to situations where words were presented in isolated pairs, using a design that dissociated changes in N400 from confounding ERP waves elicited by active decision making. KRP's were recorded to 320 word pairs presented to eleven subjects. Each pair of words was followed by a letter, and subjects made a differential response according to whether or not the letter had been present in either of the words. After the ERP recording session, subjects rated the degree of semantic association between the words in each pair. ERP averages were formed on the basis of the subjects' ratings and on the basis of normative, a priori categories. For both types of averages the N400 amplitude was found to be a sensitive index of semantic association, even though the association was incidental to the subject's assigned task. These findings suggest the utility of the N400 measure in studies of semantic priming and as a probe of the automaticity of contextual influences in language processing.

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