scholarly journals Neurofunctional mechanisms underlying audiovisual integration of characters and pinyin in Chinese children

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhichao Xia ◽  
Ting Yang ◽  
Xin Cui ◽  
Fumiko Hoeft ◽  
Hong Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Congruency Effect ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Audiovisual Integration ◽  
Chinese Children ◽  
List Type ◽  
Coding System ◽  
Close Link ◽  
Orthographic Depth ◽  
Semantic Access

AbstractEfficient integration of grapheme and phoneme is crucial for reading development in alphabetic languages, and superior temporal cortex (STC) has been demonstrated to be the most critical region for this process. To determine whether a similar neural mechanism underlies such processing in non-alphabetic languages, and to explore its relationship with reading, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging study in typically developing Chinese children. Highly frequent pictographic characters and pinyin, a transparent alphabetic coding system that assists individuals to learn the pronunciation of new characters were investigated. In support of the orthographic depth hypothesis developed in alphabetic languages, reverse congruency effect (i.e., higher activation in incongruent condition compared to congruent condition) was identified in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and bilateral STC for character (deep orthography) conditions. Furthermore, correlation analysis revealed that the congruency contrast in the left IFG was associated with proficiency in reading comprehension and morphological awareness, suggesting reading-related semantic access during the implicit integration of multisensory information regarding characters. For pinyin (shallow orthography) conditions, while no regions showed a significant congruency effect at the group level in either direction, the congruency contrast in the left superior temporal gyrus was positively correlated with oral reading performance. This observation is consistent with findings in transparent scripts on reading disorders. Taken together, these results support and generalize the orthographic depth hypothesis to a logographic language, highlight the role of the left IFG in character-syllable integration, and underscore the role pinyin could play in developing fluent reading in Chinese children.HighlightsThe left IFG and bilateral STC are involved in audiovisual integration of characters.The congruency contrast in the left IFG in response to characters corresponds to semantic access.The congruency contrast in the left STG in response to pinyin is correlated with print-to-sound mapping.These findings support the orthographic depth hypothesis in a nonalphabetic language.The results imply a close link between pinyin and Chinese reading acquisition.

scholarly journals Atypical relationships between neurofunctional features of print-sound integration and reading abilities in Chinese children with dyslexia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhichao Xia ◽  
Ting Yang ◽  
Xin Cui ◽  
Fumiko Hoeft ◽  
Hong Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Word Reading ◽  
Multisensory Processing ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Audiovisual Integration ◽  
Chinese Children ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Reading Abilities ◽  
Integration Effect

Conquering grapheme-phoneme correspondence is necessary for developing fluent reading in alphabetic orthographies. In neuroimaging research, this ability is associated with brain activation differences between the audiovisual congruent against incongruent conditions, especially in the left superior temporal cortex. Studies have also shown such a neural audiovisual integration effect is reduced in individuals with dyslexia. However, existing evidence is almost restricted to alphabetic languages. Whether and how multisensory processing of print and sound is impaired in Chinese dyslexia remains underexplored. Of note, semantic information is deeply involved in Chinese character processing. In this study, we applied a functional magnetic resonance imaging audiovisual integration paradigm to investigate the possible dysfunctions in processing character-sound pairs and pinyin-sound pairs in Chinese dyslexic children compared with typically developing readers. Unexpectedly, no region displayed significant group difference in the audiovisual integration effect in either the character or pinyin experiment. However, the results revealed atypical correlations between neurofunctional features accompanying audiovisual integration with reading abilities in Chinese children with dyslexia. Specifically, while the audiovisual integration effect in the left inferior cortex in processing character-sound pairs correlated with silent reading comprehension proficiency in both dyslexia and control group, it was associated with morphological awareness in the control group but with rapid naming in dyslexics. As for pinyin-sound associations processing, while the stronger activation in the congruent than incongruent conditions in the left occipito-temporal cortex and bilateral superior temporal cortices was associated with better oral word reading in the control group, an opposite pattern was found in children with dyslexia. On the one hand, this pattern suggests Chinese dyslexic children have yet to develop an efficient grapho-semantic processing system as typically developing children do. On the other hand, it indicates dysfunctional recruitment of the regions that process pinyin-sound pairs in dyslexia, which may impede character learning.

scholarly journals The Neural Correlates of Semantic Control Revisited

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Network ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Middle Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Control Network ◽  
Temporal Region ◽  
List Type ◽  
Semantic Cognition

AbstractSemantic control, the ability to selectively access and manipulate meaningful information on the basis of context demands, is a critical component of semantic cognition. The precise neural correlates of semantic control are disputed, with particular debate surrounding parietal involvement, the spatial extent of the posterior temporal contribution and network lateralisation. Here semantic control is revisited, utilising improved analysis techniques and a decade of additional data to refine our understanding of the network. A meta-analysis of 876 peaks over 121 contrasts illuminated a left-focused network consisting of inferior frontal gyrus, posterior middle temporal gyrus, posterior inferior temporal gyrus and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. This extended the temporal region implicated, and found no parietal involvement. Although left-lateralised overall, relative lateralisation varied across the implicated regions. Supporting analyses confirmed the multimodal nature of the semantic control network and situated it within the wider set of regions implicated in semantic cognition.Highlights➢A multimodal semantic control network was delineated with formal meta-analyses➢Semantic control recruits inferior and medial frontal and posterior temporal cortex➢A large extent of posterior temporal cortex was implicated and no parietal regions➢Semantic control is left-lateralised but regions show differential lateralisation➢The semantic control regions were situated in the context of the wider semantic network

scholarly journals Interactions between Auditory and Visual Semantic Stimulus Classes: Evidence for Common Processing Networks for Speech and Body Actions

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (9) ◽  
pp. 2291-2308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georg F. Meyer ◽  
Mark Greenlee ◽  
Sophie Wuerger
Keyword(s):  
Human Performance ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Audiovisual Integration ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Bold Response ◽  
Activation Patterns ◽  
Semantic Congruency ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Semantic Categories ◽  
Premotor Areas

Incongruencies between auditory and visual signals negatively affect human performance and cause selective activation in neuroimaging studies; therefore, they are increasingly used to probe audiovisual integration mechanisms. An open question is whether the increased BOLD response reflects computational demands in integrating mismatching low-level signals or reflects simultaneous unimodal conceptual representations of the competing signals. To address this question, we explore the effect of semantic congruency within and across three signal categories (speech, body actions, and unfamiliar patterns) for signals with matched low-level statistics. In a localizer experiment, unimodal (auditory and visual) and bimodal stimuli were used to identify ROIs. All three semantic categories cause overlapping activation patterns. We find no evidence for areas that show greater BOLD response to bimodal stimuli than predicted by the sum of the two unimodal responses. Conjunction analysis of the unimodal responses in each category identifies a network including posterior temporal, inferior frontal, and premotor areas. Semantic congruency effects are measured in the main experiment. We find that incongruent combinations of two meaningful stimuli (speech and body actions) but not combinations of meaningful with meaningless stimuli lead to increased BOLD response in the posterior STS (pSTS) bilaterally, the left SMA, the inferior frontal gyrus, the inferior parietal lobule, and the anterior insula. These interactions are not seen in premotor areas. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that pSTS and frontal areas form a recognition network that combines sensory categorical representations (in pSTS) with action hypothesis generation in inferior frontal gyrus/premotor areas. We argue that the same neural networks process speech and body actions.

Imaging Usual Addictions: Tobacco, Canabis and Alcohol

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (S1) ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
C. Leroy ◽  
S. Chanraud ◽  
E. Artiges ◽  
C. Martelli ◽  
A. Cachia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Psychosocial Functioning ◽  
Grey Matter ◽  
Diffusion Imaging ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
List Type ◽  
Dopamine Level ◽  
Type Number ◽  
Positron Emission ◽  
Brain Microstructure

Background:Brain models of drug addiction are being tackled in humans, using PET and MRI.Results:1.Whereas tobacco and cannabis do not interact directly with dopamine sites, positron emission tomography detected lower availability in sites regulating the catecholamines homeostasis, notably in dopamine transporter sites in striatal and in extrastriatal regions. This further supports repeated and long term substance use progress towards an adaptative diminished basal dopamine level that would contribute to the switch to an addicted brain.2.Alcohol: abnormalities in brain macro- and micro- structure were searched in detoxified alcohol-dependents with preserved psychosocial functioning:-Brain function (fMRI): fronto-cerebellar overactivation detected during an auditory language task in alcohol-dependents may reflect the compensatory effort required for patients to maintain the same level of performance as controls.-Brain macrostructure (MRI). Widespread lower white matter volumes, and lower grey matter volumes in the frontal lobe, insula, hippocampus, thalami and cerebellum, were detected. Poorer neuropsychological performance correlated with smaller grey matter volumes in these regions and with lower white matter volume in the brainstem.-Brain microstructure (DTI): tractography of white matter fiber bundles revealed that brainstem bundles alteration may contribute to cognitive flexibility impairment. Regression analyses showed memory scores were related to brain microstructure in parahippocampal areas, frontal cortex, and left temporal cortex. This suggest diffusion imaging (DTI) is a useful probe to early alcohol-induced brain alterations.Conclusion:While indices of dopamine down-regulation are consistency detected in several drug addictions, even “socially-adapted” alcohol dependence may induce change in brain structure.Psychol Med. 1998 28:1039-48.Neuropsychopharmacology. 2007 32:429-38.IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 2007 26:553-65J Nucl Med. 2007 48:538-46.Neuropsychopharmacology (Chanraud S et al., 2008 Jul 9. [Epub ahead of print]).J Clin Psychopharmacol (Leroy C et al, in press).

scholarly journals Syntactic Complexity and Frequency in the Neurocognitive Language System

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 1605-1620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun-Hsuan Yang ◽  
William D. Marslen-Wilson ◽  
Mirjana Bozic
Keyword(s):  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Multivariate Analyses ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Frequency Effect ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Frequent Items

Prominent neurobiological models of language follow the widely accepted assumption that language comprehension requires two principal mechanisms: a lexicon storing the sound-to-meaning mapping of words, primarily involving bilateral temporal regions, and a combinatorial processor for syntactically structured items, such as phrases and sentences, localized in a left-lateralized network linking left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) and posterior temporal areas. However, recent research showing that the processing of simple phrasal sequences may engage only bilateral temporal areas, together with the claims of distributional approaches to grammar, raise the question of whether frequent phrases are stored alongside individual words in temporal areas. In this fMRI study, we varied the frequency of words and of short and long phrases in English. If frequent phrases are indeed stored, then only less frequent items should generate selective left frontotemporal activation, because memory traces for such items would be weaker or not available in temporal cortex. Complementary univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that, overall, simple words (verbs) and long phrases engaged LIFG and temporal areas, whereas short phrases engaged bilateral temporal areas, suggesting that syntactic complexity is a key factor for LIFG activation. Although we found a robust frequency effect for words in temporal areas, no frequency effects were found for the two phrasal conditions. These findings support the conclusion that long and short phrases are analyzed, respectively, in the left frontal network and in a bilateral temporal network but are not retrieved from memory in the same way as simple words during spoken language comprehension.

scholarly journals Developmental Trajectories of Letter and Speech Sound Integration During Reading Acquisition

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iliana I. Karipidis ◽  
Georgette Pleisch ◽  
Sarah V. Di Pietro ◽  
Gorka Fraga-González ◽  
Silvia Brem
Keyword(s):  
Reading Fluency ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Reading Acquisition ◽  
Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Audiovisual Integration ◽  
Reading Outcomes ◽  
Audiovisual Processing ◽  
Occipitotemporal Cortex

Reading acquisition in alphabetic languages starts with learning the associations between speech sounds and letters. This learning process is related to crucial developmental changes of brain regions that serve visual, auditory, multisensory integration, and higher cognitive processes. Here, we studied the development of audiovisual processing and integration of letter-speech sound pairs with an audiovisual target detection functional MRI paradigm. Using a longitudinal approach, we tested children with varying reading outcomes before the start of reading acquisition (T1, 6.5 yo), in first grade (T2, 7.5 yo), and in second grade (T3, 8.5 yo). Early audiovisual integration effects were characterized by higher activation for incongruent than congruent letter-speech sound pairs in the inferior frontal gyrus and ventral occipitotemporal cortex. Audiovisual processing in the left superior temporal gyrus significantly increased from the prereading (T1) to early reading stages (T2, T3). Region of interest analyses revealed that activation in left superior temporal gyrus (STG), inferior frontal gyrus and ventral occipitotemporal cortex increased in children with typical reading fluency skills, while poor readers did not show the same development in these regions. The incongruency effect bilaterally in parts of the STG and insular cortex at T1 was significantly associated with reading fluency skills at T3. These findings provide new insights into the development of the brain circuitry involved in audiovisual processing of letters, the building blocks of words, and reveal early markers of audiovisual integration that may be predictive of reading outcomes.

scholarly journals Performance of a Randomization Test for Single-Subject 15O-Water PET Activation Studies

1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 1033-1039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Halber ◽  
Karl Herholz ◽  
Klaus Wienhard ◽  
Gunter Pawlik ◽  
Wolf-Dieter Heiss
Keyword(s):  
Permutation Test ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Test Procedure ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Randomization Test ◽  
Single Subject ◽  
Precentral Gyrus ◽  
Positron Emission ◽  
Filter Kernel ◽  
The Difference

We adapted and implemented a permutation test ( Holmes 1994 ) to single-subject positron emission tomography (PET) activation studies with multiple replications of conditions. That test determines the experimentwise α error as well as location and extent of focal activations in each individual. Its performance was assessed in five normal volunteers, using 15O-H2O-PET data acquired on a high-resolution scanner, with septa retracted (3D mode), during functional activation by repeating words versus resting (four replications each). Calculated α errors decreased and the size of activated tissue volumes (voxels with P ≤ 0.05) increased with increasing filter kernel size applied to the difference images. At a filter kernel of 12 mm Gaussian full width at half maximum, significant focal activations were seen bilaterally in superior temporal cortex, including Brodmann's areas 41 and 42, in all five subjects. Additional foci were detected in the precentral gyrus, left inferior frontal gyrus, supplementary motor area, and cerebellum of several subjects. The average CBF increase in activated voxels ranged from 17.6% to 28.7%. Activated volumes were smaller than those detected with a standard parametric test procedure. We conclude that the permutation test is a less sensitive procedure, having the advantage of not depending on unproven distributional assumptions, that detects strong activation foci in individual subjects with high reproducibility.

Functional anatomy of inner speech and auditory verbal imagery

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. K. McGuire ◽  
D. A. Silbersweig ◽  
R. M. Murray ◽  
A. S. David ◽  
R. S. J. Frackowiak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Functional Anatomy ◽  
Inner Speech ◽  
Imagery Condition ◽  
Positron Emission ◽  
Speech Generation ◽  
Verbal Imagery ◽  
Increased Activity

SynopsisThe neural correlates of inner speech and of auditory verbal imagery were examined in normal volunteers, using positron emission tomography (PET). Subjects were shown single words which they used to generate short, stereotyped sentences without speaking. In an inner speech task, sentences were silently articulated, while in an auditory verbal imagery condition, subjects imagined sentences being spoken to them in an another person's voice. Inner speech was associated with increased activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus. Auditory verbal imagery was associated with increases in the same region, and in the left premotor cortex, the supplementary motor area and the left temporal cortex. The data suggest that the silent articulation of sentences involves activity in an area concerned with speech generation, while imagining speech is associated with additional activity in regions associated with speech perception.

scholarly journals Modulation in Alpha Band Activity Reflects Syntax Composition: An MEG Study of Minimal Syntactic Binding

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie M Hardy ◽  
Ole Jensen ◽  
Linda Wheeldon ◽  
Ali Mazaheri ◽  
Katrien Segaert
Keyword(s):  
Target Word ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Inferior Temporal Cortex ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Sentence Structure ◽  
Alpha Band ◽  
Syntactic Binding

Successful sentence comprehension requires the binding, or composition, of multiple words into larger structures to establish meaning. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we investigated the neural mechanisms involved in binding of language at the level of syntax, in a task in which contributions from semantics were minimized. Participants were auditorily presented with minimal sentences that required binding (pronoun and pseudo-verb with the corresponding morphological inflection; "she grushes") and wordlists that did not require binding (two pseudo-verbs; "cugged grushes"). Relative to the no binding wordlist condition, we found that syntactic binding in a minimal sentence structure was associated with a modulation in alpha band (8-12 Hz) activity in left-lateralized brain regions. First, in the sentence condition, we observed a significantly smaller increase in alpha power around the presentation of the target word ("grushes") that required binding (-0.05s to 0.1s), which we suggest reflects an expectation of binding to occur. Second, following the presentation of the target word (around 0.15s to 0.25s), during syntactic binding we observed significantly decreased alpha phase-locking between the left inferior frontal gyrus and the left middle/inferior temporal cortex. We suggest that this results from alpha-driven cortical disinhibition serving to increase information transfer between these two brain regions and strengthen the syntax composition neural network. Together, our findings highlight that successful syntax composition is underscored by the rapid spatial-temporal activation and coordination of language-relevant brain regions, and that alpha band oscillations are critically important in controlling the allocation and transfer of the brain's resources during syntax composition.

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