scholarly journals Robust effects of working memory demand during naturalistic language comprehension in language-selective cortex

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cory Shain ◽  
Idan A. Blank ◽  
Evelina Fedorenko ◽  
Edward Gibson ◽  
William Schuler
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Standard View ◽  
Word Structure ◽  
Structure Building ◽  
Story Listening ◽  
Word Predictability ◽  
Memory Resources

AbstractA standard view of human language processing is that comprehenders build richly structured mental representations of natural language utterances, word by word, using computationally costly memory operations supported by domain-general working memory resources. However, three core claims of this view have been questioned, with some prior work arguing that (1) rich word-by-word structure building is not a core function of the language comprehension system, (2) apparent working memory costs are underlyingly driven by word predictability (surprisal), and/or (3) language comprehension relies primarily on domain-general rather than domain-specific working memory resources. In this work, we simultaneously evaluate all three of these claims using naturalistic comprehension in fMRI. In each participant, we functionally localize (a) a language-selective network and (b) a ‘multiple-demand’ network that supports working memory across domains, and we analyze the responses in these two networks of interest during naturalistic story listening with respect to a range of theory-driven predictors of working memory demand under rigorous surprisal controls. Results show robust surprisal-independent effects of word-by-word memory demand in the language network and no effect of working memory demand in the multiple demand network. Our findings thus support the view that language comprehension (1) entails word-by-word structure building using (2) computationally intensive memory operations that are not explained by surprisal. However, these results challenge (3) the domain-generality of the resources that support these operations, instead indicating that working memory operations for language comprehension are carried out by the same neural resources that store linguistic knowledge.Significance StatementThis study uses fMRI to investigate signatures of working memory (WM) demand during naturalistic story listening, using a broad range of theoretically motivated estimates of WM demand. Results support a strong effect of WM demand in language-selective brain regions but no effect of WM demand in “multiple demand” regions that have previously been associated with WM in non-linguistic domains. We further show evidence that WM effects in language regions are distinct from effects of word predictability. Our findings support a core role for WM in incremental language processing, using WM resources that are specialized for language.

Similarity of Computations Across Domains Does Not Imply Shared Implementation: The Case of Language Comprehension

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 526-534
Author(s):  
Evelina Fedorenko ◽  
Cory Shain
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Cognitive Operations ◽  
High Level ◽  
General Circuits ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Language Network

Understanding language requires applying cognitive operations (e.g., memory retrieval, prediction, structure building) that are relevant across many cognitive domains to specialized knowledge structures (e.g., a particular language’s lexicon and syntax). Are these computations carried out by domain-general circuits or by circuits that store domain-specific representations? Recent work has characterized the roles in language comprehension of the language network, which is selective for high-level language processing, and the multiple-demand (MD) network, which has been implicated in executive functions and linked to fluid intelligence and thus is a prime candidate for implementing computations that support information processing across domains. The language network responds robustly to diverse aspects of comprehension, but the MD network shows no sensitivity to linguistic variables. We therefore argue that the MD network does not play a core role in language comprehension and that past findings suggesting the contrary are likely due to methodological artifacts. Although future studies may reveal some aspects of language comprehension that require the MD network, evidence to date suggests that those will not be related to core linguistic processes such as lexical access or composition. The finding that the circuits that store linguistic knowledge carry out computations on those representations aligns with general arguments against the separation of memory and computation in the mind and brain.

scholarly journals The domain-general multiple demand (MD) network does not support core aspects of language comprehension: a large-scale fMRI investigation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evgeniia Diachek ◽  
Idan Blank ◽  
Matthew Siegelman ◽  
Josef Affourtit ◽  
Evelina Fedorenko
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Network Language ◽  
Temporal Language

AbstractAside from the language-selective left-lateralized fronto-temporal network, language comprehension sometimes additionally recruits a domain-general bilateral fronto-parietal network implicated in executive functions: the multiple demand (MD) network. However, the nature of the MD network’s contributions to language comprehension remains debated. To illuminate the role of this network in language processing, we conducted a large-scale fMRI investigation using data from 30 diverse word and sentence comprehension experiments (481 unique participants, 678 scanning sessions). In line with prior findings, the MD network was active during many language tasks. Moreover, similar to the language-selective network, which is robustly lateralized to the left hemisphere, these responses were stronger in the left-hemisphere MD regions. However, in stark contrast with the language-selective network, the MD network responded more strongly (i) to lists of unconnected words than to sentences, and critically, (ii) in paradigms with an explicit task compared to passive comprehension paradigms. In fact, many passive comprehension tasks failed to elicit a response above the fixation baseline in the MD network, in contrast to strong responses in the language-selective network. In tandem, these results argue against a role for the MD network in core aspects of sentence comprehension like inhibiting irrelevant meanings or parses, keeping intermediate representations active in working memory, or predicting upcoming words or structures. These results align with recent evidence of relatively poor tracking of the linguistic signal by the MD regions during naturalistic comprehension, and instead suggest that the MD network’s engagement during language processing likely reflects effort associated with extraneous task demands.Significance StatementDomain-general executive processes, like working memory and cognitive control, have long been implicated in language comprehension, including in neuroimaging studies that have reported activation in domain-general multiple demand (MD) regions for linguistic manipulations. However, much prior evidence has come from paradigms where language interpretation is accompanied by extraneous tasks. Using a large fMRI dataset (30 experiments/481 participants/678 sessions), we demonstrate that MD regions are engaged during language comprehension in the presence of task demands, but not during passive reading/listening—conditions that strongly activate the fronto-temporal language network. These results present a fundamental challenge to proposals whereby linguistic computations, like inhibiting irrelevant meanings, keeping representations active in working memory, or predicting upcoming elements, draw on domain-general executive resources.

The Reciprocal Influences of Working Memory and Linguistic Knowledge on Language Performance: Considerations for the Assessment of Children With Developmental Language Disorder

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 424-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa M. D. Archibald
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Reciprocal Relationship ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Language Performance ◽  
Reciprocal Influences ◽  
Memory Resources ◽  
Relationship Of

Purpose This article considers how the language performance of school-age children with language impairments, such as developmental language disorder, is influenced by the reciprocal relationship of existing linguistic knowledge and working memory resources and the resultant implications for assessment. Method A viewpoint is provided by reviewing working memory theory, empirical evidence of the reciprocal relationship between working memory and existing language knowledge, and critically evaluating available standardized and nonstandardized tools designed to assess working memory or linguistic skills. Conclusions Speech-language pathologists with an excellent understanding of the reciprocal relationship between working memory and linguistic knowledge will need to examine performance across tasks and contexts varying in these demands in order to achieve an accurate clinical profile of relevant strengths and weaknesses for individual children.

scholarly journals Examining the Role of General Cognitive Skills in Language Processing: A Window Into Complex Cognition

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 575-582
Author(s):  
Kara D. Federmeier ◽  
Suzanne R. Jongman ◽  
Jakub M. Szewczyk
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Complex Cognition

When we use language, we combine sounds, signs, and letters into words that then form sentences, which together tell a story. Both language production and language comprehension rely on representations that need to be continuously and rapidly activated, selected, and combined. These representations are specific to language, but many processes that regulate their use, such as inhibition of competitors or updating of working memory, are domain-general abilities that apply across different kinds of tasks. Here, we provide an overview of the behavioral and neurophysiological evidence for domain-general abilities underpinning language skills and describe which aspects of production and comprehension draw on such cognitive resources. We discuss how this line of research reveals important similarities between production and comprehension and also helps establish links between language and other cognitive domains. Finally, we argue that studying how domain-general abilities are used in language leads to important insights into the highly dynamic communication between brain networks that is necessary to successfully go from sounds to stories.

Memory-Load Interference in Syntactic Processing

2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 425-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter C. Gordon ◽  
Randall Hendrick ◽  
William H. Levine
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Proper Names ◽  
Syntactic Processing ◽  
Complex Sentences ◽  
Important Constraint ◽  
Memory Resources

Participants remembered a short set of words while reading syntactically complex sentences (object-extracted clefts) and syntactically simpler sentences (subject-extracted clefts) in a memory-load study. The study also manipulated whether the words in the set and the words in the sentence were of matched or unmatched types (common nouns vs. proper names). Performance in sentence comprehension was worse for complex sentences than for simpler sentences, and this effect was greater when the type of words in the memory load matched the type of words in the sentence. These results indicate that syntactic processing is not modular, instead suggesting that it relies on working memory resources that are used for other nonsyntactic processes. Further, the results indicate that similarity-based interference is an important constraint on information processing that can be overcome to some degree during language comprehension by using the coherence of language to construct integrated representations of meaning.

Working Memory in Aphasia

2005 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Harris Wright ◽  
Rebecca J. Shisler
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Theoretical Framework

Recently, researchers have suggested that deficits in working memory capacity contribute to language-processing difficulties observed in individuals with aphasia (e.g., I. Caspari, S. Parkinson, L. LaPointe, & R. Katz, 1998; R. A. Downey et al., 2004; N. Friedmann & A. Gvion, 2003; H. H. Wright, M. Newhoff, R. Downey, & S. Austermann, 2003). A theoretical framework of working memory can aid in our understanding of a disrupted system (e.g., after stroke) and how this relates to language comprehension and production. Additionally, understanding the theoretical basis of working memory is important for the measurement and treatment of working memory. The literature indicates that future investigations of measurement and treatment of working memory are warranted in order to determine the role of working memory in language processing.

Procedure for Assessing Verbal Working Memory in Normal School-Age Children: Some Preliminary Data

1994 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia A. Gaulin ◽  
Thomas F. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Preliminary Data ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Dynamic Processes ◽  
School Age ◽  
Normal Children ◽  
The Subject

A procedure for assessing children's recall of lexical items in the presence of a competing language task is described. The Competing Language Processing Task was designed to reflect the dynamic processes carried out in working memory during language comprehension and production by requiring that the subject hold words in temporary storage while analyzing and responding as true or false to statements. The development of the procedure is described and results of testing of 68 normal children ages 6, 8, 10, and 12 years are presented.

scholarly journals Cross-language lexical processes and inhibitory control

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 349-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jared A. Linck ◽  
Noriko Hoshino ◽  
Judith F. Kroll
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Context Word ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Language Activation ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Memory Resources ◽  
Cross Language

Many recent studies demonstrate that both languages are active when bilinguals and second language (L2) learners are reading, listening, or speaking one language only. The parallel activity of the two languages has been hypothesized to create competition that must be resolved. Models of bilingual lexical access have proposed an inhibitory control mechanism to effectively limit attention to the intended language (e.g., Green, 1998). Critically, other recent research suggests that a lifetime of experience as a bilingual negotiating the competition across the two languages confers a set of benefits to cognitive control processes more generally (e.g., Bialystok, Craik, Klein, & Viswanathan, 2004). However, few studies have examined the consequences of individual differences in inhibitory control for performance on language processing tasks. The goal of the present work was to determine whether there is a relation between enhanced executive function and performance for L2 learners and bilinguals on lexical comprehension and production tasks. Data were analyzed from two studies involving a range of language processing tasks, a working memory measure, and also the Simon task, a nonlinguistic measure of inhibitory control. The results demonstrate that greater working memory resources and enhanced inhibitory control are related to a reduction in cross-language activation in a sentence context word naming task and a picture naming task, respectively. Other factors that may be related to inhibitory control are identified. The implications of these results for models of bilingual lexical comprehension and production are discussed.

Conceptual short-term memory (CSTM) supports core claims of Christiansen and Chater

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary C. Potter
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Rapid Serial Visual Presentation ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Use Of Knowledge

AbstractRapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of words or pictured scenes provides evidence for a large-capacity conceptual short-term memory (CSTM) that momentarily provides rich associated material from long-term memory, permitting rapid chunking (Potter 1993; 2009; 2012). In perception of scenes as well as language comprehension, we make use of knowledge that briefly exceeds the supposed limits of working memory.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document