scholarly journals Composition is the Core Driver of the Language-selective Network

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Mollica ◽  
Matthew Siegelman ◽  
Evgeniia Diachek ◽  
Steven T. Piantadosi ◽  
Zachary Mineroff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level ◽  
Total N ◽  
The Core ◽  
Sentence Level ◽  
Linguistic Input ◽  
Language Areas ◽  
Language Network

The frontotemporal language network responds robustly and selectively to sentences. But the features of linguistic input that drive this response and the computations that these language areas support remain debated. Two key features of sentences are typically confounded in natural linguistic input: words in sentences (a) are semantically and syntactically combinable into phrase- and clause-level meanings, and (b) occur in an order licensed by the language’s grammar. Inspired by recent psycholinguistic work establishing that language processing is robust to word order violations, we hypothesized that the core linguistic computation is composition, and, thus, can take place even when the word order violates the grammatical constraints of the language. This hypothesis predicts that a linguistic string should elicit a sentence-level response in the language network provided that the words in that string can enter into dependency relationships as in typical sentences. We tested this prediction across two fMRI experiments (total N = 47) by introducing a varying number of local word swaps into naturalistic sentences, leading to progressively less syntactically well-formed strings. Critically, local dependency relationships were preserved because combinable words remained close to each other. As predicted, word order degradation did not decrease the magnitude of the blood oxygen level–dependent response in the language network, except when combinable words were so far apart that composition among nearby words was highly unlikely. This finding demonstrates that composition is robust to word order violations, and that the language regions respond as strongly as they do to naturalistic linguistic input, providing that composition can take place.

scholarly journals Composition is the core driver of the language-selective network

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Mollica ◽  
Evgeniia Diachek ◽  
Zachary Mineroff ◽  
Hope Kean ◽  
Matthew Siegelman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Bold Response ◽  
Total N ◽  
The Core ◽  
Sentence Level ◽  
Linguistic Input ◽  
Temporal Language ◽  
Language Areas ◽  
Language Network

AbstractThe fronto-temporal language network responds robustly and selectively to sentences. But the features of linguistic input that drive this response and the computations these language areas support remain debated. Two key features of sentences are typically confounded in natural linguistic input: words in sentences a) are semantically and syntactically combinable into phrase- and clause-level meanings, and b) occur in an order licensed by the language’s grammar. Inspired by recent psycholinguistic work establishing that language processing is robust to word order violations, we hypothesized that the core linguistic computation is composition, and, thus, can take place even when the word order violates the grammatical constraints of the language. This hypothesis predicts that a linguistic string should elicit a sentence-level response in the language network as long as the words in that string can enter into dependency relationships as in typical sentences. We tested this prediction across two fMRI experiments (total N=47) by introducing a varying number of local word swaps into naturalistic sentences, leading to progressively less syntactically well-formed strings. Critically, local dependency relationships were preserved because combinable words remained close to each other. As predicted, word order degradation did not decrease the magnitude of the BOLD response in the language network, except when combinable words were so far apart that composition among nearby words was highly unlikely. This finding demonstrates that composition is robust to word order violations, and that the language regions respond as strongly as they do to naturalistic linguistic input as long as composition can take place.

scholarly journals A functional dissociation between language and multiple-demand systems revealed in patterns of BOLD signal fluctuations

2014 ◽  
Vol 112 (5) ◽  
pp. 1105-1118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Idan Blank ◽  
Nancy Kanwisher ◽  
Evelina Fedorenko
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Cognitive Functions ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Story Comprehension ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level ◽  
Two Systems ◽  
Dependent Signal ◽  
High Level

What is the relationship between language and other high-level cognitive functions? Neuroimaging studies have begun to illuminate this question, revealing that some brain regions are quite selectively engaged during language processing, whereas other “multiple-demand” (MD) regions are broadly engaged by diverse cognitive tasks. Nonetheless, the functional dissociation between the language and MD systems remains controversial. Here, we tackle this question with a synergistic combination of functional MRI methods: we first define candidate language-specific and MD regions in each subject individually (using functional localizers) and then measure blood oxygen level-dependent signal fluctuations in these regions during two naturalistic conditions (“rest” and story-comprehension). In both conditions, signal fluctuations strongly correlate among language regions as well as among MD regions, but correlations across systems are weak or negative. Moreover, data-driven clustering analyses based on these inter-region correlations consistently recover two clusters corresponding to the language and MD systems. Thus although each system forms an internally integrated whole, the two systems dissociate sharply from each other. This independent recruitment of the language and MD systems during cognitive processing is consistent with the hypothesis that these two systems support distinct cognitive functions.

How Realistic Should Avatars Be?

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 109-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas W. James ◽  
Robert F. Potter ◽  
Sungkyoung Lee ◽  
Sunah Kim ◽  
Ryan A. Stevenson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level ◽  
Differential Processing ◽  
The Core ◽  
The People ◽  
The Face ◽  
Animal Faces ◽  
Human Faces ◽  
Different Characteristics

Abstract. Increased interaction with characters in games and online necessitates a better understanding of how different characteristics of these agents impact media users. This paper investigates a possible neurological underpinning for a common research finding – namely, that animated characters designed to be comparatively more human, more real, and more similar to the people they represent elicit more positive self-reported evaluations. The goal of this study was to examine the extent to which these results might be due to differential processing of character features in brain networks recruited for face recognition. There is some evidence that parts of the face network may be specifically tuned for real human faces. An experiment was conducted where participants viewed photographs of faces of actual agents (humans and animals) or colored drawings of matched agents (cartoon humans and animals). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure blood oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) activation in the whole brain and specifically in the face network, we investigated the variation in patterns of activation with human and animal faces that were more or less real. The results were consistent with previous reports that the core regions of the face network are sensitive to the humanness of faces. However, our results extended previous work by showing that regions of the core and extended regions of the face network – and some regions outside the network – were sensitive to realism, but only realism of human faces.

scholarly journals P.066 Hemispheric Reorganization of Functional Language Networks Following Neonatal Stroke Supports Language Outcome

2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (s3) ◽  
pp. S38-S38
Author(s):  
Z Emami ◽  
BT Dunkley ◽  
A Robertson ◽  
R Westmacott ◽  
P Krishnan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Functional Language ◽  
Arterial Ischemic Stroke ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Language Outcome ◽  
Classical Language ◽  
Language Areas ◽  
Language Network

Background: Neonatal Arterial Ischemic Stroke (NAIS) is a common form of paediatric stroke often affecting classical language areas. The post-stroke reorganization of functional language networks may provide insight into later-emerging language deficits and may help to identify at-risk children with NAIS. Methods: A cross-sectional study of fourteen children with left (n=8; 2M; 11.1±2.2 years) or right (n=6; 3M; 12.4±4 years) middle cerebral artery (MCA) NAIS, as well as seven neurotypical children (5M; 13.4±2.7 years), was conducted. Children listened to correct/incorrect syntactic sentences while MEG was recorded, and task-related functional connectivity in the time window and frequency band of interest was determined. Language outcomes were assessed using a battery of neuropsychological tests. Results: A network-based analysis of syntactic language processing (4-7 Hz, 1.2-1.4s) revealed a dysfunctional bilateral frontal-temporal network involving language areas in patients (p=0.01). Patients with right-MCA stroke exhibited a positive correlation between left hemispheric connectivity and measures of language skill (p<0.01), resembling the neurotypical children. In left-MCA stroke patients, greater bilateral connectivity or right laterality in the language network is correlated with good outcome (p<0.05). Conclusions: Depending on the hemispheric location of stroke, certain patterns of language network reorganization may account for impairments in a bilateral frontal-temporal language subnetwork and support language outcome.

Processing subject focus across two Spanish varieties

Probus ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-127
Author(s):  
Bradley Hoot ◽  
Tania Leal
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Final Position ◽  
Reading Task ◽  
New Information ◽  
Basic Facts

AbstractLinguists have keenly studied the realization of focus – the part of the sentence introducing new information – because it involves the interaction of different linguistic modules. Syntacticians have argued that Spanish uses word order for information-structural purposes, marking focused constituents via rightmost movement. However, recent studies have challenged this claim. To contribute sentence-processing evidence, we conducted a self-paced reading task and a judgment task with Mexican and Catalonian Spanish speakers. We found that movement to final position can signal focus in Spanish, in contrast to the aforementioned work. We contextualize our results within the literature, identifying three basic facts that theories of Spanish focus and theories of language processing should explain, and advance a fourth: that mismatches in information-structural expectations can induce processing delays. Finally, we propose that some differences in the existing experimental results may stem from methodological differences.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Renal Tissue Oxygenation Using Blood Oxygen Level-Dependent Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Chronic Kidney Disease

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Fen Chen ◽  
Han Yan ◽  
Fan Yang ◽  
Li Cheng ◽  
Siwei Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Renal Function ◽  
Tissue Oxygenation ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Renal Tissue ◽  
Selection Method ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level ◽  
Bold Mri ◽  
Function Group ◽  
Renal Function Group

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Blood oxygen level-dependent magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD-MRI) has been widely used to assess renal oxygenation changes in different kidney diseases in recent years. This study was designed to evaluate and compare renal tissue oxygenation using 2 BOLD-MRI analysis methods, namely, the regional and whole-kidney region of interest (ROI) selection methods. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> The study ended up with 10 healthy controls and 40 chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients without dialysis. Their renal BOLD-MRI data were analyzed using whole-kidney ROI selection method and compared with regional ROI selection method. <b><i>Results:</i></b> We found the cortical, medullary, and whole-kidney R2* values were significantly higher in CKD patients than those in controls. Compared with the regional ROI selection method, the whole-kidney ROI selection method yielded higher cortical R2* values in both controls and CKD patients. The whole-kidney R2* values of deteriorating renal function group were significantly higher than those in stable renal function group. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Cortical and medullary oxygenation was decreased significantly in CKD patients compared with the healthy controls, particularly in the medulla. The whole-kidney R2* values were positively correlated with kidney function and inversely correlated with the estimated glomerular filtration rate and effective renal plasma flow. Whole-Kidney R2* value might effectively predict the progression of renal function in patients with CKD.

Visual Cortex Alterations in Early and Late Blind Subjects During Tactile Perception

Perception ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-265
Author(s):  
A. Ankeeta ◽  
S. Senthil Kumaran ◽  
Rohit Saxena ◽  
Sada N. Dwivedi ◽  
Naranamangalam R. Jagannathan
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Functional Results ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Tactile Perception ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level ◽  
Sensory Motor ◽  
Post Hoc

Involvement of visual cortex varies during tactile perception tasks in early blind (EB) and late blind (LB) human subjects. This study explored differences in sensory motor networks associated with tactile task in EB and LB subjects and between children and adolescents. A total of 40 EB subjects, 40 LB subjects, and 30 sighted controls were recruited in two subgroups: children (6–12 years) and adolescents (13–19 years). Data were acquired using a 3T MR scanner. Analyses of blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD), functional connectivity (FC), correlation, and post hoc test for multiple comparisons were carried out. Difference in BOLD activity was observed in EB and LB groups in visual cortex during tactile perception, with increased FC of visual with dorsal attention and sensory motor networks in EB. EB adolescents exhibited increased connectivity with default mode and salience networks when compared with LB. Functional results correlated with duration of training, suggestive of better performance in EB. Alteration in sensory and visual networks in EB and LB correlated with duration of tactile training. Age of onset of blindness has an effect in cross-modal reorganization of visual cortex in EB and multimodal in LB in children and adolescents.

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