Syntactic Processing in Language and Music: Different Cognitive Operations, Similar Neural Resources?

1998 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aniruddh D. Patel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Syntactic Processing ◽  
Brain Potential ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Structural Integration ◽  
Cognitive Operations ◽  
Language And Music ◽  
Processing Abilities ◽  
Resource Hypothesis

Does the processing of structural relations in music have anything in common with the syntactic processing of language? Important differences in the form, purpose, and use of syntactic structures in the two domains suggest that the answer should be "no." However, recent eventrelated brain potential (ERP) data suggest that some aspect of syntactic processing is shared between domains. These considerations lead to a novel hypothesis that linguistic and musical syntactic processing engage different cognitive operations, but rely on a common set of neural resources for processes of structural integration in working memory ("shared structural integration resource" hypothesis). This hypothesis yields a nonintuitive prediction about musical processing in aphasic persons, namely, that high-and low-comprehending agrammatic Broca's aphasics should differ in their musical syntactic processing abilities. This hypothesis suggests how comparison of linguistic and musical syntactic processing can be a useful tool for the study of processing specificity ("modularity") in cognitive neuroscience.

Structural priming from arithmetic to language in Chinese: Evidence from adults and children

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (7) ◽  
pp. 1552-1560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Zeng ◽  
Wen Mao ◽  
Rongfeng Liu
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Ambiguous Sentence ◽  
Structural Priming ◽  
Arithmetic Problem ◽  
Structural Integration ◽  
Cross Domain ◽  
Tentative Evidence ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Resource Hypothesis ◽  
The Way

This article explores structural integration between arithmetic and language by investigating whether the structure of an arithmetic equation influences the way children and adults interpret Chinese sentences in the form of NP1  +  VP1  +  NP2  +  VP2, where VP2 can attach high as a predicate of NP1 or attach low as a predicate of NP2. Participants first solved an arithmetic problem where the last number was to be attached high (e.g., (5 + 1 + 2) × 3) or low (e.g., 5 + (1 + 2 × 3)) and then provided a completion to a preamble in the form of NP1  +  VP1  +  NP2  + HEN “very” . . . or decided on the meaning of an ambiguous sentence. The way the ambiguous sentences were completed and interpreted was primed by the structure of the preceding arithmetic problem (i.e., a high-attachment prime led to more high-attachment completions and interpretation) in both children and adults. This study found cross-domain priming from arithmetic equations to language, which offered empirical evidence for the shared syntactic integration resource hypothesis and the syntactic working memory theory. It was also found that children were more susceptible to such priming, which provided some tentative evidence for the Incremental Procedural Account proposed by Scheepers et al.

Novel Organization of Working Memory Theories

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 532-533
Author(s):  
D.E. Fujii
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Cognitive Operations ◽  
Biological Structures ◽  
Neural Computations

Working memory is one of the hot topics in cognitive neuroscience. It is purported to be involved in most cognitive operations from attention to learning to executive functioning to consciousness. Theoretical conceptualizations are equally diverse, with models emphasizing cognitive processes, biological structures, and neural computations.

Auditory comprehension and aging: Decline in syntactic processing

1991 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loraine K. Obler ◽  
Deborah Fein ◽  
Marjorie Nicholas ◽  
Martin L. Albert
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Syntactic Processing ◽  
Auditory Comprehension ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Mental Control ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Neuropsychological Tasks

ABSTRACTComprehension of six syntactic structures was tested across four age groups. Each structure was presented with both plausible and implausible content. The contribution of cognitive nonlinguistic factors important for comprehension (attention, short-term memory, and mental control) was tested via standard neuropsychological tasks. Sixty-six women aged 30–79 were tested. Both errors and reaction times increased with age, especially for more complex syntactic types and implausible sentences. The neuropsychological factors tested contributed minimally to an age-related decline in comprehension, suggesting that the subtle breakdown seen in syntactic processing may be a language-specific impairment.

Remembering Over the Short and Long Term

2020 ◽  
pp. 282-310
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz ◽  
Alexandru D. Iordan
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Strategic Processing ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Neuroscience Research ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Time Courses

This chapter reviews evidence from behavioural and cognitive neuroscience research that supports a unitary view of memory whereby working memory and long-term memory phenomena arise from representations and processes that are largely shared when remembering over the short or long term. Using ‘false working memories’ as a case study, it highlights several paradoxes that cannot be explained by a multisystem view of memory in which working memory and long-term memory are structurally distinct. Instead, it is posited that behavioural memory effects over the short and long term relating to semantic processing, modality/domain-specificity, dual-task interference, strategic processing, and so on arise from the differences in activational states and availability of different representational features (e.g. sensory/perceptual, associative, action-based) that vary in their time courses and activity, attentional priority, and susceptibility to interference. Cognitive neuroscience evidence primarily from brain imaging methodologies that support this view is reviewed.

Disordered integration of heteromodal short-term cognitive operations: A breakdown of working memory

Neurocase ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 289-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Fujii ◽  
R. Fukatsu ◽  
A. Yamadori ◽  
K. Suzuki ◽  
K. Odashima
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Cognitive Operations

Categorizing and Individuating Others: The Neural Substrates of Person Perception

2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. 1785-1795 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malia F. Mason ◽  
C. Neil Macrae
Keyword(s):  
Neural Activity ◽  
Person Perception ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Hemispheric Differences ◽  
Cognitive Operations ◽  
Processing Abilities ◽  
Group Members ◽  
The Right

People are remarkably adroit at understanding other social agents. Quite how these information-processing abilities are realized, however, remains open to debate and empirical scrutiny. In particular, little is known about basic aspects of person perception, such as the operations that support people's ability to categorize (i.e., assign persons to groups) and individuate (i.e., discriminate among group members) others. In an attempt to rectify this situation, the current research focused on the initial perceptual stages of person construal and considered: (i) hemispheric differences in the efficiency of categorization and individuation; and (ii) the neural activity that supports these social-cognitive operations. Noting the greater role played by configural processing in individuation than categorization, it was expected that performance on the former task would be enhanced when stimuli (i.e., faces) were presented to the right rather than to the left cerebral hemisphere. The results of two experiments (Experiment 1—healthy individuals; Experiment 2—split-brain patient) confirmed this prediction. Extending these findings, a final neuroimaging investigation revealed that individuation is accompanied by neural activity in regions of the temporal and prefrontal cortices, especially in the right hemisphere. We consider the implications of these findings for contemporary treatments of person perception.

scholarly journals RETRACTED: Polymorphisms in the 5-HTTLPR Gene Mediate Storage Capacity of Visual Working Memory

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 1069-1076 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. Anderson ◽  
Theodore A. Bell ◽  
Edward Awh
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Research Misconduct ◽  
Research Integrity ◽  
Settlement Agreement ◽  
Office Of Research Integrity ◽  
Data Points ◽  
The University

By the request of the authors, the following two research articles will be retracted from the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience: 1. Anderson, D. E., Ester, E. F., Klee, D., Vogel, E. K., & Awh, E. (2014). Electrophysiological evidence for failures of item individuation in crowded visual displays. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 26(10), 2298– 2309. https://dx.doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_00649 . 2. Anderson, D. E., Bell, T. A., & Awh, E. (2012). Polymorphisms in the 5-HTTLPR gene mediate storage capacity of visual working memory. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 24(5), 1069–1076. https://dx.doi. org/10.1162/jocn_a_00207 . On August 1, 2015, the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) announced a settlement agreement with David E. Anderson, the Respondent ( http://ori.hhs.gov/content/ case-summary-anderson-david ). On the basis of the Respondent’s admission and an analysis by the University of Oregon, ORI concluded that the Respondent had engaged in research misconduct by falsifying and/or fabricating data in four publications. Those publications were retracted immediately after the release of the ORI findings. Since that time, additional problems have been discovered with Article 1 above. Data points shown in Figure 8 were removed without justification and in contradiction to the analytic approach described in the methods and results. In light of this discovery and of the previous ORI findings, authors Bell and Awh no longer have confidence in the integrity of the data in Article 2. For these reasons, all authors on both articles (including the Respondent) have agreed to the retraction of Articles 1 and 2 above.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document