scholarly journals Reading skill correlates in frontal cortex during semantic and phonological processing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Brozdowski ◽  
James R. Booth
Keyword(s):  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Reading Skill ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Auditory Modality ◽  
Connectionist Model ◽  
Compensatory Mechanisms

Previous studies have generally shown that reading skill is related to a left hemisphere network involving temporal, parietal, or frontal components. A limitation of many of these studies, however, is the neuroimaging of a single reading task, so we know less about how skill modulates the engagement of reading network during various reading tasks. Within the connectionist model, reading engages both phonological and semantic processing regardless of whether it is for pronunciation or meaning. Both target [i.e., ortho-phonological (OP) or ortho-semantic (OS) ] and non-target [i.e., ortho-phono-semantic (OPS) or ortho-sem-phonological (OSP)] paths are likely simultaneously involved in reading. However, readers may vary in their division of labor across target and non-target paths as a function of task and reading skill. Therefore, the goal of the current study was to examine how skill modulates the neural mechanism of reading depending on the task. Children (aged 8 to 15) were given two reading tasks, namely, a rhyming judgment task tapping into orthographic-to-phonological mapping and a meaning judgment task tapping into orthographic-to-semantic mapping. Brain activation during these two reading tasks was then correlated with reading skill. Consistent with previous research showing functional separation of the dorsal versus ventral left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), we found that better readers showed greater engagement of the opercularis for the rhyming task, whereas they showed a trend for greater engagement of the triangularis for the meaning task. A novel component of the study was to determine whether these skill related regions identified during the reading tasks were also correlated with activation during parallel rhyming and meaning tasks in the auditory modality. We found that better readers only reliably showed greater engagement of opercularis during auditory phonological processing, but there were trends for overall greater engagement of frontal regions with increasing skill. We did not find evidence for compensatory mechanisms for lower skill readers, either in the left or right hemisphere. Taken together, our study suggests some specificity of the frontal cortex for phonological versus semantic processing during reading, but that more effective access to posterior representations by the frontal cortex seems to be a general characteristic of better readers

Contemporary model of language organization: an overview for neurosurgeons

2015 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 250-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward F. Chang ◽  
Kunal P. Raygor ◽  
Mitchel S. Berger
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Functional Organization ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Functional Neuroanatomy ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Dorsal Pathway ◽  
Subcortical Mapping

Classic models of language organization posited that separate motor and sensory language foci existed in the inferior frontal gyrus (Broca's area) and superior temporal gyrus (Wernicke's area), respectively, and that connections between these sites (arcuate fasciculus) allowed for auditory-motor interaction. These theories have predominated for more than a century, but advances in neuroimaging and stimulation mapping have provided a more detailed description of the functional neuroanatomy of language. New insights have shaped modern network-based models of speech processing composed of parallel and interconnected streams involving both cortical and subcortical areas. Recent models emphasize processing in “dorsal” and “ventral” pathways, mediating phonological and semantic processing, respectively. Phonological processing occurs along a dorsal pathway, from the posterosuperior temporal to the inferior frontal cortices. On the other hand, semantic information is carried in a ventral pathway that runs from the temporal pole to the basal occipitotemporal cortex, with anterior connections. Functional MRI has poor positive predictive value in determining critical language sites and should only be used as an adjunct for preoperative planning. Cortical and subcortical mapping should be used to define functional resection boundaries in eloquent areas and remains the clinical gold standard. In tracing the historical advancements in our understanding of speech processing, the authors hope to not only provide practicing neurosurgeons with additional information that will aid in surgical planning and prevent postoperative morbidity, but also underscore the fact that neurosurgeons are in a unique position to further advance our understanding of the anatomy and functional organization of language.

scholarly journals The Right Lateral Frontal Cortex Processes Features of Emotional Faces as a Function of Their Likelihood of Occurrence

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Forster ◽  
Johannes Hewig ◽  
John JB Allen ◽  
Johannes Rodrigues ◽  
Philipp Ziebell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Model Building ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Emotional Faces ◽  
Stochastic Learning ◽  
Stimulus Features ◽  
The Right ◽  
Probabilistic Context

The lateral frontal Cortex serves an important integrative function for converging information from a number of neural networks. It thus provides context and direction to both stimulus processing and accompanying responses. Especially in emotion related processing, the right hemisphere has often been described to serve a special role including a special sensitivity to stochastic learning and model building. In this study, the right inferior frontal gyrus (riFG) of 41 healthy participants was targeted via ultrasound neuromodulation to shed light on the involvement of this area in the representation of probabilistic context information and the processing of currently presented emotional faces. Analyses reveal that the riFG does not directly contribute to processing of currently depicted emotional stimuli but provides for information about the estimated likelihood of occurrence of stimulus features.

scholarly journals Magnetoencephalography resting-state correlates of executive and language components of verbal fluency

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Oswald ◽  
Younes Zerouali ◽  
Aubrée Boulet-Craig ◽  
Maja Krajinovic ◽  
Caroline Laverdière ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Spectral Power ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Factor Loading ◽  
Verbal Test ◽  
Eyes Open ◽  
The Right

AbstractVerbal fluency (VF) is a heterogeneous cognitive function that requires executive as well as language abilities. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the specificity of the resting state MEG correlates of the executive and language components. To this end, we administered a VF test, another verbal test (Vocabulary), and another executive test (Trail Making Test), and we recorded 5-min eyes-open resting-state MEG data in 28 healthy participants. We used source-reconstructed spectral power estimates to compute correlation/anticorrelation MEG clusters with the performance at each test, as well as with the advantage in performance between tests, across individuals using cluster-level statistics in the standard frequency bands. By obtaining conjunction clusters between verbal fluency scores and factor loading obtained for verbal fluency and each of the two other tests, we showed a core of slow clusters (delta to beta) localized in the right hemisphere, in adjacent parts of the premotor, pre-central and post-central cortex in the mid-lateral regions related to executive monitoring. We also found slow parietal clusters bilaterally and a cluster in the gamma 2 and 3 bands in the left inferior frontal gyrus likely associated with phonological processing involved in verbal fluency.

scholarly journals Neural bases of phonological and semantic processing in early childhood

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avantika Mathur ◽  
Douglas Schultz ◽  
Yingying Wang
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Early Period ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Neural Bases

AbstractDuring the early period of reading development, children gain phonological (letter-to-sound mapping) and semantic knowledge (storage and retrieval of word meaning). Their reading ability changes rapidly, accompanied by their learning-induced brain plasticity as they learn to read. This study aims to identify the specialization of phonological and semantic processing in early childhood using a combination of univariate and multivariate pattern analysis. Nineteen typically developing children between the age of five to seven performed visual word-level phonological (rhyming) and semantic (related meaning) judgment tasks during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans. Our multivariate analysis showed that young children with good reading ability have already recruited the left hemispheric regions in the brain for phonological processing, including the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), superior and middle temporal gyrus, and fusiform gyrus. Additionally, our multivariate results suggested that the sub-regions of the left IFG were specialized for different tasks. Our results suggest the left lateralization of fronto-temporal regions for phonological processing and bilateral activations of parietal regions for semantic processing during early childhood. Our findings indicate that the neural bases of reading have already begun to be shaped in early childhood for typically developing children, which can be used as a control baseline for comparison of children at-risk for reading difficulties.

scholarly journals The Role of the Right Cerebral Hemisphere in Processing Novel Metaphoric Expressions: A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 170-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gorana Pobric ◽  
Nira Mashal ◽  
Miriam Faust ◽  
Michal Lavidor
Keyword(s):  
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Semantic Judgment ◽  
The Right

Previous research suggests that the right hemisphere (RH) may contribute uniquely to the processing of metaphoric language. However, causal relationships between local brain activity in the RH and metaphors comprehension were never established. In addition, most studies have focused on familiar metaphoric expressions which might be processed similarly to any conventional word combination. The present study was designed to overcome these two problems by employing repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to examine the role of the RH in processing novel metaphoric expressions taken from poetry. Right-handed participants were presented with four types of word pairs, literal, conventional metaphoric and novel metaphoric expressions, and unrelated word pairs, and were asked to perform a semantic judgment task. rTMS of the right posterior superior temporal sulcus disrupted processing of novel but not conventional metaphors, whereas rTMS over the left inferior frontal gyrus selectively impaired processing of literal word pairs and conventional but not novel metaphors (Experiment 1). In a further experiment, we showed that these effects were due to right-left asymmetries rather than posterior-anterior differences (Experiment 2). This is the first demonstration of TMS-induced impairment in processing novel metaphoric expressions, and as such, confirms the specialization of the RH in the activation of a broader range of related meanings than the left hemisphere, including novel, nonsalient meanings. The findings thus suggest that the RH may be critically involved in at least one important component of novel metaphor comprehension, the integration of the individual meanings of two seemingly unrelated concepts into a meaningful metaphoric expression.

scholarly journals Japanese and English sentence reading comprehension and writing systems: An fMRI study of first and second language effects on brain activation

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
AUGUSTO BUCHWEITZ ◽  
ROBERT A. MASON ◽  
MIHOKO HASEGAWA ◽  
MARCEL A. JUST
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Angular Gyrus ◽  
Writing Systems ◽  
English Sentence

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to compare brain activation from native Japanese (L1) readers reading hiragana (syllabic) and kanji (logographic) sentences, and English as a second language (L2). Kanji showed more activation than hiragana in right-hemisphere occipito-temporal lobe areas associated with visuospatial processing; hiragana, in turn, showed more activation than kanji in areas of the brain associated with phonological processing. L1 results underscore the difference in visuospatial and phonological processing demands between the systems. Reading in English as compared to either of the Japanese systems showed more activation in inferior frontal gyrus, medial frontal gyrus, and angular gyrus. The additional activation in English in these areas may have been associated with an increased cognitive demand for phonological processing and verbal working memory. More generally, L2 results suggest more effortful reading comprehension processes associated with phonological rehearsal. The study contributes to the understanding of differential brain responses to different writing systems and to reading comprehension in a second language.

scholarly journals Dissociating semantic and phonological contributions of the left inferior frontal gyrus to language production

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Klaus ◽  
Gesa Hartwigsen
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Control Site ◽  
Generation Task ◽  
Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Functional Relevance ◽  
Naming Latencies

While the involvement of the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in language production is undisputed, the role of specific subregions at different representational levels remains unclear. Some studies suggest a division of anterior and posterior regions for semantic and phonological processing, respectively. Crucially, evidence thus far only comes from correlative neuroimaging studies, but the functional relevance of the involvement of these subregions during a given task remains elusive. We applied repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over anterior and posterior IFG (aIFG/pIFG), and vertex as a control site, while participants performed a category member and a rhyme generation task. We found a functional-anatomical double dissociation between tasks and subregions. Naming latencies were significantly delayed in the semantic task when rTMS was applied to aIFG (relative to pIFG and vertex). In contrast, we observed a facilitation of naming latencies in the phonological task when rTMS was applied to pIFG (relative to aIFG and vertex). The results provide first causal evidence for the notion that anterior portions of the IFG are selectively recruited for semantic processing while posterior regions are functionally specific for phonological processing during word production. These findings shed light on the functional parcellation of the left IFG in language production.

scholarly journals Left anterior temporal lobe is necessary for efficient lateralised processing of spoken word identity

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Cope ◽  
Yury Shtyrov ◽  
Lucy MacGregor ◽  
Rachel Holland ◽  
Friedemann Pulvermüller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Lobe ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Structural Mri ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Middle Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Special Treatment ◽  
Anterior Temporal Lobe ◽  
Healthy Human

AbstractIn the healthy human brain, the processing of spoken words is strongly left-lateralised, while the processing of complex non-linguistic sounds recruits brain regions bilaterally. Here we asked whether the left anterior temporal lobe, strongly implicated in semantic processing, is critical to this special treatment of linguistic stimuli. Nine patients with semantic dementia (SD) and fourteen age-matched controls underwent magnetoencephalography and structural MRI. Voxel based morphometry demonstrated the stereotypical pattern of SD: severe grey matter loss restricted to the left anterior temporal lobe. During magnetoencephalography, participants listened to word sets in which identity and meaning were ambiguous until utterance completion, for example played vs plate. Whereas left-hemispheric responses were similar across groups, patients demonstrated increased right hemisphere activity 174-294ms after stimulus disambiguation. Source reconstructions confirmed recruitment of right-sided analogues of language regions in SD: atrophy of left anterior temporal lobe was associated with increased activity in right temporal pole, middle temporal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus and supramarginal gyrus. Moreover only healthy controls had differential responses to words versus non-words in right auditory cortex and planum temporale. Overall, the results indicate that anterior temporal lobe is necessary for normal and efficient processing of word identity in the rest of the language network.

Relations between the Neural Bases of Dynamic Auditory Processing and Phonological Processing: Evidence from fMRI

2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 687-697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell A. Poldrack ◽  
Elise Temple ◽  
Athanassios Protopapas ◽  
Srikantan Nagarajan ◽  
Paula Tallal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Speech Compression ◽  
Phonological Processes ◽  
Pars Triangularis ◽  
Significant Compression ◽  
Auditory Cortices ◽  
The Right

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine how the brain responds to temporal compression of speech and to determine whether the same regions are also involved in phonological processes associated with reading. Recorded speech was temporally compressed to varying degrees and presented in a sentence verification task. Regions involved in phonological processing were identified in a separate scan using a rhyming judgment task with pseudowords compared to a lettercase judgment task. The left inferior frontal and left superior temporal regions (Broca's and Wernicke's areas), along with the right inferior frontal cortex, demonstrated a convex response to speech compression; their activity increased as compression increased, but then decreased when speech became incomprehensible. Other regions exhibited linear increases in activity as compression increased, including the middle frontal gyri bilaterally. The auditory cortices exhibited compression-related decreases bilaterally, primarily reflecting a decrease in activity when speech became incomprehensible. Rhyme judgments engaged two left inferior frontal gyrus regions (pars triangularis and pars opercularis), of which only the pars triangularis region exhibited significant compression-related activity. These results directly demonstrate that a subset of the left inferior frontal regions involved in phonological processing is also sensitive to transient acoustic features within the range of comprehensible speech.

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