Activation changes of the left inferior frontal gyrus for the factors of construction and scrambling in a sentence

Tanaka, Kyohei; Ohta, Shinri; Kinno, Ryuta; Sakai, Katsuyuki

doi:10.2183/pjab.93.031

Cited by 11 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Neuroimaging studies have established that syntactic processing selectively activates the L. F3op/F3t and L. LPMC (Stromswold et al, 1996; Dapretto and Bookheimer, 1999; Embick et al, 2000; Hashimoto and Sakai, 2002; Friederici et al, 2003; Musso et al, 2003), indicating that these regions have a critical role as grammar centers (Sakai, 2005). We also observed activations in the L. F3op/F3t and L. LPMC in our studies using sentences with non-canonical word orders, which contained filler-gap dependency and operator-variable relations in movement (created by the “Internal Merge”) (Kinno et al, 2008; Ohta et al, 2017; Tanaka et al, 2017). Moreover, our magnetoencephalography studies revealed a significant increase in the responses in the L. IFG, which reflected predictive effects on a verb caused by a preceding object in a short sentence (Iijima et al, 2009; Inubushi et al, 2012; Iijima and Sakai, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 58%

Merge-Generability as the Key Concept of Human Language: Evidence From Neuroscience

et al. 2019

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Ever since the inception of generative linguistics, various dependency patterns have been widely discussed in the literature, particularly as they pertain to the hierarchy based on “weak generation” – the so-called Chomsky Hierarchy. However, humans can make any possible dependency patterns by using artificial means on a sequence of symbols (e.g., computer programing). The differences between sentences in human language and general symbol sequences have been routinely observed, but the question as to why such differences exist has barely been raised. Here, we address this problem and propose a theoretical explanation in terms of a new concept of “Merge-generability,” that is, whether the structural basis for a given dependency is provided by the fundamental operation Merge. In our functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we tested the judgments of noun phrase (NP)-predicate (Pred) pairings in sentences of Japanese, an SOV language that allows natural, unbounded nesting configurations. We further introduced two pseudo-adverbs, which artificially force dependencies that do not conform to structures generated by Merge, i.e., non-Merge-generable; these adverbs enable us to manipulate Merge-generability (Natural or Artificial). By employing this novel paradigm, we obtained the following results. Firstly, the behavioral data clearly showed that an NP-Pred matching task became more demanding under the Artificial conditions than under the Natural conditions, reflecting cognitive loads that could be covaried with the increased number of words. Secondly, localized activation in the left frontal cortex, as well as in the left middle temporal gyrus and angular gyrus, was observed for the [Natural – Artificial] contrast, indicating specialization of these left regions in syntactic processing. Any activation due to task difficulty was completely excluded from activations in these regions, because the Natural conditions were always easier than the Artificial ones. And finally, the [Artificial – Natural] contrast resulted in the dorsal portion of the left frontal cortex, together with wide-spread regions required for general cognitive demands. These results indicate that Merge-generable sentences are processed in these specific regions in contrast to non-Merge-generable sentences, demonstrating that Merge is indeed a fundamental operation, which comes into play especially under the Natural conditions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 58%

Merge-Generability as the Key Concept of Human Language: Evidence From Neuroscience

et al. 2019

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“…In the quiet condition, no difference was found in MMF between groups; however, activation of the inferior frontal gyrus, a generator of MMF, was reduced in the noise condition. Because the inferior frontal gyrus acts to evaluate syntax in incoming language ( Tanaka et al, 2017 ), reduced inferior frontal gyrus activation is consistent with a processing impairment that is specific to language. Moreover, in examining how MMF generators coordinate activity, measures of functional connectivity revealed increased recruitment of neural resources in ASD for both the quiet and the noisy conditions ( Mamashli et al, 2017 ).…”

Section: Speech In Noisementioning

confidence: 99%

Auditory Discrimination in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Rotschafer

2021

Front. Neurosci.

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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is increasingly common with 1 in 59 children in the United States currently meeting the diagnostic criteria. Altered sensory processing is typical in ASD, with auditory sensitivities being especially common; in particular, people with ASD frequently show heightened sensitivity to environmental sounds and a poor ability to tolerate loud sounds. These sensitivities may contribute to impairments in language comprehension and to a worsened ability to distinguish relevant sounds from background noise. Event-related potential tests have found that individuals with ASD show altered cortical activity to both simple and speech-like sounds, which likely contribute to the observed processing impairments. Our goal in this review is to provide a description of ASD-related changes to the auditory system and how those changes contribute to the impairments seen in sound discrimination, sound-in-noise performance, and language processing. In particular, we emphasize how differences in the degree of cortical activation and in temporal processing may contribute to errors in sound discrimination.

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“…The sentences with object scrambling are marked here with the symbol “+”; for example, scrambled active sentences are abbreviated as Act+. In our subsequent fMRI study ( Tanaka et al. 2017 ), we further introduced 3 more types of sentences ( Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In combination with both of these effects, Pas + has larger loads than Act, Act+, or Pas; in addition, Pot and Pot+ have the largest loads among all of the conditions. We therefore called the Act, Act+, and Pas conditions “ easier conditions,” and the Pas+, Pot, and Pot+ conditions “ harder conditions.” Here, we analyzed the functional connectivity among all of 25 activated regions ( Tanaka et al. 2017 ), including the same 14 regions mentioned above.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Task-Induced Functional Connectivity of the Syntax-Related Networks for Patients with a Cortical Glioma

Tanaka

Kinno

Muragakı

et al. 2020

Cerebral Cortex Communications

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Analysis of the functional connectivity has enabled understanding of the cortical networks. In the present study, we used a picture-sentence matching task to introduce syntactically harder conditions, and clarified three major points. First, patients with a glioma in the lateral premotor cortex/inferior frontal gyrus or in other cortical regions showed much weaker activations than controls, especially in the left inferior frontal gyrus. Moreover, the error rates under the harder conditions were much higher for these patients. Secondly, syntactic loads induced selective connectivity with enhancement and suppression, consistently for both patients and controls. More specifically, the local connectivity was enhanced among the three syntax-related networks within the left frontal cortex, while the global connectivity of both dorsal and ventral pathways was suppressed. In addition, the exact reproducibility of r-values across the control and patient groups was remarkable, since under easier conditions alone, connectivity patterns for the patients were completely unmatched with those for the controls. Thirdly, we found an additional syntax-related network, further confirming the intergroup similarity of task-induced functional connectivity. These results indicate that functional connectivity of agrammatic patients is mostly preserved regardless of a glioma, and that the connectivity can change dynamically and systematically according to syntactic loads.

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Activation changes of the left inferior frontal gyrus for the factors of construction and scrambling in a sentence

Cited by 11 publications

References 19 publications

Merge-Generability as the Key Concept of Human Language: Evidence From Neuroscience

Merge-Generability as the Key Concept of Human Language: Evidence From Neuroscience

Auditory Discrimination in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Task-Induced Functional Connectivity of the Syntax-Related Networks for Patients with a Cortical Glioma

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