Hemispheric Asymmetry in Accessing Word Meanings: Concrete and Abstract Nouns

Shibahara, Naoki

doi:10.2466/pms.94.3.1292-1300

Cited by 5 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Several neuroimaging studies have shown that for the native language abstract and concrete nouns have partially different representations in the brain [e.g., Hoffman et al, 2015;Huang et al, 2010;Klostermann et al, 2008;Lehmann et al, 2010;Wang et al, 2010;Weiss and Rappelsberger, 1996;Zhang et al, 2006]. Such dissociation between representations of abstract and concrete nouns is also supported by findings in patients with brain lesions [Cousins et al, 2016;Martensson et al, 2011; see Shallice and Cooper, 2013, for a review] and in healthy participants [Fernandino et al, 2016;Shibahara and Wagoner, 2002;Vigliocco et al, 2014]. This dissociation was also found in a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) study [Papagno et al, 2009].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Recently learned foreign abstract and concrete nouns are represented in distinct cortical networks similar to the native language

2017

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In the native language, abstract and concrete nouns are represented in distinct areas of the cerebral cortex. Currently, it is unknown whether this is also the case for abstract and concrete nouns of a foreign language. Here, we taught adult native speakers of German 45 abstract and 45 concrete nouns of a foreign language. After learning the nouns for 5 days, participants performed a vocabulary translation task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Translating abstract nouns in contrast to concrete nouns elicited responses in regions that are also responsive to abstract nouns in the native language: the left inferior frontal gyrus and the left middle and superior temporal gyri. Concrete nouns elicited larger responses in the angular gyri bilaterally and the left parahippocampal gyrus than abstract nouns. The cluster in the left angular gyrus showed psychophysiological interaction (PPI) with the left lingual gyrus. The left parahippocampal gyrus showed PPI with the posterior cingulate cortex. Similar regions have been previously found for concrete nouns in the native language. The results reveal similarities in the cortical representation of foreign language nouns with the representation of native language nouns that already occur after 5 days of vocabulary learning. Furthermore, we showed that verbal and enriched learning methods were equally suitable to teach foreign abstract and concrete nouns. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4398-4412, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Recently learned foreign abstract and concrete nouns are represented in distinct cortical networks similar to the native language

2017

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“…An important number of studies have suggested that left-or right-hemispheric lesions may have a differential impact on the comprehension of abstract and concrete concepts. In fact, hemispheric distinctions have long been considered to be a main variable accounting for differences between concrete and abstract word comprehension (Chiarello, Senehi, & Nuding, 1987;Collins & Frew, 2001;Dhond, Witzel, Dale, & Halgren, 2007;Fiebach & Friederici, 2003;Kahlaoui & Joanette, 2006;Kounios & Holcomb, 1994;Rainville, Goulet, & Joanette, 1995;Shibahara & Lucero-Wagoner, 2002;Villardita, Grioli, & Quattropani, 1988).…”

Section: Post-hoc Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comprehension of concrete and abstract words in patients with selective anterior temporal lobe resection and in patients with selective amygdalo-hippocampectomy

et al. 2012

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The role of the anterior temporal lobe (ATL) in semantic memory is now firmly established. There is still controversy, however, regarding the specific role of this region in processing various types of concepts. There have been reports of patients suffering from semantic dementia (SD), a neurodegenerative condition in which the ATL is damaged bilaterally, who present with greater semantic impairment for concrete concepts than for abstract concepts, an effect known as reversal of the concreteness effect. This effect has previously been interpreted as reflecting degraded visual-perceptual features of objects due to damage to the inferior temporal lobes such as is observed in SD. Temporal lobe atrophy in SD, however, is bilateral even if it usually predominates to the left ATL, and it has been found to extend beyond the ATL, throughout the temporal lobes including medial and posterior temporal lobe regions. The question therefore remains whether greater impairment for concrete concepts results from damage to the ATL or from damage to the visual association cortex, and if unilateral damage can produce such a deficit. The aim of the present study was to investigate the processing of concrete and abstract words in rare patients who underwent a selective ATL surgical resection, and to compare their performance with that of patients with selective medial temporal lobe damage sparing the ATL region. Seven patients with a selective unilateral anterior temporal resection (ATL), 15 patients with a selective unilateral amygdalo-hippocampectomy (SeAH), and 15 healthy age- and education-matched controls underwent detailed neuropsychological assessment and carried out a semantic similarity judgment task evaluating their comprehension of concrete and abstract words. Results showed that both ATL and SeAH groups were significantly impaired on the semantic task relative to the control group. Within the patient groups, however, comprehension of concrete words was significantly more impaired than that of abstract words in the ATL group, while comprehension of abstract and concrete words was equally affected in the SeAH group. Results of this study suggest that the ATL region may play a critical role in processing concrete concepts, and that the reversal of the concreteness effect observed in ATL patients may result from damage to a categorical organization underlying the representation of concrete concepts.

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“…If so, semantic activation could traverse more rapidly the interconnections of the right hemisphere. Shibahara and Lucero-Wagoner (2002) also reported that facilitation effects were larger for concrete noun pairs in the right hemisphere than the left hemisphere when they used a stimulus onset asynchrony of 250 msec. between primes and targits.…”

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confidence: 96%

“…They suggested that information on such perceptual attributes is available only in the right hemisphere at a short stimulus onset asynchrony, whereas its availability is eliminated when a stimulus onset asynchrony is long. Were the larger fachtation in the right hemisphere at the short stimulus onset asynchrony noted by Shibahara and Lucero-Wagoner (2002) due to the effect of perceptual information available in this hemisphere, such an effect on target processing would be eliminated in the right hemisphere at a long stimulus onset asynchrony. Then, we predicted that facilitation effects, i.e., shorter latencies or lower error rates for related than neutral pairs, would occur in the left and right hemispheres with no difference in the amount of facilitation between the hemispheres when a stimulus onset asynchrony is long.…”

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confidence: 97%

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Access to Concrete Word Meanings in the Cerebral Hemispheres: Facilitation and Inhibition Effects

Shibahara

Lucero-Wagoner

2003

Percept Mot Skills

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In 2002 Shibahara and Lucero-Wagoner, using a priming paradigm, reported a larger facilitation for concrete noun pairs in the right than left hemisphere when the stimulus onset asynchrony was 250 msec. Their related prime-target pairs were similar not only in meaning but also perceptual attributes, such as shape. They had reported such perceptual information to be available only in the right hemisphere early in target processing. Thus, we predicted that, when the stimulus onset asynchrony is long, there would be no effect of perceptual information on target processing in the right hemisphere, resulting in no hemispheric differences in the amount of facilitation. We also predicted that target processing would be inhibited by prior presentation of unrelated primes only in the left hemisphere because inhibition seems to be produced by the attention system in the left hemisphere. The present experiment was designed to test these predictions, using the stimulus onset asynchrony of 550 msec. and the same prime-target pairs. Analysis showed no hemispheric differences in the amount of facilitation, and inhibition effects for unrelated pairs were produced in both hemispheres. It is suggested that the inhibition effects in each hemisphere might be produced by different mechanisms.

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Hemispheric Asymmetry in Accessing Word Meanings: Concrete and Abstract Nouns

Cited by 5 publications

References 11 publications

Recently learned foreign abstract and concrete nouns are represented in distinct cortical networks similar to the native language

Recently learned foreign abstract and concrete nouns are represented in distinct cortical networks similar to the native language

Comprehension of concrete and abstract words in patients with selective anterior temporal lobe resection and in patients with selective amygdalo-hippocampectomy

Access to Concrete Word Meanings in the Cerebral Hemispheres: Facilitation and Inhibition Effects

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