Neuroimaging Studies of Language Production and Comprehension

Gernsbacher, Morton Ann; Kaschak, Michael P.

doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145128

Cited by 268 publications

(169 citation statements)

References 101 publications

(145 reference statements)

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“…The activation observed in the right-hemispheric counterpart of Wernicke"s area in the temporal lobe strengthens the hypothesis of Grodzinsky and Friederici (2006), who linked this area to lexical and syntactic information integration. Moreover, the temporal lobe is known to be responsible for processing phonological information, not exclusively, but proven to be vital for perception of language (Gernsbacher and Kaschak, 2003). The dichotic listening task is very clearly a task of phonological perception which requires involvement of the left posterior temporal lobe, which we indeed have found.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 69%

Right-hemispheric brain activation correlates to language performance

et al. 2010

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Language function in the right-hemispheric homologues of Broca"s and Wernicke"s areas does not only correlate with left-handedness or pathology, but occurs naturally in righthanded healthy subjects as well. In the current study, two non-invasive methods of assessing language lateralization are correlated with behavioral results in order to link hemispheric dominance to language ability in healthy subjects.Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) together with a sentence-completion paradigm was used to determine region-specific lateralization indices in the left-and rightsided Broca"s and Wernicke"s areas, the frontal temporal lobe, the anterior cingulate cortex and the parietal lobe. In addition, dichotic listening results were used to determine overall language lateralization and to strengthen conclusions by correlating with fMRI indices.Results showed that fMRI lateralization in the superior parietal, the posterior temporal, and the anterior cingulate cortices correlated to dichotic listening. A decreased right ear advantage (REA), which indicates less left-hemispheric dominance in language, correlated with higher performance in most administered language tasks, including reading, language ability, fluency, and non-word discrimination. Furthermore, right hemispheric involvement in the posterior temporal lobe and the homologue of Broca"s area suggests better performance in behavioral language tasks. This strongly indicates a supportive role of the right-hemispheric counterparts of Broca"s and Wernicke"s areas in language performance.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 69%

Right-hemispheric brain activation correlates to language performance

et al. 2010

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“…In her review, Bookheimer (2002) explains that the IFG “appears to represent a unique brain region involved not in decoding meaning of individual words but in processing semantic relationships between words or phrases, or in retrieving semantic information”. Semantic processing of visual stimuli and the search for a solution concept of the triads is thus reflected in our data by the activated left‐sided brain network, which is in accordance with previous results (Bookheimer 2002; Gernsbacher and Kaschak 2003; Ilg et al. 2007).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…For intuition‐based decisions at the threshold of awareness, we observed a left‐sided brain network of activity within the OFC, the insular cortex, the IFG (extending into the frontal pole), ITG, and the posterior part of the MTG, a network that conforms to previous findings in the language processing literature. In particular, these areas have been discussed in the context of semantic processing of graphematic (visual) stimuli and verbal working memory processes, especially when the search for a solution or a related concept is ensued (Bookheimer 2002; Gernsbacher and Kaschak 2003). Thus the observed network mainly reflects the semantic processing initiated by the three clue words in our task.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intuitive decision making as a gradual process: investigating semantic intuition‐based and priming‐based decisions with fMRI

2015

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IntroductionIntuition has been defined as the instantaneous, experience‐based impression of coherence elicited by cues in the environment. In a context of discovery, intuitive decision‐making processes can be conceptualized as occurring within two stages, the first of which comprises an implicit perception of coherence that is not (yet) verbalizable. Through a process of spreading activation, this initially non‐conscious perception gradually crosses over a threshold of awareness and thereby becomes explicable. Because of its experiential basis, intuition shares conceptual similarities with implicit memory processes. Based on these, the study addresses two research questions: (1) Is the gradual nature of intuitive processes reflected on a neural level? (2) Do intuition‐based decisions differ neurally from priming‐based decisions?MethodsTo answer these questions, we conducted an fMRI study using the triads task and presented participants with coherent word triads that converge on a common fourth concept, and incoherent word triads that do not converge on a common fourth concept. Participants had to perform semantic coherence judgments as well as to indicate whether they immediately knew the fourth concept. To enable investigating intuition‐based and priming‐based decisions within the same task and with the same participants, we implemented a conceptual priming procedure into the coherence judgment task. We realized this by priming participants with concepts associated with incoherent triads in separate priming blocks prior to the coherence judgments.ResultsFor intuition‐based decisions, imaging results mainly revealed activity within the orbitofrontal cortex, within the inferior frontal gyrus and the middle temporal gyrus. Activity suppression in the right temporo‐occipital complex was observed for priming‐based decisions.ConclusionsWith respect to research question 1, our data support a continuity model of intuition because the two intuitive stages show quantitatively distinct brain activation patterns. Regarding research question 2, we can draw the preliminary conclusion of a qualitative difference between intuition‐based and priming‐based decisions.

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“…Here, it is suggested that in Experiment 2 the additional attempt to predict upcoming words involves (parts of) the language production system (Pickering, and Garrod, 2007). Language comprehension and production are associated with activity in the (pre-) frontal cortex, especially when semantic information has to be judged (Bookheimer, 2002;Gernsbacher, and Kaschak, 2003), which may have resulted in a shift of the N400 effects towards anterior electrodes in Experiment 2 as opposed to Experiment 1. Further research is needed to confirm this hypothesis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Event-related brain potentials during the monitoring of speech errors

et al. 2009

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a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f oWhen we perceive speech, our goal is to extract the meaning of the verbal message which includes semantic processing. However, how deeply do we process speech in different situations? In two experiments, native Dutch participants heard spoken sentences describing simultaneously presented pictures. Sentences either correctly described the pictures or contained an anomalous final word (i.e. a semantically or phonologically incongruent word). In the first experiment, spoken sentences were task-irrelevant and both anomalous conditions elicited similar centro-parietal N400s that were larger in amplitude than the N400 for the correct condition. In the second experiment, we ensured that participants processed the same stimuli semantically. In an early time window, we found similar phonological mismatch negativities for both anomalous conditions compared to the correct condition. These negativities were followed by an N400 that was larger for semantic than phonological errors. Together, these data suggest that we process speech semantically, even if the speech is task-irrelevant. Once listeners allocate more cognitive resources to the processing of speech, we suggest that they make predictions for upcoming words, presumably by means of the production system and an internal monitoring loop, to facilitate lexical processing of the perceived speech.

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Neuroimaging Studies of Language Production and Comprehension

Cited by 268 publications

References 101 publications

Right-hemispheric brain activation correlates to language performance

Right-hemispheric brain activation correlates to language performance

Intuitive decision making as a gradual process: investigating semantic intuition‐based and priming‐based decisions with fMRI

Event-related brain potentials during the monitoring of speech errors

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