Abstract
BackgroundOne of the most debated issues in the cognitive neuroscience of language is whether distinct semantic domains are differentially represented in the brain. Clinical studies described several anomic dissociations with no clear neuroanatomical correlate. Neuroimaging studies have shown that memory retrieval is more demanding for proper than common nouns in that the former are purely arbitrary referential expressions. In this study a semantic relatedness paradigm was devised to investigate neural processing of proper and common nouns.Methodology/Principal Findings780 words (arranged in pairs of Italian nouns/adjectives and the first/last names of well known persons) were presented. Half pairs were semantically related (“Woody Allen” or “social security”), while the others were not (“Sigmund Parodi” or “judicial cream”). All items were balanced for length, frequency, familiarity and semantic relatedness. Participants were to decide about the semantic relatedness of the two items in a pair. RTs and N400 data suggest that the task was more demanding for common nouns. The LORETA neural generators for the related-unrelated contrast (for proper names) included the left fusiform gyrus, right medial temporal gyrus, limbic and parahippocampal regions, inferior parietal and inferior frontal areas, which are thought to be involved in the conjoined processing a familiar face with the relevant episodic information. Person name was more emotional and sensory vivid than common noun semantic access.Conclusions/SignificanceWhen memory retrieval is not required, proper name access (conspecifics knowledge) is not more demanding. The neural generators of N400 to unrelated items (unknown persons and things) did not differ as a function of lexical class, thus suggesting that proper and common nouns are not treated differently as belonging to different grammatical classes.
Highlights
It has been claimed that proper and common nouns are differentially implemented in the brain
Gorno Tempini and coworkers [5] showed that the left superior temporal gyrus, the left angular and sovramarginal gyrus, and the posterior medial temporal lobe were involved in processing proper names, whereas the PET study by Campanella et al [6] showed that the inferior frontal and inferior parietal cortex have a role in providing an association between familiar faces and names
In order to investigate the neural processing of proper vs. common nouns, gaining information about how conceptual and episodic knowledge is stored in the brain, 380 names in the two categories arranged in well- or ill-assorted noun/adjective pairs and first/last names were visually presented to the participants; memory retrieval of names was not required
Summary
It has been claimed that proper and common nouns are differentially implemented in the brain. It is not completely understood, if common/proper differences are due to differences in storage or representation of lexical knowledge [1,2] or differences in processes such as memory retrieval [3,4]. Douville and coworkers [7] demonstrated the crucial involvement of the hippocampal and medial temporal cortex in the processing of famous names, whereas the classical paper by Damasio and coworkers [8] showed with both neurometabolic and clinical evidence that the temporal pole has a prominent role in retrieving proper names. In this study a semantic relatedness paradigm was devised to investigate neural processing of proper and common nouns
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