Abstract
How do we represent information without sensory features? How are abstract concepts like “freedom”, devoid of external perceptible referents, represented in the brain? Here, to address the role of sensory information in the neural representation of concepts, we used fMRI to investigate how people born blind process concepts whose referents are imperceptible to them because of their visual nature (“rainbow”, “red”). Activity for these concepts was compared to that of sensorially-perceptible referents (“rain”), classical abstract concepts (“justice”) and concrete concepts (“cup”), providing a gradient between fully concrete and fully abstract concepts in the blind. We find that anterior temporal lobe (ATL) responses track concept perceptibility and objecthood: preference for imperceptible object concepts was found in dorsal ATL, for abstract (non-object, non-referential) concepts in lateral ATL, and for perceptible concepts in medial ATL. These findings point to a new division-of-labor among aspects of ATL in representing conceptual properties that are abstract in different ways.
Highlights
Similar to previous reports[7,8], abstract concepts (“freedom”, compared to concrete every-day objects that are familiar to the blind; “cup”; see Fig. 1a two right-most columns) evoked significant activation in multiple regions, mainly left-lateralized, in the combined subject group (Fig. 1b; for similar findings in each group separately and the reverse contrast see Supplementary Fig. 1). These included the inferior frontal lobe, superior temporal sulcus and anterior temporal lobe (ATL), both in the anterior superior temporal plane, as well as below it towards the temporal pole. These regions did not show a significant difference between the groups (See Supplementary Fig. 2), supporting the validity of using the blind group to study the representation of abstract concepts
We find that the response of various parts of the ATL to abstract concepts can be broken down into effects of imperceptibility and of objecthood/referentiality
Words devoid of sensorially-accessible, tangible features, either classical abstract concepts (“freedom”) or words depicting visually dominant phenomena (“rainbow”) in congenitally blind people, show preferred activation in the left dorsal superior ATL (Fig. 2). Supporting evidence for this are the results of the multivariate representational similarity analysis (RSA) which found that the activation pattern in this region correlated negatively with the level of sensory perceptibility of the concepts in the blind (Fig. 3b), even when controlling for multiple other factors, including referentiality (Supplementary Fig. 4F,G)
Summary
Dorsal ATL: Non-sensory object processing Lateral ATL: Abstract, non-object concepts regions do not show large-scale differences in the blind group (Supplementary Fig. 7B,C,E).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
