Language Comprehension Processes Research Articles

To fly or not to fly? The automatic influence of negation on language-space associations.

Embodied models of language understanding propose a close association between language comprehension and sensorimotor processes. Specifically, they suggest that meaning representation is grounded in modal experiences. Converging evidence suggests that words automatically activate spatial processing. For example, words such as 'sky' ('ground') facilitate motor and visual processing associated with upper (lower) space. However, very little is known regarding the influence of linguistic operators such as negation on these language-space associations. If these associations play a crucial role for language understanding beyond the word level, one would expect linguistic operators to automatically influence or modify these language-space associations. Participants read sentences describing an event implying an upward or a downward motion in an affirmative or negated version (e.g. The granny looks to the sky/ground vs. The granny does not look to the sky/ground). Subsequently, participants responded with an upward or downward arm movement according to the colour of a dot on the screen. The results showed that the motion direction implied in the sentences influenced subsequent spatially directed motor responses. For affirmative sentences, arm movements were faster if they matched the movement direction implied in the sentence. This language-space association was modified by the negation operator. Our results show that linguistic operators--such as negation--automatically modify language-space associations. Thus, language-space associations seem to reflect language processes beyond pure word-based activations.

Electrostimulation mapping of comprehension of auditory and visual words

In order to spare functional areas during the removal of brain tumours, electrical stimulation mapping was used in 90 patients (77 in the left hemisphere and 13 in the right; 2754 cortical sites tested). Language functions were studied with a special focus on comprehension of auditory and visual words and the semantic system. In addition to naming, patients were asked to perform pointing tasks from auditory and visual stimuli (using sets of 4 different images controlled for familiarity), and also auditory object (sound recognition) and Token test tasks. Ninety-two auditory comprehension interference sites were observed. We found that the process of auditory comprehension involved a few, fine-grained, sub-centimetre cortical territories. Early stages of speech comprehension seem to relate to two posterior regions in the left superior temporal gyrus. Downstream lexical-semantic speech processing and sound analysis involved 2 pathways, along the anterior part of the left superior temporal gyrus, and posteriorly around the supramarginal and middle temporal gyri. Electrostimulation experimentally dissociated perceptual consciousness attached to speech comprehension. The initial word discrimination process can be considered as an “automatic” stage, the attention feedback not being impaired by stimulation as would be the case at the lexical-semantic stage. Multimodal organization of the superior temporal gyrus was also detected since some neurones could be involved in comprehension of visual material and naming. These findings demonstrate a fine graded, sub-centimetre, cortical representation of speech comprehension processing mainly in the left superior temporal gyrus and are in line with those described in dual stream models of language comprehension processing.

NEUROBEL: Breve batería neuropsicológica de evaluación del lenguaje oral en adultos-mayores. Datos normativos iniciales

NEUROBEL (Neuropsychological assessment of language in adults) is a brief battery that allows a screening of the basic processes of language comprehension and production. It consists of 8 tasks, assessing oral-language processing from the theoretical model of cognitive neuropsychology. The aim has been to carry out a pilot study of initial normative data for NEUROBEL battery in older-adults. This in mind, we studied a sample of 30 male and female healthy participants aged over 50 without cognitive impairment (MMSE≥25). The NEUROBEL battery was administered to all the participants, which were split into 2 groups: “adults” (50-64) and “older-adults” (>65). The latter group was also analyzed according to their usual residence (private home or nursing home). In the Results section, it is shown the scores and time performances of the participants in the battery, as well as main percentiles. NEUROBEL is shown as a valid and reliable battery, including high Pearson's correlations among the tasks. Univariate ANOVAs show group and schooling effects in the scores of the battery for younger and more schooled participants. Conversely, sex factor does not influence the results achieved, although it is shown as significant variable in favor of the women for time execution of the tasks. Some differences among participants over 65 years old, depending on their usual place of residence and sex are debated in the Discussion.

Cues, quantification, and agreement in language comprehension.

We investigated factors that affect the comprehension of subject-verb agreement in English, using quantification as a window into the relationship between morphosyntactic processes in language production and comprehension. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants read sentences with grammatical and ungrammatical verbs, in which the plurality of the subject noun phrase was either doubly marked (via overt plural quantification and morphological marking on the noun) or singly marked (via only plural morphology on the noun). Both acceptability judgments and the ERP data showed heightened sensitivity to agreement violations when quantification provided an additional cue to the grammatical number of the subject noun phrase, over and above plural morphology. This is consistent with models of grammatical comprehension that emphasize feature prediction in tandem with cue-based memory retrieval. Our results additionally contrast with those of prior studies that showed no effects of plural quantification on agreement in language production. These findings therefore highlight some nontrivial divergences in the cues and mechanisms supporting morphosyntactic processing in language production and comprehension.

Is Word-Problem Solving a Form of Text Comprehension?

This study’s hypotheses were that (a) word-problem (WP) solving is a form of text comprehension that involves language comprehension processes, working memory, and reasoning, but (b) WP solving differs from other forms of text comprehension by requiring WP-specific language comprehension as well as general language comprehension. At the start of the 2nd grade, children (n = 206; on average, 7 years, 6 months) were assessed on general language comprehension, working memory, nonlinguistic reasoning, processing speed (a control variable), and foundational skill (arithmetic for WPs; word reading for text comprehension). In spring, they were assessed on WP-specific language comprehension, WPs, and text comprehension. Path analytic mediation analysis indicated that effects of general language comprehension on text comprehension were entirely direct, whereas effects of general language comprehension on WPs were partially mediated by WP-specific language. By contrast, effects of working memory and reasoning operated in parallel ways for both outcomes.

Brain Network Connectivity During Language Comprehension: Interacting Linguistic and Perceptual Subsystems.

The dynamic neural processes underlying spoken language comprehension require the real-time integration of general perceptual and specialized linguistic information. We recorded combined electro- and magnetoencephalographic measurements of participants listening to spoken words varying in perceptual and linguistic complexity. Combinatorial linguistic complexity processing was consistently localized to left perisylvian cortices, whereas competition-based perceptual complexity triggered distributed activity over both hemispheres. Functional connectivity showed that linguistically complex words engaged a distributed network of oscillations in the gamma band (20–60 Hz), which only partially overlapped with the network supporting perceptual analysis. Both processes enhanced cross-talk between left temporal regions and bilateral pars orbitalis (BA47). The left-lateralized synchrony between temporal regions and pars opercularis (BA44) was specific to the linguistically complex words, suggesting a specific role of left frontotemporal cross-cortical interactions in morphosyntactic computations. Synchronizations in oscillatory dynamics reveal the transient coupling of functional networks that support specific computational processes in language comprehension.

Localization of electrophysiological responses to semantic and syntactic anomalies in language comprehension with MEG

Syntactically and semantically anomalous words encountered during sentence comprehension are known to elicit dissociable electrophysiological responses, which are thought to reflect distinct aspects of language processing. However, the sources of these responses have not been well characterized. We used beamforming analysis of magnetoencephalography (MEG) data to map generators of electrophysiological responses to linguistic anomalies. Anomalous words occurred in the context of a sentence acceptability judgement task conducted in both visual and auditory modalities. Time–frequency analysis revealed that both kinds of violations elicited event-related synchronization (ERS) in the delta–theta frequency range (1–5Hz), and desynchronization (ERD) in the alpha–beta range (8–30Hz). In addition, these responses were differentially modulated by violation type and presentation modality. 1–5Hz responses were consistently localized within medial prefrontal cortex and did not vary significantly across violation types, but were stronger for visual presentation. In contrast, 8–30Hz ERD occurred in different regions for different violation types. For semantic violations the distribution was predominantly in the bilateral occipital cortex and left temporal and inferior frontal regions, and these effects did not differ for visual and auditory presentation. In contrast, syntactic responses were strongly affected by presentation modality. Under visual presentation, syntactic violations elicited bilateral 8–30Hz ERD extending into dorsal parietal and frontal regions, whereas effects were much weaker and mostly statistically insignificant in the auditory modality. These results suggest that delta–theta ERS reflects generalized increases in working memory demands related to linguistic anomaly detection, while alpha–beta ERD reflects specific activation of cortical regions involved in distinct aspects of linguistic processing, such as semantic vs. phonological short-term memory. Beamforming analysis of time-domain average signals (ERFs) revealed an N400m effect for semantic anomalies in both modalities, localized to left superior temporal and posterior frontal regions, and a later P600-like effect for syntactic anomalies in both modalities, widespread over bilateral frontal, posterior temporal, and parietal regions. These results indicate that time-domain averaged responses and induced oscillatory responses have distinct properties, including localization and modality dependence, and likely reflect dissociable and complementary aspects of neural activity related to language comprehension and additional task-related processes.

The Social N400 effect: how the presence of other listeners affects language comprehension.

During conversation, it is necessary to keep track of what others can and cannot understand. Previous research has focused largely on understanding the time course along which knowledge about interlocutors influences language comprehension/production rather than the cognitive process by which interlocutors take each other's perspective. In addition, most work has looked at the effects of knowledge about a speaker on a listener's comprehension, and not on the possible effects of other listeners on a participant's comprehension process. In the current study, we introduce a novel joint comprehension paradigm that addresses the cognitive processes underlying perspective taking during language comprehension. Specifically, we show that participants who understand a language stimulus, but are simultaneously aware that someone sitting next to them does not understand the same stimulus, show an electrophysiological marker of semantic integration difficulty (i.e., an N400-effect). Crucially, in a second group of participants, we demonstrate that presenting exactly the same sentences to the participant alone (i.e. without a co-listener) results in no N400-effect. Our results suggest that (1) information about co-listeners as well as the speaker affect language comprehension, and (2) the cognitive process by which we understand what others comprehend mirrors our own language comprehension processes.

Alpha and theta brain oscillations index dissociable processes in spoken word recognition

Slow neural oscillations (~1–15Hz) are thought to orchestrate the neural processes of spoken language comprehension. However, functional subdivisions within this broad range of frequencies are disputed, with most studies hypothesizing only about single frequency bands. The present study utilizes an established paradigm of spoken word recognition (lexical decision) to test the hypothesis that within the slow neural oscillatory frequency range, distinct functional signatures and cortical networks can be identified at least for theta- (~3–7Hz) and alpha-frequencies (~8–12Hz). Listeners performed an auditory lexical decision task on a set of items that formed a word–pseudoword continuum: ranging from (1) real words over (2) ambiguous pseudowords (deviating from real words only in one vowel; comparable to natural mispronunciations in speech) to (3) pseudowords (clearly deviating from real words by randomized syllables). By means of time–frequency analysis and spatial filtering, we observed a dissociation into distinct but simultaneous patterns of alpha power suppression and theta power enhancement. Alpha exhibited a parametric suppression as items increasingly matched real words, in line with lowered functional inhibition in a left-dominant lexical processing network for more word-like input. Simultaneously, theta power in a bilateral fronto-temporal network was selectively enhanced for ambiguous pseudowords only. Thus, enhanced alpha power can neurally ‘gate’ lexical integration, while enhanced theta power might index functionally more specific ambiguity-resolution processes. To this end, a joint analysis of both frequency bands provides neural evidence for parallel processes in achieving spoken word recognition.

Sentence comprehension in aphasia: A noisy channel approach

Sentence comprehension in aphasia: A noisy channel approach

What language processing can tell us about perspective taking: A reply to Bezuidenhout (2013)

In this discussion note, we reply to Bezuidenhout's (2013) claim that the narrow-temporal scale of language processing examined using the Visual World Paradigm makes this methodology unsuitable for studying perspective-taking in conversation. We counter that this paradigm has, and will continue to make, valuable contributions to our understanding of the representation and use of perspective information, as well as to the larger questions about the architecture of the language system. In doing so, we elaborate on the breadth of evidence from the sentence processing literature that supports the claim that perspective information is integrated into the processes of language comprehension and production.

Predictors of reading ability in English for Mandarin-speaking bilingual children in Singapore

Research on the reading skills of monolingual children has established a convergent skills model for acquisition involving context-free decoding, language comprehension, and visual and phonological processing. This study sought to identify the predictors of Primary One bilingual children's reading accuracy and reading comprehension in English. Eighty English−Mandarin-speaking girls (aged 6.5 years) attending Singapore schools were administered a battery of tests measuring phonological awareness (phoneme deletion), receptive vocabulary, receptive grammar, short-term memory (digit span), reading accuracy, and reading comprehension. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that phonological awareness significantly predicts reading accuracy and reading comprehension skills. Reading accuracy significantly predicts reading comprehension. Receptive grammar significantly predicts reading comprehension, but not reading accuracy. Unlike studies conducted with monolingual children, memory and vocabulary were not predictive of reading accuracy and comprehension. Possible reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.

Neural oscillatory evidence of the difference between emotional and conceptual processing in language comprehension

Despite ample study of conceptual and emotional information processing in language, it remains unclear whether these two types of processing rely on different neural mechanisms. In the present study, the processing of semantic and emotional information was directly compared in 24 participants undergoing electroencephalograms (EEGs). Participants read 120 scenarios ending in three ways (affectively and semantically congruent, affectively incongruent, and semantically incongruent) and were asked to judge the appropriateness of the last word within the context. The data were analyzed using both event-related potentials (ERPs) and event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) analysis. In addition to the similar N400 effects evoked by both emotional and conceptual incongruity, conceptual incongruity elicited a larger theta power increase, while emotional incongruity induced a gamma band power increase, compared with the congruent condition. The different oscillatory patterns suggest that emotional and conceptual information in language processing may rely on different neural mechanisms, even though both types of processing produced a similar N400 effect.

Prolegomena to a Neurocomputational Architecture for Human Grammatical Encoding and Decoding

This study develops a neurocomputational architecture for grammatical processing in language production and language comprehension (grammatical encoding and decoding, respectively). It seeks to answer two questions. First, how is online syntactic structure formation of the complexity required by natural-language grammars possible in a fixed, preexisting neural network without the need for online creation of new connections or associations? Second, is it realistic to assume that the seemingly disparate instantiations of syntactic structure formation in grammatical encoding and grammatical decoding can run on the same neural infrastructure? This issue is prompted by accumulating experimental evidence for the hypothesis that the mechanisms for grammatical decoding overlap with those for grammatical encoding to a considerable extent, thus inviting the hypothesis of a single "grammatical coder." The paper answers both questions by providing the blueprint for a syntactic structure formation mechanism that is entirely based on prewired circuitry (except for referential processing, which relies on the rapid learning capacity of the hippocampal complex), and can subserve decoding as well as encoding tasks. The model builds on the "Unification Space" model of syntactic parsing developed by Vosse and Kempen (Cognition 75:105-143, 2000; Cognitive Neurodynamics 3:331-346, 2009a). The design includes a neurocomputational mechanism for the treatment of an important class of grammatical movement phenomena.

A developmental perspective on the integration of language production and comprehension

The integration of language production and comprehension processes may be more specific in terms of developmental timing than Pickering & Garrod (P&G) discuss in their target article. Developmental studies do reveal links between production and comprehension, but also demonstrate that the integration of these skills changes over time. Production-comprehension links occur within specific language skills and specific time windows.

Exploring the Utility of the Simple View of Reading in Irish Children Attending Schools in Areas Designated as Socially Disadvantaged

Evidence suggests that children living in areas designated as socially disadvantaged may be at risk for literacy difficulties. The Simple View of Reading (Gough & Tunmer, 1986; Hoover &Gough, 1986) is a theoretical model that sets out to describe the processes that children need to develop to become proficient readers, that is word recognition or decoding processes and language comprehension processes. The overall aim of this study was to investigate the utility of the Simple View of Reading in a cohort of Irish children attending schools designated as socially disadvantaged. The objectives were twofold. The first objective was to investigate predictors of reading accuracy, spelling and reading comprehension skills in this sample. The second objective was to investigate whether or not these predictors varied with age. The sample comprised fifty-nine children attending two schools. Inclusion criteria were: children between the ages of 5-8 years; a sample of children within three ranges of reading abilities as rated by their teachers (teachers were asked to rate the children’s reading ability as above average, average or below average); and a minimum score of 80 on the British Picture Vocabulary Scales (BPVS) (Dunn et al., 1997) to be included. Reading accuracy (single word reading and passage reading), reading comprehension, and spelling were measured using three standardised tests i.e., Weschler Individual Attainment Test 11 UK , Teachers Version (WIAT, 11 UK -T) (Weschler, 2006), the York Assessment of Reading for Comprehension (YARC) (Snowling et al., 2009), and the Single Word Spelling Test (SWST), (Sacre & Masterson, 2000). Potential predictors of literacy skills, such as phonemic awareness and phonic knowledge skills, were measured using criterion-referenced tests. Vocabulary was also a potential predictor and was measured using the BPVS. There was mixed evidence for the Simple View of Reading. While phonic knowledge, phonemic knowledge and non-word reading were predictors of reading, other factors such as vocabulary were also predictors. Although vocabulary was a predictor of reading comprehension for the total sample, the picture was less clear when the effect of age was explored. To conclude, there was mixed evidence to support the Simple View of Reading. Nonetheless, the findings were encouraging in that children were acquiring literacy skills.

Prefrontal Cortical Circuitry and Cognitive Control in the Health and Disease

Event Abstract Back to Event Prefrontal Cortical Circuitry and Cognitive Control in the Health and Disease Cameron S. Carter1* 1 University of California at Davis, Center for Neuroscience and Imaging Research Center, United States A growing body of data suggest that while multiple neural systems in the brain are engaged during cognitive control, a general purpose dorsal prefrontal/cingulate/parietal network plays a key role in supporting processing requiring high levels of control in a manner that cuts across both traditional domains of executive functions as well as traditional cognitive processing systems. In this talk I will review the evidence for this general-purpose system and its specialized role in managing processing conflict. I will also present new data using schizophrenia as a model system of impaired cognitive control. Alternative models of impaired cognition in the illness, such as disrupted sensory processing, will be considered and results of fMRI and ERP/EEG studies that test the generality of impaired cognitive control across domains of response selection, episodic memory, language comprehension and emotion processing in the illness. These data support the domain generality of this network in healthy individuals and also suggest that a disruption of prefrontal cortical-based cognitive control systems plays a key role in higher cognitive function in schizophrenia and contribute to behavioral disorganization and functional impairment in the illness. Broader implications of these findings for our understanding of the neural basis of normal cognition as well as for the pathophysiology and treatment of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders will be discussed. Keywords: Prefrontal Cortex, cognitive control, Schizophrenia, emotion, Language, Memory Conference: ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, Clayton, Melbourne, Australia, 28 Nov - 1 Dec, 2013. Presentation Type: Oral Topic: Executive Processes Citation: Carter CS (2013). Prefrontal Cortical Circuitry and Cognitive Control in the Health and Disease. Conference Abstract: ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2013.212.00196 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 15 Oct 2013; Published Online: 25 Nov 2013. * Correspondence: Dr. Cameron S Carter, University of California at Davis, Center for Neuroscience and Imaging Research Center, Davis, CA, United States, cameron.carter@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Cameron S Carter Google Cameron S Carter Google Scholar Cameron S Carter PubMed Cameron S Carter Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Novelty and processing demands in conceptual combination

In this article, we sought to isolate the processing demands of combining the concepts of modifier‐noun phrases from those of other language comprehension processes. Probe reaction time (RT) was used as an indication of the processing resources required for combining concepts. Phrase frequency (as measured by Google hit rates) was used as a metric of the degree of conceptual combination required for each phrase. Participants were asked to interpret modifier‐noun phrases using a sense‐nonsense decision (Experiment 1) and a phrase meaning access task (Experiment 2). Experiment 2 also used a lexical decision task to activate the word's individual meanings. Regression analyses for both experiments indicated that phrase frequency (indicating novelty) predicts a significant portion of the probe RT variance, such that low‐frequency phrases required more processing resources than high‐frequency phrases, when controlling for associative strength, word frequency, letter length, and lexical‐semantic activation. Overall, this study indicates that conceptual combination requires processing resources beyond those of other language processes.

A Reappraisal of Lexical Cohesion in Conversational Discourse

Cohesion, or the connectedness of discourse, has been recognized as playing a crucial role in both language production and comprehension processes. Researchers have debated about the ‘right’ number and classification of cohesive devices, as well as about their interaction with coherence and/or genre. The present study proposes an integrative model of lexical cohesion that extends previous models and argues for the difference between ‘associative cohesion’ and ‘(lexical) collocation’. Its evaluation against a corpus of 14 conversations, 7 broadcast discussions and 7 phone calls, reports the former to show almost six times as many instances of lexical ties as the latter, a difference that is attributed to the divergent features of these two genres. Apart from quantitative findings supported by statistical significance tests, qualitative analyses also show that lexical cohesion is involved in turn-taking behaviors and topic management patterns, thereby contributing to the establishment of interpersonal relationships and the expansion of generic stages in these two kinds of spoken interactions.

The Interaction of Syntactic and Lexical Information Sources in Language Processing: The Case of the Noun-verb Ambiguity

This paper reports the results of a lexical decision experiment and a selfpaced reading experiment that investigate the interaction between syntactic and lexical information in on-line language processing, using the noun-verb ambiguity in English. The results of both experiments provide support for the hypothesis whereby syntactic and lexical information are two independent factors in the process of sentence comprehension, consistent with previous work in the sense-ambiguity processing literature. Our results therefore add to the body of literature that demonstrates that the process of language comprehension is guided by numerous independent information sources, rather than syntactic information alone, as some of the earlier proposals in the field of sentence pro cessing hypothesized.