Language Stream Research Articles

Mapping the basal temporal language network: a SEEG functional connectivity study

The Basal Temporal Language Area (BTLA) is recognized in epilepsy surgery setting when cortical electrical stimulation (CES) of the ventral temporal cortex (VTC) trigger anomia or paraphasia during naming tasks. Despite acknowledging a ventral language stream, current cognitive language models fail to properly integrate this entity. In this SEEG study we used cortico-cortical evoked potentials in nine epileptic patients to assess and compare the effective connectivity of 73 sites in the left VTC of which 26 were deemed eloquent for naming after CES (BTLA). Eloquent sites connectivity supports the existence of a basal temporal language network (BTLN) structured around posterior projectors while the fusiform gyrus behaved as an integrator. BTLN was strongly connected to the amygdala and hippocampus unlike the non-eloquent sites, except for the anterior fusiform gyrus (FG). These observations support the FG as a multimodal functional hub and add to our understanding of ventral temporal language processing.

Spectrotemporal cortical dynamics and semantic control during sentence completion

ObjectiveTo investigate cortical oscillations during a sentence completion task (SC) using magnetoencephalography (MEG), focusing on the semantic control network (SCN), its leftward asymmetry, and the effects of semantic control load. MethodsTwenty right-handed adults underwent MEG while performing SC, consisting of low cloze (LC: multiple responses) and high cloze (HC: single response) stimuli. Spectrotemporal power modulations as event-related synchronizations (ERS) and desynchronizations (ERD) were analyzed: first, at the whole-brain level; second, in key SCN regions, posterior middle/inferior temporal gyri (pMTG/ITG) and inferior frontal gyri (IFG), under different semantic control loads. ResultsThree cortical response patterns emerged: early (0–200 ms) theta-band occipital ERS; intermediate (200–700 ms) semantic network alpha/beta-band ERD; late (700–3000 ms) dorsal language stream alpha/beta/gamma-band ERD. Under high semantic control load (LC), pMTG/ITG showed prolonged left-sided engagement (ERD) and right-sided inhibition (ERS). Left IFG exhibited heightened late (2500–2550 ms) beta-band ERD with increased semantic control load (LC vs. HC). ConclusionsSC involves distinct cortical responses and depends on the left IFG and asymmetric engagement of the pMTG/ITG for semantic control. SignificanceFuture use of SC in neuromagnetic preoperative language mapping and for understanding the pathophysiology of language disorders in neurological conditions.

Function-guided differences of arcuate fascicle and inferior fronto-occipital fascicle tractography as diagnostic indicators for surgical risk stratification.

Several patients with language-eloquent gliomas face language deterioration postoperatively. Persistent aphasia is frequently associated with damage to subcortical language pathways. Underlying mechanisms still need to be better understood, complicating preoperative risk assessment. This study compared qualitative and quantitative functionally relevant subcortical differences pre- and directly postoperatively in glioma patients with and without aphasia. Language-relevant cortical sites were defined using navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) language mapping in 74 patients between 07/2016 and 07/2019. Post-hoc nTMS-based diffusion tensor imaging tractography was used to compare a tract's pre- and postoperative visualization, volume and fractional anisotropy (FA), and the preoperative distance between tract and lesion and postoperative overlap with the resection cavity between the following groups: no aphasia (NoA), tumor- or previous resection induced aphasia persistent pre- and postoperatively (TIA_P), and surgery-induced transient or permanent aphasia (SIA_T or SIA_P). Patients with NoA, TIA_P, SIA_T, and SIA_P showed distinct fasciculus arcuatus (AF) and inferior-fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF) properties. The AF was more frequently reconstructable, and the FA of IFOF was higher in NoA than TIA_P cases (all p ≤ 0.03). Simultaneously, SIA_T cases showed higher IFOF fractional anisotropy than TIA_P cases (p < 0.001) and the most considerable AF volume loss overall. While not statistically significant, the four SIA_P cases showed complete loss of ventral language streams postoperatively, the highest resection-cavity-AF-overlap, and the shortest AF to tumor distance. Functionally relevant qualitative and quantitative differences in AF and IFOF provide a pre- and postoperative pathophysiological and clinically relevant diagnostic indicator that supports surgical risk stratification.

Students’ Motivational Dimensions of Choosing Japanese Language Stream in Vocational College

Motivation is still taken into consideration when ones apply to a minor in a study program with limited seats. The present study explores students’ motivational dimensions for choosing Japanese language stream which has limited quota in an Indonesian vocational college. Based on responses from 43 first-year students choosing Japanese stream, it was found that ‘personal goals’ dominated the list of motivational dimensions. In contrast, no student expressed ‘external pressures/incentives’ as their motivation. Following screening process conducted by the study program, ‘personal goals’ maintained its position as the most frequently expressed motivation. Moreover, ‘academic interests’ appeared as the motivational dimension which did not change in number following screening process. These results demonstrate the attraction of the internship program in Japan promoted by the study program in recent years.

Dissociating reading and auditory comprehension in persons with aphasia.

Language comprehension is often affected in individuals with post-stroke aphasia. However, deficits in auditory comprehension are not fully correlated with deficits in reading comprehension and the mechanisms underlying this dissociation remain unclear. This distinction is important for understanding language mechanisms, predicting long-term impairments and future development of treatment interventions. Using comprehensive auditory and reading measures from a large cohort of individuals with aphasia, we evaluated the relationship between aphasia type and reading comprehension impairments, the relationship between auditory versus reading comprehension deficits and the crucial neuroanatomy supporting the dissociation between post-stroke reading and auditory deficits. Scores from the Western Aphasia Battery-Revised from 70 participants with aphasia after a left-hemisphere stroke were utilized to evaluate both reading and auditory comprehension of linguistically equivalent stimuli. Repeated-measures and univariate ANOVA were used to assess the relationship between auditory comprehension and aphasia types and correlations were employed to test the relationship between reading and auditory comprehension deficits. Lesion-symptom mapping was used to determine the dissociation of crucial brain structures supporting reading comprehension deficits controlling for auditory deficits and vice versa. Participants with Broca's or global aphasia had the worst performance on reading comprehension. Auditory comprehension explained 26% of the variance in reading comprehension for sentence completion and 44% for following sequential commands. Controlling for auditory comprehension, worse reading comprehension performance was independently associated with damage to the inferior temporal gyrus, fusiform gyrus, posterior inferior temporal gyrus, inferior occipital gyrus, lingual gyrus and posterior thalamic radiation. Auditory and reading comprehension are only partly correlated in aphasia. Reading is an integral part of daily life and directly associated with quality of life and functional outcomes. This study demonstrated that reading performance is directly related to lesioned areas in the boundaries between visual association regions and ventral stream language areas. This behavioural and neuroanatomical dissociation provides information about the neurobiology of language and mechanisms for potential future treatment interventions.

Network-based statistics distinguish anomic and Broca's aphasia.

Aphasia is a speech-language impairment commonly caused by damage to the left hemisphere. The neural mechanisms that underpin different types of aphasia and their symptoms are still not fully understood. This study aims to identify differences in resting-state functional connectivity between anomic and Broca's aphasia measured through resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). We used the network-based statistic (NBS) method, as well as voxel- and connectome-based lesion symptom mapping (V-, CLSM), to identify distinct neural correlates of the anomic and Broca's groups. To control for lesion effect, we included lesion volume as a covariate in both the NBS method and LSM. NBS identified a subnetwork located in the dorsal language stream bilaterally, including supramarginal gyrus, primary sensory, motor, and auditory cortices, and insula. The connections in the subnetwork were weaker in the Broca's group than the anomic group. The properties of the subnetwork were examined through complex network measures, which indicated that regions in right inferior frontal sulcus, right paracentral lobule, and bilateral superior temporal gyrus exhibit intensive interaction. Left superior temporal gyrus, right postcentral gyrus, and left supramarginal gyrus play an important role in information flow and overall communication efficiency. Disruption of this network underlies the constellation of symptoms associated with Broca's aphasia. Whole-brain CLSM did not detect any significant connections, suggesting an advantage of NBS when thousands of connections are considered. However, CLSM identified connections that differentiated Broca's from anomic aphasia when analysis was restricted to a hypothesized network of interest. We identified novel signatures of resting-state brain network differences between groups of individuals with anomic and Broca's aphasia. We identified a subnetwork of connections that statistically differentiated the resting-state brain networks of the two groups, in comparison with standard CLSM results that yielded isolated connections. Network-level analyses are useful tools for the investigation of the neural correlates of language deficits post-stroke.

Dissection of the Temporofrontal Extreme Capsule Fasciculus Using Diffusion MRI Tractography and Association with Lexical Retrieval.

The well-known arcuate fasciculus that connects the posterior superior temporal region with the language production region in the ventrolateral frontal cortex constitutes the classic peri-Sylvian dorsal stream of language. A second temporofrontal white matter tract connects ventrally the anterior to intermediate lateral temporal cortex with frontal areas via the extreme capsule. This temporofrontal extreme capsule fasciculus (TFexcF) constitutes the ventral stream of language processing. The precise origin, course, and termination of this pathway has been examined in invasive tract tracing studies in macaque monkeys, but there have been no standard protocols for its reconstruction in the human brain using diffusion imaging tractography. Here we provide a protocol for the dissection of the TFexcF in vivo in the human brain using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tractography which provides a solid basis for exploring its functional role. A key finding of the current dissection protocol is the demonstration that the TFexcF is left hemisphere lateralized. Furthermore, using the present dissection protocol, we demonstrate that the TFexcF is related to lexical retrieval scores measured with the category fluency test, in contrast to the classical arcuate fasciculus (the dorsal language pathway) that was also dissected and was related to sentence repetition.

Vocational English Students’ Perceptions of Learning English Grammar

The vocational college is commonly known as a place to prepare students to be ready for work in the industry. Hence, the English language taught in this institution should be more functional or applicable rather than theoretical and analytical. The present study aims to investigate the perception of students taking the English language stream in the Applied Foreign Languages program at a vocational college toward learning English grammar. There are 40 student participants involved. The data are collected using a 13-item questionnaire to identify students’ perception of the importance of learning grammar, the relevance to their study and future career, and their feeling toward learning grammar. Analyzed using descriptive statistics, the data indicate that students consider learning grammar important. Their perception tends to be positive regardless fields of their future career. However, translation is the field career in which many students choose and seem to demonstrate a positive perception toward learning English grammar.

The Angular Gyrus as a Hub for Modulation of Language-related Cortex by Distinct Prefrontal Executive Control Regions.

It has become clear in recent years that reading, while relying on domain-specific language processing regions, also involves regions that implement executive processes more broadly. Such executive control is generally considered to be implemented by prefrontal regions, which exert control via connectivity that allows them to modulate processing in target brain regions. The present study examined whether three previously identified and distinct executive control regions in the pFC [Wang, K., Banich, M. T., Reineberg, A. E., Leopold, D. R., Willcutt, E. G., Cutting, L. E., et al. Left posterior prefrontal regions support domain-general executive processes needed for both reading and math. Journal of Neuropsychology, 14, 467-495, 2020] show similar patterns of functional connectivity (FC) during a reading comprehension task as compared with a symbol identification condition. Our FC results in a sample of adolescents (n = 120) suggest all three regions commonly show associations with activity in "classic" left hemisphere reading areas, including the angular and supramarginal gyri, yet each exhibits differential connectivity as well. In particular, precentral regions show differential FC to parietal portions of the dorsal language stream, the inferior frontal junction shows differential FC to middle temporal regions of the right hemisphere and other regions involved in semantic processing, and portions of the inferior frontal gyrus show differential FC to an extensive set of right hemisphere prefrontal regions. These results suggest that prefrontal control over language-related regions occurs in a coordinated yet discrete manner.

Specific disruption of the ventral anterior temporo-frontal network reveals key implications for language comprehension and cognition

Recent investigations have raised the question of the role of the anterior lateral temporal cortex in language processing (ventral language network). Here we present the language and overall cognitive performance of a rare male patient with chronic middle cerebral artery cerebrovascular accident with a well-documented lesion restricted to the anterior temporal cortex and its connections via the extreme capsule with the pars triangularis of the inferior frontal gyrus (i.e. Broca’s region). The performance of this unique patient is compared with that of two chronic middle cerebral artery cerebrovascular accident male patients with damage to the classic dorsal posterior temporo-parietal language system. Diffusion tensor imaging is used to reconstruct the relevant white matter tracts of the three patients, which are also compared with those of 10 healthy individuals. The patient with the anterior temporo-frontal lesion presents with flawless and fluent speech, but selective impairment in accessing lexico-semantic information, in sharp contrast to the impairments in speech, sentence comprehension and repetition observed after lesions to the classic dorsal language system. The present results underline the contribution of the ventral language stream in lexico-semantic processing and higher cognitive functions, such as active selective controlled retrieval.

A scalable algorithm for many-body dissipative particle dynamics using multiple general purpose graphic processing units

We present a novel algorithm for the many-body Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD) forces calculation which allows to efficiently scale the DL_MESO software package on Multiple General Purpose Graphic Processing Units. Together with the extension to 64-bit integer arrays and addition of hard surface boundary conditions, the proposed algorithm allows to simulate very large complex mesoscale systems up to 14 billion beads. The implementation takes advantages of the CUDA language stream features to overlap the exchange of particle positions and local densities and the computation of the short range forces. We tested a water drop between two plates system using tree of the main European supercomputers: Piz Daint, Marconi and JUWELS. Results shows an improvement on the speedup compared to a naive implementation up to 1.5x when using 1024 GPUs.

Comparing human and chimpanzee temporal lobe neuroanatomy reveals modifications to human language hubs beyond the frontotemporal arcuate fasciculus

The biological foundation for the language-ready brain in the human lineage remains a debated subject. In humans, the arcuate fasciculus (AF) white matter and the posterior portions of the middle temporal gyrus are crucial for language. Compared with other primates, the human AF has been shown to dramatically extend into the posterior temporal lobe, which forms the basis of a number of models of the structural connectivity basis of language. Recent advances in both language research and comparative neuroimaging invite a reassessment of the anatomical differences in language streams between humans and our closest relatives. Here, we show that posterior temporal connectivity via the AF in humans compared with chimpanzees is expanded in terms of its connectivity not just to the ventral frontal cortex but also to the parietal cortex. At the same time, posterior temporal regions connect more strongly to the ventral white matter in chimpanzees as opposed to humans. This pattern is present in both brain hemispheres. Additionally, we show that the anterior temporal lobe harbors a combination of connections present in both species through the inferior fronto-occipital fascicle and human-unique expansions through the uncinate and middle and inferior longitudinal fascicles. These findings elucidate structural changes that are unique to humans and may underlie the anatomical foundations for full-fledged language capacity.

Controversy over the temporal cortical terminations of the left arcuate fasciculus: a reappraisal.

The arcuate fasciculus has been considered a major dorsal fronto-temporal white matter pathway linking frontal language production regions with auditory perception in the superior temporal gyrus, the so-called Wernicke's area. In line with this tradition, both historical and contemporary models of language function have assigned primacy to superior temporal projections of the arcuate fasciculus. However, classical anatomical descriptions and emerging behavioural data are at odds with this assumption. On one hand, fronto-temporal projections to Wernicke's area may not be unique to the arcuate fasciculus. On the other hand, dorsal stream language deficits have been reported also for damage to middle, inferior and basal temporal gyri that may be linked to arcuate disconnection. These findings point to a reappraisal of arcuate projections in the temporal lobe. Here, we review anatomical and functional evidence regarding the temporal cortical terminations of the left arcuate fasciculus by incorporating dissection and tractography findings with stimulation data using cortico-cortical evoked potentials and direct electrical stimulation mapping in awake patients. First, we discuss the fibres of the arcuate fasciculus projecting to the superior temporal gyrus and the functional rostro-caudal gradient in this region where both phonological encoding and auditory-motor transformation may be performed. Caudal regions within the temporoparietal junction may be involved in articulation and associated with temporoparietal projections of the third branch of the superior longitudinal fasciculus, while more rostral regions may support encoding of acoustic phonetic features, supported by arcuate fibres. We then move to examine clinical data showing that multimodal phonological encoding is facilitated by projections of the arcuate fasciculus to superior, but also middle, inferior and basal temporal regions. Hence, we discuss how projections of the arcuate fasciculus may contribute to acoustic (middle-posterior superior and middle temporal gyri), visual (posterior inferior temporal/fusiform gyri comprising the visual word form area) and lexical (anterior-middle inferior temporal/fusiform gyri in the basal temporal language area) information in the temporal lobe to be processed, encoded and translated into a dorsal phonological route to the frontal lobe. Finally, we point out surgical implications for this model in terms of the prediction and avoidance of neurological deficit.

Diffusion tensor imaging of dorsal stream language areas in patients with post-stroke aphasia

BackgroundAphasia complicating stroke occurs due to language deficits that decrease communication abilities and functional independence. Our study aims to assess fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) parameters of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the dorsal stream language areas in patients with post-stroke aphasia. It was conducted on 27 patients with post-stroke aphasia and 27 age- and sex-matched controls who underwent DTI of the brain. FA and MD values of Broca's area (BA), Wernick's area (WA), superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), and arcuate fasciculus (AF), and number of tract fibers (TF) of AF and SLF were calculated. Results were correlated with National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), Arabic version of Comprehensive Aphasia Test (Arabic CAT), and Mansoura Arabic Screening Aphasia Test (MASAT).ResultsFA of AF and SLF in patients was significantly lower (P = 0.001) than controls. MD of AF and SLF in patients was significantly higher (P = 0.001) than controls. The mean volume TF of AF and SLF in patients was significantly (P = 0.001) lower than the mean volume in controls for AF and SLF. FA cutoff for AF was 0.34 and for SLF, it was 0.35 with sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy (85.2%, 62.1%, 73.2%) for AF, (74.1%, 69%, 71.4%) for SLF, respectively. MD cutoff value for AF was 0.87, and 0.84 for SLF with sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy (63%, 72.4%, 67.8%) for AF, (81.5%, 79.3%, 80.4%) for SLF, respectively. Cutoff TF of AF was 1728 and for SLF it was 601 with sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy (88.9%, 72.4%, 80.4%) for AF and (85.2%, 85.2%, 78.6%) for SLF, respectively.ConclusionsDTI is a non-invasive promising method that can be used to assess language areas in patients with post-stroke aphasia.

Book Review of Geisler, C., and Swarts, J. (2019). Coding streams of language: Techniques for the systematic coding of text, talk, and other verbal data. The WAC Clearinghouse; University Press of Colorado.

Book Review of Geisler, C., and Swarts, J. (2019). Coding streams of language: Techniques for the systematic coding of text, talk, and other verbal data. The WAC Clearinghouse; University Press of Colorado.

Indonesian High School Learners’ Fear of Negative Evaluation and Ought-to L2 Self

The study aimed to investigate the Indonesian high school science learners’ Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE), which is a second language (L2) anxiety construct, Ought to L2 Self (OL2S), an L2 motivation construct, and the relationship between FNE and OL2S. The study employed a survey method with 190 learners from a private high school participating in it. Based on the descriptive statistics, the learners generally had a moderate level of FNE and OL2S. The FNE analysis showed that they had self-perception of low English competence and were afraid to speak without preparation. In OL2S, the analysis suggested that the learners believed that people around them did not consider their English mastery a priority. Through correlation formula, the study found a positive yet weak correlation between learners’ FNE and their OL2S. It suggested that the higher learners’ FNE, the higher they perceived responsibility to avoid negative outcomes. Besides, the finding also suggested that English instruction could be designed in such a way to attract the interest of learners from non-English language streams to give their best and promote active collaboration to lessen self-comparison among them. The limitations and contributions of the study were also discussed to provide possible directions for future studies.

Isolating the white matter circuitry of the dorsal language stream: Connectome-Symptom Mapping in stroke induced aphasia.

The application of ℓ1‐regularized machine learning models to high‐dimensional connectomes offers a promising methodology to assess clinical‐anatomical correlations in humans. Here, we integrate the connectome‐based lesion‐symptom mapping framework with sparse partial least squares regression (sPLS‐R) to isolate elements of the connectome associated with speech repetition deficits. By mapping over 2,500 connections of the structural connectome in a cohort of 71 stroke‐induced cases of aphasia presenting with varying left‐hemisphere lesions and repetition impairment, sPLS‐R was trained on 50 subjects to algorithmically identify connectomic features on the basis of their predictive value. The highest ranking features were subsequently used to generate a parsimonious predictive model for speech repetition whose predictions were evaluated on a held‐out set of 21 subjects. A set of 10 short‐ and long‐range parieto‐temporal connections were identified, collectively delineating the broader circuitry of the dorsal white matter network of the language system. The strongest contributing feature was a short‐range connection in the supramarginal gyrus, approximating the cortical localization of area Spt, with parallel long‐range pathways interconnecting posterior nodes in supramarginal and superior temporal cortex with anterior nodes in both ventral and—notably—in dorsal premotor cortex, respectively. The collective disruption of these pathways indexed repetition performance in the held‐out set of participants, suggesting that these impairments might be characterized as a parietotemporal disconnection syndrome impacting cortical area Spt and its associated white matter circuits of the frontal lobe as opposed to being purely a disconnection of the arcuate fasciculus.

Examining enablers and constraints of e-learning/teaching: Lecturers and students’ perspectives at the University of Namibia

This study, conducted at the University of Namibia (UNAM) in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, explores the perspectives of students and lecturers on the experience of learning/teaching foreign languages during the COVID 19 pandemic. The study sought to establish and delimit the enablers and constraints of Foreign Language online teaching/learning, to improve the quality of UNAM service. A quantitative method using online questionnaires was proposed to collect data from all foreign language lecturers of the Department of Languages and Literature Studies at UNAM and their students enrolled in the first and third years in the Applied and Business Language stream. The main results revealed that both lecturers and students had no prejudices about Foreign Language e-learning/teaching but students had mixed feelings about their overall experience. Although the student reported some key advantages in e-learning (independence, flexibility and possibility to freely consult learning material), their lack of equipment and difficult access to platforms and electronic documents presented significant constraints in their digital learning experience. For most of them, their motivation and self-organizational skills were hardly tested and not always successful. In addition, lecturers were not sufficiently trained or experienced to adapt their usual pedagogical practice to virtual teaching while some of them were unequally equipped with ICT skills.

河北宽城（铧尖）方言的语流音变

Huajian Township belongs to Kuancheng Manchu Autonomous County of Chengde City, Hebei Province, and is located in the south of Kuancheng Manchu Autonomous County. According to the “Chinese Language Atlas” (second Edition)(2012), The dialect of Huajian area belongs to the Jizun piece of the Baotang section of Jilu Mandarin. This paper takes the Huajian dialect(old) as the research object, on the basis of field investigation, combined with the research results of the predecessors, has carried out a comprehensive and detailed description of the mutation in language stream of the Huajian dialect. The mutation in language stream in this paper include tone sandhi， neutral tone and sound Patterns of Er-suffixation. The mutation in language stream in Huajian dialect is more abundant than that of Beijing dialect, and it has been internalized as a component of Huajian dialect.

Engagement of Language and Domain General Networks during Word Monitoring in a Native and Unknown Language.

Functional neuroimaging studies have highlighted the roles of three networks in processing language, all of which are typically left-lateralized: a ventral stream involved in semantics, a dorsal stream involved in phonology and speech production, and a more dorsal “multiple demand” network involved in many effortful tasks. As lateralization in all networks may be affected by life factors such as age, literacy, education, and brain pathology, we sought to develop a task paradigm with which to investigate the engagement of these networks, including manipulations to selectively emphasize semantic and phonological processing within a single task performable by almost anyone regardless of literacy status. In young healthy participants, we administered an auditory word monitoring task, in which participants had to note the occurrence of a target word within a continuous story presented in either their native language, Portuguese, or the unknown language, Japanese. Native language task performance activated ventral stream language networks, left lateralized but bilateral in the anterior temporal lobe. Unfamiliar language performance, being more difficult, activated left hemisphere dorsal stream structures and the multiple demand network bilaterally, but predominantly in the right hemisphere. These findings suggest that increased demands on phonological processing to accomplish word monitoring in the absence of semantic support may result in the bilateral recruitment of networks involved in speech perception under more challenging conditions.