ORCID Profile
0000-0002-3238-6492
Current Organisation
University of South Australia
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In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Linguistics | Biological Psychology (Neuropsychology, Psychopharmacology, Physiological Psychology) | Cognitive Science | Linguistic Structures (incl. Grammar, Phonology, Lexicon, Semantics) | Linguistic Processes (incl. Speech Production and Comprehension)
Expanding Knowledge in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences | Expanding Knowledge in Language, Communication and Culture | Conserving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage |
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 30-01-2015
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2009
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2016
Publisher: Hogrefe Publishing Group
Date: 2004
DOI: 10.1027/1618-3169.51.4.279
Abstract: Abstract. The influence of interin idual differences in cognitive mechanisms on language comprehension remains controversial not only due to conflicting experimental findings, but also in view of the difficulty associated with determining which measure should be used in participant classification. Here, we address the latter problem by proposing that an electrophysiological measure, in idual alpha frequency (IAF), may be a suitable means of classifying interin idual differences in sentence processing. Interin idual differences in IAF have been shown to correlate with performance on memory tasks and speed of information processing. In two experiments using event-related brain potentials (ERPs), IAF-based participant groups differed systematically with regard to the processing of ambiguous sentences such that the low-IAF group showed a sustained positivity in the ambiguous region, while the high-IAF group did not. These interin idual differences were independent of whether the ambiguity was syntactic (Experiment 1) or sentence-level semantic (Experiment 2). Moreover, they were reliable only when participants were classified according to IAF, but not in classifications based on reading span, speed of processing (reaction time), or accuracy of processing (error rate).
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2008
DOI: 10.1016/J.BANDL.2007.09.005
Abstract: Two auditory ERP studies examined the role of animacy in sentence comprehension in Mandarin Chinese by comparing active and passive sentences in simple verb-final (Experiment 1) and relative clause constructions (Experiment 2). In addition to the voice manipulation (which modulated the assignment of actor and undergoer roles to the arguments), both arguments were either animate or inanimate. This allowed us to examine the interplay of animacy with thematic interpretation. In Experiment 1, we observed no effect of animacy at NP1, but N400 effects for inanimate actor arguments in second position. This result mirrors previous findings in German, thus suggesting that an initial undergoer universally leads to the prediction of an ideal (animate) actor. We also observed an N400 effect for passive sentences with an inanimate initial (undergoer) argument. We attribute this effect to a language-specific property of the passive construction in Chinese, namely that the first argument is negatively affected by the event described (i.e. bears an experiencer role). Experiment 2 showed that both of these effects can also be observed in sentence constructions of another type, in which the critical information sources become available in a different order. These findings provide the first demonstration that the N400 is not only sensitive to general (universal) aspects of thematic processing (i.e. "who is acting on whom") but also to the interaction between thematic interpretation and language-specific pragmatic principles.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2004
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 10-02-2020
Abstract: Artificial grammar learning (AGL) paradigms are used extensively to characterise (neuro-)cognitive bases of language learning. However, despite their effectiveness in characterising the capacity to learn complex structured sequences, AGL paradigms lack ecological validity and typically do not account for cross-linguistic differences in sentence comprehension. Here, we describe a new modified miniature language paradigm – Mini Pinyin – that mimics natural language as it is based on an existing language (Mandarin Chinese) and includes both structure and meaning. Mini Pinyin contains a number of cross-linguistic elements, including varying word orders and classifier-noun rules. To evaluate the effectiveness of Mini Pinyin, 76 (mean age = 24.9 26 female) monolingual native English speakers completed a learning phase followed by a sentence acceptability judgement task. Generalised mixed effects modelling revealed that participants attained a moderate degree of accuracy on the judgement task, with performance scores ranging from 25% - 100% accuracy depending on the word order of the sentence. Further, sentences compatible with the canonical English word order were learned more efficiently than non-canonical word orders. We controlled for inter-in idual differences in statistical learning ability, which accounted for ~20% of the variance in performance on the sentence judgement task. We provide stimuli and statistical analysis scripts as open source resources and discuss how future research can utilise this paradigm to study the neurobiological basis of language learning. Mini Pinyin affords a convenient tool for improving the future of language learning research by building on the parameters of traditional AGL or existing miniature language paradigms.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 28-12-2006
Abstract: We used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging to directly compare the hemodynamic responses associated with varying degrees of linguistic complexity with those engendered by the processing of ungrammatical utterances. We demonstrate a dissociation within the left inferior frontal cortex between the deep frontal operculum, which responds to syntactic violations, and a core region of Broca's area, that is, the inferior portion of the left pars opercularis in Brodmann area 44, the activation of which is modulated as a function of the complexity of well-formed sentences. The data demonstrate that different brain regions in the prefrontal cortex support distinct mechanisms in the mapping from a linguistic form onto meaning, thereby separating ungrammaticality from linguistic complexity.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2008
DOI: 10.1016/J.BRAINRESREV.2008.05.003
Abstract: The literature on the electrophysiology of language comprehension has recently seen a very prominent discussion of "semantic P600" effects, which have been observed, for ex le, in sentences involving an implausible thematic role assignment to an argument that would be a highly plausible filler for a different thematic role of the same verb. These findings have sparked a discussion about underlying properties of the language comprehension architecture, as they have generally been viewed as a challenge to established models of language processing and specifically to the notion that syntax precedes semantics in the comprehension process. In this paper, we review the literature on semantic P600 effects and discuss a number of challenges--both conceptual and empirical--to existing approaches in this domain. We then provide a new perspective on these effects by showing how they can be derived within an independently motivated, hierarchically organised neurocognitive model of language comprehension in which syntactic structuring precedes argument interpretation (the extended Argument Dependency Model, eADM Bornkessel and Schlesewsky, 2006). In addition to straightforwardly deriving the phenomenon of a "semantic P600," the basic architectural properties of the eADM account for existing empirical puzzles within the semantic P600 literature.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-2009
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2006
DOI: 10.1016/J.NEUROIMAGE.2006.04.213
Abstract: Previous neuroimaging findings suggest a sensitivity of the pars opercularis of the left inferior frontal gyrus (i.e. a core subregion of Broca's area) to a number of linguistic dependencies governing the linear sequencing of information in a sentence (e.g. subjects should precede objects the participant role hierarchy should be respected). The present study used event-related fMRI to examine the hitherto untested hypothesis that the violation of a linearization principle that is purely semantic in nature (animate arguments should precede inanimate arguments) would also lead to increased pars opercularis activation. To this end, we manipulated the features animacy and argument order in German sentences and found a significant increase of activation in the pars opercularis for a violation of the animacy principle even when the other factors mentioned above were controlled for. This result therefore calls for a "supra-syntactic" account of pars opercularis function in the real-time understanding of sentences.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2003
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date: 18-09-2012
DOI: 10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780198568971.013.0024
Abstract: The neural implementation of language and, by extension, the postulated existence of particular “language centers” in the brain has exerted a continuing fascination upon scientists and non-scientists alike for thousands of years. With the advent of neuroimaging methods—and particularly of functional magnetic resonance imaging—during the last decade of the twentieth century, the possibilities of scientific inquiry within this domain have taken on a new dimension. First, neuroimaging techniques allow for a systematic and fine-grained probing of the functional neuroanatomy of language in healthy in iduals. Moreover, they provide new avenues of exploration with respect to classical psycholinguistic questions in sentence comprehension, such as the modularity vs. interactivity debate. Neuroimaging studies of language comprehension are thus suited to provide further information not only about the neural substrate of language comprehension but also with respect to its internal organisation. In view of the fact that the overall neural networks subserving language comprehension have, by now, been documented in a large number of studies, this article considers only direct contrasts between language conditions.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-09-2015
DOI: 10.1002/HBM.22907
Publisher: Psychology Press
Date: 13-09-2004
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 20-01-2022
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 11-11-2017
DOI: 10.1101/218123
Abstract: We hypothesise a beneficial influence of sleep on the consolidation of the combinatorial mechanisms underlying incremental sentence comprehension. These predictions are grounded in recent work examining the effect of sleep on the consolidation of linguistic information, which demonstrate that sleep-dependent neurophysiological activity consolidates the meaning of novel words and simple grammatical rules. However, the sleep-dependent consolidation of sentence-level combinatorics has not been studied to date. Here, we propose that dissociable aspects of sleep neurophysiology consolidate two different types of combinatory mechanisms in human language: sequence-based (order-sensitive) and dependency-based (order-insensitive) combinatorics. The distinction between the two types of combinatorics is motivated both by cross-linguistic considerations and the neurobiological underpinnings of human language. Unifying this perspective with principles of sleep-dependent memory consolidation, we posit that a function of sleep is to optimise the consolidation of sequence-based knowledge (the when ) and the establishment of semantic schemas of unordered items (the what ) that underpin cross-linguistic variations in sentence comprehension. This hypothesis builds on the proposal that sleep is involved in the construction of predictive codes, a unified principle of brain function that supports incremental sentence comprehension. Finally, we discuss neurophysiological measures (EEG/MEG) that could be used to test these claims, such as the quantification of neuronal oscillations, which reflect basic mechanisms of information processing in the brain.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.BANDL.2010.06.004
Abstract: Prior research on the neural bases of syntactic comprehension suggests that activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus (lIFG) correlates with the processing of word order variations. However, there are inconsistencies with respect to the specific subregion within the IFG that is implicated by these findings: the pars opercularis or the pars triangularis. Here, we examined the hypothesis that the dissociation between pars opercularis and pars triangularis activation may reflect functional differences between clause-medial and clause-initial word order permutations, respectively. To this end, we directly compared clause-medial and clause-initial object-before-subject orders in German in a within-participants, event-related fMRI design. Our results showed increased activation for object-initial sentences in a bilateral network of frontal, temporal and subcortical regions. Within the lIFG, posterior and inferior subregions showed only a main effect of word order, whereas more anterior and superior subregions showed effects of word order and sentence type, with higher activation for sentences with an argument in the clause-initial position. These findings are interpreted as evidence for a functional gradation of sequence processing within the left IFG: posterior subportions correlate with argument prominence-based (local) aspects of sequencing, while anterior subportions correlate with aboutness-based aspects of sequencing, which are crucial in linking the current sentence to the wider discourse. This proposal appears compatible with more general hypotheses about information processing gradients in prefrontal cortex (Koechlin & Summerfield, 2007).
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2013
DOI: 10.1016/J.NEUROPSYCHOLOGIA.2013.07.013
Abstract: Models of language processing in the human brain often emphasize the prediction of upcoming input-for ex le in order to explain the rapidity of language understanding. However, the precise mechanisms of prediction are still poorly understood. Forward models, which draw upon the language production system to set up expectations during comprehension, provide a promising approach in this regard. Here, we present an event-related potential (ERP) study on German Sign Language (DGS) which tested the hypotheses of a forward model perspective on prediction. Sign languages involve relatively long transition phases between one sign and the next, which should be anticipated as part of a forward model-based prediction even though they are semantically empty. Native speakers of DGS watched videos of naturally signed DGS sentences which either ended with an expected or a (semantically) unexpected sign. Unexpected signs engendered a biphasic N400-late positivity pattern. Crucially, N400 onset preceded critical sign onset and was thus clearly elicited by properties of the transition phase. The comprehension system thereby clearly anticipated modality-specific information about the realization of the predicted semantic item. These results provide strong converging support for the application of forward models in language comprehension.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2002
DOI: 10.1016/S0010-0277(02)00076-8
Abstract: We show that online processing difficulties induced by word order variations in German cannot be attributed to the relative infrequency of the constructions in question, but rather appear to reflect the application of grammatical principles during parsing. Event-related brain potentials revealed that dative-marked objects in the initial position of an embedded sentence do not elicit a neurophysiologically distinct response from subjects, whereas accusative-marked objects do. These differences are predictable on the basis of grammatical distinctions (i.e. underlying linguistic properties), but not on the basis of frequency information (i.e. a superficial linguistic property). We therefore conclude that the former, but not the latter, guides syntactic integration during online parsing.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 31-08-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.08.29.456571
Abstract: Effective teams are essential for optimally functioning societies. However, little is known regarding the neural basis of two or more in iduals engaging cooperatively in real-world tasks, such as in operational training environments. In this exploratory study, we recruited forty in iduals paired as twenty dyads and recorded dual-EEG at rest and during realistic training scenarios of increasing complexity using virtual simulation systems. We estimated markers of intrinsic brain activity (i.e., in idual alpha frequency and aperiodic activity), as well as task-related theta and alpha oscillations. Using nonlinear modelling and a logistic regression machine learning model, we found that resting-state EEG predicts performance and can also reliably differentiate between members within a dyad. Task-related theta and alpha activity during easy training tasks predicted later performance on complex training to a greater extent than prior behaviour. These findings complement laboratory-based research on both oscillatory and aperiodic activity in higher-order cognition and provide evidence that theta and alpha activity play a critical role in complex task performance in team environments.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 12-08-2015
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 24-03-2022
DOI: 10.1101/2022.03.23.485424
Abstract: The endeavour to understand human cognition has largely relied upon investigation of task-related brain activity. However, resting-state brain activity can also offer insights into in idual information processing and performance capabilities. Previous research has identified electroencephalographic resting-state characteristics (most prominently: the in idual alpha frequency IAF) that predict cognitive function. However, it has largely overlooked a second component of electrophysiological signals: aperiodic 1/ f activity. The current study examined how both oscillatory and aperiodic resting-state EEG measures, alongside traditional cognitive tests, can predict performance in a dynamic and complex, semi-naturalistic cognitive task. Participants’ resting-state EEG was recorded prior to engaging in a Target Motion Analysis (TMA) task in a simulated submarine control room environment (CRUSE), which required participants to integrate dynamically changing information over time. We demonstrated that the relationship between IAF and cognitive performance extends from simple cognitive tasks (e.g., digit span) to complex, dynamic measures of information processing. Further, our results showed that in idual 1/ f parameters (slope and intercept) differentially predicted performance across practice and testing sessions, whereby flatter slopes were associated with improved performance during learning, while higher intercepts were linked to better performance during testing. In addition to the EEG predictors, we demonstrate a link between cognitive skills most closely related to the TMA task (i.e., spatial imagery) and subsequent performance. Overall, the current study highlights (1) how resting-state metrics – both oscillatory and aperiodic - have the potential to index higher-order cognitive capacity, while (2) emphasising the importance of examining these electrophysiological components within more dynamic settings and over time.
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 16-04-2008
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 15-12-2022
DOI: 10.1101/2022.12.14.520501
Abstract: In the perceptual and sensorimotor domains, ageing is accompanied by a stronger reliance on top-down predictive model information and reduced sensory learning, thus promoting simpler, more efficient internal models in older adults. Here, we demonstrate analogous effects in higher-order language processing. One-hundred and twenty adults ranging in age from 18 to 83 years listened to short auditory passages containing manipulations of adjective order, with order probabilities varying between two speakers. As a measure of model adaptation, we examined attunement of the N400 event-related potential, a measure of precision-weighted prediction errors in language, to a trial-by-trial measure of speaker-based adjective order expectedness (“speaker-based surprisal”) across the course of the experiment. Adaptation was strongest for young adults, weaker for middle-aged adults, and absent for older adults. Over and above age-related differences, we observed in idual differences in model adaptation, with aperiodic (1/f) slope and intercept metrics derived from resting-state EEG showing the most pronounced modulations. We suggest that age-related changes in aperiodic slope, which have been linked to neural noise, may be associated with in idual differences in the magnitude of stimulus-related prediction error signals. By contrast, changes in aperiodic intercept, which reflects aggregate population spiking, may relate to an in idual’s updating of inferences regarding stimulus precision. These two mechanisms jointly contribute to age-related changes in the precision-weighting of prediction errors and the degree of sensory learning.
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 03-2004
DOI: 10.1097/00001756-200403010-00005
Abstract: We present a new analysis technique for EEG research on language comprehension, which dissociates superficially indistinguishable event-related potential (ERP) components. A frequency-based analysis differentiated between two apparently identical but functionally distinct N400 effects in terms of activity in separable frequency bands, and whether the activity stemmed from increased power or phase locking. Whereas linguistic problem detection is associated with theta band activity (approximately 3.5-7.5 Hz), conflict resolution correlates with activity in the delta band (1-3 Hz). The data further differentiate between the neuronal processing mechanisms involved in different types of conflict resolution on the basis of frequency characteristics (power vs phase locking).
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2003
DOI: 10.1016/S0093-934X(02)00540-0
Abstract: This paper aims to dissociate grammatical and general cognitive (e.g., working-memory based) accounts of the processing costs elicited by word order variations in German. To this end, we present a study using event-related brain potentials (ERPs), in which dislocated arguments were instantiated either by non-pronominal or by pronominal noun phrases. This manipulation allows for a dissociation of the two competing accounts, since only a dislocation of non-pronominal arguments gives rise to a non-canonical structure. The results show that (a) in sentences with non-pronominal arguments, the determiner of a non-canonical noun phrase elicited a broadly distributed negativity, and (b) in sentences with pronominal arguments, no differences were observed for object- vs. subject-initial word orders. These findings show that the human parser is sensitive to fine-grained grammatical regularities. We therefore argue that the negativity is a reflection of a local syntactic mismatch, rather than of an increase in working-memory load.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 08-06-2022
DOI: 10.1101/2022.06.07.495229
Abstract: In idual differences in second language (L2) learning can offer insights into the neurobiological bases of learning aptitude. One neurophysiological marker of inter-in idual differences in cognition is the in idual alpha frequency (IAF), a trait-like measure correlated with cognition. Further, the N400 is an electrophysiological marker indexing stimulus irregularity and has been used to study L2 learning however, its relationship with IAF and L2 learning remains unknown. To examine the relation between IAF and L2 learning (indexed by N400 litude), we report data from a modified miniature language learning study. After a vocabulary learning period, participants ( N = 38, M age = 25.3, SD = 7.13) judged the grammaticality of classifier-noun pairs, with mixed-effects modelling revealing lower IAF in iduals were better than higher IAF in iduals at grammaticality judgements. N400 litude also reduced across the experiment in low relative to high IAF in iduals, indicating the relationship between IAF and language learning is more complex than initially postulated.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 24-07-2013
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 19-06-2018
Abstract: Previous work found that single-session focused attention meditation (FAM) enhanced motor sequence learning through increased cognitive control as a mechanistic action, although electrophysiological correlates of sequence learning performance following FAM were not investigated. We measured the persistent frontal N2 event-related potential (ERP) that is closely related to cognitive control processes and its ability to predict behavioural measures. Twenty-nine participants were randomised to one of three conditions reflecting the level of FAM experienced prior to a serial reaction time task (SRTT): 21 sessions of FAM (FAM21, N= 12), a single FAM session (FAM1, N= 9) or no preceding FAM control (Control, N= 8). Continuous 64-channel EEG were recorded during SRTT and N2 litudes for correct trials were extracted. Component litude, regions of interests, and behavioural outcomes were compared using mixed effects regression models between groups. FAM21 exhibited faster reaction time performances in majority of the learning blocks compared to FAM1 and Control. FAM21 also demonstrated a significantly more pronounced N2 over majority of anterior and central regions of interests during SRTT compared to the other groups. When N2 litudes were modelled against general learning performance, FAM21 showed the greatest rate of litude decline over anterior and central regions. The combined results suggest that FAM training provided greater cognitive control enhancement for improved sequence learning performance compared to the other groups. Importantly, FAM training facilitates dynamic modulation of cognitive control: lower levels of general learning performance was supported by greater levels of activation, whilst higher levels of general learning required less activation.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2011
DOI: 10.1016/J.NEUROPSYCHOLOGIA.2011.09.009
Abstract: Models of how the human brain reconstructs an intended meaning from a linguistic input often draw upon the N400 event-related potential (ERP) component as evidence. Current accounts of the N400 emphasise either the role of contextually induced lexical preactivation of a critical word (Lau, Phillips, & Poeppel, 2008) or the ease of integration into the overall discourse context including a wide variety of influencing factors (Hagoort & van Berkum, 2007). The present ERP study challenges both types of accounts by demonstrating a contextually independent and purely form-based bottom-up influence on the N400: the N400 effect for implausible sentence-endings was attenuated when the critical sentence-final word was capitalised (following a lowercase sentence context). By contrast, no N400 modulation occurred when the critical word involved a change from uppercase (sentence context) to lowercase. Thus, the N400 was only affected by a change to uppercase letters, as is often employed in computer-mediated communication as a sign of emphasis. This result indicates that N400 litude is reduced for unexpected words when a bottom-up (orthographic) cue signals that the word is likely to be highly informative. The lexical-semantic N400 thereby reflects the degree to which the semantic informativity of a critical word matches expectations, as determined by an interplay between top-down and bottom-up information sources, including purely form-based bottom-up information.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2008
DOI: 10.1016/J.BANDL.2008.06.003
Abstract: We present two ERP studies on the processing of word order variations in Japanese, a language that is suited to shedding further light on the implications of word order freedom for neurocognitive approaches to sentence comprehension. Experiment 1 used auditory presentation and revealed that initial accusative objects elicit increased processing costs in comparison to initial subjects (in the form of a transient negativity) only when followed by a prosodic boundary. A similar effect was observed using visual presentation in Experiment 2, however only for accusative but not for dative objects. These results support a relational account of word order processing, in which the costs of comprehending an object-initial word order are determined by the linearization properties of the initial object in relation to the linearization properties of possible upcoming arguments. In the absence of a prosodic boundary, the possibility for subject omission in Japanese renders it likely that the initial accusative is the only argument in the clause. Hence, no upcoming arguments are expected and no linearization problem can arise. A prosodic boundary or visual segmentation, by contrast, indicate an object-before-subject word order, thereby leading to a mismatch between argument "prominence" (e.g. in terms of thematic roles) and linear order. This mismatch is alleviated when the initial object is highly prominent itself (e.g. in the case of a dative, which can bear the higher-ranking thematic role in a two argument relation). We argue that the processing mechanism at work here can be distinguished from more general aspects of "dependency processing" in object-initial sentences.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2003
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2008
DOI: 10.1016/J.COGNITION.2007.01.008
Abstract: A fundamental question in psycholinguistic research concerns the universality of comprehension strategies. We investigated this issue by examining the so-called "subject preference" in Turkish, a language which allows for a natural (unmarked) object reading of an initial ambiguous argument. Using event-related brain potentials (ERPs), we observed increased processing difficulty in the form of a broadly distributed positivity when an initial ambiguous argument was disambiguated towards an object reading. This effect was independent of the animacy (i.e. semantic subject prototypicality) of the ambiguous argument. Our results therefore speak in favour of a universal tendency to interpret the first argument encountered as the "subject" of the clause, even in languages providing no obvious structural motivation for such a strategy. However, we argue that the underlying explanation for this preference must be modified in accordance with cross-linguistic considerations.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.BRAINRES.2014.11.046
Abstract: Couldn׳t a humble coconut hurt a gardener? At least in the first instance, the brain seems to assume that it should not: we perceive inanimate entities such as coconuts as poor event instigators ("Actors"). Ideally, entities causing a change in another entity should be animate and this assumption not only influences event perception but also carries over to language comprehension. We present three auditory event-related brain potential (ERP) studies on the processing of inanimate and animate subjects and objects in simple transitive sentences in Tamil. ERP responses were measured at the second argument (event participant) in all three studies. Experiment 1 employed all possible animacy combinations of Actors and Undergoers (affected participants) in Actor- and Undergoer-initial verb-final orders. Experiments 2 and 3 employed a fairly novel context design that enabled us to compare ERPs evoked by identical auditory material to differing contextual expectations: Experiment 2 focussed on constructions in which an inanimate Actor acts upon an inanimate Undergoer, whereas Experiment 3 examined whether and how a preceding context modulates the prediction for an ideal Actor. Results showed an N400 effect when the prediction for an ideal (animate) Actor following an Undergoer was not met, thus further supporting the cross-linguistically robust nature of animacy preferences. In addition, though specific contextual cues that are indicative of a forthcoming non-ideal Actor may reduce this negativity in comparison to when such cues are not available, they nevertheless do not nullify it, suggesting that animacy-based predictions are stronger than contextual cues in online language comprehension.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2011
DOI: 10.1016/J.NEUROPSYCHOLOGIA.2010.12.003
Abstract: Conflicts in language processing often correlate with late positive event-related brain potentials (ERPs), particularly when they are induced by inconsistencies between different information types (e.g. syntactic and thematic lausibility information). However, under certain circumstances, similar sentence-level interpretation conflicts (inanimate subjects) engender negativity effects (N400s) instead. The present ERP study was designed to shed light on this inconsistency. In previous studies showing monophasic positivities (P600s), the conflict was irresolvable and induced via a verb, whereas N400s were elicited by resolvable, argument-induced conflicts. Here, we therefore examined irresolvable argument-induced conflicts (pronoun case violations) in simple English sentences. Conflict strength was manipulated via the animacy of the first argument and the agreement status of the verb. Processing conflicts engendered a biphasic N400-late positivity pattern, with only the N400 sensitive to conflict strength (animacy). These results suggest that argument-induced conflicts engender N400 effects, (which we interpret in terms of increased competition for the Actor role) whereas irresolvable conflicts elicit late positivities (which we interpret as reflecting well-formedness categorisation).
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2004
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 2006
Publisher: MIT Press
Date: 17-10-2023
DOI: 10.1162/NOL_A_00121
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 20-11-2018
Abstract: Language-related event-related potential (ERP) components such as the N400 have traditionally been associated with linguistic or cognitive functional interpretations. By contrast, it has been considerably more difficult to relate these components to neurobiologically grounded accounts of language. Here, we propose a theoretical framework based on a predictive coding architecture, within which negative language-related ERP components such as the N400 can be accounted for in a neurobiologically plausible manner. Specifically, we posit that the litude of negative language-related ERP components reflects precision-weighted prediction error signals, i.e. prediction errors weighted by the relevance of the information source leading to the error. From this perspective, precision has a direct link to cue validity in a particular language and, thereby, to relevance of in idual linguistic features for internal model updating. We view components such as the N400 and LAN as members of a family with similar functional characteristics and suggest that latency and topography differences between these components reflect the locus of prediction errors and model updating within a hierarchically organised cortical predictive coding architecture. This account has the potential to unify findings from the full range of the N400 literature, including word-level, sentence- and discourse-level results as well as cross-linguistic differences.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 06-07-2016
DOI: 10.1101/062299
Abstract: The recent trend away from ANOVA-based analyses places experimental investigations into the neurobiology of cognition in more naturalistic and ecologically valid designs within reach. Using mixed-effects models for epoch-based regression, we demonstrate the feasibility of examining event-related potentials (ERPs), and in particular the N400, to study the neural dynamics of auditory language processing in a naturalistic setting. Despite the large variability between trials during naturalistic stimulation, we replicated previous findings from the literature: frequency, animacy, word order. This suggests a new perspective on ERPs, namely as a continuous modulation reflecting continuous model updates (cf. Friston, 2005) instead of a series of discrete and essentially sequential processes.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-11-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-021-01772-8
Abstract: The capacity to regulate one’s attention in accordance with fluctuating task demands and environmental contexts is an essential feature of adaptive behavior. Although the electrophysiological correlates of attentional processing have been extensively studied in the laboratory, relatively little is known about the way they unfold under more variable, ecologically-valid conditions. Accordingly, this study employed a ‘real-world’ EEG design to investigate how attentional processing varies under increasing cognitive, motor, and environmental demands. Forty-four participants were exposed to an auditory oddball task while (1) sitting in a quiet room inside the lab, (2) walking around a sports field, and (3) wayfinding across a university c us. In each condition, participants were instructed to either count or ignore oddball stimuli. While behavioral performance was similar across the lab and field conditions, oddball count accuracy was significantly reduced in the c us condition. Moreover, event-related potential components (mismatch negativity and P3) elicited in both ‘real-world’ settings differed significantly from those obtained under laboratory conditions. These findings demonstrate the impact of environmental factors on attentional processing during simultaneously-performed motor and cognitive tasks, highlighting the value of incorporating dynamic and unpredictable contexts within naturalistic designs.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2014
DOI: 10.1016/J.BANDL.2014.07.010
Abstract: The P600, a late positive ERP component following linguistically deviant stimuli, is commonly seen as indexing structural, high-level processes, e.g. of linguistic (re)analysis. It has also been identified with the P3 (P600-as-P3 hypothesis), which is thought to reflect a systemic neuromodulator release facilitating behavioural shifts and is usually response time aligned. We investigated single-trial alignment of the P600 to response, a critical prediction of the P600-as-P3 hypothesis. Participants heard sentences containing morphosyntactic and semantic violations and responded via a button press. The elicited P600 was perfectly response aligned, while an N400 following semantic deviations was stimulus aligned. This is, to our knowledge, the first single-trial analysis of language processing data using within-sentence behavioural responses as temporal covariates. Results support the P600-as-P3 perspective and thus constitute a step towards a neurophysiological grounding of language-related ERPs.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2009
DOI: 10.1016/J.BANDL.2009.09.004
Abstract: It has often been suggested that the role of Broca's region in sentence comprehension can be explained with reference to general cognitive mechanisms (e.g. working memory, cognitive control). However, the (language-related) basis for such proposals is often restricted to findings on English. Here, we argue that an extension of the database to other languages can shed new light on the types of mechanisms that an adequate account of Broca's region should be equipped to deal with. This becomes most readily apparent in the domain of word order variations, which we examined in German verb-final sentences using event-related fMRI. Our results showed that activation in the pars opercularis--a core subregion of Broca's area--was not only modulated by the relative ordering of subject and object, but also by a further factor known to affect word order in a number of languages, namely referentiality. Notably, the finding provides the first demonstration of a word order-related activation difference within subject-initial sentences in this region. Additional parametric analyses using in idual behavioral data as predictors further attest to the independence of the pars opercularis activation from: (a) sentence acceptability, and (b) difficulty in performing the experimental (judgment) task. We argue that these and related findings attest to the need for a processing mechanism that can manipulate predicate-independent, interacting and hierarchically structured relational representations during real time comprehension. These properties pose a challenge to existing accounts of pars opercularis function.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 05-2008
DOI: 10.1017/S0952675708001383
Abstract: The present paper explores whether the metrical foot is necessary for the description of prosodic systems. To this end, we present empirical findings on the perception of German word stress using event-related brain potentials as the dependent measure. A manipulation of the main stress position within three-syllable words revealed differential brain responses, which (a) correlated with the reorganisation of syllables into feet in stress violations, and (b) differed in strength depending on syllable weight. The experiments therefore provide evidence that the processing of word stress not only involves lexical information about stress positions, but also (quantity-sensitive) information about metrical structures, in particular feet and syllables.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2006
DOI: 10.1016/J.BRAINRES.2006.04.080
Abstract: Reanalysis in language comprehension provides a window on how superficially similar processes of conflict resolution may differ depending on the context in which they are initiated. Thus, previous ERP studies have shown that reanalyses towards object-initial orders in German sentences with dative-active verbs (e.g., folgen, 'to follow') engender N400 effects, while reanalyses with accusative verbs (e.g., besuchen, 'to visit') elicit P600 effects. This difference appears surprising since these two verb classes are both associated with a subject-initial base order. The present paper reports two ERP experiments designed to shed further light on the nature of the conflict resolution processes involved in each case by examining structures in which word order disambiguation is separated from verb class disambiguation. Experiment 1 contrasted dative-active verbs with accusative verbs, while Experiment 2 compared dative-active and dative object-experiencer verbs (which are associated with an object-initial base order). Our results show that the reanalysis pattern for dative-active constructions is context-dependent: when verb class disambiguation precedes word order disambiguation, an N400-P600 pattern results. By contrast, the reanalysis patterns for the other two verb types are context independent: object-experiencer verbs invariably show an N400 and accusative verbs invariably show a P600. We argue that (a) the N400 is a general marker of reanalysis in dative sentences, reflecting an argument reindexation, while (b) the P600 in accusative sentences reflects a structural recomputation. The variable pattern for dative-active sentences reflects the (in)applicability of "good-enough" representations during conflict resolution in garden path sentences.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 25-09-2010
Abstract: Low-frequency fluctuations (LFFs) are a major source of variation in fMRI data. This has been established in numerous experiments-particularly in the resting state. Here we investigate LFFs in a task-dependent setting. We hypothesized that LFFs may contain information about cognitive networks that are specific to the overall task domain without being time locked to stimulus onsets. We analyzed data of 6 fMRI experiments, 4 of which belonged to the language domain. After regressing out specifics of the experimental design and low-pass filtering (<0.1 Hz), we found that the 4 language experiments produced a correlational pattern that was not present in the 2 nonlanguage studies. Specifically, a region in the posterior part of the left superior temporal sulcus/gyrus was consistently correlated with both the left Brodmann's area 44 and the left frontal operculum in all 4 language studies, whereas this correlation was not found in the 2 other experiments. This finding indicates the existence of a basic network that acts as a general framework for language processing. In contrast to networks obtained by a conventional conjunction analysis of activation maps, this network is independent of experimental specifics such as stimulus onsets and exists in the low-frequency range.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-08-2014
DOI: 10.1007/S12021-013-9198-X
Abstract: Neurophysiological data from a range of typologically erse languages provide evidence for a cross-linguistically valid, actor-based strategy of understanding sentence-level meaning. This strategy seeks to identify the participant primarily responsible for the state of affairs (the actor) as quickly and unambiguously as possible, thus resulting in competition for the actor role when there are multiple candidates. Due to its applicability across languages with vastly different characteristics, we have proposed that the actor strategy may derive from more basic cognitive or neurobiological organizational principles, though it is also shaped by distributional properties of the linguistic input (e.g. the morphosyntactic coding strategies for actors in a given language). Here, we describe an initial computational model of the actor strategy and how it interacts with language-specific properties. Specifically, we contrast two distance metrics derived from the output of the computational model (one weighted and one unweighted) as potential measures of the degree of competition for actorhood by testing how well they predict modulations of electrophysiological activity engendered by language processing. To this end, we present an EEG study on word order processing in German and use linear mixed-effects models to assess the effect of the various distance metrics. Our results show that a weighted metric, which takes into account the weighting of an actor-identifying feature in the language under consideration outperforms an unweighted distance measure. We conclude that actor competition effects cannot be reduced to feature overlap between multiple sentence participants and thereby to the notion of similarity-based interference, which is prominent in current memory-based models of language processing. Finally, we argue that, in addition to illuminating the underlying neurocognitive mechanisms of actor competition, the present model can form the basis for a more comprehensive, neurobiologically plausible computational model of constructing sentence-level meaning.
Publisher: Society for Neuroscience
Date: 30-11-2016
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4100-15.2016
Abstract: The hierarchical organization of human cortical circuits integrates information across different timescales via temporal receptive windows, which increase in length from lower to higher levels of the cortical hierarchy (Hasson et al., 2015). A recent neurobiological model of higher-order language processing (Bornkessel-Schlesewsky et al., 2015) posits that temporal receptive windows in the dorsal auditory stream provide the basis for a hierarchically organized predictive coding architecture (Friston and Kiebel, 2009). In this stream, a nested set of internal models generates time-based (“when”) predictions for upcoming input at different linguistic levels (sounds, words, sentences, discourse). Here, we used naturalistic stories to test the hypothesis that multi-sentence, discourse-level predictions are processed in the dorsal auditory stream, yielding attenuated BOLD responses for highly predicted versus less strongly predicted language input. The results were as hypothesized: discourse-related cues, such as passive voice, which effect a higher predictability of remention for a character at a later point within a story, led to attenuated BOLD responses for auditory input of high versus low predictability within the dorsal auditory stream, specifically in the inferior parietal lobule, middle frontal gyrus, and dorsal parts of the inferior frontal gyrus, among other areas. Additionally, we found effects of content-related (“what”) predictions in ventral regions. These findings provide novel evidence that hierarchical predictive coding extends to discourse-level processing in natural language. Importantly, they ground language processing on a hierarchically organized predictive network, as a common underlying neurobiological basis shared with other brain functions. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Language is the most powerful communicative medium available to humans. Nevertheless, we lack an understanding of the neurobiological basis of language processing in natural contexts: it is not clear how the human brain processes linguistic input within the rich contextual environments of our everyday language experience. This fMRI study provides the first demonstration that, in natural stories, predictions concerning the probability of remention of a protagonist at a later point are processed in the dorsal auditory stream. Results are congruent with a hierarchical predictive coding architecture assuming temporal receptive windows of increasing length from auditory to higher-order cortices. Accordingly, language processing in rich contextual settings can be explained via domain-general, neurobiological mechanisms of information processing in the human brain.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2009
DOI: 10.1016/J.NEUROPSYCHOLOGIA.2009.05.009
Abstract: Classical views on the electrophysiology of language assume that different event-related potential (ERP) components index distinct linguistic subdomains. Hence, left-anterior negativities are often viewed as correlates of rule-based linguistic knowledge, whereas centro-parietal negativities (N400s) are taken to reflect (non-rule-based) semantic memory or aspects of lexical-semantic predictability. The present ERP study of case marking in Hindi challenges this clear-cut dichotomy. Though determined by a grammatical rule, the choice of subject case in Hindi is also interpretively relevant as it constrains the range of possible interpretations of the subject. For incorrect subject cases, we observed an N400, which was followed by a late positivity under certain circumstances. This finding suggests that violations of rule-based knowledge may engender an N400 when the rule is interpretively relevant.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2014
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2003
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 09-12-2009
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2004
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 30-11-2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.CORTEX.2014.12.019
Abstract: When, during language processing, a reader or listener is confronted with a structurally deviant phrase, this typically elicits a late positive ERP deflection (P600). The P600 is often understood as a correlate of structural analysis. This assumption has informed a number of neurocognitive models of language. However, the P600 strongly resembles the P3, likely a more general electrophysiological correlate of reorientation behaviour supported by noradrenergic input to the ventral attention network/VAN. Some researchers have proposed that the P600 is an instance of the P3, not a distinct component reflecting the analysis of structured inputs. Here, we tested the P600-as-P3 hypothesis by estimating the alignment of the P600 elicited in a visual sentence processing task to simultaneously collected behavioural measures. A similar analysis was undertaken for a P3 elicited in a separate non-linguistic (face detection) task. Since the P3 is usually aligned to reaction time/RT, the same should hold for the P600 a failure to find RT alignment of the P600 would pose a problem for the P600-as-P3 hypothesis. In contrast, RT alignment of the P600 would associate it with the well-established VAN/Locus Coeruleus - Noradrenaline - Network subserving cortical reorientation. We failed to falsify the hypothesis of RT alignment. Secondary measures, while less unambiguous, were more in agreement with the P600-as-P3 hypothesis. We interpret our results as corroborating the hypothesis that the P600 is a P3, in that it shows that the P600 is RT-aligned. This perspective is unpredicted by an account of the P600 as indexing high-level processing.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2013
DOI: 10.1016/J.BANDL.2013.01.010
Abstract: We present a new dorsal-ventral stream framework for language comprehension which unifies basic neurobiological assumptions (Rauschecker & Scott, 2009) with a cross-linguistic neurocognitive sentence comprehension model (eADM Bornkessel & Schlesewsky, 2006). The dissociation between (time-dependent) syntactic structure-building and (time-independent) sentence interpretation assumed within the eADM provides a basis for the ision of labour between the dorsal and ventral streams in comprehension. We posit that the ventral stream performs time-independent unifications of conceptual schemata, serving to create auditory objects of increasing complexity. The dorsal stream engages in the time-dependent combination of elements, subserving both syntactic structuring and a linkage to action. Furthermore, frontal regions accomplish general aspects of cognitive control in the service of action planning and execution rather than linguistic processing. This architecture is supported by a range of existing empirical findings and helps to resolve a number of theoretical and empirical puzzles within the existing dorsal-ventral streams literature.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2009
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 24-08-2022
DOI: 10.1101/2022.08.23.505024
Abstract: Memory is critical for many cognitive functions, from remembering facts, to learning complex environmental rules. While memory encoding occurs during wake, memory consolidation is associated with sleep-related neural activity. Further, research suggests that in idual differences in alpha frequency during wake (∼ 7 – 13 Hz) modulate memory processes, with higher in idual alpha frequency (IAF) associated with greater memory performance. However, the relationship between wake-related EEG in idual differences, such as IAF, and sleep-related neural correlates of memory consolidation has been largely unexplored, particularly in a complex rule-based memory context. Here, we aimed to investigate whether wake-derived IAF and sleep neurophysiology interact to influence rule learning in a s le of 35 healthy adults (16 males mean age = 25.4, range: 18 – 40). Participants learned rules of a modified miniature language prior to either 8hrs of sleep or wake, after which they were tested on their knowledge of the rules in a grammaticality judgement task. Results indicate that sleep neurophysiology and wake-derived IAF do not interact but modulate memory for complex linguistic rules separately. Phase- litude coupling between slow oscillations and spindles during non-rapid eye-movement (NREM) sleep also promoted memory for rules that were analogous to the canonical English word order. As an exploratory analysis, we found that rapid eye-movement (REM) sleep theta power at posterior regions interacts with IAF to predict rule learning and proportion of time in REM sleep predicts rule learning differentially depending on grammatical rule type. Taken together, the current study provides behavioural and electrophysiological evidence for a complex role of NREM and REM sleep neurophysiology and wake-derived IAF in the consolidation of rule-based information.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2014
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2015
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 11-04-2018
Abstract: Recent theoretical models outline that motor sequence learning involves cognitive control processes that affects stimulus- or plan-based control, although clear contributions from the have not been delineated. Previously, we found that single-session focused attention meditation (FAM) enhanced stimulus-based control through increased top-down activation. In the present experiment, we aimed to understand if single-session FAM effects could be enhanced with short-term FAM training in behavioural reaction time, and neurophysiological indices in the form event-related potentials (ERP). We investigated the N200 component that is closely related to top-down activation, and the error-related negatively (ERN) component that is closely related to error processing for plan development. 29 participants were randomised to one of three conditions reflecting the level of FAM experienced prior to a serial reaction time task (SRTT): 21 sessions of FAM (FAM21, N= 12), a single FAM session (FAM1, N= 9) or no preceding FAM control (Control, N= 8). Continuous 64-channel EEG were recorded during SRTT whereby N200 litudes for correct trials, and ERN using mean difference in litudes for correct and error trials, were extracted. Component litudes, topography and behavioural outcomes were compared using linear mixed effects regression models between groups. Firstly, FAM21 exhibited faster reaction time performances in majority of the learning blocks compared to FAM1 and Control. FAM21 also demonstrated a significantly more pronounced N200 component over all anterior and the central regions during SRTT compared to FAM1 and Control. When N200 litudes were modelled against general learning performance, FAM21 also showed the greatest rate of decline over all anterior and the central regions during SRTT compared to FAM1 and Control. No robust differences in the ERN component were found that supported our predictions. The N200 is associated with top-down cognitive control processes, and hence may index stimulus-based learning effects whilst the ERN is associated with error and updating of an internalised plan that may index plan-based learning effects. Firstly, our results show that after FAM training, top-down activation is increased for better block-on-block RT performances compared to the other groups. More importantly, FAM training facilitates more efficient and dynamic modulation of top-down activation such that at high levels of general learning performance, less top-down control is needed to maintain the performance.
Publisher: Society for Neuroscience
Date: 11-2017
DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0311-16.2017
Abstract: The recent trend away from ANOVA-based analyses places experimental investigations into the neurobiology of cognition in more naturalistic and ecologically valid designs within reach. Using mixed-effects models for epoch-based regression, we demonstrate the feasibility of examining event-related potentials (ERPs), and in particular the N400, to study the neural dynamics of human auditory language processing in a naturalistic setting. Despite the large variability between trials during naturalistic stimulation, we replicated previous findings from the literature: the effects of frequency, animacy, and word order and find previously unexplored interaction effects. This suggests a new perspective on ERPs, namely, as a continuous modulation reflecting continuous stimulation instead of a series of discrete and essentially sequential processes locked to discrete events.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-11-2022
DOI: 10.1111/JHN.12969
Abstract: Accurate dietary intake data are critical to nutrition care planning. Commonly used food record charts (FRC) are paper‐based, time consuming, require nutrient analysis estimations, and may provide limited accuracy. The present study aimed to validate Mobile Intake® (MI) (an electronic food intake tool incorporating the five‐point visual scale and providing automatic nutrient analysis) for usability and efficacy in quantifying dietary intake in the healthcare setting. Two research stages within two tertiary hospitals included: (1) examining criterion validity and efficiency of dietary intake quantification using FRC and MI compared to the gold standard weighed food record (WFR) in a controlled environment and (2) comparing efficiency and effectiveness of FRC and MI in usual care conditions. In Stage 1, dietary intake was calculated ( n = 90) with a significant difference across all methods (FRC, MI and WFR) for energy ( p = 0.04), but not between MI and WFR ( p = 1.00). The time taken for MI (40 s) was significantly less than FRC (174 s) and WFR (371 s) ( p 001). In Stage 2, dietary intake was determined ( n = 210) using FRC and MI. Sufficient data to complete dietary analysis were available for 35% of meals from FRC compared to 98% from MI. Calculated mean daily energy intake (4764 ± 1432 kJ vs. 6636 ± 2519 kJ, p = 0.002) and mean daily protein intake (62.9 ± 12.7 g vs. 78.5 ± 22.2 g, p = 0.007) were significantly lower with FRC compared to MI. Average time to complete MI was 14.4 seconds. MI demonstrates efficacy as an accurate measure of dietary intake compared to WFR, as well as usability, providing faster, more accurate and comprehensive real‐time intake data in practice than FRC.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-05-2005
DOI: 10.1002/HBM.20154
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2005
DOI: 10.1016/J.NEUROIMAGE.2005.01.032
Abstract: The present fMRI study aimed at identifying neural correlates of the syntax-semantics interface in language comprehension. This was achieved by examining what we refer to as "argument hierarchy construction", i.e., determining which participant in a sentence is the "Actor" and which is the "Undergoer" of the event expressed by the verb. In order to identify the neural bases of argument hierarchy processing, we manipulated three factors known to influence the complexity of argument hierarchy construction in German, namely argument order, verb class and morphological ambiguity. Increased argument hierarchization demands engendered enhanced activation in a network of inferior frontal, posterior superior temporal, premotor and parietal areas. Moreover, components of this network were differentially modulated by the in idual factors. In particular, the left posterior superior temporal sulcus showed an enhanced sensitivity for morphological information and the syntactic realization of the verb-based argument hierarchy, while the activation of the left inferior frontal gyrus (pars opercularis) corresponded to linearization demands and was independent of morphological information. We therefore argue that, for German, posterior superior temporal and inferior frontal regions engage in the extraction of actorhood from morphosyntactic structure and in the sequential realization of hierarchical interpretive dependencies, respectively.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 07-10-2019
DOI: 10.1101/788976
Abstract: Semantic reversal anomalies (SRAs) – sentences where an implausibility is created by reversing participant roles – have attracted much attention in the literature on the electrophysiology of language. In spite of being syntactically well-formed but semantically implausible, these sentences unexpectedly elicited a monophasic P600 effect in English and Dutch rather than an N400 effect. Subsequent research revealed variability in the presence/absence of an N400 effect to SRAs depending on the language examined and the choice of verb type in English. However, most previous studies employed the same presentation modality (visual) and task (acceptability judgement). Here, we conducted two experiments and three statistical analyses to investigate the influence of stimulus modality, task demand, and statistical choices on event-related potential (ERP) response patterns to SRAs in English. We reproduced a previous study’s procedure and analysis (Bourguignon et al., 2012), and further introduced between-subjects factors of task type and modality, using mixed effects modelling to analyse the data. We observed an N400 effect to typical English SRAs (agent subject verbs, e.g. the fries will eat the boys ), which contrasts existing literature and was not predicted by existing theories that account for SRA processing. Task demand modulated the ERPs elicited by SRAs, while auditory presentation led to increased comprehension accuracy and a more broadly distributed ERP. Finally, the statistical methods used influenced the presence/absence of ERP effects. Our results suggest a sensitivity of language-related ERP patterns to methodological parameters and we conclude that future experiments should take this into careful consideration.
Publisher: MIT Press - Journals
Date: 08-2007
DOI: 10.1162/JOCN.2007.19.8.1259
Abstract: We report a series of event-related potential experiments designed to dissociate the functionally distinct processes involved in the comprehension of highly restricted lexical-semantic relations (antonyms). We sought to differentiate between influences of semantic relatedness (which are independent of the experimental setting) and processes related to predictability (which differ as a function of the experimental environment). To this end, we conducted three ERP studies contrasting the processing of antonym relations (black-white) with that of related (black-yellow) and unrelated (black-nice) word pairs. Whereas the lexical-semantic manipulation was kept constant across experiments, the experimental environment and the task demands varied: Experiment 1 presented the word pairs in a sentence context of the form The opposite of X is Y and used a sensicality judgment. Experiment 2 used a word pair presentation mode and a lexical decision task. Experiment 3 also examined word pairs, but with an antonymy judgment task. All three experiments revealed a graded N400 response (unrelated & related & antonyms), thus supporting the assumption that semantic associations are processed automatically. In addition, the experiments revealed that, in highly constrained task environments, the N400 gradation occurs simultaneously with a P300 effect for the antonym condition, thus leading to the superficial impression of an extremely “reduced” N400 for antonym pairs. Comparisons across experiments and participant groups revealed that the P300 effect is not only a function of stimulus constraints (i.e., sentence context) and experimental task, but that it is also crucially influenced by in idual processing strategies used to achieve successful task performance.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 19-07-2020
Abstract: The influence of sentential cues (such as animacy and word order) on thematic role interpretation differs as a function of language (MacWhinney et al. 1984). However, existing cross-linguistic research has typically focused on transitive sentences involving agents, and interpretation of non-default verb classes is less well understood. Here, we compared the way in which English and German native speakers – languages known to differ in the cue prominence of animacy and word order – assign thematic roles. We compared their interpretation of sentences containing either default (agent-subject) or non-default (experiencer-subject) verb classes. Animacy of the two noun phrases in a sentence was either animate-inanimate and plausible (e.g. “The men will devour the meals...”) or inanimate-animate and implausible in English (e.g. “The meals will devour the men…”). We examined role assignment by probing for either the actor or undergoer of the sentence. Mixed effects modelling revealed that role assignment was significantly influenced by noun animacy, verb class, question type, and language. Results are interpreted within the Competition Model framework (Bates et al. 1982 MacWhinney et al. 1984) and show that English speakers predominantly relied on word order for thematic role assignment. German speakers relied on word order to a comparatively lesser degree, with animacy a prominent cue. Cue weightings appeared to be modulated in the context of other cues, with the weighting of an animacy-based strategy over a word-order-based strategy increasing for sentences with non-default (experiencer-subject) verbs and with undergoer-focused questions, particularly where word order was more flexible (i.e. in German as opposed to English). These findings highlight the differential influence of the surrounding context (e.g. question focus) across languages.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2002
Abstract: We present evidence that the supposed processing advantage for an SVfinO word order over an SOVfin word order in German argued for by Weyerts, Penke, Münte, Heinze, and Clahsen (2002) is supported by neither experimental nor theoretical evidence. Specifically, we show (a) that the frontocentral negativity for an SOVfin in comparison to an SVfinO word order in Weyerts et al.'s Experiments 2 and 3 is reducible to more general differences in the electrophysiological responses elicited by nouns versus verbs in a sentence context, and (b) that the P600 difference between the two word orders in Experiment 2, as well as the reading time differences in Experiment 1, result from the fact that the two supposedly ungrammatical conditions actually differ in their degree of ill-formedness. We conclude that there is no evidence for a processing disadvantage for SOVfin, thus reconciling Weyerts et al.'s results on German sentence processing with the grammatical regularities of German.
Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Date: 2023
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-2013
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2011
DOI: 10.1016/J.BANDL.2010.09.010
Abstract: This paper demonstrates systematic cross-linguistic differences in the electrophysiological correlates of conflicts between form and meaning ("semantic reversal anomalies"). These engender P600 effects in English and Dutch (e.g. Kolk et al., 2003 Kuperberg et al., 2003), but a biphasic N400 - late positivity pattern in German (Schlesewsky and Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, 2009), and monophasic N400 effects in Turkish (Experiment 1) and Mandarin Chinese (Experiment 2). Experiment 3 revealed that, in Icelandic, semantic reversal anomalies show the English pattern with verbs requiring a position-based identification of argument roles, but the German pattern with verbs requiring a case-based identification of argument roles. The overall pattern of results reveals two separate dimensions of cross-linguistic variation: (i) the presence vs. absence of an N400, which we attribute to cross-linguistic differences with regard to the sequence-dependence of the form-to-meaning mapping and (ii) the presence vs. absence of a late positivity, which we interpret as an instance of a categorisation-related late P300, and which is observable when the language under consideration allows for a binary well-formedness categorisation of reversal anomalies. We conclude that, rather than reflecting linguistic domains such as syntax and semantics, the late positivity vs. N400 distinction is better understood in terms of the strategies that serve to optimise the form-to-meaning mapping in a given language.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 06-02-2013
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2007
DOI: 10.1016/J.NEUROIMAGE.2006.11.045
Abstract: Is it living or not? The ability to differentiate between animate and inanimate entities is of considerable value in everyday life, since it allows for the dissociation of in iduals that may willfully cause an action from objects that cannot. The present fMRI study aimed to shed light on the neural correlates of animacy at a relational-interpretive level, i.e. on the role of animacy in the establishment of relations between entities that are more or less likely to cause an event and differ in their potential to act volitionally. To this end, we investigated the processing of visually presented transitive German sentences (nominative-accusative structures) in which the factors animacy and argument order were manipulated. The relations between the arguments differed in that the animate subject either acted on an inanimate object (a very natural construction in terms of transitivity) or on an animate object (resulting in a sentence deviating from an unmarked transitive structure). Participants performed an acceptability judgment task. Violations of unmarked transitivity yielded a significant activation increase within the posterior left superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), thus suggesting a specific role of this cortical region in the relational use of animacy information. This result indicates that the influence of animacy as a relational feature differs from the impact of this parameter on the word level and is in line with other neuroimaging studies showing an engagement of the pSTS when a matching between syntax and semantics is required. A comparison between object- and subject-initial conditions further revealed a robust effect of argument order in the pars opercularis of the left inferior frontal gyrus (a subregion of Broca's area), thereby replicating previous findings demonstrating a sensitivity of this region to fine-grained language-specific linearization rules.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 27-05-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.05.27.445993
Abstract: The capacity to regulate one’s attention in accordance with fluctuating task demands and environmental contexts is an essential feature of adaptive behavior. Although the electrophysiological correlates of attentional processing have been extensively studied in the laboratory, relatively little is known about the way they unfold under more variable, ecologically-valid conditions. Accordingly, this study employed a ‘real-world’ EEG design to investigate how attentional processing varies under increasing cognitive, motor, and environmental demands. Forty-four participants were exposed to an auditory oddball task while (1) sitting in a quiet room inside the lab, (2) walking around a sports field, and (3) wayfinding across a university c us. In each condition, participants were instructed to either count or ignore oddball stimuli. While behavioral performance was similar across the lab and field conditions, oddball count accuracy was significantly reduced in the c us condition. Moreover, event-related potential components (mismatch negativity and P3) elicited in both ‘real-world’ settings differed significantly from those obtained under laboratory conditions. These findings demonstrate the impact of environmental factors on attentional processing during simultaneously-performed motor and cognitive tasks, highlighting the value of incorporating dynamic and unpredictable contexts within naturalistic designs.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 17-02-2017
DOI: 10.1101/109355
Abstract: Sanborn and Chater propose an interesting theory of cognitive and brain function based on Bayesian s ling instead of asymptotic Bayesian inference. Their proposal unifies many current observations and models and, in spite of focusing primarily on cognitive phenomena, their work provides a springboard for unifying several proposed theories of brain function. It has the potential to serve as a bridge between three influential overarching current theories of cognitive and brain function: Bayesian models, Friston's theory of cortical responses based on the free-energy principle, and attractor-basin dynamics. Specifically, their proposal suggests a high-level perspective on Friston's theory, which in turn proposes a s ling procedure including appropriate handling of autocorrelation as well as a plausible neurobiological implementation. In turn, these two theories together link into attractor-basin dynamics at the level of networks (via Friston) as well at the level of behavior (via the relationship between the modes of prior and posterior distributions, as discussed by Sanborn and Chater). We will argue here that, by linking Sanborn and Chater's approach to neurobiological models based on the free-energy principle on the one hand and attractor-basin dynamics on the other, the scope of their proposal can be broadened considerably. Moreover, a unified perspective along these lines provides an elegant solution to several of Sanborn and Chater's Outstanding Questions relating to the neural implementation of s ling.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 15-11-2013
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-01-2017
DOI: 10.1111/PSYP.13064
Abstract: In idual alpha frequency (IAF) is a promising electrophysiological marker of interin idual differences in cognitive function. IAF has been linked with trait‐like differences in information processing and general intelligence, and provides an empirical basis for the definition of in idualized frequency bands. Despite its widespread application, however, there is little consensus on the optimal method for estimating IAF, and many common approaches are prone to bias and inconsistency. Here, we describe an automated strategy for deriving two of the most prevalent IAF estimators in the literature: peak alpha frequency (PAF) and center of gravity (CoG). These indices are calculated from resting‐state power spectra that have been smoothed using a Savitzky‐Golay filter (SGF). We evaluate the performance characteristics of this analysis procedure in both empirical and simulated EEG data sets. Applying the SGF technique to resting‐state data from n = 63 healthy adults furnished 61 PAF and 62 CoG estimates. The statistical properties of these estimates were consistent with previous reports. Simulation analyses revealed that the SGF routine was able to reliably extract target alpha components, even under relatively noisy spectral conditions. The routine consistently outperformed a simpler method of automated peak detection that did not involve spectral smoothing. The SGF technique is fast, open source, and available in two popular programming languages (MATLAB, Python), and thus can easily be integrated within the most popular M/EEG toolsets (EEGLAB, FieldTrip, MNE‐Python). As such, it affords a convenient tool for improving the reliability and replicability of future IAF‐related research.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2012
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Date: 11-01-2007
DOI: 10.1515/TL.2007.021
Publisher: Oxford University PressOxford
Date: 19-10-2010
DOI: 10.1093/ACPROF:OSO/9780199274796.003.0007
Abstract: This chapter characterizes the critical phenomena from a behavioural perspective before turning to experimental methods, yielding more fine-grained data. It examines how linguistic judgments emerge from the real-time comprehension processes by drawing upon studies of word order variation in German. Based on a number of empirical observations, it argues that gradient data need not be interpreted as evidence against categorical grammars. Instead, gradience can come from a complex interaction between grammar-internal requirements, processing mechanisms, general cognitive constraints, and the environment within which the judgment task is performed.
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 05-2005
DOI: 10.1097/00001756-200505310-00019
Abstract: We present event-related potential evidence from language comprehension that processing conflicts arising from the same linguistic domain and appearing within the same time range do not interact when they draw upon distinct underlying neural populations. Thus, a combined violation of two morphosyntactic information types, number-agreement and case, engendered a LAN/N400-P600 pattern, while the corresponding single violations are associated with LAN-P600 and N400-P600 responses, respectively. The absence of an interaction between the two negativities indicates that neuronal resource sharing does not result from a similarity of function, but rather requires an overlap of the underlying neuronal populations.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 08-05-2023
DOI: 10.1101/2023.05.08.539915
Abstract: The present study investigated the extent of prediction in language by reanalysing Nieuwland and colleagues’ (2018) replication of DeLong et al. (2005). Participants (n = 356) viewed sentences containing articles and nouns of varying predictability, while their electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. We measured pre-stimulus and N400 event-related activity and calculated lexical surprisal using Generative Pre-trained Transformer-2 (GPT-2) models. Results demonstrate increases in N400 litude as article surprisal increased, supporting DeLong et al.’s (2005) findings. Strikingly, N400 litudes for surprising articles were reduced when prior word surprisal was high, suggesting that surprising input reduces prediction precision for upcoming words. The magnitude of prediction error effects was additionally modulated by inter-in idual differences (in idual alpha frequency and aperiodic slope of resting EEG). These findings indicate that prediction in language is a flexible mechanism that is adaptive across contexts and in iduals. They further support the assumption that prediction is a unified mechanism of cognition.
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 2003
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2008
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 09-04-2031
Location: Germany
Start Date: 2017
End Date: 12-2021
Amount: $897,120.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 04-2021
End Date: 03-2024
Amount: $321,616.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity