刊讯｜SSCI 期刊《神经语言学》2024年第69-72卷

JOURNAL OF NEUROLINGUISTICS

Volume 69-72, 2024

JOURNAL OF NEUROLINGUISTICS（SSCI二区，2024 IF：1.2，排名：98/194）2024年第69-72卷共发文22篇。其中研究性论文20篇，评论文章2篇。研究论文涉及隐喻理解、双语语言发展、词汇语义激活、音高感知、发展性阅读障碍、阿尔茨海默病、言语感知、行为变异型额颞叶痴呆、帕金森患者、亚词汇语义处理、原发性进行性失语症、心率变异性、隐性语言知识、言语产生、反应一致性等。欢迎转发扩散！

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刊讯｜SSCI 期刊《神经语言学》2022年第61-64卷

目录

Volume 69 

Research Papers

■ Event related potentials to native speech contrasts predicts word reading abilities in early school-aged children, by Vanessa Harwood, Adrian Garcia-Sierra, Raphael Dias, Emily Jelfs, Alisa Baron.

■ Pupil size shows diminished increases on verbal fluency tasks in patients with behavioral-variant-frontotemporal dementia, by Mohamad El Haj, Dimitrios Kapogiannis, Claire Boutoleau-Bretonnière.

■Evidence of rapid automatic translation in Korean-English bilinguals using masked implicit priming: An ERP study, by Hyoung Sun Kim, Say Young Kim.

■Contrastive stress in persons with Parkinson's disease who speak Mandarin: Task effect in production and preserved perception, by Xi Chen, Diana Sidtis.

■ Left-hand muscle contractions improve novel metaphor comprehension among adolescents, by Tala Noufi, Maor Zeev-Wolf.

■ The neural correlates of sub-lexical semantics and its integration with the lexical meaning in reading Chinese characters, by Xiangyang Zhang, Wenqi Cai, Min Dang, Rui Zhang, Xiaojuan Wang, Jianfeng Yang.

■ Physiological responses and cognitive behaviours: Measures of heart rate variability index language knowledge, by Dagmar Divjak, Hui Sun, Petar Milin.

■ The production of adjectives in narratives by individuals with primary progressive aphasia, by Matthew Walenski, Thomas Sostarics, M. Marsel Mesulam, Cynthia K. Thompson.

■ The impact of response congruence on speech production: An event-related potentials study, by J.R. Kuipers J·R·University of Stirling, Psychology Division, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK.

Review Articles 

■ Anatomo-functional profile of white matter tracts in relevance to language: A systematic review, by Yasin Kargar, Milad Jalilian.

Volume 70 

Research Papers

■Young interpreting trainees’ better adaptation to the flanker conflicting environment: An ERP study, by Hongming Zhao , Xiaocong Chen , Yanping Dong.

■Can we track the progression of Alzheimer's Disease via lexical-semantic variables in connected speech? by Marte Mestach, Robert J. Hartsuiker, Aurélie Pistono.

■Disintegration at the syntax-semantics interface in prodromal Alzheimer's disease: New evidence from complex sentence anaphora in amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI), by Barbara Lust, Suzanne Flynn, Charles Henderson, James Gair, Janet Cohen Sherman.

Review Articles

■ROSE: A neurocomputational architecture for syntax, by Elliot Murphy Vivian L. Smith.

Volume 71

Articles

■Role of the left inferior frontal gyrus in transforming format types of action descriptions between stimuli and representations, by Hiroshi Shibata, Kenji Ogawa.

■Musical pitch processing predicts reading development in Chinese school-age children, by Shiting Yang, Lirong Tang, Li Liu, Qi Dong, Yun Nan.

■A study of ERPs acquired during handwritten and printed Chinese character processing in a lexical decision task, by Wenhui Li, Zhongqing Jiang, Yihan Xu, Tingting Yu, Xuan Ning, Ying Liu, Chan Li.

■Neurodynamics of selected language processes involved in word reading: An EEG study with French dyslexic adults, by Aikaterini Premeti, Maria Pia Bucci, Karin Heidlmayr, Pierre Vigneron, Frédéric Isel.

Volume 72

Articles

■Contextual modulation of the neural network underlying the processing of compositional nontransparent meaning, by Yao-Ying Lai.

■N400 modulations in metaphor evaluation and its associations with attentional systems: A behavioral and ERP study, by Shay Menashe, Nira Mashal, David Anaki

■The role of executive control ability in second language metaphor comprehension: Evidence from ERPs and sLORETA, by Jiaqi Zhu, Hongjun Chen, Fengyu Cong, Jianjun Ma.

■Lexical-semantic activation in French-Spanish or French-English bilingual toddlers: An event-related potential (ERP) investigation, by Pia Rämä, Cydney Chiball, Yumisay Rukoz.

摘要

Event related potentials to native speech contrasts predicts word reading abilities in early school-aged children

Vanessa Harwood, Corresponding author.the University of Rhode Island, Independence Square II, 25 W Independence Way, Kingston, RI, 02881

Adrian Garcia-Sierra, University of Connecticut, 2 Alethia Drive, U-1085, Storrs, CT 06269, USA

Raphael Dias, University of Rhode Island, 25 W Independence Way, Kingston, RI 02881, USA

Emily Jelfs, University of Rhode Island, 25 W Independence Way, Kingston, RI 02881, USA

Alisa Baron, University of Rhode Island, 25 W Independence Way, Kingston, RI 02881, USA

Abstract Speech perception skills have been implicated in the development of phoneme-graphene correspondence, yet the exact nature of speech perception and word reading ability remains unknown. We investigate phonological sensitivity to native (English) and nonnative (Spanish) speech syllables within an auditory oddball paradigm using event related potentials (ERPs) collected from lateral temporal electrode sites in 33 monolingual English-speaking children aged 6–8 years (N = 33). We further explore the relationship between ERPs to English word reading abilities for this group. Results revealed that language stimuli (English, Spanish), ERP condition (standard, deviant), and hemisphere (left, right) all influenced the lateral N1 component. ERPs recorded from deviant English stimuli were significantly more negative within the left hemisphere compared to all other recorded ERPs. Mean amplitude differences within the N1 in left lateral electrode sites recorded in response to English phoneme contrasts significantly predicted English word reading abilities within this sample. Results indicate that speech perception of native contrasts recorded in left temporal electrode sites for the N1 component are linked to English word reading abilities in early school-aged children.

Key words event-related potentials; Speech perception; Phonological processing; Children; Reading

Pupil size shows diminished increases on verbal fluency tasks in patients with behavioral-variant-frontotemporal dementia

Mohamad El Haj, Corresponding author, Faculté de Psychologie, LPPL – Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de la Loire, Université de Nantes, Chemin de la Censive du Tertre, BP 81227, 44312, Nantes Cedex 3, France

Dimitrios Kapogiannis, Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, USA

Claire Boutoleau-Bretonnière, Département de Neurologie, CHU Angers, Angers, France

Abstract While behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is mainly associated with behavioral, social, cognitive, and emotional impairments, impairments in language can also be observed. We thus assessed whether linguistic processing can be assessed by pupillometry. We invited patients with bvTFD and control participants to perform a verbal fluency task, a category fluency task and, as a control task, to count aloud. During the three tasks, pupil size was monitored using eye-tracking glasses. Results demonstrated smaller pupil size on letter and category verbal fluency tasks, as well as during counting, in patients with bvFTD compared with control participants. However, larger pupil size was observed during verbal fluency tasks compared to counting in both patients with bvFTD and control participants. There were the no significant differences on pupil size between letter and category fluency tasks in any population. Finally, patients with bvFTD compared to control participants had lower verbal fluency. Taken together, these findings demonstrate how verbal fluency may decrease pupil size less in patients with bvFTD than controls, and how pupillometry can be used to follow linguistic processing in patients with frontal lobe impairments.

Evidence of rapid automatic translation in Korean-English bilinguals using masked implicit priming: An ERP study

Hyoung Sun Kim, Department of English Language and Literature, Hanyang University, South Korea

Say Young Kim, Corresponding author. Department of English Language and Literature, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimni-ro Seongdong-gu, Seoul 04763, Korea

Abstract The present study used a masked implicit priming paradigm to test if L1 to L2 translation occurs automatically and rapidly. Korean-English bilinguals performed a lexical decision task when English L2 targets (e.g., FACE) were translation equivalent to the L1 prime (얼굴 elkwul meaning ‘face’) or had phonological overlap with its translation to varying degrees: moderate (FAKE), minimal (FOOL), or unrelated. The translation equivalent targets resulted in N250 and N400 attenuation, reflecting facilitation in sublexical and lexical mapping of the target words, respectively. Crucially, target words which were phonologically related to the implicitly activated translation equivalent (face–FAKE/FOOL) also demonstrated N250/N400 modulation in the absence of semantic overlap. Additionally, the pattern of effects obtained against the unrelated condition differed between the implicitly related primes, with greater phonological overlap resulting in increased negativity, while minimal overlap led to attenuation. These findings suggest translation via direct lexical association occurring automatically at earlier stages of visual word recognition prior to lexical selection in bilinguals.

Left-hand muscle contractions improve novel metaphor comprehension among adolescents

Tala Noufi, School of Education, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel

Maor Zeev-Wolf, Corresponding author. Ben Gurion University of the Negev, 1 Ben Gurion Blvd, Beer Sheva, Israel.

Abstract For people to understand metaphors that require the creation of associations between remote concepts, both the diffuse spread of activation in semantic networks in the right hemisphere (coarse semantic coding) and the tight and focused spread of activation in the left hemisphere (fine semantic coding) are required. During adolescence, the dynamic between the left and right hemispheres that enables the processing of metaphors is not yet established. Thus, the present study aimed to (1) test whether left-hand muscle contractions that activate the right hemisphere's sensory-motor regions can boost metaphor comprehension in adolescents; (2) compare conventional and novel metaphor processing (with no muscle contractions) in adolescents and adults. For the first goal, 83 adolescents between the ages of 14–16 squeezed a rubber ball with either their right hands, left hands, or not at all (control group) while presented with two-word expressions of four types: literal expressions, conventional metaphors, novel metaphors, and unrelated expressions. Results showed that left-hand muscle contractions led to more accurate processing of literal expressions and conventional and novel metaphors. However, the over-activation of the right hemisphere led to a decreased ability to process unrelated expressions. For the second goal, the adolescent control group was compared with an adult group of participants. Results revealed that despite a general disadvantage in language processing (including conventional metaphors), adolescents were more accurate in processing novel metaphors. Our findings suggest that adolescents' left lateralization for language is not yet established, resulting in over-reliance on coarse semantic coding. In addition, our results demonstrate the effectiveness of a simple, non-invasive technique for enhancing metaphor comprehension in adolescents. This technique may especially benefit adolescents who struggle with metaphor comprehension, such as adolescents with autistic spectrum disorders or with poor social skills.

The neural correlates of sub-lexical semantics and its integration with the lexical meaning in reading Chinese characters

Xiangyang Zhang, School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an City, 710062, China

Wenqi Cai, School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an City, 710062, China

Min Dang, School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an City, 710062, China

Rui Zhang, Department of Psychology, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang City, 453007, China

Xiaojuan Wang, Corresponding author, School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an City, 710062, China

Jianfeng Yang, Corresponding author, School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an City, 710062, China

Abstract The semantic neural routes in contemporary models of visual word recognition are mainly constructed based on lexical-semantic processing. However, the neural bases of processing semantic cues embodied in sub-lexical units are less clear. The current fMRI study takes the ideographic property of Chinese characters (The semantic radical can provide a semantic cue for the character's meaning) to explore the brain mechanisms of sub-lexical semantic processing and its interaction with lexical-semantic processing in a lexical decision task. The GLM results and further ROI analysis revealed that the lexical-semantic processing relied on the left posterior Middle Temporal Gyrus (pMTG) and Angular Gyrus (AG); the sub-lexical semantic processing relied on the left middle MTG (mMTG) and AG; their integration relied on the left Anterior Temporal Lobe (ATL). It sheds light on investigating the neural circuit of the semantic processing in visual word reading.

Physiological responses and cognitive behaviours: Measures of heart rate variability index language knowledge

Dagmar Divjak, Corresponding author, Department of Modern Languages, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Ashley Building, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom

Hui Sun, Department of Modern Languages, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Ashley Building, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom

Petar Milin, Department of Modern Languages, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Ashley Building, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom

Abstract Over the past decades, focus has been on developing methods that allow tapping into aspects of cognition that are not directly observable. This includes linguistic knowledge and skills which develop largely without awareness and may therefore be difficult or impossible to articulate. Building on the relation between language cognition and the nervous system, we examine whether Heart Rate Variability (HRV), a cardiovascular measure that indexes Autonomic Nervous System activity, can be used to assess implicit language knowledge. We test the potential of HRV to detect whether individuals possess grammatical knowledge and explore how sensitive the cardiovascular response is.41 healthy, British English-speaking adults listened to 40 English speech samples, half of which contained grammatical errors. Thought Technology's 5-channel ProComp 5 encoder tracked heart rate via a BVP-Flex/Pro sensor attached to the middle finger of the non-dominant hand, at a rate of 2048 samples per second. A Generalised Additive Mixed Effects Model confirmed a cardiovascular response to grammatical violations: there is a statistically significant reduction in HRV as indexed by NN50 in response to stimuli that contain errors. The cardiovascular response reflects the extent of the linguistic violations, and NN50 decreases linearly with an increase in the number of errors, up to a certain level, after which HRV remains constant.This observation brings into focus a new dimension of the intricate relationship between physiology and cognition. Being able to use a highly portable and non-intrusive technique with language stimuli also creates exciting possibilities for assessing the language knowledge of individuals from a range of populations in their natural environment and in authentic communicative situations.

The production of adjectives in narratives by individuals with primary progressive aphasia

Matthew Walenski, Thomas Sostarics, M. Marsel Mesulam, Cynthia K. Thompson

Matthew Walenski, Corresponding author, East Carolina University, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, 3310AD Health Sciences Building, Mailstop 668, Greenville, NC, 27858, USA

Thomas Sostarics, Department of Linguistics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

M.Marsel Mesulam, Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA

Cynthia K. Thompson, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, School of Communication, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

Abstract Adjectives (e.g., hungry) are an important part of language, but have been little studied in individuals with impaired language. Adjectives are used in two different ways in English: attributively, to modify a noun (the hungry dog); or predicatively, after a verb (the dog is hungry). Attributive adjectives have a more complex grammatical structure than predicative adjectives, and may therefore be particularly prone to disruption in individuals with grammatical impairments. We investigated adjective production in three subtypes of primary progressive aphasia (PPA: agrammatic, semantic, logopenic), as well as in agrammatic stroke aphasia and a group of healthy control participants. Participants produced narratives based on picture books, and we coded every adjective they produced for its syntactic structure. Compared to healthy controls, the two agrammatic groups, but not the other two patient groups, produced significantly fewer attributive adjectives per sentence. All four patient groups were similar to controls for their rate of predicative adjective production. In addition, we found a significant correlation in the agrammatic PPA participants between their rate of producing attributive adjectives and impaired production of sentences with complex syntactic structure (subject cleft sentences like It was the boy that chased the girl); no such correlation was found for predicative adjectives. Irrespective of structure, we examined the lexical characteristics of the adjectives that were produced, including length, frequency, semantic diversity and neighborhood density. Overall, the lexical characteristics of the produced adjectives were largely consistent with the language profile of each group. In sum, the results suggest that attributive adjectives present a particular challenge for individuals with agrammatic language production, and add a new dimension to the description of agrammatism. Our results further suggest that attributive adjectives may be a fruitful target for improved treatment and recovery of agrammatic language.

The impact of response congruence on speech production: An event-related potentials study

J.R. Kuipers J·R·, University of Stirling, Psychology Division, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK

Abstract A puzzling finding in the speech production literature is the facilitation of categorically related distractors in a superordinate level naming task. The context is in this case response congruent, because application of the task instruction to the context would lead to the correct response. This study investigates the time-course of response congruence effects in speech production using event-related potentials (ERPs). Participants overtly named target words that were overlaid on context pictures with either their superordinate category level name or their associated function, while their response times and ERPs were recorded. Behavioural results replicate the facilitating effect of response congruence. The ERP results showed that the N2 was larger for a response incongruent than congruent context, and this effect correlated with the behavioural pattern of results. This key finding suggests that response incongruence is associated with a conflict-monitoring response which drives the behavioural effect. Further, N400 amplitude was not modulated by response congruence, showing that its effect appears confined to the conceptualisation phase. Finally, P3 modulations mirrored those in RTs, but unlike the N2 effect, they did not correlate with RTs. This suggests that, although the facilitating effect of response congruence is confined to the conceptualisation phase of speech production, response incongruent representations may remain active during later processing stages, or that this late effect of response congruence reflects conflict resolve. Implications for models of speech production are discussed.

Key words Speech production; Response congruence; EEG; Conceptualisation; N2; Conflict monitoring

Anatomo-functional profile of white matter tracts in relevance to language: A systematic review

Yasin Kargar, Cognitive Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Milad Jalilian, Neuroimaging, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Abstract The way the brain does process language is an issue that has vexed the cognitive neuroscience of language for decades. Concurring with the Hickok and Poeppel's dual-stream network, we aimed to undertake a systematic review of the language-related functions of white matter tracts, comprising the dorsal and ventral language streams. Recent findings conform to an account in which ILF, IFOF, UF, ECF, a branch of the MLF, and a short segment of the SLF constitutes the ventral stream. The bulk of the SLF together with the AF form the dorsal language stream. The most anterior part of the dorsal pathway is also home to the FAT. We propose a fine-grained profile of each white matter fiber and the role in language processing. A better grasp of the architecture of language networks provides neuroclinicians and neurosurgeons precise pre/intraoperative instructions and a valuable avenue to better diagnose language impairments, and plan treatments.

Young interpreting trainees’ better adaptation to the flanker conflicting environment: An ERP study

Hongming Zhao, Department of English, College of International Studies, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China

Xiaocong Chen, Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

Yanping Dong, Language Processing and Development Lab,  School of International Studies, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

Abstract In the intense debate about the potential benefits of bilingual experience to executive functioning (EF), little research addresses the possibility that the benefits may manifest in the process of adapting to an EF task. In this study, we hypothesize that interpreters, confronted frequently with more intense interference from different languages, may adapt to the interference task more efficiently. With the event-related potential (ERP) technique, this study examined whether participants with interpreting experience may adapt to the conflicting environment of a Flanker task more efficiently than non-interpreter bilinguals with the progression of the task (i.e., from the first to the second half trials). Our results showed that the interpreter group showed better conflict resolution (i.e., a lower error rate) despite being less active in early attentional processing (i.e., less negative overall N1 and N2 amplitudes). Second, both groups showed an adaptation effect in the second half trials compared with the first half, as reflected by less negative overall N2 amplitude and more positive overall P3 amplitude. More importantly, only the interpreter group showed an additional benefit in adaptation, as reflected by an earlier overall P3 peak latency in the second half trials. Taken together, the results offered some support for an interpreter advantage in the dynamics of adapting to the Flanker task, which could provide new insight into the effect of bilingual experience on non-verbal interference control.

Can we track the progression of Alzheimer's Disease via lexical-semantic variables in connected speech?

Marte Mestach, Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium

Robert J. Hartsuiker, Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium

Aurélie Pistono, Corresponding author, Ghent University, Department of Experimental Psychology, Henri Dunantlaan 2, 9000, Gent, Belgium

Abstract Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders worldwide and is characterized by problems with cognition and language, especially word-finding difficulties. The present study focuses on lexical-semantic features via five discourse variables reflecting word-finding difficulties, namely indefinite terms, lexical frequency, repetitions, semantic paraphasias, and use of pronouns. Our aim is twofold: testing whether these variables can discriminate healthy aging from AD, but also mild from moderate AD.105 participants were examined from the existing Pitt corpus (available on DementiaBank), which includes the Cookie Theft Picture Description task. 40 participants were healthy controls, 25 were mild AD participants, and 40 moderate AD participants.The moderate AD group differed significantly from healthy controls in terms of indefinite terms, repetitions, semantic paraphasias, and pronouns. For the latter variable, mild AD patients also differed significantly from healthy controls. However, none of the variables could differentiate mild from moderate AD.Four out of five discourse variables could discriminate healthy aging from moderate AD, while only one could discriminate mild AD patients. This is therefore questioning current literature on connected-speech measures in AD and calling for further research on the variables that could better distinguish mild to moderate AD.

Disintegration at the syntax-semantics interface in prodromal Alzheimer's disease: New evidence from complex sentence anaphora in amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI)

Barbara Lust, Corresponding author, Cognitive Science, Psychology, Cornell University, USA, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, MIT, USA

Suzanne Flynn, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, MIT, USA

Charles Henderson, In Memorium, Cornell University, USA

James Gair, In Memorium, Cornell University, USA

Janet Cohen Sherman, In Memorium, Cornell University, USA

Abstract Although diverse language deficits have been widely observed in prodromal Alzheimer's disease (AD), the underlying nature of such deficits and their explanation remains opaque. Consequently, both clinical applications and brain-language models are not well-defined. In this paper we report results from two experiments which test language production in a group of individuals with amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) in contrast to healthy aging and healthy young. The experiments apply factorial designs informed by linguistic analysis to test two forms of complex sentences involving anaphora (relations between pronouns and their antecedents). Results show that aMCI individuals differentiate forms of anaphora depending on sentence structure, with selective impairment of sentences which involve construal with reference to context (anaphoric coreference). We argue that aMCI individuals maintain core structural knowledge while evidencing deficiency in syntax-semantics integration, thus locating the source of the deficit in the language-thought interface of the Language Faculty.

ROSE: A neurocomputational architecture for syntax

Elliot Murphy Vivian L. Smith, Department of Neurosurgery, McGovern Medical School, UTHealth, 1133 John Freeman Blvd, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

Abstract A comprehensive neural model of language must accommodate four components: representations, operations, structures and encoding. Recent intracranial research has begun to map out the feature space associated with syntactic processes, but the field lacks a unified framework that can direct invasive neural analyses. This article proposes a neurocomputational architecture for syntax, termed ROSE (Representation, Operation, Structure, Encoding). Under ROSE, the basic data structures of syntax are atomic features, types of mental representations (R), and are coded at the single-unit and ensemble level. Operations (O) transforming these units into manipulable objects accessible to subsequent structure-building levels are coded via high frequency broadband γ activity. Low frequency synchronization and cross-frequency coupling code for recursive structural inferences (S). Distinct forms of low frequency coupling encode these structures onto distinct workspaces (E). Causally connecting R to O is spike-phase/LFP coupling; connecting O to S is phase-amplitude coupling; connecting S to E are frontotemporal traveling oscillations. ROSE is reliant on neurophysiologically plausible mechanisms and provides an anatomically precise and falsifiable grounding for natural language syntax.

Role of the left inferior frontal gyrus in transforming format types of action descriptions between stimuli and representations

Hiroshi Shibata, Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medical Science and Welfare, Tohoku Bunka Gakuen University, Japan

Corresponding author.

Kenji Ogawa, Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Humanities and Human Sciences, Hokkaido University, Japan

Abstract We performed a functional magnetic resonance imaging study to elucidate the process involved in the transformation of the format types of action descriptions between stimuli and representations. We independently manipulated the format types of both stimuli (visual action [Vi] vs. verbal [Ve] stimulus) and internal representations (Vi vs. Ve representation) and set four types of experimental tasks. Each participant was required to generate a Vi or Ve representation after being presented with a Vi or Ve stimulus, according to each task. Increased activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) (Brodmann areas 44 and 45) was found in the transformation contrast: ([Vi stimulus and Ve representation] + [Ve stimulus and Vi representation]) > ([Vi stimulus and Vi representation] + [Ve stimulus and Ve representation]). This result suggests that the left IFG is involved with the transformation process and has the function of generating an internal representation in a format different from that of externally presented stimuli.

Musical pitch processing predicts reading development in Chinese school-age children

Shiting Yang, State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

Lirong Tang, State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

Li Liu, State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

Qi Dong, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2G5, Canada

Yun Nan, State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

Abstract Musical pitch perception is closely related to phonological awareness and reading development in alphabetic languages. However, whether such a relation also exists in tonal languages such as Chinese remains unclear. Here, we examined the musical pitch—reading relations and the possible mediating effects of phonological awareness in a sample of typically-developing Chinese children followed from Grade 3 (age 9) to Grade 5 (age 11). Phonological awareness and reading (accuracy and fluency) were assessed at both time points. Musical pitch perception was examined with a passive oddball EEG paradigm and an active identification task at age 9. Results showed that neural musical pitch sensitivity (indexed by P3a latency) predicted reading accuracy at age 11 and its two-year development. Behavioral musical pitch sensitivity predicted reading fluency at both ages through the effects of phonological awareness. Together, our results reveal the effects of musical pitch processing on reading development at both behavioral and neural levels in Chinese.

A study of ERPs acquired during handwritten and printed Chinese character processing in a lexical decision task

Wenhui Li, College of Preschool and Primary Education, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang, 110034, China

Corresponding author

Zhongqing Jiang, College of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029, China

Yihan Xu, College of Preschool and Primary Education, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang, 110034, China

Tingting Yu, Key Laboratory of Brain-Machine Intelligence for Information Behavior (Ministry of Education and Shanghai), School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, 201620, China

Xuan Ning, Liaoning Petrochemical University, Fushun, 113001, China

Ying Liu, College of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029, China

Chan Li，College of International Education, Shenyang Institute of Engineering, Shenyang, 110034, China

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the time course differences in brain processing between handwritten and printed Chinese characters. Behavioural and event-related potential (ERP) data were collected from twenty participants as they performed a lexical decision task in which Chinese handwritten and printed characters served as stimuli. The findings indicated that N1 reflects orthographic regularity during the early processing stage; N400 and the late positive component (LPC) data revealed that reading handwritten words evoke greater ERP amplitudes during the late processing stage. Although handwritten characters evoke greater ERP amplitudes, this did not result in more efficient behavioural outcomes. Therefore, it appears that the greater ERP amplitudes observed in the handwriting task corresponded to deeper meaning comprehension, which is also more challenging for semantic integration.

Neurodynamics of selected language processes involved in word reading: An EEG study with French dyslexic adults

Aikaterini Premeti, Maria Pia Bucci, Karin Heidlmayr, Pierre Vigneron, Frédéric Isel

Aikaterini Premeti, UMR 7114 MoDyCo, CNRS, Université Paris Nanterre, 92001, Nanterre, France

Corresponding author. 

Maria Pia Bucci, UMR 5191 ICAR, CNRS-ENS de Lyon, Université de Lyon 2, 69342, Lyon, France

Karin Heidlmayr, UMR 7114 MoDyCo, CNRS, Université Paris Nanterre, 92001, Nanterre, France

Pierre Vigneron, UMR 7114 MoDyCo, CNRS, Université Paris Nanterre, 92001, Nanterre, France

Frédéric Isel, UMR 7114 MoDyCo, CNRS, Université Paris Nanterre, 92001, Nanterre, France

Abstract As multilingual language teachers ourselves, we believe that this book brings an end to the ongoing debate regarding native speakers versus non-native speakers in language teaching research with a single, well-aimed blow. Nevertheless, situated in a complex, ecological context, the idea of being multilingual instructors as recommended by Kramsch and Zhang remains a highly challenging goal for many language teachers to pursue. We start this review by outlining what the book achieves, before we comment on some outstanding issues that still deserve more attention.

Key words Developmental dyslexiaAdult readers; Phonological lexical decision task; N320; LPC

Contextual modulation of the neural network underlying the processing of compositional nontransparent meaning

Yao-Ying Lai, Graduate Institute of Linguistics, National Chengchi University, 3F, Ji Tao Building, No. 64, Sec. 2, ZhiNan Rd., Wenshan District, Taipei City, 11623, Taiwan

Abstract This study examines the neurocognitive mechanisms supporting the processing of sentences involving compositional nontransparent meaning, investigating if the neural correlates are modulated by clausal and extra-clausal prior context. We probe through sentences like“The player jumped for 5s.“, which engenders an iterative meaning (multiple jumping actions) that is morphosyntactically-unsupported yet obtained at the compositional level ([verb + adverbial]). We hypothesize that the non-transparent meaning is computed by comprehenders’contextual evaluation, which would be more effortful without guiding cues yet could be facilitated by the presence of biasing information in context. This predicts that the comprehension of nontransparent sentences is contextually modulated, eliciting greater cost than their transparent counterparts—particularly when they are processed in a neutral context than in an iterative-biasing context. The reported fMRI experiment showed that computing nontransparent meaning preferentially recruited the left inferior frontal gyrus (L.IFG), the left middle temporal regions, and the right IFG, in contrast to the transparent counterpart. Crucially, the left frontal activation subserving nontransparent sentences was attenuated in a biasing context, as compared to a neutral context. The context effect was corroborated by the results of iterativity judgments that showed differential iterative vs. non-iterative interpretations for the nontransparent sentences as cued by the clausal and extra-clausal context. While the influence of clausal context has been demonstrated, this study provides novel evidence showing that compositional meaning computation is modulated by prior context in addition. The findings reveal a left-lateralized frontal-temporal network for compositional nontransparent meaning that is subject to contextual modulation beyond morphosyntactic computation.

N400 modulations in metaphor evaluation and its associations with attentional systems: A behavioral and ERP study

Shay Menashe, School of Education, The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, 5290001, Israel

Nira Mashal，School of Education, The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, 5290001, Israel

David Anaki, Department of Psychology, The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, 5290001, Israel

Abstract Although metaphoric language is one of the most common expressions of creativity in everyday life, the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying conventional and novel metaphor processing are not fully understood. In particular, the role of attention in metaphor comprehension is lacking. The first aim of this study was to investigate the N400 event-related potential (ERP) component produced by conventional metaphor and novel metaphor evaluation. The second aim of this study was to explore the associations between attentional networks (alerting, orienting, and executive control) and the N400 amplitudes produced by conventional and novel metaphor evaluation. The participants performed a metaphor evaluation task, in which novel and conventional metaphors were presented, while ERPs were recorded. They were required to evaluate how novel is each sentence. In addition, a short version of the attention network test was administered to investigate three attention networks, alerting, orienting, and executive control. The behavioral results of the metaphor evaluation task showed that novel metaphors were rated slower and as more novel than conventional metaphors. The ERP parameters indicated that the N400 peaked earlier for conventional metaphors compared to the novel metaphors. In addition, novel metaphors produced larger amplitudes over the LH compared to those evoked by the conventional metaphors. Moreover, while conventional metaphor evaluation was not associated with the attentional networks, novel metaphor evaluation was associated with the executive control network. The findings suggest that novel metaphor evaluation is associated with different cognitive demands compared to conventional metaphor evaluation, and each of the metaphors differently interacts with attention.

The role of executive control ability in second language metaphor comprehension: Evidence from ERPs and sLORETA

Jiaqi Zhu, School of Foreign Languages, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China

Hongjun Chen, Corresponding author, School of Foreign Languages, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China

Fengyu Cong, School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China

Jianjun Ma, School of Foreign Languages, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China

Abstract Previous research suggests that executive control ability may contribute to second language (L2) metaphor comprehension, and this relationship may be modulated by metaphor familiarity. However, so far most studies have been done with behavioral experiments. Using the event-related potential (ERP) and standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography analysis (sLORETA), this study adopted the semantic priming paradigm to examine the role of executive control ability in L2 metaphor comprehension with different degrees of familiarity. The Stroop task was used to measure executive control ability and differentiate the two groups of participants who were presented with three types of word-pair expressions: familiar metaphoric expressions, unfamiliar metaphoric expressions and literal expressions. They were then asked to perform a semantic judgment task. Results revealed more negative amplitudes of N400 and P600 components in participants of low executive control compared with those of high executive control. Metaphor familiarity modulated N400 of both groups of high and low executive control, whereas it only affected P600 of participants of low executive control. sLORETA analysis of both N400 and P600 revealed stronger activation for the low versus high executive control group in the right superior frontal gyrus and middle frontal gyrus during low familiar metaphor comprehension. These results suggest that executive control plays a role in L2 metaphor comprehension, while it is modulated by metaphor familiarity.

Lexical-semantic activation in French-Spanish or French-English bilingual toddlers: An event-related potential (ERP) investigation

Pia Rämä, Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, F-75006, Paris, France

Cydney Chiball, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France

Yumisay Rukoz，Université Paris Cité, Paris, France

Abstract Both behavioral and neurophysiological evidence shows that lexical-semantic organization emerges by two years in monolingual children. Research in bilingual children is more scarce, and there is only a limited amount of neurophysiological evidence of the effect of language dominance on lexical-semantic activation. In the present event-related potential (ERP) study, we investigated whether bilingual French-Spanish and French-English learning 24- to 30-month-olds activate semantic relations between words similarly in their both languages, and whether the priming effects are similar in children learning two different language pairs. Participants were presented with related and unrelated dominant and non-dominant language word pairs in a within-language lexical-semantic priming paradigm. The amplitudes of N400 were modulated by trial type, language dominance and language group. A language-independent priming effect - more pronounced N400 amplitudes for unrelated than for related target words - was found in the group of toddlers learning French and Spanish. In the group of toddlers learning French and English, a priming effect was observed only in their non-dominant language. Our results propose that the language pair may contribute to lexical-semantic facilitation in priming tasks during early childhood.

Key words Bilingualism; Language development; Lexical-semantic organization; Semantic priming; Event-related potentials

期刊简介

The Journal of Neurolinguistics is an international forum for the integration of the neurosciences and language sciences. JNL provides for rapid publication of novel, peer-reviewed research into the interaction between language, communication and brain processes. The focus is on rigorous studies of an empirical or theoretical nature and which make an original contribution to our knowledge about the involvement of the nervous system in communication and its breakdowns.Contributions from neurology, communication disorders, linguistics, neuropsychology and cognitive science in general are welcome.

《神经语言学》是神经科学和语言科学融合的国际论坛，涉及语言、交流和大脑过程之间相互作用。期刊重点是对经验性或理论性的严格研究，这些研究对我们了解神经系统参与交流及其故障有着独到的贡献。欢迎来搞关于神经学、沟通障碍、语言学、神经心理学和认知科学等领域。

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https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-neurolinguistics

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