Modulating Cerebral Asymmetries for Language

调节语言的大脑不对称性

• 批准号: 9729009
• 负责人: Christine Chiarello
• 金额: $ 9万
• 依托单位: University of California-Riverside
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1998
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1998-06-01 至 2000-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9729009&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Modulating; Cerebral; Asymmetries; Language

The cortex of the human brain is subdivided into two halves, the left and right hemispheres, which process information in characteristically different ways. Although it is acknowledged that nearly all mental activities require some contribution from each cerebral hemisphere, understanding when and how each system participates in a variety of cognitive tasks remains a significant scientific challenge. The long-term goal of this research is to determine the precise contributions of the left and right hemispheres when people comprehend words. The experiments will test the hypothesis that the relative participation of each hemisphere in word recognition is determined by the linguistic context in which a word is experienced, rather than by intrinsic characteristics of the word itself. Words will be presented in the left or right visual fields, thereby selectively stimulating the right or left hemisphere. Two important word properties will be investigated: grammatical class (noun vs verb) and concreteness of meaning (concrete vs abstract). It is predicted that the right cerebral hemisphere will make a greater contribution to recognizing nouns and concrete words in the context of verbs or abstract words, than in more homogeneous contexts. Such findings would suggest that cerebral asymmetries for word recognition vary dynamically in concert with variation in the stimulus environment, rather than reflecting static (and hence unmodifiable) processing differences. This research will indicate the extent to which context modulates the brain systems used to recognize words, thereby enhancing our understanding of the neural bases for language comprehension.

人类大脑的皮层分为左右两半，它们以不同的方式处理信息。 虽然几乎所有的心理活动都需要每个大脑半球的贡献，但了解每个系统何时以及如何参与各种认知任务仍然是一个重大的科学挑战。 这项研究的长期目标是确定人们理解单词时左右半球的精确贡献。 这些实验将检验这样一个假设，即每个半球在单词识别中的相对参与是由单词所经历的语言背景决定的，而不是由单词本身的内在特征决定的。 单词将出现在左或右视野中，从而选择性地刺激左脑或右脑。 两个重要的词的属性将被调查：语法类（名词与动词）和意义的具体性（具体与抽象）。 据预测，右脑半球将作出更大的贡献，以识别名词和具体的词在上下文中的动词或抽象的话，比在更同质的情况下。 这些发现表明，大脑对单词识别的不对称性随着刺激环境的变化而动态变化，而不是反映静态（因此不可修改）的处理差异。 这项研究将表明语境在多大程度上调节了用于识别单词的大脑系统，从而增强了我们对语言理解的神经基础的理解。