Modulating Cerebral Asymmetries for Language

在正常人脑中，大多数认知行为依赖于左右大脑半球的联合功能。 本研究的目的是发现刺激环境的特征如何影响这两个神经系统之间的功能动态分布。具体而言，计划中的研究将调查刺激变化在促进语言处理过程中左右半球不同计算偏差的联合使用中的作用。有人认为，在一个给定的上下文中所经历的单词类型的变化，加强了右半球处理偏向于可成像的，语义丰富，名词样的话，和一个互补的左半球处理偏向于抽象的，语义稀疏，动词样的形式。计划中的实验将采用多任务的方法来调查是否半球特定的处理偏见是可修改的相对与绝对差异的基础上的话，以及他们是否可以通过增加刺激上下文的独特性或异质性增强。 其他实验将确定是否是任务复杂性或刺激异质性调节了大脑半球的功能分布，并确定这种变化的时间过程。这项研究的目的是更好地了解人类大脑的结构如何支持语言行为，最重要的是，如何使用不同的神经系统可以在环境中调节。 后者既有理论意义，又有应用意义。 虽然我们无法改变不同大脑区域处理信息的方式，但我们可以潜在地改变语言环境的特征，特别是在教育环境中。

In the normal human brain, most cognitive behaviors depend on the conjoint functioning of the left and right cerebral hemispheres. The aim of this research is to discover how characteristics of the stimulus environment influence the dynamic distribution of function between these two neural systems. Specifically, the planned studies will investigate the role of stimulus variation in promoting the conjoint use of the differing computational biases of the left and right hemispheres during language processing. It is argued that variation in the types of words experienced in a given context potentiates a right hemisphere processing bias towards imageable, semantically-rich, noun-like words, and a complementary left hemisphere processing bias towards abstract, semantically-sparse, verb-like forms. The planned experiments will employ a multi-task approach to investigate whether hemisphere-specific processing biases are modifiable based on relative vs absolute differences between words, and whether they can be potentiated by increasing the distinctiveness or heterogeneity of the stimulus context. Additional experiments will determine whether it is task complexity or stimulus heterogeneity that modulates the distribution of function across hemispheres, and identify the time course of such changes. The goal of this research is to better understand how the architecture of the human brain supports language behavior and, most importantly, how the use of different neural systems can be environmentally modulated. The latter has both theoretical and applied significance. While we cannot alter the manner in which different brain regions process information, we can potentially modify characteristics of the linguistic environment, particularly in educational settings.