WORKING MEMORY AND PHONOLOGICAL REPRESENTATION

语言对我们日常运作的许多方面都是至关重要的。语言的一个核心方面涉及将环境刺激转化为内部语音表征，而新单词的学习部分需要将新的语音表征编码成长期记忆。这项拟议的实验将使用与事件相关的功能磁共振成像来检查工作记忆、语音表征和记忆编码之间的交互作用。这些研究将检验有关语音环路--一种工作记忆系统--在新的语音形式的表示和编码中的作用的假设。此外，这些研究将确定语音环路的哪个子组成部分--发音机制、语音表征和记忆形成。第一个特定的目的是测试大脑中隶属于语音环的区域--左前额下部(LIPC)和左外侧皮层(LPSC)--是否以不同的方式支持新的语音表征的产生。实验1将通过检测与语音熟悉度参数不同的刺激(从高到中，再到低)的处理相关的大脑激活来实现这一目标。第二个具体目标是检验以下假设，即语音环路对新的语音表征的长时记忆的形成有不同的贡献，并且这些贡献具体反映了语音环路的发音子成分的操作。实验2将通过考察语音形式加工过程中LIPC和LPSC的激活幅度是否预测这些形式稍后会被记住或遗忘，以及这些后续的记忆效应是否随着语音形式的新颖性的增加而更大，从而达到这一目的。实验3将通过将特定针对发音子成分的词长操作与随后的记忆范式相结合来进一步解决这一目标，以探索语音环路对记忆编码的贡献是否不同地反映了发音机制的操作。以前的研究表明，工作记忆操作对语言功能有影响，语音环路可能有助于新词学习。这些研究将提供支持语音语言操作的解剖学和认知结构的新信息，以及这些操作与长期学习的关系。因此，它们将为语言障碍个人的后续研究奠定基础，并应为进一步完善康复工作贡献知识。

Language is fundamentally important for many aspects of our day- to-day functioning. A central aspect of language concerns the translation of environmental stimuli into internal phonological representations, with new word learning partially requiring the encoding of novel phonological representations into long-term memory. The proposed experiments will use event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine interactions between working memory, phonological representation, and memory encoding. These studies will test hypotheses regarding the role of the phonological loop-a working memory system-in the representation and encoding of novel phonological forms. Moreover, These studies will determine which of the sub- components of the phonological loop-the articulatory mechanism, the phonological representation and memory formation. The first specific aim is to test whether brain regions subserving the phonological loop-left inferior prefrontal (LIPC) and left perisylvian (LPSC) cortices-differentially support the generation of novel phonological representations. Experiment 1 will address this aim by examining brain activation associated with the processing of stimuli that parametrically vary in phonological familiarity (from high, to moderate, to low). The second specific aim is to test the hypotheses that the phonological loop differentially contributes to the formation of long-term memory for novel phonological representations, and that these contributions specifically reflect the operations of the articulatory sub-component of the phonological loop. Experiment 2 will address this aim by examining whether the magnitude of activation in LIPC and LPSC during the processing of phonological forms predicts whether the forms will be later remembered or forgotten, and whether these subsequent memory effects are greater as the novelty of the phonological forms increases. Experiment 3 will further address this aim by combining a word- length manipulation, designed to specifically target the articulatory sub-component, with a subsequent memory paradigm to explore whether phonological-loop contributions to memory encoding differentially reflect the operation of the articulatory mechanism. Previous research has indicated that working memory operations for language function, with the phonological loop perhaps contributing to novel word learning. The proposed studies will provide new information about the anatomic and cognitive architectures supporting phonological language operations and the relation of these operations to long-term learning. As such, they will provide a foundation for subsequent studies with language impaired individuals, and should contribute knowledge towards further refinement of rehabilitation efforts.