The neural basis of language comprehension: Insights from spatiotemporal imaging

语言理解的神经基础：时空成像的见解

• 批准号: 9535399
• 负责人: GINA R KUPERBERG
• 金额: $ 69.45万
• 依托单位: MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-08-01 至 2021-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9535399
• 关键词: Address; Adult; Anterior; Behavioral; Brain; Cognitive deficits; Communication; Communicative Dysfunctions; Comprehension; Conflict (Psychology); Detection; Development; Disease; Environment; Event; Event-Related Potentials; Foundations; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Goals; Grant; Human; Image; Individual; Individual Differences; Inferior; Language; Language Disorders; Lateral; Lead; Left; Linguistics; Link; Magnetoencephalography; Mediating; Monitor; Nature; Neurocognitive; Neurodevelopmental Disorder; Pattern; Performance; Play; Positioning Attribute; Prefrontal Cortex; Prevention; Process; Recruitment Activity; Resolution; Role; Series; Social Functioning; Structure; System; Techniques; Temporal Lobe; Testing; angular gyrus; cingulate cortex; cognitive control; comprehension deficit; conflict resolution; executive function; experimental study; flexibility; frontal lobe; improved; insight; language comprehension; language processing; lexical; multimodality; neural facilitation; neuroimaging; neuromechanism; neuropsychiatric disorder; prevent; public health relevance; recruit; relating to nervous system; remediation; response; social; spatiotemporal

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Abnormalities of language comprehension characterize many neurodevelopmental and acquired disorders, leading to severe social communicative dysfunction. Many of these same disorders are also characterized by executive deficits of cognitive control, such as conflict resolution, selection, monitoring and adaptation. Yt we know little about the basic relationships between language processing and cognitive control. This grant uses multimodal neuroimaging techniques to ask how, when and where the neural systems mediating language comprehension and cognitive control interact in healthy adults. Our basic hypothesis is that we use context whenever we can to predict upcoming information at multiple levels of representation, and that, when an incoming word disconfirms some or all of our prior prediction(s), we engage in prolonged attempts to integrate that word into its context. We further hypothesize that the neural mechanisms mediating this prolonged integration are closely linked to core mechanisms of cognitive control, and that they depend on both the strength/certainty as well as the nature of our prior predictions (lexical vs. event structure). Finally, we hypothesize that they play an essential role in enabling us to rapidly and flexibly adapt our comprehension mechanisms to the ever-changing demands of our overall communicative environment. To test these hypotheses, we propose a series of experiments that systematically manipulate both the constraint and the nature of linguistic context, and we use three complementary neuroimaging techniques--event-related potentials (ERPs), functional MRI (fMRI) and magneto-encephalography (MEG)--to probe the temporal and spatial patterns of brain activity recruited to incoming words in these contexts. Under Aim 1, we probe the neural mechanisms that detect and resolve conflict between a strong, high certainty prediction and an incoming word that violates this prediction. Under Aim 2, we probe the neural mechanisms that select an incoming word that matches a medium certainty prediction and suppress alternative competing prediction(s). Under Aim 3, we ask whether different individuals can use the same context to predict with different strengths/certainties, leading some people to mount a high conflict neural response (see Aim 1), and others to mount a selection neural response (see Aim 2) to integrate the same linguistic input. We also ask whether these individual differences can be linked to behavioral performance and brain activity associated with executive tasks that tap into more general conflict control mechanisms (Stroop; AX-CPT). Finally, under Aim 4, we ask whether the same individuals can adapt to their wider communicative environment by predicting with different strengths/certainties, leading them to engage different neural mechanisms (a high conflict or a selection response) to integrate the same word into the same local contexts. By addressing these questions, this project will identify core neural mechanisms that can break down and lead to comprehension deficits in multiple different disorders. It therefore lays the foundation for the development of targeted, theoretically motivated neurocognitive strategies to prevent and improve communication deficits in these disorders.

描述（由申请人提供）：语言理解异常是许多神经发育和后天障碍的特征，导致严重的社交沟通功能障碍。许多这些相同的疾病也以认知控制的执行缺陷为特征，例如冲突解决、选择、监控和适应。但我们对语言处理和认知控制之间的基本关系知之甚少。该资助利用多模态神经影像技术来探究介导语言理解和认知控制的神经系统如何、何时、何地在健康成年人中相互作用。我们的基本假设是，只要我们能够在多个表示级别上预测即将到来的信息，我们就会使用上下文，并且当传入的单词否定我们之前的部分或全部预测时，我们会长时间尝试将该单词整合到其上下文中。我们进一步假设介导这种长期整合的神经机制与认知控制的核心机制密切相关，并且它们取决于我们先前预测的强度/确定性以及性质（词汇与事件结构）。最后，我们假设它们在使我们能够快速灵活地调整我们的理解机制以适应整体交流环境不断变化的需求方面发挥着至关重要的作用。为了检验这些假设，我们提出了一系列实验，系统地操纵语言环境的约束和本质，并使用三种互补的神经影像技术——事件相关电位（ERP）、功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）和脑磁图（MEG）——来探测这些环境中输入单词所招募的大脑活动的时间和空间模式。在目标 1 下，我们探讨了检测和解决强、高确定性预测与违反该预测的传入单词之间冲突的神经机制。在目标 2 下，我们探讨了选择与中等确定性预测相匹配的传入单词并抑制替代竞争预测的神经机制。在目标 3 下，我们询问不同的个体是否可以使用相同的上下文来以不同的强度/确定性进行预测，从而导致一些人产生高度冲突的神经反应（参见目标 1），而另一些人则产生选择神经反应（参见目标 2）以整合相同的语言输入。我们还询问这些个体差异是否与行为表现和大脑活动有关，这些活动与执行任务相关，这些执行任务利用了更一般的冲突控制机制（Stroop；AX-CPT）。最后，在目标 4 下，我们询问相同的个体是否可以通过以不同的强度/确定性进行预测来适应更广泛的交际环境，从而导致他们采用不同的神经机制（高度冲突或选择反应）将相同的单词整合到相同的本地上下文中。通过解决这些问题，该项目将确定可能崩溃并导致多种不同疾病的理解缺陷的核心神经机制。因此，它为开发有针对性的、有理论依据的神经认知策略奠定了基础，以预防和改善这些疾病中的沟通缺陷。