WORKING MEMORY AND PHONOLOGICAL REPRESENTATION

语言对我们日常生活的许多方面都至关重要。语言的一个核心方面是将环境刺激转化为内部音位表征，新词学习部分需要将新的音位表征编码为长期记忆。提出的实验将使用事件相关的功能性磁共振成像来检查工作记忆、语音表征和记忆编码之间的相互作用。这些研究将测试关于音韵循环-工作记忆系统-在新音韵形式的表征和编码中的作用的假设。此外，这些研究将确定语音回路的哪些子组成部分-发音机制，语音表征和记忆形成。第一个具体目的是测试服务于语音回路的大脑区域——左下前额叶皮层（LIPC）和左左前额叶皮层（LPSC）——是否在支持新语音表征的产生方面存在差异。实验1将通过检查与处理语音熟悉度参数变化（从高、中、低）的刺激相关的大脑激活来解决这一问题。第二个具体目标是验证以下假设：语音回路对新语音表征的长期记忆形成有不同的贡献，这些贡献具体反映了语音回路的发音子成分的运作。实验2将通过检验在语音形式加工过程中LIPC和LPSC的激活程度是否预测了这些形式是否会被记住或遗忘，以及这些随后的记忆效应是否会随着语音形式的新颖性增加而增强。实验3将进一步解决这一问题，通过结合专门针对发音子成分设计的单词长度操作，以及随后的记忆范式，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运作。先前的研究表明，工作记忆操作语言功能，语音循环可能有助于新单词的学习。这些研究将为支持语音语言操作的解剖学和认知结构以及这些操作与长期学习的关系提供新的信息。因此，它们将为后续对语言障碍个体的研究提供基础，并应为进一步改进康复工作提供知识。

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.