NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE PERCEPTION--FMRI INVESTIGATIONS

这个项目的长期目标是绘制听觉语言知觉的神经生物学图谱，既包括其语言子成分，也包括其领域特异性。功能磁共振成像(FMRI)的出现--一种非侵入性、高分辨率的脑成像技术--使这一目标的实现在不久的将来成为可能。由于FMR成像的最佳方法程序还没有令人满意地制定出来，我们提出了一个相对较小的理论激励的实验集，我们将使用可以提供方法学和理论问题的协议来进行。目的关于语言的神经组织。1.绘制出在句子水平上处理听觉语言所涉及的神经组织的程度--这是一种语言分析水平，在认知和语言学理论中已经很突出，但还没有用功能成像技术进行彻底的研究。2.确定语言与非语言听觉知觉所涉及的神经系统的特异性。我们将对句子的感知与对一系列非语言听觉刺激的感知进行了对比，其中每一种非语言听觉刺激都控制着句子处理的特定方面，如时间声处理(倒退句子)、层次结构处理(音乐)、处理有意义的声音串(环境声音“事件”)。我们还研究了专业知识在听觉处理中的作用，以及作为语言信号和非语言信号的听觉单一刺激的神经关联。3.研究语言符号的不同方面(韵律、词汇语义内容、句法)在不同神经系统中的处理程度。关于方法论的目标。1.研究信度问题：重测信度、本地化信度、重复效应信度。2.在神经成像中对任务效应的认知基础进行实证检验，即回答这个问题，任务操作是否为语言知觉的神经基础提供了一个窗口，或者我们只是简单地测量了任务特有的影响。我们提出了一套选择性注意实验(一种广泛使用的任务操作)来研究这一问题。3.我们的第三个目标是探索单一试用演示文稿格式的效用。我们之前的工作已经证明，一个人可以在单个试验中呈现刺激(而不是块刺激)，并获得可靠的激活，可能具有更高的灵敏度。这从根本上增加了fMRI实验设计的灵活性。我们在几个实验中评估了该技术的有效性。

The long range goal of this project is to map the neurobiology of auditory language perception, both in terms of its linguistic sub-components and in terms of its domain specificity. The advent of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)--a non- invasive, high resolution functional brain imaging technique--has made the realization of this goal a real possibility in the near future. Because optimal methodological procedures for fMR imaging have yet to be worked out satisfactorily we propose a relatively small set of theoretically motivated experiments that we will carry out using protocols that can inform methodological as well as theoretical questions. Aim Concerning the Neural Organization of Language. 1. To map the extent of neural tissue involved in processing auditory language at the sentence level--a level of linguistic analysis which has been prominent in cognitive and linguistic theories but has yet to be investigated thoroughly using functional imaging techniques. 2. To determine the specificity of neural systems involved in linguistic vs. non- linguistic auditory perception. We contrast perception of sentences with perception of a range of non-linguistic auditory stimuli each of which controls for specific aspects of sentence processing such as temporal acoustic processing (backwards sentences), hierarchical structure processing (music), processing meaningful strings of sounds (environmental sound "events"). We also investigate the role of expertise in auditory processing and the neural correlates of hearing a single stimulus as linguistic versus non-linguistic signal. 3. To investigate the extent to which different aspects of the linguistic signal (prosody, lexical-semantic content, syntax) are processed in distinct neural systems. Aims Concerning Methodology. 1. To investigate reliability issues: test-retest reliability, reliability of localization, and reliability as seen in terms of repetition effects. 2. To examine empirically the cognitive basis of task effects in neuroimaging, namely, to answer the question, can task manipulations provide a window on the neural basis of linguistic perception or are we simply measuring task-specific effects. We propose a set of selective attention experiments (a widely used task manipulation) to investigate the issue. 3. Our third goal is to explore the utility of the single trial presentation format. Our prior work has demonstrated that one can present stimuli in single trials (rather than blocks of such stimuli) and obtain reliable activations, perhaps with increased sensitivity. This radically increases the flexibility of experimental design in fMRI. We assess the validity of the technique in several experiments.