Functional Neuroimaging Studies of Syntactic Comprehension

描述(申请人提供)：拟议研究的目标是确定大脑中支持句法结构分配和句法使用的区域，以确定使用功能磁共振成像来确定主题角色。这项拟议的研究将检验这样一种假设，即L IFG(布罗卡区，BA 44和45，延伸到46/47)支持句法结构分配和句子解释过程中使用的工作记忆系统的两个方面--“存储”，即成分在尚未分配其所有语法角色的情况下在记忆中的存储，以及“整合”，即基于名词短语的语法位置分配主题角色。我们将通过两种方式测试这些功能的本地化：使用涉及内隐句法和主题加工的任务，以及使用涉及显性句法和主题加工的任务集的连词分析。我们预测，在这些任务中，内存负载(存储成本)和计算负载(集成成本)的增加将导致L IFG的大胆信号增加。句法加工的神经基础对人类健康很重要，因为句法结构对人类交流很重要。句法决定了单词之间的关系，这些关系允许句子传达的信息超出了单词本身所传达的信息(例如，谁发起了一个动作，谁接受了它，哪些形容词被分配给了哪些名词，以及单词之间的其他关系)。这种命题信息是存储在语义记忆中的大部分信息的来源，可以用于逻辑思维，并为计划行动的目的服务。句法允许以与可能的事件不对应的方式组合单词的含义。这使人类能够思考可能发生的事件，而不仅仅是对已经发生或可能发生的事件做出反应。因此，对于中风和其他神经系统疾病的患者来说，丧失使用句法来确定句子含义的能力是一个微妙但重大的问题。通过提供关于正常人大脑哪些部分参与句法处理的更好信息，该项目将帮助临床医生识别有此类障碍风险的患者，然后可以针对这些患者进行治疗。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of the proposed research is to identify the areas of the brain that support the assignment of syntactic structure and the use of syntax to determine thematic roles using fMRI. The proposed research will test the hypothesis that the L IFG (Broca's area, BA 44 and 45, extending into 46/47) supports two aspects of the working memory system that is utilized during assignment of syntactic structure and interpretation of sentences - "storage," the storage of constituents in memory while they have yet to be assigned all their grammatical roles, and "integration," the assignment of thematic roles based on grammatical positions of noun phrases. We will test for the localization of these functions in two ways: using tasks that involve implicit syntactic and thematic processing, and using conjunction analyses in sets of tasks that involve explicit syntactic and thematic processing. We predict that increases in memory load ("storage costs") and in computational load ("integration costs") will lead to BOLD signal increases in L IFG in these tasks. The neural basis of syntactic processing is important to human health because syntactic structures are important to human communication. Syntax determines the relationships between words that allow sentences to convey information beyond what is conveyed by words alone (e.g., who is initiating an action, who receiving it, which adjectives are assigned to which nouns, and other relations between words). This propositional information is the source of much of the information stored in semantic memory, can be used in thinking logically, and serve the purpose of planning actions. Syntax allows the meanings of words to be combined in ways that do not correspond to likely events. This allows humans to think about possible events, not just react to events that have taken place or are likely to. The loss of the ability to use syntax to determine sentence meaning is thus a subtle but major problem for patients with stroke and other neurological diseases. By providing better information about what parts of the brain are involved in syntactic processing in normal individuals, this project will help clinicians identify patients at risk for such disorders, which can then be targeted in therapy.