fMRI investigations of the functional architecture of the language system

描述（由申请人提供）：语言是我们的标志性人类认知技能。然而，关于语言的大脑基础和特定皮层区域在语言行为中的作用的许多关键问题仍然没有答案。最近的研究表明，人类大脑，特别是额叶的解剖和功能变异性很高，这表明过去绝大多数语言研究中使用的群体平均分析可能不是最佳的。我建议应用个别科目的功能磁共振成像方法的语言系统的功能结构的研究。我希望这种方法--它在揭示纹外视皮层的精细功能组织方面已经被证明是非常强大的--能够揭示语言皮层的功能组织，这在以前的基于群体的研究中并不明显。根据在线语言处理和理论语言学的研究成果，我将解决关于语言系统功能结构的两个基本问题：（1）语言处理是否涉及专门针对语言本身的特定领域机制（特定领域假说），或者它是否依赖于更通用的处理机制，同时也参与非语言处理（一般领域假说）？以及ii）语言系统的内部功能组织是什么：语言处理的不同方面（例如，语法和语义）使用相同的皮层区域（共享语言成分假说），还是使用不同的皮层区域（特定语言成分假说），如果是这样，这些区域位于大脑的什么位置？发展可靠的方法定位不同的语言功能与功能磁共振成像将有助于术前规划的病人与肿瘤和病人诊断为癫痫。成功的术前关键语言区域定位将缩短平均手术时间并促进术后恢复过程。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Language is our signature human cognitive skill. Yet, many critical questions regarding the brain basis of language and the role of specific cortical regions in linguistic behavior remain unanswered. Recent research demonstrating high anatomical and functional variability in human brains, and in particular in the frontal lobes, suggests that group averaging analyses - applied in the vast majority of the past language studies - may not be optimal. I propose to apply the individual subjects fMRI approach to the study of the functional architecture of the language system. I expect this approach - which has proven very powerful in revealing the fine-grained functional organization of extrastriate visual cortex - to reveal functional organization in language cortex that has not been apparent in prior group-based studies. Informed by prior work in on-line language processing and theoretical linguistics, I will tackle two fundamental questions about the functional architecture of the language system: i) does language processing engage domain-specific mechanisms specialized for language per se (the Domain-Specific Hypothesis), or does it rely on more general-purpose processing machinery that is also engaged in non- linguistic processing (the Domain-General Hypothesis)?; and ii) what is the internal functional organization of the language system: do different aspects of language processing (e.g., syntax and semantics) engage the same cortical regions (the Shared Language Components Hypothesis), or do they engage distinct cortical regions (the Specific Language Components Hypothesis), and if so where do these regions reside in the brain? Developing reliable ways of localizing different language functions with fMRI will help in pre- operative planning for patients with tumors and patients diagnosed with epilepsy. Successful pre-operative localization of critical language regions will reduce the average surgery duration and facilitate the post- operative recovery process.