J. Cogn. Neurosci.
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kuperberg, G. R.
Right arrow Articles by David, A. S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kuperberg, G. R.
Right arrow Articles by David, A. S.
(Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 2000;12:321-341.)
© 2000 The MIT Press

Article

Common and Distinct Neural Substrates for Pragmatic, Semantic, and Syntactic Processing of Spoken Sentences: An fMRI Study

G. R. Kuperberg, P. K. McGuire, E. T. Bullmore,, M. J. Brammer, S. Rabe-Hesketh, I. C. Wright, D. J. Lythgoe, S. C. R. Williams and A. S. David

Institute of Psychiatry, London
University of Cambridge

Neuropsychology Laboratory, VBK 827, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA. Tel.: +l-617-726-3432; fax: +1-253-830-0890; e-mail: kuperber{at}helix.mgh.harvard.edu

Extracting meaning from speech requires the use of pragmatic, semantic, and syntactic information. A central question is: Does the processing of these different types of linguistic information have common or distinct neuroanatomical substrates? We addressed this issue using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure neural activity when subjects listened to spoken normal sentences contrasted with sentences that had either (A) pragmatical, (B) semantic (selection restriction), or (C) syntactic (subcategorical) violations sentences. All three contrasts revealed robust activation of the left-inferior-temporal/fusiform gyrus. Activity in this area was also observed in a combined analysis of all three experiments, suggesting that it was modulated by all three types of linguistic violation. Planned statistical comparisons between the three experiments revealed (1) a greater difference between conditions in activation of the left-superior-temporal gyrus for the pragmatic experiment than the semantic/syntactic experiments; (2) a greater difference between conditions in activation of the right-superior and middle-temporal gyrus in the semantic experiment than in the syntactic experiment; and (3) no regions activated to a greater degree in the syntactic experiment than in the semantic experiment.

These data show that, while left- and right-superior-temporal regions may be differentially involved in processing pragmatic and lexico-semantic information within sentences, the left-inferior-temporal/fusiform gyrus is involved in processing all three types of linguistic information. We suggest that this region may play a key role in using pragmatic, semantic (selection restriction), and subcategorical information to construct a higher representation of meaning of sentences.


Key Words: fMRI • Sentences • Language • Semantic • Syntactic




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Cogn. Neurosci.Home page
R. M. Willems, A. Ozyurek, and P. Hagoort
Seeing and Hearing Meaning: ERP and fMRI Evidence of Word versus Picture Integration into a Sentence Context
J. Cogn. Neurosci., July 1, 2008; 20(7): 1235 - 1249.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
C.-Y. Tse, C.-L. Lee, J. Sullivan, S. M. Garnsey, G. S. Dell, M. Fabiani, and G. Gratton
Imaging cortical dynamics of language processing with the event-related optical signal
PNAS, October 23, 2007; 104(43): 17157 - 17162.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
R. M. Willems, A. Ozyurek, and P. Hagoort
When Language Meets Action: The Neural Integration of Gesture and Speech
Cereb Cortex, October 1, 2007; 17(10): 2322 - 2333.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
V. Beaucousin, A. Lacheret, M.-R. Turbelin, M. Morel, B. Mazoyer, and N. Tzourio-Mazoyer
FMRI Study of Emotional Speech Comprehension
Cereb Cortex, February 1, 2007; 17(2): 339 - 352.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Cogn. Neurosci.Home page
U. Hasson, H. C. Nusbaum, and S. L. Small
Repetition Suppression for Spoken Sentences and the Effect of Task Demands
J. Cogn. Neurosci., December 1, 2006; 18(12): 2013 - 2029.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
A. D. Friederici, C. J. Fiebach, M. Schlesewsky, I. D. Bornkessel, and D. Y. von Cramon
Processing Linguistic Complexity and Grammaticality in the Left Frontal Cortex
Cereb Cortex, December 1, 2006; 16(12): 1709 - 1717.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
J. T. Crinion, E. A. Warburton, M. A. Lambon-Ralph, D. Howard, and R. J.S. Wise
Listening to Narrative Speech after Aphasic Stroke: the Role of the Left Anterior Temporal Lobe
Cereb Cortex, August 1, 2006; 16(8): 1116 - 1125.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Cogn. Neurosci.Home page
C. Humphries, J. R. Binder, D. A. Medler, and E. Liebenthal
Syntactic and semantic modulation of neural activity during auditory sentence comprehension.
J. Cogn. Neurosci., April 1, 2006; 18(4): 665 - 679.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am. J. PsychiatryHome page
D. J. Walder, L. J. Seidman, N. Cullen, J. Su, M. T. Tsuang, and J. M. Goldstein
Sex Differences in Language Dysfunction in Schizophrenia
Am J Psychiatry, March 1, 2006; 163(3): 470 - 477.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
A. D. Friederici, Jör. Bahlmann, S. Heim, R. I. Schubotz, and A. Anwander
The brain differentiates human and non-human grammars: Functional localization and structural connectivity
PNAS, February 14, 2006; 103(7): 2458 - 2463.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Br. J. PsychiatryHome page
T. T. J. Kircher, T. M. Oh, M. J. Brammer, and P. K. McGuire
Neural correlates of syntax production in schizophrenia
The British Journal of Psychiatry, March 1, 2005; 186(3): 209 - 214.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Cogn. Neurosci.Home page
C. J. Fiebach, S. H. Vos, and A. D. Friederici
Neural Correlates of Syntactic Ambiguity in Sentence Comprehension for Low and High Span Readers
J. Cogn. Neurosci., November 1, 2004; 16(9): 1562 - 1575.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Cogn. Neurosci.Home page
U. Noppeney and C. J. Price
An fMRI Study of Syntactic Adaptation
J. Cogn. Neurosci., May 1, 2004; 16(4): 702 - 713.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
K. Suzuki and K. L. Sakai
An Event-related fMRI Study of Explicit Syntactic Processing of Normal/Anomalous Sentences in Contrast to Implicit Syntactic Processing
Cereb Cortex, May 1, 2003; 13(5): 517 - 526.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Cogn. Neurosci.Home page
G. R. Kuperberg, P. J. Holcomb, T. Sitnikova, D. Greve, A. M. Dale, and D. Caplan
Distinct Patterns of Neural Modulation During the Processing of Conceptual and Syntactic Anomalies
J. Cogn. Neurosci., February 1, 2003; 15(2): 272 - 293.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
A. D. Friederici, S.-A. Ruschemeyer, A. Hahne, and C. J. Fiebach
The Role of Left Inferior Frontal and Superior Temporal Cortex in Sentence Comprehension: Localizing Syntactic and Semantic Processes
Cereb Cortex, February 1, 2003; 13(2): 170 - 177.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
P. G. Simos, J. I. Breier, J. M. Fletcher, B. R. Foorman, E. M. Castillo, and A. C. Papanicolaou
Brain Mechanisms for Reading Words and Pseudowords: an Integrated Approach
Cereb Cortex, March 1, 2002; 12(3): 297 - 305.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
NEURAL COMPUTATION J COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE MIT PRESS JOURNALS
Copyright © 2000 by The MIT Press.