刊讯｜SSCI 期刊《神经语言学》2022年第61-64卷

JOURNAL OF NEUROLINGUISTICS

Volume 61-64, 2021

JOURNAL OF NEUROLINGUISTICS（SSCI一区，2021 IF：2.373）2022年第61卷-64卷共发文44篇，其中研究性论文42篇，文献综述2篇。研究论文涉及阿尔茨海默症、认知障碍、母语者和非母语者单词的大脑特征等，实验技术采用了当前神经学研究的热门，如EEG、fMRI, 不仅为语言教学提供了有力的证据，为医学的进步也给予有力的理论支持。（2022年已更完）

目录

ARTICLES

■Deterioration and predictive values of semantic networks in mild cognitive impairment, by Hsin-Te Chang, Ming-Jang Chiu, Ta-Fu Chen, Meng-Ying Liu, Wan-Chun Fan, Ting-Wen Cheng, Ya-Mei Lai, Mau-Sun Hua.

■The roles of object and action, and concreteness and imageability, in the distinction between nouns and verbs: An ERP study on monosyllabic words in Chinese, by Quansheng Xia, Gang Peng.

■Comprehension-based language switching between newly learned languages: The role of individual differences, by Lu Jiao, Xiaoting Duan, Cong Liu, Baoguo Chen.

■ Non-transcription analysis of connected speech in mild cognitive impairment using an information unit scoring system, by Hana Kim,Jee Eun Sung, Jee Hyang Jeong.

■Neural correlates of morphological processing and its development from pre-school to the first grade in children with and without familial risk for dyslexia, by Natalia Louleli,Jarmo A.Hämäläinen, Lea Nieminen, Tiina Parviainen, Paavo H.T.Leppänen.

■ Gestures analysis during a picture description task: Capacity to discriminate between healthy controls, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer's disease, by Sandra Geladó, Isabel Gómez-Ruiz, Faustino Diéguez-Vide.

■Disembodying language: Actionality does not account for verb processing deficits in Parkinson's disease, by Edoardo Nicolò Aiello, Margherita Grosso, Asia Di Liberto, Adele Andriulo, Simona Buscone, Claudia Caracciolo, Monica Ottobrini, ClaudioLuzzatti.

■Neural correlates of Japanese honorific agreement processing mediated by socio-pragmatic factors: An fMRI study, by Haining Cui, Hyeonjeong Jeong, Kiyo Okamoto, Daiko Takahashi, Ryuta Kawashima, Motoaki Sugiura.

■Reading narratives whose protagonists experience emotions: fMRI evidence of down-regulation of thalamic regions associated with anxiety disorder, by Rudineia Toazza, Augusto Buchweitz, Alexandre Rosa Franco, Nathalia Bianchini Esper, Giovanni Abrahão Salum, Diogo DeSousa, Roberta Dalle Molle, Danitsa Marcos Rodrigues, Roberta Sena Reis, Amanda Brondani Mucellini Lovato, Suzielle Menezes Flores, Juliano Adams Pérez, Patrícia Pelufo Silveira, Monique Ernst, Gisele Gus Manfro.

■The long-lasting effects of thiamine deficiency in infancy on language: A study of a minimal-pair of twins, by Yuval Z. Katz, Neta Haluts, Naama Friedmann.

■Shared and unique functional connectivity underpinning rapid naming and character reading in Chinese, by Wei Zhou, Zhichao Xia, George Georgiou, Hua Shu.

■Musical and linguistic syntactic processing in agrammatic aphasia: An ERP study, by Brianne Chiappetta, Aniruddh D. Patel, Cynthia K. Thompson.

■Brain signatures of native and non-native words in French-learning 24-month-olds: The effect of vocabulary skills, by Oytun Aygün, Pia Rämä.

■Linguistic characteristics of different types of aphasia: A computer-assisted qualitative analysis using T-LAB, by Molgora Sara, Corbetta Daniela, Di Tella Sonia, Raynaud Savina, Silveri Maria Caterina.

■Dynamic impact of intelligence on verbal-humor processing: Evidence from ERPs and EROs, by Xueyan Li, Jiayi Sun, Huili Wang, Qianru Xu, Guanghui Zhang,  Xiaoshuang Wang.

■Impaired semantic categorization during transcranial direct current stimulation of the left and right inferior parietal lobule, by Federica Longo, Mario Braun, Florian Hutzler, Fabio Richlan.

■Lexical relations in Spanish-Speaking older adults with Alzheimer's disease: An approach to semantic memory, by Aline Minto-García, Diana I. Luna-Umanzor, Natalia Arias-Trejo, Martha M. González-González, Tirso Zúñiga-Santamaría.

■The neural encoding of productive phonological alternation in speech production: Evidence from Mandarin Tone 3 sandhi, by Jie Zhang, Caicai Zhang, Stephen Politzer-Ahles, Ziyi Pan,Xunan Huang, Chang Wang, Gang Peng, Yuyu Zeng.

■Conflict-based speech error monitoring in bilinguals: Differences between first and second language monitoring, by Kristina Coulter, Natalie A. Phillips. 

■The effects of Single-Session Cathodal and Bihemispheric tDCS on Fluency in Stuttering, by Çağdaş Karsan, R. Sertan Özdemir, Talat Bulut, Lütfü Hanoğlu.

■A finer-grained linguistic profile of Alzheimer's disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment, by Kayla Chapin, Natasha Clarke, Peter Garrard, Wolfram Hinzen.

■Category-specific fMRI correlates of picture naming: A study with Arabs and Filipinos, by Haythum O. Tayeb, Jamaan Alghamdi, Naushad Ahmed, Yousef Alsawwaf, Abrar Baduwailan, Bassam Yaghmoor, Tariq Elyase, Mohammed Mudarris, Daniel S. Weisholtz.

■The effects of quantifier size on the construction of discourse models, by Eva Klingvall, Fredrik Heinat.

■A cross-linguistic perspective to classification of healthiness of speech in Parkinson's disease, by Vass Verkhodanova, Matt Coler, Roel Jonkers, Sanne Timmermans, Natasha Maurits, Baukede Jong,  Wander Lowie.

■Understanding same subject-verb agreement differently: ERP evidence for flexibility in processing representations involved in French subject-verb agreement, by Jane Aristia, Alicia Fasquel, Laurent Ott, Angèle Brunellière.

■Frequency-based foveal load modulates semantic parafoveal-on-foveal effects, by M. Antúnez, P.J. López-Pérez, J. Dampuré, H.A. Barber.

■Sentence processing in mild cognitive impairment, by Diana Nakamura Pereira, Wellington da Cruz Souza, Ariella Fornachari Ribeiro Belan, Marina von Zuben de Arruda Camargo, Orestes Vicente Forlenza,  Marcia Radanovic.

■Hemispheric dominance of metaphor processing for Chinese-English bilinguals: DVF and ERPs evidence, by Xichu Zhu, Hongjun Chen, Susannah C.S.A. Otieno, Fengyu Cong, Paavo H.T. Leppänen.

■Cross-linguistic influences of L1 on L2 morphosyntactic processing: An fNIRS study, by Danyang Wang, Sarah Wang, Benjamin Zinszer, Li Sheng, Kaja Jasińska.

■Scientific research on verbal fluency tests: A bibliometric analysis, by Dolores Villalobos, Javier Povedano-Montero, Santiago Fernández, Francisco López-Muñoz, Javier Pacios, David del Río.

■Brain mechanism of Chinese character processing in rapid stream stimulation, by Juan Chen, Dan Sun, Peng Wang, Yating Lv, Ye Zhang.

■Understanding of the Gricean maxims in children with autism spectrum disorder: Implications for pragmatic language development, by Kosuke Asada, Shoji Itakura, Mako Okanda, Yusuke Moriguchi, Kaori Yokawa, Shinichiro Kumagaya, Kaoru Konishi, Yukuo Konishi, Yukuo Konishi. 

■The effect of bi-hemispheric transcranial direct current stimulation on verbal function in Broca's aphasia, by Saha Yekta, Alia Saberi, Kamran Ezzati, Kambiz Rohampour, Somayeh Ahmadi Gooraji, Samaneh Ghorbani Shirkouhi, Sasan Andalib.

■The beauty of language structure: A single-case fMRI study of palindrome creation, by Patricia León-Cabrera, Antoni Guillamon, David Cucurell, Antoni Rodriguez-Fornells.

■What's in a Color? A neuropsycholinguistic study on the effect of colors on EEG brainwaves, immediate emotional responses, and English language vocabulary retention among Iranian young adults, by S. Fatemeh Hosseini, Z. Ghabanchi.

■Neuromodulation of verb-transitivity judgments, by Dirk B. den Ouden, Michael W. Zhu.

■Do subsyllabic units play a role in Mandarin spoken word recognition? Evidence from phonotactic processing, by Chiung-Yu Chang, Feng-fan Hsieh.

■Pragmatic inferences: Neuroimaging of ad-hoc implicatures, by Shiri Hornick, Einat Shetreet.

■The left inferior frontal gyrus and the resolution of unimodal vs. cross-modal interference in speech production: A transcranial direct current stimulation study, by E. Ward, H.S. Gauvin, K.L. McMahon, M. Meinzer, G.I. de Zubicaray.

■Temporal dynamics of form and meaning in morphologically complex word processing: An ERP study on Korean inflected verbs, by Joonwoo Kim, Jinwon Kang, Jeahong Kim, Kichun Nam.

■Verb production and comprehension in primary progressive aphasia, by Haiyan Wang, Matthew Walenski, Kaitlyn Litcofsky, Jennifer E. Mack, M. Marsel Mesulam, Cynthia K. Thompson.

■Action-speech and gesture-speech integration in younger and older adults: An event-related potential study, by Kim Ouwehand, Jacqueline de Nooijer, Tamara van Gog, Fred Paas.

REVIEW ARTICLES 

■Treatment of verb tense morphology in agrammatic aphasia: A systematic review, by Vahid Valinejad, Azar Mehri, Ahmadreza Khatoonabadi, Ehsan Shekari.

■Subcortical syntax: Reconsidering the neural dynamics of language, by Elliot Murphy, Koji Hoshi, Antonio Benítez-Burraco.

摘要

Deterioration and predictive values of semantic networks in mild cognitive impairment

Hsin-Te Chang, Department of Psychology, College of Science, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taoyuan, Taiwan, China

Ming-Jang Chiu, Department of Psychology, College of Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, China; Department of Neurology, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, China

Ta-Fu Chen, Department of Neurology, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, China

Meng-Ying Liu, Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital Yun-Lin Branch, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Yunlin, Taiwan, China

Wan-Chun Fan, Department of Psychiatry, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, New Taipei, Taiwan, China

Ting-Wen Cheng, Department of Neurology, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, China

Ya-Mei Lai, Department of Neurology, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, China

Mau-Sun Hua, Department of Psychology, College of Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, China; Department of Neurology, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, China; Neurobiology and Cognitive Science Center, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, China; Graduate Institute of Brain and Mind Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, China

Abstract Recent study has suggested semantic memory deterioration may be the earliest cognitive changes in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Few previous researchers have investigated specific changes in the semantic structures in the memory of patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). This study examined the clustering performance in semantic fluency among 160 participants in various MCI subgroups (aMCI single domain, aMCI-sd, n = 30; aMCI multiple domain, aMCI-md, n = 30; non-aMCI multiple domain, naMCI-md, n = 10) as well as a group of mildly impaired individuals with dementia of AD type (DAT, n = 20), and a group of healthy controls (HC, n = 70). Compared with HC group, DAT patients presented deficient clustering in each semantic category related to living things. aMCI-sd group presented defective clustering when dealing with the clustering of items that may be more strongly associated with praxis and perceptual information in the categories that included inanimate living things. aMCI-md group displayed defective patterns similar to those in the aMCI-sd group; however, they displayed more profound deficits in clustering that may require perceptual information. Patients with naMCI-md preserved their ability to perform clustering on all of the categories. The poor clustering of items that may be more strongly associated with praxis could be used as a means of predicting conversion from aMCI-sd to DAT, whereas performance on items that may require perceptual information could be used to predict conversion among aMCI-md patients. These findings demonstrate the degree to which the semantic structures in memory can be used for the assessment of aMCI patients and prediction of conversion to DAT.

Key words Semantic memory; Amnestic mild cognitive impairment; Alzheimer's disease; Praxis

The roles of object and action, and concreteness and imageability, in the distinction between nouns and verbs: An ERP study on monosyllabic words in Chinese

Quansheng Xia, College of Chinese Language and Culture, Nankai University, Tianjin, China

Gang Peng, Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China; Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Science, Shenzhen, China

Abstract The dissociation between nouns and verbs has been reported in behavioral, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging studies. It is still unclear whether the spatial and temporal differences between nouns and verbs arise from semantic differences or morpho-syntactic differences associated with the two word classes. Regarding the semantic accounts, it is also unknown whether the word class effect should be attributed to differences in object and action, or in concreteness and imageability, associated with nouns and verbs. As the question with respect to semantic accounts for the word class effect is unsettled, the two types of semantic attributes have not been well distinguished in previous studies that support morpho-syntactic accounts, and this may lead to a confounding effect between morpho-syntactic factors and semantic factors. Therefore, to better understand the origins of the noun-verb distinction, it is essential to figure out whether the word class effect is driven by the contrast between object and action or by concreteness and imageability. With tight matching of stimuli and the use of event-related potentials (ERPs), we investigated the neural processing of monosyllabic nouns and verbs in Chinese that were presented without context. The results showed that when concreteness and imageability were balanced, nouns elicited more negative N400 than verbs over a broad scalp region, suggesting distinct semantic processing between the two word classes. Furthermore, nouns elicited more late negativity than verbs at frontal sites, which may reflect differences in the semantic representation of nouns and verbs in the working memory or differences in the working memory load associated with the word classes. These ERP results showed that the distinction between nouns and verbs persists even after concreteness and imageability are matched, revealing that the semantic account for the word class effect might arise from the contrast of object and action rather than the concreteness and imageability effect. The findings of the current study draw attention to the importance of object and action distinction in studies on nouns and verbs.

Key words Word class effect; Object vs. action; Concreteness & imageability; Chinese; Monosyllabic words; N400

Comprehension-based language switching between newly learned languages: The role of individual differences

Lu Jiao, Department of Psychology, Normal College & School of Teacher Education, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China

Xiaoting Duan, Department of Psychology, Normal College & School of Teacher Education, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China

Cong Liu, Department of Psychology, Normal College & School of Teacher Education, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China

Baoguo Chen, Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

Abstract The Adaptive Control hypothesis and relevant empirical evidence in bilingualism literature have revealed the adaptive nature of bilingual language control in skilled languages, while the language control processes at the very initial stage of new language learning have not been examined. The present study investigated how the individual differences in inhibition ability and language switching experience influence the controlling process of newly learned languages, using event related potentials (ERPs) technology. We first assessed the language switching frequency and inhibition ability of Chinese-English bilinguals on Day 1. Then, all bilinguals learned words from new languages (namely German and Japanese words) during the next six days and completed a comprehension-based language switching task between the newly learned languages on Day 8. Results of mixed-effects models on the behavioral data showed that there were no switching costs (i.e., derived by contrasting switch trials with repeat trials) and no predictive effect of individual difference on the language switching between newly learned languages. However, the ERPs results revealed switching costs and individual difference effects in N2 and LPC. The language switching frequency significantly predicted the variability of the N2 and LPC, and the inhibition ability modulated the switch effect in Japanese as showed in the LPC. These findings suggest that individual differences predict comprehension-based language control between the newly learned languages, providing new evidence for the adaptability of language control from a language comprehension perspective.

Key words Language switching; Switching costs; Newly learned language; Inhibition; ERPs

Non-transcription analysis of connected speech in mild cognitive impairment using an information unit scoring system

Hana Kim, Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, MD, USA

Jee Eun Sung, Department of Communication Disorders, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea

Jee HyangJeong, Department of Neurology, Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Abstract 

Purpose

The purpose of the current study was (1) to compare the performance of individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and cognitively healthy adults (CHA) on story retelling tasks consisting of familiar and novel stories, and (2) to examine potential utility of information unit scoring by demonstrating concurrent validity of the measure.

Method

Fifteen individuals with MCI and 15 age- and education-matched CHA who are monolingual, Korean speakers participated in this study. The task consisted of two different stories: (1) familiar story and (2) novel story. Each story was presented auditorily with sequential pictures. All participants were required to retell as much of the story as they could remember after listening to recorded audio files. Language samples were quantified using Information Unit (IU) checklists. Concurrent validity was computed by correlating IU measures (percent of information units [%IU] and percent of information units per minute [%IU/Min] and other linguistic measures (e.g., correct information units [CIU]).

Result

There were greater differences between the two groups in the familiar story than the novel story. Correlations for IU measures in the familiar story were significant and moderate to high, ranging from 0.644 to 893 for the MCI group and from .582 to .745 for the CHA group. In the novel story, one moderate correlation was found between the %IU/Min to %CIU/Min.

Conclusion

This evidence supports that the IU scoring system serves as a valid and efficient tool to analyze connected speech in clinical settings.

Key words Mild cognitive impairment; Non-transcription analysis; Information unit; Story retelling

Neural correlates of morphological processing and its development from pre-school to the first grade in children with and without familial risk for dyslexia

Natalia Louleli, Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland;Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Jarmo A.Hämäläinen, Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland;Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Lea Nieminen, Center for Applied Language Studies, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Tiina Parviainen, Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland;Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Paavo H.T.Leppänen, Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland;Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Abstract Previous studies have shown that the development of morphological awareness and reading skills are interlinked. However, most have focused on phonological awareness as a risk factor for dyslexia, although there is considerable diversity in the underlying causes of this reading difficulty. Specifically, the relationship between phonology, derivational morphology, and dyslexia in the Finnish language remains unclear. In the present study, we used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to measure the brain responses to correctly and incorrectly derived Finnish nouns in 34 first grade Finnish children (21 typically developing and 13 with familial risk for dyslexia). In addition, we compared longitudinally the morphological information processing of 27 children (16 typically developing and 11 at-risk for dyslexia) first at pre-school age and then at first grade age. The task consisted of 108 pairs of sentences, including a verb and its root with the derivational suffix/-jA/. Correctly and incorrectly derived forms were presented both as real words and pseudowords. The incorrectly derived nouns contained a morpho-phonological violation in the last vowel of the noun before the derivational suffix. The brain activation of the typically developing children in response to morphological information processing showed sensitivity to the morphologically correct vs. incorrect contrast only in the cases of the real words. Children at-risk for dyslexia showed sensitivity to the morphological information processing both for real words and pseudowords. However, no significant differences between the groups emerged either for the correct vs. incorrect morphological contrast or for the correctly and incorrectly derived forms separately. Interestingly, in our previous study, cluster-based permutation tests showed significant developmental behavioral and brain differences between the children at pre-school age and at first-grade age in the morphological information processing of real words and pseudowords. Our results indicate the important role of derivational morphology in the early phases of learning to read.

Key words Derivational morphology; Reading acquisition; Pre-school children; First grade children; Longitudinal; At-risk for dyslexia; MEG

Distinct but integrated processing of lexical tones, vowels, and consonants in tonal language speech perception: Evidence from mismatch negativity

Keke Yu, Key Laboratory of Brain Cognition and Education Science of Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial;Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, and Center for Studies of Psychological; Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China

Yuan Chen, Key Laboratory of Brain Cognition and Education Science of Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial;Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, and Center for Studies of Psychological; Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China

Menglin Wang, Key Laboratory of Brain Cognition and Education Science of Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial;Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, and Center for Studies of Psychological; Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China

Ruiming Wang, Key Laboratory of Brain Cognition and Education Science of Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial;Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, and Center for Studies of Psychological; Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China

LiLi, The Key Laboratory of Chinese Learning and International Promotion, and College of International Culture, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China

Abstract The processing of lexical tones, vowels, and consonants is significant in tonal language speech perception. However, it remains unclear whether their processing is similar or distinct concerning the extent and time course and whether their processing is independent or integrated. Thus in the present study, we conducted two event-related potential (ERP) experiments to explore how native speakers of Cantonese process lexical tones (including level and contour tones), vowels, and consonants in real vs. pseudo-Cantonese words with mismatch negativity (MMN). The MMN amplitudes and latencies showed that lexical tones and vowels were processed similarly in extent and time course. Lexical tones and consonants were processed differently in extent and time course. Vowels and consonants were processed to similar extents but over different time courses. Lexicality (real words vs. pseudowords) and tonal type (level vs. contour tones) modulated the differences in the extent and time courses of processing between lexical tones/vowels and consonants. The MMN additivity analyses further suggested that the processing of lexical tones and vowels, lexical tones and consonants, and vowels and consonants were integrated regardless of lexicality and tonal type. The results revealed that distinct but integrated processing occurs for lexical tones, vowels, and consonants in the speech perception of tonal languages. The findings provided neurophysiological evidence for the mechanism underlying tonal language spoken word recognition.

Key words Tonal languages; Lexical tones; Vowels; Consonants; Speech perception; MMN

Gestures analysis during a picture description task: Capacity to discriminate between healthy controls, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer's disease

Sandra Geladó, University School of Health and Sport (EUSES), University of Girona, Girona, Spain

Isabel Gómez-Ruiz, Neurology Service, General Hospital of L'Hospitalet, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain

Faustino Diéguez-Vide, Department of Catalan Philology and General Linguistics, University of Barcelona, Spain

Abstract 

Objective

The main objective of this study is to compare the gesticulation of the five study groups that conform the evolution from healthy ageing to a moderate stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD). As a secondary aim we intend to assess the capacity of co-speech gestures to discriminate between the two main groups of amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), executive MCI (ex-MCI) and temporo-medial MCI (tm-MCI), since this last group is the one with the highest rate of progression to AD.

Methods

52 participants were divided into five groups, according to their global cognition state (healthy controls, ex-MCI, tm-MCI, mild AD, and moderate AD). They were videotaped during a picture description task and their verbal (speech fluency and lexical diversity measures) and non-verbal communication (gestural production) performances were analysed.

Results

Statistical analysis confirmed that the global cognition performance was worse in patients with greater cognitive impairment, and MCI groups differ from each other in delayed recall memory. Concerning verbal communication, time of speech was lower in the healthy control group when compared with the rest of the groups. In the non-verbal communication aspect, a trend toward statistical significance was found in iconic gestures per minute, iconic gestures per word and iconic gestures for word substitution. Pairwise comparison highlighted these variables as potential differentiating factor between ex-MCI, tm-MCI and mild AD groups.

Discussion

As for the first objective, our study results demonstrated there was not a linear progression in gestural production among groups. In relation to the second objective, outcomes pointed to a great value, since iconic gestures variables have been identified as a potential marker for the specific identification of tm-MCI individuals, who are a subgroup of amnestic MCI with a greater predisposition to progress to Alzheimer's disease.

Key words Gestures; Alzheimer's disease; Mild cognitive impairment; Early diagnosis; Non-verbal communication; Dementia

Disembodying language: Actionality does not account for verb processing deficits in Parkinson's disease

Edoardo Nicolò Aiello, PhD Program in Neuroscience, University of Milano-Bicocca, Via Cadore 48, 20900 Monza MB, Italy;School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Via Cadore 28, 20900 Monza MB, Italy

Margherita Grosso, Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo 1, 20126 Milano MI, Italy

Asia Di Liberto, Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo 1, 20126 Milano MI, Italy

Adele Andriulo, High-Complexity Rehabilitation Unit, “Casa di Cura Villa Esperia”, Viale dei Salici 35, 27052 Godiasco Salice Terme (PV), Italy

Simona Buscone, High-Complexity Rehabilitation Unit, “Casa di Cura Villa Esperia”, Viale dei Salici 35, 27052 Godiasco Salice Terme (PV), Italy

Claudia Caracciolo, High-Complexity Rehabilitation Unit, “Casa di Cura Villa Esperia”, Viale dei Salici 35, 27052 Godiasco Salice Terme (PV), Italy

Monica Ottobrini, High-Complexity Rehabilitation Unit, “Casa di Cura Villa Esperia”, Viale dei Salici 35, 27052 Godiasco Salice Terme (PV), Italy

Claudio Luzzatti, Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo 1, 20126 Milano MI, Italy;Milan Center for Neuroscience, Piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo 1, 20123 Milano MI, Italy

Abstract 

Background

Motor structures involvement has been traditionally assumed to account for selective deficits of verb (V) vs. noun (N) processing in Parkinon's disease (PD) patients via action semantic impairment (Embodied Cognition Theory, ECT). Nonetheless, post-semantic accounts, as well as extra-linguistic explanations (task difficulty effects), have not been evenly endorsed. This study aimed at investigating neurocognitive underpinnings of N–V discrepanies in PD patients.

Methods

PD patients with (PD+) and without (PD-) cognitive impairments were compared to healthy participants (HPs) on tasks evaluating N and V semantic as well as post-semantic processing. Effects of motor content (actionality) of Ns and Vs and of verb argument structure (VAS) complexity were assessed.

Results

All groups performed worse in V than in N lexical retrieval. PD patients performed worse than HPs on both lexical and semantic tasks. By contrast, only N/V naming tasks discriminated PD-from PD + patients. PD + patients showed selective difficulties in retrieving low-actionality as well as transitive and unaccusative Vs. No associations were detected between the action semantic measure and V-naming performances.

Discussion

ECT-framed explanations cannot account for N–V discrepancies in PD patients. Indeed, these patients showed semantic deficits not limited to the action domain and retrieved most easily high-actionality Vs. N–V discrepancies in PD patients would thus reflect a magnification of a differential processing demand for Vs vs. Ns - which is intrinsic to the neurocognitive system. Nonetheless, PD patients being sensitive to VAS complexity might imply fronto-striatal involvement in V post-semantic processing, possibly at the lemma level.

Key words Noun-verb dissociation; Parkinson's disease; Embodied cognition theory; Actionality; Verb argument structure complexity

Neural correlates of Japanese honorific agreement processing mediated by socio-pragmatic factors: An fMRI study

Haining Cui, Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

Hyeonjeong Jeong, Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan; Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

Kiyo Okamoto, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

Daiko Takahashi, Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

Ryuta Kawashima, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

Motoaki Sugiura, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan;International Research Institute for Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

Abstract Socio-pragmatic factors, such as social roles and language experience, could be key variables influencing language processing. However, little is known regarding the neural correlates of syntactic processing mediated by socio-pragmatic factors. Honorific agreement in Japanese is well-suited for the investigation of this issue. Japanese honorifics are governed by socio-pragmatic and syntactic rules. Lower social status speakers are expected to address higher social status counterparts in accordance with these rules. This linguistic skill is typically developed through language experience accrued in social contexts. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging study investigated the neural correlates of the honorific agreement processing mediated by socio-pragmatic factors. Thirty-three native Japanese speakers performed a socio-pragmatic judgment task containing sentence conditions manipulated by conventionality (i.e., conventional vs. unconventional) and speaker (lower-status vs. higher-status). The lower-status conditions elicited significantly more activation of the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), bilateral insula, and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex than the higher-status ones, irrespective of conventionality. This suggests that social cues (i.e., speaker social status) trigger computation of honorific agreement via the left IFG. Furthermore, the conventional conditions significantly enhanced activation of the bilateral anterior temporal lobes (ATLs), compared with the unconventional conditions. Finally, the listener's experience with honorific use in the workplace was positively correlated with activation of the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL) during comprehension of conventional honorific utterances. Our findings demonstrate the importance of socio-pragmatic factors in Japanese honorific agreement processing, which involves the ATLs and IPL.

Key words Honorific agreement; Socio-pragmatic rule; Social cues; Language experience

Reading narratives whose protagonists experience emotions: fMRI evidence of down-regulation of thalamic regions associated with anxiety disorder

Rudineia Toazza, Anxiety Disorders Program for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (PROTAIA), Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Institute of Basic Sciences/Health (ICBS), Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

Augusto Buchweitz, PUCRS, School of Health and Life Sciences, Graduate School of Psychology, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; BraIns, Brain Institute of Rio Grande Do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

Alexandre Rosa Franco, Center for Biomedical Imaging and Neuromodulation, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA; Center for the Developing Brain, Child Mind Institute, New York, NY, USA; Department of Psychiatry, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

Nathalia Bianchini Esper, BraIns, Brain Institute of Rio Grande Do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

Giovanni Abrahão Salum, Anxiety Disorders Program for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (PROTAIA), Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

Diogo DeSousa, Anxiety Disorders Program for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (PROTAIA), Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Graduate Program in Psychology, Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil

Roberta Dalle Molle, Graduate Program in Child and Adolescent Health, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil

Danitsa Marcos Rodrigues, Anxiety Disorders Program for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (PROTAIA), Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Institute of Basic Sciences/Health (ICBS), Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

Roberta Sena Reis, Graduate Program in Child and Adolescent Health, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil

Amanda Brondani Mucellini Lovato,  Anxiety Disorders Program for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (PROTAIA), Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Graduate Program in Child and Adolescent Health, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil

Suzielle Menezes Flores,  Anxiety Disorders Program for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (PROTAIA), Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

Juliano Adams Pérez, Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Unit, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Brazil

Patrícia Pelufo Silveira, Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Institute of Basic Sciences/Health (ICBS), Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Graduate Program in Child and Adolescent Health, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil

Monique Ernst, Neurodevelopment of Reward Systems Section on Neurobiology of Fear and Anxiety (SNFA), National Institute of Mental Health / NIH / DHHS, USA

Gisele Gus Manfro, Anxiety Disorders Program for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (PROTAIA), Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Institute of Basic Sciences/Health (ICBS), Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

Abstract 

Introduction

The goal of the present study was to investigate the association of anxiety disorder and brain activation while reading stories whose outcomes show protagonists experiencing emotions.

Methods

We carried out an fMRI study of 28 adolescents and young adults (14–22 years; 14 Anxiety Disorder Participants and 14 Controls) who read short narratives with angry, happy, sad, or neutral. outcomes We used mixed analyses of variance to test the effects of Group (anxiety/comparison), Emotion (angry/happy/sad, neutral) and Group by Emotion interaction.

Results

A significant Group by Emotion interaction was identified in a thalamic-region cluster of brain activation. Participants with anxiety disorders showed significantly less thalamic activation relative to controls. The interaction was identified by contrasting emotional vs. neutral passages. There was also a main effect of emotional passages versus neutral passages in a network of anterior and posterior areas of the brain, which included mid and superior temporal, left inferior frontal, left inferior parietal and dorsomedial prefrontal areas, some of which are among brain regions identified in studies of understanding the mind of a protagonist. Finally, we did not find a main effect of Group. The results suggest that anxiety in adolescents and young adults is associated with modulating activation of thalamic regions when processing emotions of fictional characters. The thalamic cluster identified in the present study corroborates previous studies that have addressed brain activation associated with anxiety.

Key words Anxiety disorders; fMRI; Adolescence; Reading comprehension; Thalamus

The long-lasting effects of thiamine deficiency in infancy on language: A study of a minimal-pair of twins

Yuval Z.Katz, Language and Brain Lab, Tel Aviv University, Israel

Neta Haluts, Language and Brain Lab, Tel Aviv University, Israel

Naama Friedmann, Language and Brain Lab, Tel Aviv University, Israel

Abstract Thiamine, vitamin B1, is a crucial component in brain development. This study examined the role thiamine plays in the development of language, by examining the long-term effects of thiamine deficiency in infancy. The participants were a young adult who had consumed a thiamine-deficient baby formula at age 1;0–1;5, and her non-identical twin sister, who had consumed a non-deficient formula. We conducted a comprehensive assessment of various language abilities, including syntax, morphology, lexical encoding and retrieval, word and nonword reading, and phonological working memory, most of which have not been previously tested in individuals who had thiamine deficiency in infancy. The twin who had thiamine deficiency showed selective deficits in various language domains, including syntactic movement, morphology, and lexical abilities (which also caused surface dyslexia in reading aloud). She also showed impaired input and output phonological working memory and impaired reading aloud of nonwords (involving voicing errors, morphological errors, and lexicalizations). Her twin sister, who did not have thiamine deficiency, showed typical language abilities. The findings show for the first time that language disorders due to thiamine deficiency in infancy persist into adulthood. In light of previous literature of adults whose thiamine deficiency took place in adulthood, who do not show language impairments, we suggest that thiamine is crucial for language development during the critical period for first language acquisition in the first years of life. Thiamine deficiency during the critical period may cause long-lasting impairments in syntax, morphology, reading, phonological working memory, and lexical abilities.

Key words Thiamine deficiency; Language impairment; Syntactic movement; Lexical retrieval; Reading

Shared and unique functional connectivity underpinning rapid naming and character reading in Chinese

Wei Zhou, Beijing Key Lab of Learning and Cognition, School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, China

Zhichao Xia, State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, China; School of Systems Science, Beijing Normal University, China

George Georgioud, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Alberta, Canada

Hua Shu, State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, China

Abstract Although a few neuroimaging studies have examined the role of rapid automatized naming in reading, they have all been conducted in alphabetic orthographies and have focused on brain activation. The present study investigated the shared and unique functional and effective connectivity of Chinese character naming with alphanumeric (digits) and non-alphanumeric (objects) RAN in 20 Chinese university students by using fMRI. Compared to RAN objects, character naming recruited an additional connection between the visual word form area and the left superior temporal gyrus. Compared to RAN digits, character naming recruited more connections between the language-related regions in the right hemisphere. Character naming had similar connections in the language-related regions with RAN digits and in the right hemisphere with RAN objects. These results support the notion that RAN is a “microcosm” of reading and integrates neural resources involved in object identification and naming.

Key words Character naming; Chinese; Dynamic causal modeling; Functional connectivity; Rapid automatized naming; BMA; Bayesian model averaging; DARTEL; Diffeomorphic Anatomical Registration Through Exponentiated Lie Algebra; DCM,dynamic causal modeling; EC,effective connectivity; FC,functional connectivity; fMRI,functional magnetic resonance imaging; MNI,Montreal Neurological Institute; RFX, random effect; ROI, region of interest

Musical and linguistic syntactic processing in agrammatic aphasia: An ERP study

Brianne Chiappetta, Aphasia and Neurolinguistics Research Laboratory, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

Aniruddh D.Patel, Department of Psychology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA;Program in Brain, Mind, and Consciousness, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), Toronto, ON, CA, USA

Cynthia K.Thompsonade, Aphasia and Neurolinguistics Research Laboratory, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA; Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA; Department of Neurology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA

Abstract Language and music rely on complex sequences organized according to syntactic principles that are implicitly understood by enculturated listeners. Across both domains, syntactic processing involves predicting and integrating incoming elements into higher-order structures. According to the Shared Syntactic Integration Resource Hypothesis (SSIRH; Patel, 2003), musical and linguistic syntactic processing rely on shared resources for integrating incoming elements (e.g., chords, words) into unfolding sequences. One prediction of the SSIRH is that people with agrammatic aphasia (whose deficits are due to syntactic integration problems) should present with deficits processing musical syntax. We report the first neural study to test this prediction: event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured in response to musical and linguistic syntactic violations in a group of people with agrammatic aphasia (n = 7) compared to a group of healthy controls (n = 14) using an acceptability judgement task. The groups were matched with respect to age, education, and extent of musical training. Violations were based on morpho-syntactic relations in sentences and harmonic relations in chord sequences. Both groups presented with a significant P600 response to syntactic violations across both domains. The aphasic participants presented with a reduced-amplitude posterior P600 compared to the healthy controls in response to linguistic, but not musical, violations. Participants with aphasia did however present with larger frontal positivities in response to violations in both domains. Intriguingly, extent of musical training was associated with larger posterior P600 responses to syntactic violations of language and music in both groups. Overall, these findings are not consistent with the predictions of the SSIRH, and instead suggest that linguistic, but not musical, syntactic processing may be selectively impaired in stroke-induced agrammatic aphasia. However, the findings also suggest a relationship between musical training and linguistic syntactic processing, which may have clinical implications for people with aphasia, and motivates more research on the relationship between these two domains.

Key words Musical Syntax; Morpho-syntax; Agrammatic Aphasia; Event-Related Potential (ERP)P600; Shared Syntactic Integration Resource Hypothesis (SSIRH)

Brain signatures of native and non-native words in French-learning 24-month-olds: The effect of vocabulary skills

Oytun Aygün, Université de Paris, Paris, France

PiaRämä, Université de Paris, Paris, France; Université de Paris, CNRS, Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, F-75006, Paris, France

Abstract The event-related potential (ERP) technique provides a temporally accurate measure to distinguish among different linguistic processes. Here, we measured ERPs in response to known words, pseudowords and nonwords in 24-month-old French-learning children to investigate how individual vocabulary skills contribute to the processing of native-like and non-native-like words during a listening task. The N200 was more pronounced for pseudowords than for nonwords while no difference was found between known words and pseudowords. The amplitude difference between known words and pseudowords was, however, correlated with the productive vocabulary. Toddlers with a higher vocabulary score exhibited a bigger difference than toddlers with a lower vocabulary score. Similarly for the frontally distributed late negativity, only those toddlers with higher vocabulary knowledge exhibited a gradient pattern of activity in response to three word types while children with lower vocabulary skills exhibited a similar responsiveness to each word type. Our results suggest that vocabulary skills contribute to the magnitudes of brain signals in response to native and non-native words in a non-referential listening task.

Key words Lexical processing; Vocabulary skills; Phonotactics; Event-related potentials; Developing brain; Toddlers

Linguistic characteristics of different types of aphasia: A computer-assisted qualitative analysis using T-LAB

Molgora Sara, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, Italy

Corbetta Daniela, CIRCSE (Centro Interdisciplinare di Ricerche per La Computerizzazione Dei Segni Dell'Espressione), Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, Italy

Di Tella Sonia, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, Italy

Raynaud Savina, Department of Philosophy, Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, Italy

Silveri Maria Caterina, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, Italy; Centre for the Medicine of Aging, Fondazione Policlinico Agostino Gemelli, IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy

Abstract 

Background

Aphasic disorders are observed in patients with both vascular and neurodegenerative pathology. Although spontaneous speech in the various forms of aphasia has some features that are identifiable on a purely linguistic level, diagnosing the type of aphasia critically relies on the support of clinical and neuroimaging data.

Objective

To identify some core characteristics of different types of fluent aphasias (i.e., disorders of speech production due to lesions in the posterior regions of the left perisylvian areas not associated with articulatory deficits or apraxia of speech) in spontaneous speech using T-LAB computer-assisted qualitative analyses. This is a mixed-method software that allows exploring narratives by highlighting their key features using linguistic, statistical and graphical tools.

Methods

We collected samples of spontaneous speech (narratives) from 34 fluent aphasic Italian speakers (i.e.,11 post-stroke aphasic patients, 17 with the logopenic variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia and 6 with the semantic variant) during the description of the Cookie Theft Picture of the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination. Thirty-four healthy control subjects were asked to complete the same task. Analyses of the entire corpus (all of the narratives), specific metadata introduction and tagging were performed by two raters and any conflicts were resolved by a third rater.

Results

T-LAB analysis revealed statistically significant differences between both aphasic patients and healthy controls and between vascular and degenerative patients. Although the main distinction emerged between post-stroke and neurodegenerative aphasias, important differences also emerged between the individuals with the logopenic variant and the semantic variant.

Discussion

These findings underline the potential usefulness of a computer-assisted analysis of speech production to identify the core linguistic characteristics of different aphasic disorders, independently of any clinical support.

Key words Post stroke aphasia; Logopenic aphasia; Semantic aphasia; Qualitative textual analysis; Linguistic differences

Dynamic impact of intelligence on verbal-humor processing: Evidence from ERPs and EROs

Xueyan Li, School of Foreign Languages, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China

Jiayi Sun, International College, Dalian University, Dalian, China; School of Foreign Languages, Dalian University, Dalian, China; Faculty of Information Technology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

Huili Wang, School of Foreign Languages, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China

Qianru Xu, Center for Machine Vision and Signal Analysis, University of Oulu, Finland

Guanghui Zhang, Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, USA

Xiaoshuang Wang, Faculty of Information Technology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

Impaired semantic categorization during transcranial direct current stimulation of the left and right inferior parietal lobule

Federica Longo, Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Austria

Mario Braun, Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Austria

Floria nHutzler, Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Austria

Fabio Richlan, Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Austria

Abstract We investigated whether semantic knowledge is organized according to domain- or feature-dimensions during a semantic categorization task. In addition, using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), we assessed whether the left or right inferior parietal lobule is differentially engaged based on these dimensions. To this end, four different tDCS electrode montage groups were employed (anodal left, cathodal left, anodal right, cathodal right). Reaction times and accuracy were recorded in response to visually presented words (living and non-living concepts with a high or low number of features). In line with our expectations, living concepts elicited faster reaction times compared with non-living concepts and concepts with a high number of features elicited faster reaction times compared with concepts with a low number of features. In addition, a general, regionally and polarity-unspecific, deteriorating effect of tDCS emerged, with stimulation slowing down reaction times compared with sham. The results are discussed in the frameworks of major theories on the organization of semantic knowledge, including the Distributed Domain-Specific Hypothesis.

Key words Inferior parietal lobule; Brain; Domain; Features; Memory; Semantic knowledge; Transcranial direct current stimulation

Lexical relations in Spanish-Speaking older adults with Alzheimer's disease: An approach to semantic memory

Aline Minto-García, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México

Diana I. Luna-Umanzor, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México

Natalia Arias-Trejo, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México

Martha M. González-González, Unidad de Cognición y Conducta, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía Manuel Velasco Suárez, México

Tirso Zúñiga-Santamaría, Laboratorio de Neurogenética, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía Manuel Velasco Suárez, México

Abstract Changes associated with aging intensify when older adults are diagnosed with cognitive impairment. In order to describe such changes in semantic memory, this study compared the lexical relations produced by Mexican older adults diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) with those with typical aging (TA) in a free word association task. Participants were 24 older adults, 12 with AD and 12 with TA; all were right-handed monolingual Spanish speakers, 55 years of age or older, and with an educational level of at least one year. Older adults with AD were diagnosed according to clinical criteria. Both groups had similar demographic characteristics: sex, age, and years of education. The free word association task used 234 high-frequency concrete nouns of early acquisition. Two codings were performed: one based on classification of syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations, and the other on semantic association, wide association, and association by signifiers. Our results showed differences in the type of lexical relations generated by older adults with AD as compared with those with TA; semantic memory in the AD group presented alterations, but various lexical relations were preserved, at least in the moderate stage of the disease. We identified how words are connected and the state of semantic memory in older adults with AD.

Key words Lexical relations; Alzheimer's disease; Older adults; Semantic memory

The neural encoding of productive phonological alternation in speech production: Evidence from Mandarin Tone 3 sandhi

Jie Zhang, Department of Linguistics, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA

Caicai Zhang, Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

Stephen Politzer-Ahles, Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

Ziyi Pan, Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

Xunan Huang, School of Foreign Languages, University of Electronic Science and Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

Chang Wang, Department of Linguistics, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA 

Gang Peng, Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

Yuyu Zeng, Department of Linguistics, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA

Treatment of verb tense morphology in agrammatic aphasia: A systematic review

Vahid Valinejad, Department of Speech Therapy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Azar Mehri, Department of Speech Therapy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Ahmadreza Khatoonabadi, Department of Speech Therapy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Ehsan Shekari, Department of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Abstract This paper aims to review the literature on the therapeutic approaches employed for the treatment of verb tense inflection in individuals with agrammatic aphasia and the reported outcomes on language production and verb tense inflection. All studies on the treatment of verb tense inflection were found by searching Cochrane library, ISI Web of Knowledge, Google Scholar, Pubmed, and Scopus until December 2020, with the combination of these keywords, ‘aphasia, verb, morphology, tense, therapy, treatment, rehabilitation’. All studies (single-case or group design) on the treatment of verb tense inflection in individuals with acquired aphasia were reviewed. Data were synthesized descriptively through tables to allow the facilitated comparison of the studies. The methodology of the reviewed studies was assessed using single-case experimental designs (SCED) scale. An adaptation of the Cochrane Collaboration's risk of bias (RoB) tool was employed to evaluate the risk of bias (RoB) in the reviewed studies. A total of 14 studies were selected and reviewed. The results of the reviewed studies demonstrated that the remediation of tense morphology production in individuals with agrammatic aphasia is effective and verb tense marking can be improved by therapies that specifically target this disorder. This review highlights the need for a more systematic investigation of different types of treatments for tense marking. Also, more detailed information about the treatment of regular vs irregular verbs are required to elucidate the potential efficiency of these two verb types in the treatment of tense inflection. Overall, regarding the theoretical and clinical aspects, the number of studies that specifically target tense morphology are growing and based on the positive potential of these treatments, they could be suitable for the rehabilitation of people with aphasia, especially those with agrammatism.

Key words Systematic review; Aphasia therapy; Agrammatism; Morphology; Tense inflection; Verb

Subcortical syntax: Reconsidering the neural dynamics of language

Elliot Murphy, Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, 77004, USA; Texas Institute for Restorative Neurotechnologies, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, 77004, USA

Koji Hoshi, Faculty of Economics, Keio University, Tokyo, 108-8345, Japan

Antonio Benítez-Burracod, Department of Spanish, Linguistics, and Theory of Literature (Linguistics), Faculty of Philology, University of Seville, Seville, 41001, Spain

Abstract Subcortical contributions to core linguistic computations pertaining to syntax-semantics remain drastically under-studied. We critique the cortico-centric focus which has largely accompanied research into these higher-order linguistic functions and suggest that, while much remains unknown, there is nevertheless a rich body of research concerning the possible roles of subcortex in natural language. Although much current evidence emerges from distinct domains of cognitive neuroscience, in this review article we attempt to show that there is a clear place for subcortex in models of natural language syntax-semantics, including a role in binary set-formation, categorized object maintenance, lexico-semantic processing, conceptual-to-lexical transformations, morphosyntactic linearization, semantic feature-binding, and cross-cortical representational integration. In particular, we consult models of language processing relying on oscillatory brain dynamics in order to investigate both the apparent and possible functional roles of subcortex in language.

Key words Subcortex; Language; Basal ganglia; Thalamus; Hippocampus; Syntax; Semantics

Conflict-based speech error monitoring in bilinguals: Differences between first and second language monitoring

Kristina Coulter, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec, H4B 1R6, Canada; Centre for Research in Human Development, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec, H4B 1R6, Canada

Natalie A. Phillips. Department of Psychology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec, H4B 1R6, Canada; Centre for Research in Human Development, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec, H4B 1R6, Canada

The effects of Single-Session Cathodal and Bihemispheric tDCS on Fluency in Stuttering

Çağdaş Karsan, Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Istanbul Medipol University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Turkey

R. Sertan Özdemir, Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Istanbul Medipol University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Turkey

Talat Bulut, Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Istanbul Medipol University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Turkey

Lütfü Hanoğlu, Department of Neurology, Istanbul Medipol University Faculty of Medicine, Turkey

Abstract Developmental stuttering is a fluency disorder that adversely affect many aspects of a person's life. Recent transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) studies have shown promise to improve fluency in people who stutter. To date, bihemispheric tDCS has not been investigated in this population. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effects of single-session bihemispheric and unihemispheric cathodal tDCS on fluency in adults who stutter. We predicted that bihemispheric tDCS with anodal stimulation to the left IFG and cathodal stimulation to the right IFG would improve fluency better than the sham and cathodal tDCS to the right IFG. Seventeen adults who stutter completed this single-blind, crossover, sham-controlled tDCS experiment. All participants received 20 min of tDCS alongside metronome-timed speech during intervention sessions. Three tDCS interventions were administered: bihemispheric tDCS with anodal stimulation to the left IFG and cathodal stimulation to the right IFG, unihemispheric tDCS with cathodal stimulation to the right IFG, and sham stimulation. Speech fluency during reading and conversation was assessed before, immediately after, and one week after each intervention session. There was no significant fluency improvement in conversation for any tDCS interventions. Reading fluency improved following both bihemispheric and cathodal tDCS interventions. tDCS montages were not significantly different in their effects on fluency.

Key words Developmental stuttering; tDCS; IFG; Speech therapy; Non-invasive brain stimulation

A finer-grained linguistic profile of Alzheimer's disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment

Kayla Chapin, Department of Translation and Language Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Roc Boronat 138, 08018, Barcelona, Spain

Natasha Clarke, St. George's, University of London, Cramer Terrace, London, SW17 ORE, UK

Peter Garrard, St. George's, University of London, Cramer Terrace, London, SW17 ORE, UK

Wolfram Hinzen, Department of Translation and Language Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Roc Boronat 138, 08018, Barcelona, Spain; ICREA, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Pg. Lluis Companys 23, 08010, Barcelona, Spain

Abstract Linguistic measures in spontaneous speech have shown promise in the early detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but it remains unknown which specific linguistic variables show sensitivity and how language decline relates to primary memory deficits. We hypothesized that a set of fine-grained linguistic variables relating specifically to forms of syntactic complexity involved in referencing objects and events as part of episodes would show sensitivity. We tested this in speech samples obtained from a picture description task, maximally isolating language deficits from the confound of episodic memory (EM) demands. 105 participants were split into Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), Mild-to-Moderate AD, and healthy controls (HC). Results showed that groups did not differ on generic linguistic variables such as number or length of utterances. However, AD relative to HC produced fewer embedded adjunct clauses, indefinite noun phrases, and Aspect marking, with moderate-to-large effect sizes. MCI compared to HC produced fewer adjunct clauses as well as fewer adverbial adjuncts. Together, these results confirm language impairment in AD and MCI at the level of specific linguistic variables relating to structures required for endowing narrative with specificity and episodic richness, independently of EM demands.

Key words Alzheimer's disease; Memory; Spontaneous connected speech; Reference; Grammar; Specificity

Category-specific fMRI correlates of picture naming: A study with Arabs and Filipinos

Haythum O.Tayeb, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Faculty of Medicine in Rabigh, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Jamaan Alghamdi, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Naushad Ahmed, Department of Radiology, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Yousef Alsawwaf, Faculty of Medicine in Rabigh, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Khalid Alsafi, Department of Radiology, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Abrar Baduwailan, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Bassam Yaghmoor, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Tariq Elyas, Department of Foiegn Languages and Literature, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Mohammed Mudarris, Health, Medical, and Neuropsychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain & Cognition, Leiden, the Netherlands; Communication Skills Department, College of Science and Arts at Al-Kamil, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Daniel S.Weisholtzi, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, United States

The effects of quantifier size on the construction of discourse models

Eva Klingvall, Lund University, Centre for Languages and Literature, Box 201, 221 00, Lund, Sweden

Fredrik Heinat, Linnaeus University Department of Languages, Box 451, 351 06, Växjö, Sweden

Abstract Sentences with quantified expressions involve mental representations of sets of individuals for which some property holds (the reference set), as well as of sets for which the property does not hold (the complement set). Both sets can receive discourse focus with negative quantifiers, while the reference set is strongly preferred with positive quantifiers, complement set focus however being possible if contextually motivated. In an offline semantic plausibility study and two online EEG studies, we investigated whether the complement set is an available discourse entity inherently for positive quantifiers, as it is for negative quantifiers. The results show that while the default focus patterns induced by positive and negative quantifiers are robust, both complement and reference set are represented as discourse entities and this is to our knowledge the first study to show that even positive quantifiers make both reference and complement set mentally represented during discourse processing without contextual influence. We also discuss the impact the results from the two ERP studies have on the functional interpretation of two well known ERP effects: the N400 and the P600.

Key words Sentence processing; ERPP600; Semantics; Swedish; Acceptability study

A cross-linguistic perspective to classification of healthiness of speech in Parkinson's disease

Vass Verkhodanova, University of Groningen, Campus Fryslân, Wirdumerdijk 34, 8911CE, Leeuwarden, the Netherlands; University of Groningen, Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, UMCG, GSMS, BCN-Office, FA 30, Postbox 196, 9700, AD, Groningen, the Netherlands

Matt Coler, University of Groningen, Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, UMCG, GSMS, BCN-Office, FA 30, Postbox 196, 9700, AD, Groningen, the Netherlands; University of Groningen, Center for Language and Cognition Groningen, PO Box, 716, 9700, AS, Groningen, the Netherlands

Roel Jonkers, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Neurology, PO Box 30.001, 9700, RB, Groningen, the Netherlands

Sanne Timmermans, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Neurology, PO Box 30.001, 9700, RB, Groningen, the Netherlands

Natasha Maurits, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Neurology, PO Box 30.001, 9700, RB, Groningen, the Netherlands

Bauke de Jong, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Neurology, PO Box 30.001, 9700, RB, Groningen, the Netherlands

Wander Lowie, University of Groningen, Research School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, UMCG, GSMS, BCN-Office, FA 30, Postbox 196, 9700, AD, Groningen, the Netherlands; University of Groningen, Center for Language and Cognition Groningen, PO Box, 716, 9700, AS, Groningen, the Netherlands

Abstract People with Parkinson's disease often experience communication problems. The current cross-linguistic study investigates how listeners' perceptual judgements of speech healthiness are related to the acoustic changes appearing in the speech of people with Parkinson's disease. Accordingly, we report on an online experiment targeting perceived healthiness of speech. We studied the relations between healthiness perceptual judgements and a set of acoustic characteristics of speech in a cross-sectional design. We recruited 169 participants, who performed a classification task judging speech recordings of Dutch speakers with Parkinson's disease and of Dutch control speakers as ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’. The groups of listeners differed in their training and expertise in speech language therapy as well as in their native languages. Such group separation allowed us to investigate the acoustic correlates of speech healthiness without influence of the content of the recordings.We used a Random Forest method to predict listeners' responses. Our findings demonstrate that, independently of expertise and language background, when classifying speech as healthy or unhealthy listeners are more sensitive to speech rate, presence of phonation deficiency reflected by maximum phonation time measurement, and centralization of the vowels. The results indicate that both specifics of the expertise and language background may lead to listeners relying more on the features from either prosody or phonation domains. Our findings demonstrate that more global perceptual judgements of different listeners classifying speech of people with Parkinson's disease may be predicted with sufficient reliability from conventional acoustic features. This suggests universality of acoustic change in speech of people with Parkinson's disease. Therefore, we concluded that certain aspects of phonation and prosody serve as prominent markers of speech healthiness for listeners independent of their first language or expertise. Our findings have outcomes for the clinical practice and real-life implications for subjective perception of speech of people with Parkinson's disease, while information about particular acoustic changes that trigger listeners to classify speech as ‘unhealthy’ can provide specific therapeutic targets in addition to the existing dysarthria treatment in people with Parkinson's disease.

Key words Parkinson's disease; Dysarthria; Speech perception; Speech classification; Prosody; Random forest

Understanding same subject-verb agreement differently: ERP evidence for flexibility in processing representations involved in French subject-verb agreement

Jane Aristi, Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193 - SCALab - Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, F-59000, Lille, France

Alicia Fasquel, Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193 - SCALab - Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, F-59000, Lille, France

Laurent Ott, Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193 - SCALab - Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, F-59000, Lille, France

Angèle Brunellière, Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193 - SCALab - Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, F-59000, Lille, France

Frequency-based foveal load modulates semantic parafoveal-on-foveal effects

M.Antúnez, Cognitive Psychology Department, Universidad de La Laguna, Spain

P.J.López-Pérez, Cognitive Psychology Department, Universidad de La Laguna, Spain; Psychology Department, Universidad de la Costa, Colombia

J.Dampuré, Cognitive Psychology Department, Universidad de La Laguna, Spain; Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de La Sabana, Campus del Puente del Común, Km 7 Autopista Norte de Bogotá, Chía, Cundinamarca, Colombia

H.A.Barber, Cognitive Psychology Department, Universidad de La Laguna, Spain; Instituto Universitario de Neurociencia (IUNE), Universidad de La Laguna, Spain; Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), Spain

Abstract During reading, we can process words allocated to the parafoveal visual region. Our ability to extract parafoveal information is determined by the availability of attentional resources, and by how these are distributed among words in the visual field. According to the foveal load hypothesis, a greater difficulty in processing the foveal word would result in less attentional resources being allocated to the parafoveal word, thereby hindering its processing. However, contradictory results have raised questions about which foveal load manipulations may affect the processing of parafoveal words at different levels. We explored whether the semantic processing of parafoveal words can be modulated by variations in a frequency-based foveal load. When participants read word triads, modulations in the N400 component indicated that, while parafoveal words were semantically processed when foveal load was low, their meaning could not be accessed if the foveal word was more difficult to process. Therefore, a frequency-based foveal load modulates semantic parafoveal processing and a semantic preview manipulation may be a suitable baseline to test the foveal load hypothesis.

Key words Foveal load; ERPs; Reading; Parafovea; Parafoveal-on-foveal; N400

Sentence processing in mild cognitive impairment

 Communication, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK

Diana Nakamura Pereira,Wellingtonda Cruz Souza, Ariella Fornachari Ribeiro Belan, Marina von Zubende Arruda Camargo, Orestes Vicente Forlenza, Marcia Radanovic,Laboratorio de Neurociencias (LIM‐27), Departamento e Instituto de Psiquiatria, Hospital Das Clinicas HCFMUSP, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, SP, Brazil

Abstract Difficulties in sentence processing have been reported in patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), which may be due to impairment in primary syntactic abilities or short-term memory. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between overt sentence production (SP) and comprehension (SC) with short-term memory performance in MCI. Cognitively healthy elderly (n = 34), amnestic MCI (aMCI,n = 22), non-amnestic MCI (naMCI,n = 45), and Alzheimer's disease (AD,n = 18) patients were asked to complete tests of constrained SP and oral SC. We tested the association between performance in SP and SC with memory tasks and performed a qualitative analysis of the frequency and type of errors in SC. Our results showed that there were no intergroup differences in SC and SP performances. SC scores were associated with delayed recall for words in the naMCI group (p = 0.003), and immediate (p = 0.001) and delayed recall for shapes (p = 0.031) in AD. There were no predictors for NAT scores in any group. In conclusion, the three groups performed similarly in SC and SP tasks. Short-term memory was not associated with performance in the SP task. There was an association between performance in the SC task and verbal memory in naMCI and non-verbal memory in AD; the latter may reflect visuospatial processing demands embedded in the SC task.

Key words Overt sentence reading; Sentence comprehension; Cognitive deficits; Syntax; Short-term memory

Hemispheric dominance of metaphor processing for Chinese-English bilinguals: DVF and ERPs evidence

Xichu Zhu, School of Foreign Languages, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China; Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

Hongjun Chen, School of Foreign Languages, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China

Susannah C.S.A.Otieno, Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

Fengyu Cong, School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China

Paavo H.T.Leppänenb, Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

Cross-linguistic influences of L1 on L2 morphosyntactic processing: An fNIRS study

Danyang Wang, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA

Sarah Wang, Department of Linguistics and Cognitive Science, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA

Benjamin Zinszer, Department of Psychology, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA, USA

Li Sheng, Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience & Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China

Kaja Jasińska, Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Haskins Laboratory, New Haven, CT, USA

Abstract This study examined how the morphological typology of second language (L2) learners' first language (L1) affected neural processing of L2 morphosyntactic knowledge. We used functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to examine adult L2 learners’ processing of English Subject-Verb number agreement (e.g., duck swims, ducks swim) during a picture-sentence matching task. Two English learner groups with contrasting L1s, Spanish (with rich inflectional morphology, n = 16) and Mandarin (with a lexical morphology, n = 18), were compared to native English speakers (n = 19). Both L2-learner groups demonstrated comparable accuracy on the picture-sentence matching task. However, neural results revealed L1 influence on L2 morphosyntactic processing. Mandarin-speaking English L2 learners showed greater neural activity in the left middle temporal gyrus (L-MTG) for singular (e.g., the duck swims) versus plural sentences (e.g., the ducks swim). Mandarin relies on semantic, rather than inflectional, information to infer number and L-MTG is involved in lexical-semantic processing, suggesting L1 influence on L2 inflectional processing. Spanish-speaking English L2 learners showed greater neural activity in areas including the right MTG and prefrontal cortex for the plural versus singular sentences whereas native English speakers showed greater activity for singular versus plural sentences. The plural form is morphologically marked in Spanish and greater neural activation for the plural rather than singular form suggests L1 influence. Importantly, cross-linguistic influences were only observed at the neural level, revealing that different neural activation patterns underpin similar behavioral results. Both L2-learner groups showed different patterns of neural activation corresponding to the specific linguistic features of their L1, indicating that L2 processing is affected by L1 characteristics in linguistically principled ways. This study advances our understanding of how morphosyntactically-distinct languages are organized and processed in adult L2 learners.

Key words Morphosyntactic processing; L2 learners; Cross-linguistic influence; fNIRS

Scientific research on verbal fluency tests: A bibliometric analysis

Dolores Villalobos, Department of Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Complutense University of Madrid, 28223, Madrid, Spain; Department of Psychology, Cardenal Cisneros University Center, Alcalá de Henares University, 28806, Madrid, Spain; European Neuroscience Center, 28023, Madrid, Spain

Javier Povedano-Montero, Faculty of Optics and Optometry, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040, Madrid, Spain; Hospital Doce de Octubre Research Institute (i+12), 28041, Madrid, Spain

Santiago Fernández, Department of Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Complutense University of Madrid, 28223, Madrid, Spain

Francisco López-Muñoz, Hospital Doce de Octubre Research Institute (i+12), 28041, Madrid, Spain; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Camilo José Cela University, 28692, Villafranca del Castillo, Madrid, Spain

Javier Pacios, Department of Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Complutense University of Madrid, 28223, Madrid, Spain

Daviddel Río, Department of Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Complutense University of Madrid, 28223, Madrid, Spain

Abstract Verbal fluency tests are easy and quick to use in neuropsychological assessments. The aim of this study is to explore their relevance through a bibliometric analysis. We performed a search in the Web of Science, involving documents published between 1960 and 2021. We used bibliometric indicators to explore articles distribution, doubling time, and annual growth. We calculated the participation index of the different countries and institutions. Through bibliometric mapping, we explored the co-occurrence networks for the most frequently used terms in verbal fluency research. 1718 articles were found, distributed in two different periods (1960–1995 and 1995 to 2021), the second one containing more than 88% of the documents. Price's law shows an exponential growing. Literature on verbal fluency has grown at a rate of 6,7% per year, doubling its size every 10.7 years. Bradford's law shows a high concentration of articles published in a small core of specialized journals. Finally, the map network visualization shows a change in the most important topic related to verbal fluency during the most recent period analysed. Verbal fluency task has undergone an exponential growth. Its easy application, its sensitivity to different brain dysfunction, the possibility of implementation with neuroimaging studies, and the potential analysis of more complex components (clustering or switching) might have played a key role in its growing interest.

Key words Verbal fluency; Bibliometric; Neuropsychology; Assessment

Brain mechanism of Chinese character processing in rapid stream stimulation

Juan Chen, Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 300015, Zhejiang, China; TMS Center, Deqing Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Deqing, 313200, Zhejiang, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou, 311121, Zhejiang, China

Dan Sun, Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands

Peng Wang, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Brain Networks Group, Leipzig, Germany

Yating Lv, Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 300015, Zhejiang, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou, 311121, Zhejiang, China

Ye Zhang, Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 300015, Zhejiang, China; TMS Center, Deqing Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Deqing, 313200, Zhejiang, China;Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou, 311121, Zhejiang, China

Abstract In visual masking, the visibility of a fleetingly presented visual target is disrupted by the presentation of an additional image, the mask, shortly before or after the target. Rapid stream stimulation (RSS) is a masking paradigm that is frequently used in character processing. Although neuroimaging studies have examined lexicality in terms of RSS, the mechanism underlying character masking has not been investigated. To resolve this issue, we investigated the neural basis of masking effects in lexicality using a two-way factorial design in a 3T-fMRI with masking (mask condition: masked versus unmasked) and target stimulus (character likeness: real-, pseudo-, non-characters) as factors. We found that brain activity in the left middle occipital gyrus (MOG) and lingual gyrus was strongest in the unmasked condition in RSS. Analysis of psychophysiological interactions revealed diverse patterns of functional connectivity in the two conditions, with stronger functional connectivity of the left MOG to the left fusiform gyrus and the right posterior cingulate cortex, suggesting the involvement of lexical processing of familiar characters. Together, these findings of activation and connectivity patterns indicated that masking in RSS reduced the visibility of characters by suppressing activity in the occipital cortex and reduced connectivity in both orthographical and attention networks.

Key words Masking effect; Lexicality; Middle occipital gyrus; Rapid stream stimulation (RSS); Character likeness

Understanding of the Gricean maxims in children with autism spectrum disorder: Implications for pragmatic language development

Kosuke Asada, Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Sociology, Toyo University, Tokyo, Japan

Shoji Itakura, Center for Baby Science, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan

Mako Okanda, Department of Psychology, Otemon Gakuin University, Osaka, Japan

Yusuke Moriguchi, Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

Kaori Yokawa, Sukusuku Clinic Konishi, Kagawa, Japan

Shinichiro Kumagaya, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Kaoru Konishi, Sukusuku Clinic Konishi, Kagawa, Japan

Yukuo Konishi, Center for Baby Science, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan

Abstract Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have difficulties in communication with others, which may derive from limitations in their understanding of pragmatic language. In this study, we used the Conversational Violations Test (CVT) with children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children in order to examine their sensitivity to violations of the Gricean maxims: be relevant (maxim of Relation), be truthful (maxim of Quality), be informative (Quantity I), avoid redundancy (Quantity II), and be polite (maxim of Politeness). These maxims have an important role in communication. We found that TD children performed better than children with ASD on the CVT. We also found that children with ASD had higher total CVT scores with increasing chronological age. We discuss the developmental trajectories of pragmatic language understanding in children with ASD.

Key words Autism spectrum disorder; Pragmatics; Gricean maxims; Language development; Conversation; Communication

The effect of bi-hemispheric transcranial direct current stimulation on verbal function in Broca's aphasia

Saha Yekta, Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran

Alia Saberi, Department of Neurology, Poursina Hospital, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran

Kamran Ezzati, Neuroscience Research Center, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran; Department of Physical Therapy, Poursina Hospital, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran

Kambiz Rohampour, Neuroscience Research Center, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran

Somayeh Ahmadi Gooraji, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Samaneh Ghorbani Shirkouhi, Neuroscience Research Center, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran;Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran

Sasan Andalib, Neuroscience Research Center, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran; Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; Research Unit of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark

Abstract Aphasia is one of the most common deficits occurring after stroke that remains, at least in part, even after speech therapy and medication treatment. Non-invasive direct current transcranial stimulation (tDCS) is used to improve brain function by induction of neural plasticity. This study investigated the effect of bi-hemispheric tDCS on verbal function in patients with stroke-induced Broca's aphasia. Thirty patients with Broca's aphasia due to ischemic stroke, referred to an academic hospital in Guilan Province, Iran, in 2019-20, were studied. Patients were divided into two groups receiving seven sessions of either active or sham tDCS. The tDCS sessions began 10–20 days after stroke onset. The severity of aphasia before and after the intervention and a 3-month follow-up were assessed by the Persian version of the Western Battery-1 test (P-WAB-1). T-test, ANOVA, and Repeated Measurement were used for data analyses. The mean P-WAB-1 score was significantly higher in the intervention group both early after tDCS (P ≤ 0.0001) and on the 3-months follow-up (P ≤ 0001). Linear regression analysis indicated that tDCS had a positive effect on verbal performance scores independent of age, sex, and lesion volume (Regression coefficient = −33.3). Bi-hemispheric tDCS effectively improves verbal function in Broca's aphasia in the sub-acute phase of ischemic stroke.

Key words Broca; Stroke aphasia; Transcranial direct current stimulation; Verbal expression

The beauty of language structure: A single-case fMRI study of palindrome creation

Patricia León-Cabrera, Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit, Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, Institute of Neuroscience, University of Barcelona and Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain

Antoni Guillamon, Departament de Matemàtiques, EPSEB, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Av. Dr. Marañón 44-50, 08028, Barcelona, Spain; Institut de Matemàtiques de la UPC-BarcelonaTech (IMTech), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Pau Gargallo 14, 08028, Barcelona, Spain; Centre de Recerca Matemàtica, Building C. Campus de Bellaterra, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain

David Cucurell, Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit, Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, Institute of Neuroscience, University of Barcelona and Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain

Antoni Rodriguez-Fornells, Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit, Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, Institute of Neuroscience, University of Barcelona and Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain; Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain

Abstract Humans seem to be inherently driven to engage in wordplay. An example is the creation of palindromes – sentences that read the same backward and forward. This activity can be framed as a curiosity-driven behaviour, in which individuals seek for information that serves no direct purpose and in the absence of external rewards. In this fMRI case study, an experienced palindrome creator was scanned while he generated palindromes with different levels of difficulty. Palindrome creation was alternated with resting periods and with a working memory task, both serving as control conditions. Relative to resting, palindrome creation recruited frontal domain-specific language networks and fronto-parietal domain-general networks. The comparison with the working memory task evidenced partial overlap with the multiple-demand cortex, which participates in solving a variety of cognitively challenging tasks. Intriguingly, greater difficulty during palindrome creation differentially activated the right frontopolar cortex (BA 10), a region that was also linked to palindrome resolution. The latter is consistent with exploratory behaviour – in this case, with seeking new but interdependent linguistic segments within a complex internal model (i.e., a palindromic structure)– and bears resemblance with brain substrates sustaining hard logical reasoning, altogether pointing to a commonplace for curiosity in discovering new and complex relations.

Key words Language; Palindromes; Curiosity; Information seeking; Multiple demand cortex; Right frontopolar cortex

What's in a Color? A neuropsycholinguistic study on the effect of colors on EEG brainwaves, immediate emotional responses, and English language vocabulary retention among Iranian young adults

S. Fatemeh Hosseini, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran

Z.Ghabanchi, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran

Abstract The present stud y is an attempt to investigate the emotional responses to the eight colors (black, white, yellow, blue, red, green, orange, and violet) in terms of three emotional response systems (physiology, behavior, and psychology) on twenty volunteered young adults, both male and female in Qom –Iran. Experiments are undertaken in three different contexts measuring the participants’ reactions to colors via neuroimaging tests, color-emotion and color-word association questionnaires, and English language vocabulary tests to find out how the individuals react when exposed to different colors, especially in linguistic phase. The total results illustrated that students would benefit from colorful vocabularies over black and white ones; and the three colors blue, orange, and red over the other colors. Totally, color backgrounds and foregrounds function similarly. However, it was discovered that vocabularies were memorized in blue foreground. Recalling vocabularies in yellow and violet is better to be avoided. The findings of this research benefits students and teachers in teaching and learning vocabularies in educational settings. It also contributes to the literature on color psychology and neurology and more specifically, it provides literature on the effect of color on arousal and memory.

Key words Arousal; Color-emotion association; Color-word association; Emotional response systems; Neuroimaging tests

Neuromodulation of verb-transitivity judgments

Dirk B.den Ouden, Neurolinguistics Laboratory, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, USA

Michael W.Zhu, Neurolinguistics Laboratory, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, USA

Abstract 

Introduction

This study aimed to further clarify the roles of the temporal and frontal lobes of the brain in the processing of verb argument structure. Left inferior frontal brain areas have long been considered important for sentence processing, but recent research links left posterior temporal cortex to knowledge of verb argument structure.

Methods

We applied cathodal High-Definition transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to 45 participants in a between-subjects design, with 15 participants each for inferior-frontal-cortex stimulation, posterior-temporal-cortex stimulation, and sham stimulation. Set up as a training task during stimulation, participants made overt judgments on the number of participant roles associated with individual verbs.

Results

Stimulation of posterior temporal cortex did not yield results that were different from sham stimulation, speeding up task responses overall. By contrast, stimulation of inferior frontal cortex yielded differential results for intransitive versus transitive verbs, speeding up responses to intransitive verbs and increasing accuracy to transitive verbs, relative to other conditions.

Conclusion

The transitivity effect, specific to inferior frontal stimulation, suggests a role for inferior frontal cortex in access to verb-argument-structure information, possibly specific to situations of high cognitive load and in which participant roles have to be established for production, as opposed to comprehension.

Key words Verb argument structure; High-definition transcranial direct current stimulation; Inferior frontal cortex; Transitivity

Do subsyllabic units play a role in Mandarin spoken word recognition? Evidence from phonotactic processing

Chiung-Yu Chang, Institute of Linguistics, National Tsing Hua University, 101, Section 2, Kuang-Fu Road, Hsinchu, 300044, Taiwan, China

Feng-fanHsieh, Institute of Linguistics, National Tsing Hua University, 101, Section 2, Kuang-Fu Road, Hsinchu, 300044, Taiwan, China

Abstract This study investigates the roles of Mandarin subsyllabic units in spoken word recognition by examining the neural processing of two phonotactic anomalies: (1) segmental gaps, which contain a non-existing combination of segments (e.g., *[ki1]); and (2) tonal gaps, which refer to a nonword comprised of possible segment combinations with an incongruous tone (e.g., *[tau2]; cf. [tau1] “knife”). Event-related potentials were recorded while participants performed an auditory lexical decision task. The response to segmental gaps differed from the other stimuli types in the amplitudes and scalp distributions of several components, including the P350, the N400, and the late positive complex. The P350 effect occurred around 370 ms before the entire syllable was revealed, indicating that lexical processing is not based solely on syllable representations. Furthermore, the overall differences between segmental and tonal gaps suggest that tones and vowels are dissociable. These results thus provide converging evidence for the view that Mandarin syllables are processed incrementally through phonemes.

Key words Phonotactics; Subsyllabic units; Spoken word recognition; Event-related potentials; Mandarin Chinese

Pragmatic inferences: Neuroimaging of ad-hoc implicatures

Shiri Hornick, Department of Linguistics, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

Einat Shetreet, Department of Linguistics, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

Abstract During conversation, comprehenders often make pragmatic inferences, or implicatures. Our study concerns ad-hoc implicatures, which are quantity-based implicatures. For example, the sentence “I walked Lassie”, where the addressee knows that the speaker has 2 dogs, signals to the addressee that the speaker wanted to convey an enriched meaning (i.e., she walked Lassie, but not the other dog). On some accounts, it is assumed that these implicatures are derived similarly to the well-studied scalar implicatures. Yet, ad-hoc implicatures received little attention. In the current study, we used fMRI to further uncover the mechanisms that support pragmatic inferences, and specifically ad-hoc implicatures. In our judgment task, we first presented a context picture with several objects, then the target sentence (sans picture) which referred to either the subset (implicature condition) or the whole set of objects (no-implicature condition), and finally asked participants to judge whether a final picture matched the target sentence. Comparing the implicature and no-implicature conditions, we observed activations in the rostrolateral prefrontal cortex, which we linked to inference generation, and in the right inferior parietal lobule, which we linked to theory of mind or attention shift. We also performed an ROI analysis, examining activations related to ad-hoc implicatures in regions previously linked to scalar implicatures and to other types of context-based implicatures, showing overlaps and dissimilarities in both cases. Thus, our results are not completely in line with theories that argue for one type of processing in the derivation of pragmatic inferences.

Key words Scalar implicatures; GCIs and PCIs; Neuropragmatics; fMRI

The left inferior frontal gyrus and the resolution of unimodal vs. cross-modal interference in speech production: A transcranial direct current stimulation study

Haining Cui, Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

Hyeonjeong Jeong, Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

Abstract Most neurobiological models of spoken word production propose that multiple lexical candidates are activated in left posterior temporal cortex during word retrieval. Some accounts also propose a role for the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) in selecting the correct word from among these candidates. Evidence for both proposals has come from the picture-word interference (PWI) paradigm, in which participants name pictures (e.g., RABBIT) while ignoring a distractor word. Categorically related distractors (e.g., horse-RABBIT) slow naming latencies compared to unrelated words (e.g., violin-RABBIT), an effect known as semantic interference, whereas congruent distractors (e.g., rabbit-RABBIT) facilitate naming, but the precise conditions in which these effects occur remain a matter of debate. Although the neuroimaging evidence for left temporal cortex engagement in this paradigm is robust, the evidence for LIFG involvement is more equivocal, particularly for semantic interference. A key factor distinguishing LIFG involvement in neuroimaging studies is distractor modality, i.e., activity is more consistently reported for auditory distractors. We therefore applied online anodal transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (atDCS) to LIFG and left posterior temporal cortex in a three-way, cross-over, sham-controlled PWI paradigm involving either written (Experiment 1) or auditory (Experiment 2) distractors. Surprisingly, compared to sham, atDCS over posterior temporal cortex significantly slowed the congruent facilitation effect with written distractors, but did not modulate the semantic interference effect, while atDCS to LIFG did not significantly influence either effect. We also failed to observe any significant modulatory effects of atDCS with auditory distractors. The present results only partially support left temporal lobe engagement during PWI and provide no evidence for LIFG involvement. We recommend future PWI studies systematically investigate different electrode montages in tDCS protocols.

Key words Verb argument structure; High-definition transcranial direct current stimulation; Inferior frontal cortex; Transitivity

Temporal dynamics of form and meaning in morphologically complex word processing: An ERP study on Korean inflected verbs

Joonwoo Kim, Department of Psychology, Korea University, Republic of Korea

Jinwon Kang, Department of Psychology, Korea University, Republic of Korea

Jeahong Kim, School of Behavioral Brain Science, The University of Texas at Dallas, USA

Kichun Nam, School of Psychology, Korea University, Republic of Korea

Abstract The word stem is distinguished as the core component in verb inflections that envelopes essential semantic and syntactic properties, playing a central role in word processing. In the present study, in order to find the role of form and meaning during the visual recognition of morphologically complex words, the effect of the stem length of inflected Korean verbs was examined in an event-related potential (ERP) lexical decision experiment. Additionally, a potential modulation of whole-word frequency in morphological effect was investigated in order to locate the temporal locus of sublexical (i.e., morphological) and lexico-semantic processing. Behavioral results showed that lexical decision times were faster for targets with shorter stem length compared to targets with identical word length but longer stem length. A significant interaction between the whole-word frequency and stem length was also found, in which stem length effect was not significant in words with high frequency. The ERP data revealed corollary results; the frequency effect emerged as early as N100, followed by significant modulations of N250, N400, and P600 components. The stem length effect was demonstrated in latency ranges N250, N400, and N400. In the N400 component, the interaction of two factors was revealed in which stem length effect shown only in the medium- and low-word frequency levels, but not in the high-frequency level. Taken together, the present data provide evidence for simultaneous activation of morphological and lexico-semantic information in early visual word processing after scanning the whole-form of a word. The results are discussed in terms of the current models of morphologically complex word processing.

Key words Event-related potentials (ERPs); Inflectional morphology; Morphologically complex word; Visual word recognition; Morphologically rich language

Verb production and comprehension in primary progressive aphasia

Haiyan Wang, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

Matthew Walenski, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA

Kaitlyn Litcofsky, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

Jennifer E.Mack, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA

M. MarselMesulam, Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

Cynthia K.Thompson, Department of Neurology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

Abstract Studies of word class processing have found verb retrieval impairments in individuals with primary progressive aphasia (Bak et al., 2001; Cappa et al., 1998; Cotelli et al., 2006; Hillis, Heidler-Gary, et al., 2006; Hillis, Oh, & Ken, 2004; Marcotte et al., 2014; Rhee, Antiquena, & Grossman, 2001; Silveri & Ciccarelli, 2007; Thompson, Lukic, et al., 2012) associated primarily with the agrammatic variant. However, fewer studies have focused on verb comprehension, with inconsistent results. Because verbs are critical to both production and comprehension of clauses and sentences, we investigated verb processing across domains in agrammatic, logopenic, and semantic PPA and a group of age-matched healthy controls. Participants completed a confrontation naming task for verb production and an eye-tracking word-picture matching task for online verb comprehension. All PPA groups showed impaired verb production and comprehension relative to healthy controls. Most notably, the PPA-S group performed more poorly than the other two PPA variants in both domains. Overall, the results indicate that semantic deficits in the PPA-S extend beyond object knowledge to verbs as well, adding to our knowledge concerning the nature of the language deficits in the three variants of primary progressive aphasia.

Key words Primary progressive aphasia; Verb production; Verb comprehension; Verb argument structure; Transitivity; Eye-tracking

Action-speech and gesture-speech integration in younger and older adults: An event-related potential study

Kim Ouwehand, Department of Psychology, Education, and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Jacqueline de Nooijer, Department of Psychology, Education, and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands;Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Tamaravan Gog, Department of Psychology, Education, and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands;Department of Education, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS, Utrecht, the Netherlands

Fred Paas, Department of Psychology, Education, and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; School of Education/Early Start, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, Wollongong NSW, 2522, Australia

Abstract In daily communication, speech is enriched with co-speech gestures, providing a visual context for the linguistic message. It has been shown that older adults are less sensitive to incongruencies between context (e.g., a sentence) and target (e.g., a final sentence word). This is evidenced by a smaller and delayed N400 (in)congruency effect that reflects the difference between the N400 component in response to congruent versus incongruent targets. The present study investigated whether the effect of age on the N400 effect in sentence-final word integration would also arise for verb-gesture/action integration. Assuming that gestures have a tight connection to language these would provide a higher contextual constraint for the action phrase than the literal actions (i.e., an action performed on an object can be understood in isolation, without the action phrase). EEG was recorded from a sample of younger and older participants, while they watched audio-visual stimuli of a human actor performing an action or pantomime gesture while hearing a congruent or incongruent action phrase. Results showed that the N400 (in)congruency effect was less widespread in the older than the younger adults. It seemed that older adults, but not younger adults were less sensitive to the gestural than the action (object) information when processing an action phrase.

Key words Action-speech integration; Gesture-speech integration; Age;N400

期刊简介

The Journal of Neurolinguistics is an international forum for the integration of the neurosciences and language sciences. JNL provides for rapid publication of novel, peer-reviewed research into the interaction between language, communication and brain processes. The focus is on rigorous studies of an empirical or theoretical nature and which make an original contribution to our knowledge about the involvement of the nervous system in communication and its breakdowns.Contributions from neurology, communication disorders, linguistics, neuropsychology and cognitive science in general are welcome.

《神经语言学杂志》是神经科学和语言科学融合的国际论坛，涉及语言、交流和大脑过程之间相互作用。期刊重点是对经验性或理论性的严格研究，这些研究对我们了解神经系统参与交流及其故障有着独到的贡献。欢迎来搞关于神经学、沟通障碍、语言学、神经心理学和认知科学等领域。

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https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-neurolinguistics

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