Dataset Information

Exploring the automaticity of language-perception interactions: Effects of attention and awareness.

ABSTRACT: Previous studies have shown that language can modulate visual perception, by biasing and/or enhancing perceptual performance. However, it is still debated where in the brain visual and linguistic information are integrated, and whether the effects of language on perception are automatic and persist even in the absence of awareness of the linguistic material. Here, we aimed to explore the automaticity of language-perception interactions and the neural loci of these interactions in an fMRI study. Participants engaged in a visual motion discrimination task (upward or downward moving dots). Before each trial, a word prime was briefly presented that implied upward or downward motion (e.g., "rise", "fall"). These word primes strongly influenced behavior: congruent motion words sped up reaction times and improved performance relative to incongruent motion words. Neural congruency effects were only observed in the left middle temporal gyrus, showing higher activity for congruent compared to incongruent conditions. This suggests that higher-level conceptual areas rather than sensory areas are the locus of language-perception interactions. When motion words were rendered unaware by means of masking, they still affected visual motion perception, suggesting that language-perception interactions may rely on automatic feed-forward integration of perceptual and semantic material in language areas of the brain.

SUBMITTER: Francken JC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4671057 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Exploring the automaticity of language-perception interactions: Effects of attention and awareness.

Francken Jolien C JC Meijs Erik L EL Hagoort Peter P van Gaal Simon S de Lange Floris P FP

Scientific reports 20151207

Previous studies have shown that language can modulate visual perception, by biasing and/or enhancing perceptual performance. However, it is still debated where in the brain visual and linguistic information are integrated, and whether the effects of language on perception are automatic and persist even in the absence of awareness of the linguistic material. Here, we aimed to explore the automaticity of language-perception interactions and the neural loci of these interactions in an fMRI study. ...[more]

PMID: 26640162

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Project description:Dual-task performance is often impaired after stroke. This may be resolved by enhancing patients' automaticity of movement. This study sets out to test the constrained action hypothesis, which holds that automaticity of movement is enhanced by triggering an external focus (on movement effects), rather than an internal focus (on movement execution). Thirty-nine individuals with chronic, unilateral stroke performed a one-leg-stepping task with both legs in single- and dual-task conditions. Attentional focus was manipulated with instructions. Motor performance (movement speed), movement automaticity (fluency of movement), and dual-task performance (dual-task costs) were assessed. The effects of focus on movement speed, single- and dual-task movement fluency, and dual-task costs were analysed with generalized estimating equations. Results showed that, overall, single-task performance was unaffected by focus (p = .341). Regarding movement fluency, no main effects of focus were found in single- or dual-task conditions (p's ≥ .13). However, focus by leg interactions suggested that an external focus reduced movement fluency of the paretic leg compared to an internal focus (single-task conditions: p = .068; dual-task conditions: p = .084). An external focus also tended to result in inferior dual-task performance (β = -2.38, p = .065). Finally, a near-significant interaction (β = 2.36, p = .055) suggested that dual-task performance was more constrained by patients' attentional capacity in external focus conditions. We conclude that, compared to an internal focus, an external focus did not result in more automated movements in chronic stroke patients. Contrary to expectations, trends were found for enhanced automaticity with an internal focus. These findings might be due to patients' strong preference to use an internal focus in daily life. Future work needs to establish the more permanent effects of learning with different attentional foci on re-automating motor control after stroke.

Dataset Information

Exploring the automaticity of language-perception interactions: Effects of attention and awareness.

Publications

Exploring the automaticity of language-perception interactions: Effects of attention and awareness.

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