Dataset Information

Modulation of BOLD response in motion-sensitive lateral temporal cortex by real and fictive motion sentences.

ABSTRACT: Can linguistic semantics affect neural processing in feature-specific visual regions? Specifically, when we hear a sentence describing a situation that includes motion, do we engage neural processes that are part of the visual perception of motion? How about if a motion verb was used figuratively, not literally? We used fMRI to investigate whether semantic content can "penetrate" and modulate neural populations that are selective to specific visual properties during natural language comprehension. Participants were presented audiovisually with three kinds of sentences: motion sentences ("The wild horse crossed the barren field."), static sentences, ("The black horse stood in the barren field."), and fictive motion sentences ("The hiking trail crossed the barren field."). Motion-sensitive visual areas (MT+) were localized individually in each participant as well as face-selective visual regions (fusiform face area; FFA). MT+ was activated significantly more for motion sentences than the other sentence types. Fictive motion sentences also activated MT+ more than the static sentences. Importantly, no modulation of neural responses was found in FFA. Our findings suggest that the neural substrates of linguistic semantics include early visual areas specifically related to the represented semantics and that figurative uses of motion verbs also engage these neural systems, but to a lesser extent. These data are consistent with a view of language comprehension as an embodied process, with neural substrates as far reaching as early sensory brain areas that are specifically related to the represented semantics.

SUBMITTER: Saygin AP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3547627 | biostudies-other | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Publications

Modulation of BOLD response in motion-sensitive lateral temporal cortex by real and fictive motion sentences.

Saygin Ayse Pinar AP McCullough Stephen S Alac Morana M Emmorey Karen K

Journal of cognitive neuroscience 20101101 11

Can linguistic semantics affect neural processing in feature-specific visual regions? Specifically, when we hear a sentence describing a situation that includes motion, do we engage neural processes that are part of the visual perception of motion? How about if a motion verb was used figuratively, not literally? We used fMRI to investigate whether semantic content can "penetrate" and modulate neural populations that are selective to specific visual properties during natural language comprehensio ...[more]

PMID: 19925197

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Project description:Human visual cortex contains three scene-selective regions in the lateral, medial and ventral cortex, termed the occipital place area (OPA), medial place area (MPA) and parahippocampal place area (PPA). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), all three regions respond more strongly when viewing visual scenes compared with isolated objects or faces. To determine how these regions are functionally and causally connected, we applied transcranial magnetic stimulation to OPA and measured fMRI responses before and after stimulation, using a theta-burst paradigm (TBS). To test for stimulus category-selectivity, we presented a range of visual categories (scenes, buildings, objects, faces). To test for specificity of any effects to TBS of OPA we employed two control conditions: Sham, with no TBS stimulation, and an active TBS-control with TBS to a proximal face-selective cortical region (occipital face area, or OFA). We predicted that TBS to OPA (but not OFA) would lead to decreased responses to scenes and buildings (but not other categories) in other scene-selective cortical regions. Across both ROI and whole-volume analyses, we observed decreased responses to scenes in PPA as a result of TBS. However, these effects were neither category specific, with decreased responses to all stimulus categories, nor limited to scene-selective regions, with decreases also observed in face-selective fusiform face area (FFA). Furthermore, similar effects were observed with TBS to OFA, thus effects were not specific to the stimulation site in the lateral occipital cortex. Whilst these data are suggestive of a causal, but non-specific relationship between lateral occipital and ventral temporal cortex, we discuss several factors that could have underpinned this result, such as the differences between TBS and online TMS, the role of anatomical distance between stimulated regions and how TMS effects are operationalised. Furthermore, our findings highlight the importance of active control conditions in brain stimulation experiments to accurately assess functional and causal connectivity between specific brain regions.

Dataset Information

Modulation of BOLD response in motion-sensitive lateral temporal cortex by real and fictive motion sentences.

Publications

Modulation of BOLD response in motion-sensitive lateral temporal cortex by real and fictive motion sentences.

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