Domain-General Brain Regions Do Not Track Linguistic Input as Closely as Language-Selective Regions
Name
9999.full.pdf
Size
1.52 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
500889b564fbd78cf3e43c8898307f4e
Author(s)
Fedorenko, Evelina
Blank, Idan Asher
Date Issued
October 2017
Journal
Journal of Neuroscience
Publisher
Society for Neuroscience
Citation
Blank, Idan A. and Evelina Fedorenko. “Domain-General Brain Regions Do Not Track Linguistic Input as Closely as Language-Selective Regions.” The Journal of Neuroscience 37, 41 (September 2017): 9999–10011 © 2017 The Authors
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Language comprehension engages a cortical network of left frontal and temporal regions. Activity in this network is language-selective, showing virtually no modulation by nonlinguistic tasks. In addition, language comprehension engages a second network consisting of bilateral frontal, parietal, c ingulate, and insular regions. Activity in this “multiple demand” (MD) network scales with comprehension difficulty, but also with cognitive effort across a wide range of nonlinguistic tasks in a domain-general fashion. Given the functional dissociation between the language and MD networks, their respective contributions to comprehension are likely distinct, yet such differences remain elusive. Prior neuroimaging studies have suggested that activity in each network covaries with some linguistic features that, behaviorally, influence on-line processing and comprehension. This sensitivity of the language and MD networks to local input characteristics has often been interpreted, implicitly or explicitly, as evidence that both networks track linguistic input closely, and in a manner consistent across individuals. Here, we used fMRI to directly test this assumption by comparing the BOLD signal time courses in each network across different people (n=45, men and women) listening to the same story. Language network activity showed fewer individual differences, indicative of closer input tracking, whereas MD network activity was more idiosyncratic and, moreover, showed lower reliability within an individual across repetitions of a story. These findings constrain cognitive models of language comprehension by suggesting a novel distinction between the processes implemented in the language and MD networks. Keywords: comprehension; functional localization; intersubject correlation; language network; multiple-demand network; naturalistic cognition
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Terms of Use
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3642-16.2017
