The neural response to changing semantic and perceptual complexity during language processing.
Speech comprehension involves processing at different levels of analysis, such as acoustic, phonetic, and lexical. We investigated neural responses to manipulating the difficulty of processing at two of these levels. Twelve subjects underwent positron emission tomographic scanning while making decisions based upon the semantic relatedness between heard nouns. We manipulated perceptual difficulty by presenting either clear or acoustically degraded speech, and semantic difficulty by varying the degree of semantic relatedness between words. Increasing perceptual difficulty was associated with greater activation of the left superior temporal gyrus, an auditory-perceptual region involved in speech processing. Increasing semantic difficulty was associated with reduced activity in both superior temporal gyri and increased activity within the left angular gyrus, a heteromodal region involved in accessing word meaning. Comparing across all the conditions, we also observed increased activation within the left inferior prefrontal cortex as the complexity of language processing increased. These results demonstrate a flexible system for language processing, where activity within distinct parts of the network is modulated as processing demands change.
Sharp
David J
DJ
Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, United Kingdom. david.sharp@imperial.ac.uk
Awad
Malaka
M
Warren
Jane E
JE
Wise
Richard J S
RJ
Vigliocco
Gabriella
G
Scott
Sophie K
SK
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007807:Language Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011930:Reaction Time; D012660:Semantics; D013060:Speech; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*