title: Cross-language differences in the brain network subserving intelligible speech.
abstract: How is language processed in the brain by native speakers of different languages? Is there one brain system for all languages or are different languages subserved by different brain systems? The first view emphasizes commonality, whereas the second emphasizes specificity. We investigated the cortical dynamics involved in processing two very diverse languages: a tonal language (Chinese) and a nontonal language (English). We used functional MRI and dynamic causal modeling analysis to compute and compare brain network models exhaustively with all possible connections among nodes of language regions in temporal and frontal cortex and found that the information flow from the posterior to anterior portions of the temporal cortex was commonly shared by Chinese and English speakers during speech comprehension, whereas the inferior frontal gyrus received neural signals from the left posterior portion of the temporal cortex in English speakers and from the bilateral anterior portion of the temporal cortex in Chinese speakers. Our results revealed that, although speech processing is largely carried out in the common left hemisphere classical language areas (Broca's and Wernicke's areas) and anterior temporal cortex, speech comprehension across different language groups depends on how these brain regions interact with each other. Moreover, the right anterior temporal cortex, which is crucial for tone processing, is equally important as its left homolog, the left anterior temporal cortex, in modulating the cortical dynamics in tone language comprehension. The current study pinpoints the importance of the bilateral anterior temporal cortex in language comprehension that is downplayed or even ignored by popular contemporary models of speech comprehension.
authors.affiliation: Center for MRI Research, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Beijing City Key Lab for Medical Physics and Engineering, Institution of Heavy Ion Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; jgao@pku.edu.cn gejq@pku.edu.cn tanlh@szu.edu.cn gpengjack@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jianqiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: Joint Research Centre for Language and Human Complexity, Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China; jgao@pku.edu.cn gejq@pku.edu.cn tanlh@szu.edu.cn gpengjack@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Center for MRI Research, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Beijing City Key Lab for Medical Physics and Engineering, Institution of Heavy Ion Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;
authors.forename: Bingjiang
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lyu
authors.affiliation: Center for MRI Research, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Beijing City Key Lab for Medical Physics and Engineering, Institution of Heavy Ion Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhuo
authors.affiliation: School of Computer Science and Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China;
authors.forename: Zhendong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Detection and Ultrasound Imaging, Shenzhen 518060 China; jgao@pku.edu.cn gejq@pku.edu.cn tanlh@szu.edu.cn gpengjack@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Li Hai
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom; and.
authors.forename: Alexander P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Leff
authors.affiliation: Center for MRI Research, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Beijing City Key Lab for Medical Physics and Engineering, Institution of Heavy Ion Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China jgao@pku.edu.cn gejq@pku.edu.cn tanlh@szu.edu.cn gpengjack@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jia-Hong
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D013060:Speech
keywords: cortical dynamics; functional MRI; speech perception; tonal language