title: Hemispheric involvement in the processing of Chinese idioms: An fMRI study.
abstract: Although the left hemisphere is believed to handle major language functions, the role of the right hemisphere in language comprehension remains controversial. Recently researchers have investigated hemispheric language processing with figurative language materials (e.g., metaphors, jokes, and idioms). The current study capitalizes on the pervasiveness and distinct features of Chinese idioms to examine the brain mechanism of figurative language processing. Native Chinese speakers performed a non-semantic task while reading opaque idioms, transparent idioms, and non-idiomatic literal phrases. Whole-brain analyses indicated strong activations for all three conditions in an overlapping brain network that includes the bilateral inferior/middle frontal gyrus and the temporo-parietal and occipital-temporal regions. The two idiom conditions elicited additional activations in the right superior parietal lobule and right precuneus. Item-based modulation analyses further demonstrated that activation amplitudes in the right angular gyrus, right superior parietal lobule and right precuneus, as well as left inferior temporo-occipital cortex, are negatively correlated with the semantic transparency of the idioms. These results suggest that both hemispheres are involved in idiom processing but they play different roles. Implications of the findings are discussed in light of theories of figurative language processing and hemispheric functions.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, China; ARC center of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Department of Cognitive Sciences, Macquarie University, Australia.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Center for Brain, Behavior, and Cognition, Pennsylvania State University, USA.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, China; Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaoping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, China; Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, China; Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University, China. Electronic address: youyiliu@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Youyi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.
authors.forename: Lang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment / Q000502:physiology; D007802:Language; D007807:Language Tests; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time; D012044:Regression Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Chinese; FMRI; Fine-coarse coding theory; Hemispheric language functions; Idiom processing; Semantic transparency