Bilateral parietal contributions to spatial language.
It is commonly held that language is largely lateralized to the left hemisphere in most individuals, whereas spatial processing is associated with right hemisphere regions. In recent years, a number of neuroimaging studies have yielded conflicting results regarding the role of language and spatial processing areas in processing language about space (e.g., Carpenter, Just, Keller, Eddy, & Thulborn, 1999; Damasio et al., 2001). In the present study, we used sparse scanning event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neural correlates of spatial language, that is; language used to communicate the spatial relationship of one object to another. During scanning, participants listened to sentences about object relationships that were either spatial or non-spatial in nature (color or size relationships). Sentences describing spatial relationships elicited more activation in the superior parietal lobule and precuneus bilaterally in comparison to sentences describing size or color relationships. Activation of the precuneus suggests that spatial sentences elicit spatial-mental imagery, while the activation of the SPL suggests sentences containing spatial language involve integration of two distinct sets of information - linguistic and spatial.
McMaster University, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, Canada.
Julie
J
Conder
University of South Carolina, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, United States.
Julius
J
Fridriksson
Western Kentucky University, Department of Psychological Sciences, United States.
Gordon C
GC
Baylis
Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, United States; Institute for Mind and Brain, University of South Carolina, United States.
Cameron M
CM
Smith
Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, United States; Institute for Mind and Brain, University of South Carolina, United States.
Timothy W
TW
Boiteau
Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, United States; Institute for Mind and Brain, University of South Carolina, United States; Linguistics Program, University of South Carolina, United States. Electronic address: almor@sc.edu.
Amit
A
Almor
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003116:Color; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D019018:Imagery, Psychotherapy; D007802:Language; D008037:Linguistics; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D013028:Space Perception; D055815:Young Adult
Laterality; Parietal lobe; Precuneus; Spatial language; fMRI
Cogn Neuropsychol. 2004 Oct;21(7):719-49
21038229
Neuroimage. 2002 Oct;17(2):825-41
12377157
Neuroimage. 2014 Nov 1;101:276-88
25047449
Trends Cogn Sci. 2001 Feb 1;5(2):55-61
11166635
Rev Neurol (Paris). 2011 Dec;167(12):868-72
21640366
Brain Lang. 2005 Mar;92(3):221-33
15721955
J Neurosci. 2009 Nov 25;29(47):14980-6
19940193
Neuroimage. 2005 Feb 1;24(3):832-40
15652318
Nat Neurosci. 1998 Oct;1(6):529-33
10196553
J Neurosci. 1993 Mar;13(3):1202-26
8441008
J Cogn Neurosci. 2013 Aug;25(8):1332-42
23574586
Neuroreport. 2007 Aug 6;18(12):1215-9
17632270
Cogn Neuropsychol. 2000 Jul 1;17(5):393-414
20945188
Cereb Cortex. 2006 Oct;16(10):1418-30
16306320
Cereb Cortex. 2004 Oct;14(10):1164-72
15142954
J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 1992 Nov;12 (6):900-18
1400644
Brain. 2006 Mar;129(Pt 3):564-83
16399806
J Cogn Neurosci. 2013 Apr;25(4):517-33
23249348
Trends Cogn Sci. 2003 Mar;7(3):109-111
12639690
Med Image Anal. 2001 Jun;5(2):143-56
11516708
Neuroimage. 2002 Oct;17 (2):812-24
12377156
Cereb Cortex. 2007 Nov;17(11):2703-12
17264251
Brain Lang. 2014 Oct;137:130-41
25218099
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Mar 21;103(12):4693-8
16537401
Neurocase. 2003 Oct;9(5):421-35
14972757
J Cogn Neurosci. 2003 May 15;15(4):559-73
12803967
Neuroimage. 2006 Oct 1;32(4):1850-64
16828565
J Cogn Neurosci. 2010 Aug;22(8):1739-53
19642889
Neuroimage. 2012 Feb 15;59(4):3548-62
22116037
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1995 Nov 21;92(24):11180-4
7479961
Neuroimage. 2003 Oct;20(2):1052-63
14568475
Neuroimage. 1999 Aug;10(2):216-24
10417254
Neuron. 1999 Oct;24(2):427-32
10571235
Laterality. 2015;20(1):49-68
24875468
Eur J Neurosci. 2012 Jan;35(2):309-22
22188383
Neuroimage. 2001 Jun;13(6 Pt 1):1053-64
11352611
Exp Brain Res. 2008 Jun;187(4):551-61
18305932
Brain Lang. 2012 Nov;123(2):125-30
23058844
Brain. 2002 Jul;125(Pt 7):1583-93
12077007
Front Hum Neurosci. 2008 Oct 06;2:14
18958214
Hum Brain Mapp. 2002 Nov;17(3):143-55
12391568
Nature. 1995 May 4;375(6526):54-8
7723842
Curr Opin Neurobiol. 1994 Apr;4(2):157-65
8038571
Neuropsychologia. 2008 Apr;46(5):1576-80
18249423
Neuroimage. 2004 Apr;21(4):1732-47
15050594
Hum Brain Mapp. 2008 May;29(5):524-32
17525981
Neuroimage. 2001 Dec;14(6):1370-86
11707093
J Neurophysiol. 2006 Aug;96(2):721-9
16687619