Neurobiology of Language最新文献

{"title":"Bilateral Ventral Pathways Support Phonological Awareness at Reading Onset in Spanish-Speaking Children.","authors":"Moramay Ramos-Flores, Rebeca Hernandez Soto, Liliana Sanchez-Zepeda, Fernando Lizcano-Cortés, Luis Concha, M Florencia Assaneo","doi":"10.1162/NOL.a.246","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/NOL.a.246","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Reading is a fundamental human skill that has been widely studied. While substantial progress has been made in identifying the white matter pathways supporting reading in adults, less is known about the neural substrates underlying reading acquisition in children. Moreover, existing evidence primarily focuses on a small set of languages, thereby raising questions about the generalizability of these findings. In this study, we address this gap by examining the white matter correlates of phonological awareness-a well-established precursor of reading development-in a cohort of monolingual Mexican Spanish-speaking children. Contrary to the classical view that left-lateralized dorsal pathways support phonological awareness, our results reveal that fractional anisotropy in bilateral ventral tracts, but not dorsal tracts, correlates with phonological awareness in this population. These findings challenge the traditional dichotomy between dorsal and ventral stream functions, instead highlighting the flexible and language-dependent nature of the neural mechanisms that support early reading development in children.</p>","PeriodicalId":34845,"journal":{"name":"Neurobiology of Language","volume":"7 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13137884/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147843820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Age-Related Differences in Resting-State Functional Connectivity Predict Specific Patterns of Speech Disfluency.","authors":"Megan S Nakamura, Haoyun Zhang, Michele T Diaz","doi":"10.1162/NOL.a.245","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/NOL.a.245","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Fluent speech production remains largely preserved across adulthood, yet subtle disruptions such as pauses, repetitions, and revisions become more common with age. These disfluencies may reflect underlying cognitive and neural changes that accompany aging, particularly in executive function (EF) and large-scale brain network organization. In this study, we examined whether EF and resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) independently or jointly explained age-related differences in naturalistic speech disfluencies in an adult lifespan sample (<i>n</i> = 252, ages 20-81 years). RSFC was used to assess network segregation within three systems implicated in language and cognitive control: language network, default mode network (DMN), and multiple demand (MD) network. These task-independent connectivity patterns provide insight into how the brain's functional architecture impacts speech production and its age-related vulnerabilities. Our findings indicate that age was associated with increased rates of specific disfluency subtypes, such as unfilled pauses, repetitions, and revisions, as well as lower EF and lower language, MD, and DMN network segregation. Although increasing age was associated with lower EF, EF performance did not predict disfluencies or mediate their age-related increase. In contrast, higher DMN segregation predicted lower overall disfluencies, repetitions, and revisions. Age moderated the relationship between DMN segregation and repetitions, with a significant association only in younger and middle-aged adults, suggesting weaker brain-behavior relationships at older ages. DMN segregation also partially mediated the relationship between age and revisions. These findings suggest that while EF relates to planning-related disruptions, changes in functional brain organization may more directly contribute to age-related increases in self-monitoring disfluencies.</p>","PeriodicalId":34845,"journal":{"name":"Neurobiology of Language","volume":"7 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13137885/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147843664","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of Technological Immersion and Sensorimotor Engagement on Performance and Brain Plasticity in Short-Term Second Language Vocabulary Training.","authors":"Theodor Rumetshofer, Lara Langensee, Ping Li, Jiayan Zhao, Alexander Klippel, Linda Wennberg, Markus Nilsson, Pia C Sundgren, Marianne Gullberg, Johan Mårtensson","doi":"10.1162/NOL.a.238","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/NOL.a.238","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Classroom-based language learning has typically taken place in relatively static body positions, but research suggests that embodied learning through sensorimotor engagement and technical immersion, using virtual realities, can significantly enhance learning outcomes. Recent research has linked differences in the learning context to different cortical structures within the language learning network. In this study, we investigated the effect of technical immersion and sensorimotor engagement on performance in behavior and gray matter volume in the brain after a single 20-min language learning task. We tested two learning environments: a low-embodied desktop-based virtual environment (dVE) using a computer screen and a high-embodied immersive virtual reality (iVR) environment using a head-mounted display, as well as a no training group. We assessed morphological brain changes using magnetic resonance imaging at 7 Tesla before and after training. Participants with less sensorimotor engagement, compared to those with high, performed significantly better and showed higher gray matter volume in the left angular gyrus, a key hub region for vocabulary training within the language network, as well as in the left middle temporal gyrus, a region associated with lexical semantic processing. However, we could not identify a difference between the dVE and iVR groups. Our results suggest that both virtual platforms, although different in the level of immersion and whole-body involvement, rely on similar cortical structures within the language learning network. Furthermore, sensorimotor engagement might have a stronger influence on performance and related brain changes than the learning context itself.</p>","PeriodicalId":34845,"journal":{"name":"Neurobiology of Language","volume":"7 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13065095/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147677245","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Functional Specialization of the Visual Word Form Area During Word Reading: A Multimodal Neuroimaging Study.","authors":"Lala Gu, Huiling Li, Jing Qu, Jingyu Yang, Xin Fu, Rui Hu, Leilei Mei","doi":"10.1162/NOL.a.225","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/NOL.a.225","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The visual word form area (VWFA) has been consistently identified as a crucial structure in word reading, and its function differs across subregions. Nevertheless, the functional roles of its subregions and their functional origins remain controversial. Here, we adopted multimodal neuroimaging techniques (i.e., task-state fMRI, resting-state fMRI, and diffusion MRI) combined with representational similarity analysis to investigate the functional role of VWFA subregions and the brain circuitry supporting their function in two experiments. Results revealed respective roles of the posterior and anterior VWFA subregions in visual and semantic processing, which is consistent with their respective connectivity to orthographic and semantic networks. In addition, processing demands modulated the neural representations of high-level linguistic information in the VWFAs. These convergent findings elucidated the local neural computations in the VWFAs and their cooperative mechanism with distant brain regions related to language processing, jointly providing multimodal neuroimaging evidence for the connectivity-biased hypothesis.</p>","PeriodicalId":34845,"journal":{"name":"Neurobiology of Language","volume":"7 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13065096/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147677238","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Amplitude Modulation Structure of Japanese Infant- and Child-Directed Speech: Longitudinal Data Reveal Universal Acoustic Physical Structures That Accommodate Both Syllabic and Moraic Timing.","authors":"Tatsuya Daikoku, Usha Goswami","doi":"10.1162/NOL.a.226","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/NOL.a.226","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Infant-directed speech (IDS) is highly rhythmic, and in European languages, it is dominated by patterns of amplitude modulation (AM) peaking at ∼2 Hz (reflecting prosody) and ∼5 Hz (reflecting individual syllables). The rhythm structure of spoken Japanese is thought to differ from European stress-timed and syllable-timed languages, depending on moraic units (∼10 Hz) comprising any onset phoneme and vowel phonemes within a syllable, PA-N-DA. As the infant brain must be prepared to acquire any human language, initial speech encoding is likely to utilize language-universal physical acoustic structures in speech. These physical structures are, however, probabilistic and may thereby simultaneously accommodate language-specific structures like morae. Here, a language-blind computational model of linguistic rhythm based on the amplitude envelope (AE) is used to compute the physical acoustic stimulus characteristics for Japanese. Using ∼18,000 samples of natural IDS and child-directed speech (CDS) recorded longitudinally over the ages 0-5 years, the data show that the temporal modulation patterns that characterize the AE of Japanese are similar to those found for stress-timed and syllable-timed European languages. However, the AM band corresponding to the syllabic level in CDS/IDS in European languages (∼2-12 Hz) was elongated in Japanese (2.5-17 Hz), possibly accommodating the faster modulation peaks reflecting morae. Furthermore, the phase synchronization ratios between the two slowest AM bands were as likely to be 1:3 as 1:2, differing from European languages where 1:2 ratios (delivering the perceptual experience of a temporally regular beat) are dominant. Accordingly, the amplitude-driven physical acoustic structures important for cortical speech tracking flexibly accommodate both universality and specificity.</p>","PeriodicalId":34845,"journal":{"name":"Neurobiology of Language","volume":"7 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13065094/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147677165","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prefrontal and Cerebellar Contributions to Semantic Memory Retrieval.","authors":"Adam Kubinec, Rastislav Rovný, Igor Riečanský, Martin Marko","doi":"10.1162/NOL.a.235","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/NOL.a.235","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Semantic memory retrieval is essential for language, thought, and adaptive behavior. Although both the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the cerebellum have been implicated in this function, the role of the PFC remains poorly understood and the contribution of the cerebellum largely overlooked in current neurocognitive models. To address these gaps, we conducted a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled experiment in which healthy adults received anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) targeting the left lateral PFC, the right posterior cerebellum, or sham stimulation. Participants completed a novel process-sensitive paradigm comprising lexical decision, free-associative (FA; automatic) retrieval, dissociative (DA; controlled) retrieval, and intrusion monitoring, while manipulating response predictability and rule switching. Cerebellar tDCS selectively impaired FA performance, particularly for cues evoking predictable responses, supporting its role in automatic access to overlearned associations. In contrast, prefrontal tDCS disrupted DA performance and increased associative intrusions, implicating the PFC in retrieval inhibition. Importantly, mediation analysis showed that the reduction in DA fluency was largely explained by higher probability of intrusions, indicating a perturbation of proactive inhibitory control that normally prevents irrelevant memory activations from entering working memory. Further exploratory analyses ruled out several alternative accounts of these stimulation effects, underscoring their process specificity. Together, these findings advance models of semantic cognition by demonstrating complementary contributions of the cerebellum to automatic retrieval and of the PFC to inhibitory control over intrusions.</p>","PeriodicalId":34845,"journal":{"name":"Neurobiology of Language","volume":"7 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13065103/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147677162","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Gateway to Syntax: On the Neural Origins of the Left Anterior Negativity and Their Functional Implications.","authors":"Manuel Martin-Loeches, Werner Sommer, Laura Jiménez-Ortega, Javier Espuny, Miguel Rubianes, Pilar Casado","doi":"10.1162/NOL.a.227","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/NOL.a.227","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The neural origins of the Left Anterior Negativity (LAN) component of the Event-Related brain Potentials (ERP) have never been directly probed although this information is of the highest interest for a comprehensive view of the neural foundation of language. The LAN emerges specifically after morphosyntactic violations and is affected by both linguistic and extralinguistic, non-syntactic information. Here, we explored the neural sources of the LAN by analyzing data from three previously published ERP data sets obtained from canonical morphosyntactic violation conditions. The neuroelectric source analyses were based on LAN data from <i>N</i> = 76 participants and comprised two distributed source algorithms: sLORETA (standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography), and CLARA (classical LORETA analysis recursively applied), and a discrete dipole model (BESA, brain electrical source analysis). The results indicate that the most acceptable candidate as primary neural source of the LAN is the left frontal operculum (LFO), though the right FO might also be implicated. Considering its location, functions and connections, we speculate that the FO may be monitoring articulatory (morphological or morphophonological) predictions during language comprehension. The direct links between the FO and the anterior temporal pole might also account for nonlinguistic influences on the LAN.</p>","PeriodicalId":34845,"journal":{"name":"Neurobiology of Language","volume":"7 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13065097/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147677205","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Object Naming After Thalamic Damage: Evidence From a Large-Scale, Chronic-Phase Study of Left Hemisphere Stroke Survivors.","authors":"Jie Zhang, Douglas Neville, Storm Anderson, Sophie M Roberts, Thomas M H Hope, Alex P Leff, David W Green, Cathy J Price","doi":"10.1162/NOL.a.231","DOIUrl":"10.1162/NOL.a.231","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Functional imaging and clinical cases implicate the left thalamus in object naming, yet the prevalence of naming impairment after focal thalamic damage is low with variable impact and often rapid resolution. This suggests that compensatory mechanisms, within or beyond the thalamus, may support recovery. We hypothesized that thalamic damage would (a) not cause chronic anomia if other naming-related regions remain intact but (b) exacerbate anomia when co-occurring with damage to non-thalamic naming regions. To test these hypotheses, we retrospectively assessed naming ability in 550 left hemisphere chronic stroke survivors (52% with anomia). Lesion sites included focal thalamic lesions (<i>n</i> = 14), combined thalamic and non-thalamic lesions (<i>n</i> = 271), and lesions sparing the thalamus (<i>n</i> = 265). Whole-brain lesion-symptom mapping (LSM), using multivariate support vector regression, identified brain regions where damage was significantly related to naming ability. Contributions of different thalamic subregions to naming were assessed using ridge regression. Focal thalamic lesions were not associated with chronic anomia. LSM identified two naming-related clusters: a temporoparietal region of interest (ROI-TP) and a subcortical-insular region of interest (ROI-SC) including the lateral thalamus. However, lesion load in the lateral thalamus did not independently contribute to naming performance when controlling for damage to other parts of the ROI-SC, nor did any thalamic nuclei show additive effects beyond the ROI-TP and the non-thalamic ROI-SC. These findings suggest that thalamic damage in the dominant hemisphere does not cause long-term anomia in chronic stroke. Future research therefore needs longitudinal designs to track the trajectory of transient thalamic effects from the acute to chronic phases and to investigate whether naming impairments after thalamic lesions are (a) lesion specific but context dependent, emerging under increased cognitive load, or (b) attributable to non-lesion-site-dependent post-stroke factors such as fatigue.</p>","PeriodicalId":34845,"journal":{"name":"Neurobiology of Language","volume":"7 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13035400/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147595201","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Controlled Semantic Cognition: Precision Recordings Converge With in Silico Experiments to Reveal the Inner Workings of the Anterior Temporal Lobe Hub.","authors":"Rebecca L Jackson, Guy A Orban, Paul Tiesinga","doi":"10.1162/NOL.a.220","DOIUrl":"10.1162/NOL.a.220","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The anterior temporal lobe (ATL) is crucial for learning and storing concepts, yet the inner workings of its multiple cytoarchitectonically distinct subregions remain a \"black box.\" Moreover, it is not yet clear how this region interacts with a distributed network of brain regions to access context-specific information. However, two recent papers have made crucial steps forward, while adopting radically different approaches. One (Jackson et al., 2021) used in silico experimentation to ask how a system can meet the core requirements of controlled semantic cognition, comparing multiple theoretical architectures on their ability to meet these demands. The other (Tiesinga et al., 2023) performed in vivo intracortical recordings with unprecedented coverage and spatial precision, comparing cytoarchitectonic ATL subregions. In this perspective, we bridge these recent in silico and in vivo explorations of controlled semantic cognition, demonstrating their remarkable convergence. Thereby, we expose the inner workings of the ATL semantic hub and the regulating effect of frontal regions, while highlighting the crucial next challenges. The result is a neuroanatomically precise mechanistic model of controlled semantic cognition.</p>","PeriodicalId":34845,"journal":{"name":"Neurobiology of Language","volume":"7 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13012739/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147515290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"No Unique Magnocellular Facilitation in Parafoveal Processing: A Combined EEG and Eye Tracking Study.","authors":"Xin Huang, Brian W L Wong, Werner Sommer, Olaf Dimigen, Urs Maurer","doi":"10.1162/NOL.a.223","DOIUrl":"10.1162/NOL.a.223","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Rapidly processed magnocellular (M) information may facilitate visual object recognition but its role in reading is unclear. A previous study with Chinese characters and masked foveal primes did not find a unique role of the M system as compared to the parvocellular (P) system in mediating repetition effects. As M cells are better represented in the parafoveal visual field, the present study tested whether the M and P systems contribute differentially to parafoveal processing during reading. We combined EEG recordings and eye tracking to measure parafoveal preview effects in fixation-related potentials, using the boundary paradigm. In two experiments, we contrasted high versus low spatial frequency previews and luminance versus color contrast previews and also included standard previews as a manipulation check. As expected, the N250 component was diminished after valid as compared to invalid normal previews, especially over the left hemisphere. We also obtained left-lateralized preview effects for the N250 component for both M- and P-biased previews in both experiments. In the experiment involving a spatial frequency manipulation, P-biased preview effects tended to be larger than M-biased preview effects over the left hemisphere, but not over the right hemisphere. No interactions with preview validity were found for the luminance contrast manipulation. This null effect was supported by a Bayesian analysis. Taken together, these results indicate that the M pathway does not exclusively mediate the preview effect, even for stimuli presented in the parafovea. Instead, both M- and P-based information appear to contribute to early, left-lateralized neural processes underlying visual word recognition.</p>","PeriodicalId":34845,"journal":{"name":"Neurobiology of Language","volume":"7 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13035401/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147595281","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}