Syntactic processing in the human brain: what we know, what we don't know, and a suggestion for how to proceed.

نویسندگان

  • Evelina Fedorenko
  • Alfonso Nieto-Castañón
  • Nancy Kanwisher
چکیده

For every claim in the neuroimaging literature about a particular brain region supporting syntactic processing, there exist other claims implicating the target region in different linguistic processes, and, in many cases, in non-linguistic cognitive processes (e.g., Blumstein, 2009). We argue that traditional group analysis methods in neuroimaging may obscure functional specificity because of inter-subject anatomical variability (Fedorenko & Kanwisher, 2009). In Fedorenko, Hsieh, Nieto-Castanon, Whitfield-Gabrieli, and Kanwisher (2010) we presented a functional localizer that allows quick and reliable identification of key language-sensitive regions in each individual brain. This approach enables pooling data from corresponding functional regions across subjects rather than from the same locations in stereotaxic space that may differ functionally due to inter-subject anatomical variability. In the current paper we demonstrate that the individual-subjects functional localization approach is superior to the traditional methods in its ability to distinguish among conditions in a brain region's response. This ability is at the core of all neuroimaging research and is critical for answering questions of functional specialization (e.g., does a brain region specialize for processing syntactic aspects of the linguistic signal), which is in turn essential for making inferences about the precise computations conducted in each brain region. Based on our results, we argue that supplementing existing methods with an individual-subjects functional localization approach may lead to a clearer picture of the neural basis of syntactic processing, as it has in some other domains, such as high-level vision (e.g., Kanwisher, 2010) and social cognition (e.g., Saxe & Kanwisher, 2003).

برای دانلود رایگان متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

P-138: What Should We Know about Ethical Problem in ART? A Study of Systematic Review

Background: Advances in medical technology have had major impacts on human reproduction. The development of effective contraceptive methods has reduced unwanted fertility, and the development of a variety of drugs and procedures has, for the first time, permitted women with fertility problems to reasonably expect that they can fulfill their desires to have children. So, The aim of this review a...

متن کامل

Diagnostic and therapeutic challenges for dermatologists: What shall we do when we don’t know what to do?

What shall we do when we have done everything we could for the diagnosis and treatment of a patient, but were not successful? What shall we do when there is no definite treatment for a patient? What shall we do when we have no diagnosis or treatment for a patient? Some useful suggestions are presented here to get rid of these situations.

متن کامل

Syntactic processing in the human brain: What we know, what we donâ€TMt know, and a suggestion for how to proceed

Please cite this article in press as: Fedorenko, E., how to proceed. Brain & Language (2011), doi:1 For every claim in the neuroimaging literature about a particular brain region supporting syntactic processing, there exist other claims implicating the target region in different linguistic processes, and, in many cases, in non-linguistic cognitive processes (e.g., Blumstein, 2009). We argue tha...

متن کامل

Molecular approaches to diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis what we know and what we do not know.

Invasive aspergillosis (IA) are a major complication in immunocompromized patients where can be serious and rapidly fatal. Early diagnosis and early appropriate antifungal treatment is important in reducing mortality and morbidity. But despite many efforts to develop detection methods, the diagnosis of IA still remains challenging and current conventional methods are limited for adequate diagno...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

عنوان ژورنال:
  • Brain and language

دوره 120 2  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2012