A fundamental question in neurolinguistics concerns the brain regions involved in syntactic and semantic processing during speech comprehension, both at the lexical (word processing) and supra-lexical levels (sentence and discourse... more
A fundamental question in neurolinguistics concerns the brain regions involved in syntactic and semantic processing during speech comprehension, both at the lexical (word processing) and supra-lexical levels (sentence and discourse processing). To what extent are these regions separated or intertwined? To address this question, we introduce a novel approach exploiting neural language models to generate high-dimensional feature sets that separately encode semantic and syntactic information. More precisely, we train a lexical language model, Glove, and a supra-lexical language model, GPT-2, on a text corpus from which we selectively removed either syntactic or semantic information. We then assess to what extent the features derived from these information-restricted models are still able to predict the fMRI time courses of humans listening to naturalistic text. Furthermore, to determine the windows of integration of brain regions involved in supra-lexical processing, we manipulate the ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
International audienc
Research Interests:
The left ventral occipito-temporal cortex (left-vOT) plays a key role in reading. Interestingly, the area also responds to speech input, suggesting that it may have other functions beyond written word recognition. Here, we adopt graph... more
The left ventral occipito-temporal cortex (left-vOT) plays a key role in reading. Interestingly, the area also responds to speech input, suggesting that it may have other functions beyond written word recognition. Here, we adopt graph theoretical analysis to investigate the left-vOT’s functional role in the whole-brain network while participants process spoken sentences in different contexts. Overall, different connectivity measures indicate that the left-vOT acts as an interface enabling the communication between distributed brain regions and sub-networks. During simple speech perception, the left-vOT is systematically part of the visual network and contributes to the communication between neighboring areas, remote areas, and sub-networks, by acting as a local bridge, a global bridge, and a connector, respectively. However, when speech comprehension is explicitly required, the specific functional role of the area and the sub-network to which the left-vOT belongs change and vary wit...
Research Interests:
The left ventral occipito-temporal cortex (left-vOT) plays a key role in reading. Several studies have also reported its activation during speech processing, suggesting that it may play a role beyond written word recognition. Here, we... more
The left ventral occipito-temporal cortex (left-vOT) plays a key role in reading. Several studies have also reported its activation during speech processing, suggesting that it may play a role beyond written word recognition. Here, we adopt a graph theoretical analysis to investigate the functional role of this area in the whole-brain network while participants processed spoken sentences in different tasks. We find that its role and interactions with other areas changes in an adaptive manner. In a low-level speech perception task, the left-vOT is part of the visual network and acts as a connector that supports the communication with other cognitive systems. When speech comprehension is required, the area becomes a connector within the sensorimotor-auditory network typically recruited during speech processing. However, when comprehension is compromised due to degradation of speech input, the area disengages from the sensorimotor-auditory network. It becomes part of the visual network...
Research Interests:
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has opened the possibility to investigate how brain activity is modulated by behavior. Most studies so far are bound to one single task, in which functional responses to a handful of contrasts... more
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has opened the possibility to investigate how brain activity is modulated by behavior. Most studies so far are bound to one single task, in which functional responses to a handful of contrasts are analyzed and reported as a group average brain map. Contrariwise, recent data‐collection efforts have started to target a systematic spatial representation of multiple mental functions. In this paper, we leverage the Individual Brain Charting (IBC) dataset—a high‐resolution task‐fMRI dataset acquired in a fixed environment—in order to study the feasibility of individual mapping. First, we verify that the IBC brain maps reproduce those obtained from previous, large‐scale datasets using the same tasks. Second, we confirm that the elementary spatial components, inferred across all tasks, are consistently mapped within and, to a lesser extent, across participants. Third, we demonstrate the relevance of the topographic information of the individual c...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
num temporale; fMRI; phonological grammar Introduction Languages differ considerably depending on not only their inventory of consonants (Cs) and vowels (Vs) but also the phonological grammar that specifies how these sounds can be... more
num temporale; fMRI; phonological grammar Introduction Languages differ considerably depending on not only their inventory of consonants (Cs) and vowels (Vs) but also the phonological grammar that specifies how these sounds can be combined to form words and utterances (Kaye, 1989). Regarding the inventory of consonants and vowels, research has shown that infants become attuned to the particular sound categories used in their linguistic environment during the first year of life (Werker and Tees, 1984a; Kuhl et al., 1992). In adults, these categories strongly influence the way in which foreign sounds are perceived (Abramson and Lisker, 1970; Goto, 1971; Miyawaki et al., 1975; Trehub, 1976; Werker and Tees, 1984b; Kuhl, 1991), causing severe problems in the discrimination between certain non-native sounds. For instance, Japanese listeners have persistent trouble discriminating between English /r/ and /l/ (Goto, 1971; Lively et al., 1994). The current interpretation of these effects is t
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
We often express our thoughts through words, but thinking goes well beyond language. Here we focus on an elementary but basic thinking process, disjunction elimination, elicited by elementary visual scenes deprived of linguistic content,... more
We often express our thoughts through words, but thinking goes well beyond language. Here we focus on an elementary but basic thinking process, disjunction elimination, elicited by elementary visual scenes deprived of linguistic content, describing its neural and oculomotor correlates. We track two main components of a nonverbal deductive process: the construction of a logical representation (A or B), and its simplification by deduction (not A, therefore B). We identify the network active in the two phases and show that in the latter, but not in the former, it overlaps with areas known to respond to verbal logical reasoning. Oculomotor markers consistently differentiate logical processing induced by the construction of a representation, its simplification by deductive inference, and its maintenance when inferences cannot be drawn. Our results reveal how integrative logical processes incorporate novel experience in the flow of thoughts induced by visual scenes.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The left ventral occipito-temporal cortex (vOT) is the key area of the visuo-orthographic system. However, some studies also reported its activation during speech processing tasks, especially those that rely on metaphonological or... more
The left ventral occipito-temporal cortex (vOT) is the key area of the visuo-orthographic system. However, some studies also reported its activation during speech processing tasks, especially those that rely on metaphonological or orthographic knowledge. These findings suggest such cross-modal activation is supported by top-down mechanisms. Yet, little is known about the involvement of the vOT during natural speech processing situations. Based on the assumption that top-down activation of the vOT is more likely to occur in demanding speech processing situations, we conducted an fMRI experiment manipulating two factors: (1) task demands (semantic vs. low-level perceptual task), and (2) the quality of the spoken input (sentences were clearly presented vs. degraded by conversation noise background). Results revealed vOT activation in all experimental conditions, at the same location as the one observed during visual word processing. Interestingly, the level of activation significantly ...
Research Interests:
One aspect of natural language comprehension is understanding how many of what or whom a speaker is referring to. While previous work has documented the neural correlates of general number comprehension and quantity comparison, we... more
One aspect of natural language comprehension is understanding how many of what or whom a speaker is referring to. While previous work has documented the neural correlates of general number comprehension and quantity comparison, we investigate semantic number from a cross-linguistic perspective with the goal of identifying cortical regions involved in distinguishing plural from singular nouns. We use three fMRI datasets in which Chinese, French, and English native speakers listen to an audiobook of a children’s story in their native language. We select these three languages because they differ in their number semantics. While Chinese lacks nominal pluralization, French and English nouns are overtly marked for number. We find a number of known semantic processing regions in common, including dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and the pars orbitalis, in which cortical activation is greater for plural than singular nouns and posit a cross-linguistic role for number in semantic comprehension.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Computer Science, Psychophysiology, Multilingualism, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Medicine, and 15 moreFrance, Language Production, Biological Sciences, Brain Mapping, Functional Connectivity, Brain, Humans, Concept Formation, Functional Imaging, Large Scale, Condition dependence, Brain Function, Interaction Network, Medical and Health Sciences, and Language tests
L'A. tente de savoir si les phonemes d'un mot a prononcer remplissent la memoire tampon de facon sequentielle, ou s'ils sont inseres en parallele, tous en meme temps. Il propose une experience qui consiste a associer 4 figures... more
L'A. tente de savoir si les phonemes d'un mot a prononcer remplissent la memoire tampon de facon sequentielle, ou s'ils sont inseres en parallele, tous en meme temps. Il propose une experience qui consiste a associer 4 figures de couleurs et de formes differentes a 4 mots qu'il s'agit ensuite de prononcer. Les durees entre le moment de presentation de la figure et le debut de la prononciation du mot sont mesurees et comparees dans les situations ou la derniere syllabe est connue ou non. Les resultats indiquent que la preparation d'un mot est facilitee par la connaissance prealable de la derniere ou de la premiere syllabe et permettent d'appuyer l'hypothese de l'insertion en parallele des phonemes dans le tampon articulatoire
Research Interests:
On some level, human sentence comprehension must involve both memory retrieval and structural composition. This study differentiates these two processes using neuroimaging data collected during naturalistic listening. Retrieval is... more
On some level, human sentence comprehension must involve both memory retrieval and structural composition. This study differentiates these two processes using neuroimaging data collected during naturalistic listening. Retrieval is formalized in terms of “multiword expressions” while structure-building is formalized in terms of bottom-up parsing. The results most strongly implicate Anterior Temporal regions for structure-building and Precuneus Cortex for memory retrieval.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Computer Science, Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, Medical Image Processing, Monte Carlo, and 10 moreMedicine, Brain, Humans, Three Dimensional Imaging, White matter, Image Enhancement, Reproducibility of Results, Sensitivity and Specificity, Human Subjects, and Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging
ABSTRACTNeuroimaging using more ecologically valid stimuli such as audiobooks has advanced our understanding of natural language comprehension in the brain. However, prior naturalistic stimuli have typically been restricted to a single... more
ABSTRACTNeuroimaging using more ecologically valid stimuli such as audiobooks has advanced our understanding of natural language comprehension in the brain. However, prior naturalistic stimuli have typically been restricted to a single language, which limited generalizability beyond small typological domains. Here we present the Le Petit Prince fMRI Corpus (LPPC–fMRI), a multilingual resource for research in the cognitive neuroscience of speech and language during naturalistic listening (Open-Neuro: ds003643). 49 English speakers, 35 Chinese speakers and 28 French speakers listened to the same audiobook The Little Prince in their native language while multi-echo functional magnetic resonance imaging was acquired. We also provide time-aligned speech annotation and word-by-word predictors obtained using natural language processing tools. The resulting timeseries data are shown to be of high quality with good temporal signal-to-noise ratio and high inter-subject correlation. Data-drive...
Although sentences unfold sequentially, one word at a time, most linguistic theories propose that their underlying syntactic structure involves a tree of nested phrases rather than a linear sequence of words. Whether and how the brain... more
Although sentences unfold sequentially, one word at a time, most linguistic theories propose that their underlying syntactic structure involves a tree of nested phrases rather than a linear sequence of words. Whether and how the brain builds such structures, however, remains largely unknown. Here, we used human intracranial recordings and visual word-by-word presentation of sentences and word lists to investigate how left-hemispheric brain activity varies during the formation of phrase structures. In a broad set of language-related areas, comprising multiple superior temporal and inferior frontal sites, high-gamma power increased with each successive word in a sentence but decreased suddenly whenever words could be merged into a phrase. Regression analyses showed that each additional word or multiword phrase contributed a similar amount of additional brain activity, providing evidence for a merge operation that applies equally to linguistic objects of arbitrary complexity. More supe...
Research Interests:
The neurolinguistics of bilinguism and language acquisi- tion is still in infancy. This paper presents a quick over- view of some brain imaging studies of language acquisi- tion conducted in our lab. We describe a study showing that, as... more
The neurolinguistics of bilinguism and language acquisi- tion is still in infancy. This paper presents a quick over- view of some brain imaging studies of language acquisi- tion conducted in our lab. We describe a study showing that, as grammatical skills in L2 increase, the cerebral ac- tivations elicited by sentence building in L1 and in L2 be- came more and more similar. In another series of studies, we discovered anatomical and functional cerebral corre- lates of the abilities to memorize, perceive or produce fo- reign speech sounds. 1. CONVERGENCE ENTRE LES
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
J. Child Lang. 36 (2009), 355–380. f 2008 Cambridge University Press doi: 10.1017/S0305000908008970 Printed in the United Kingdom Obligatory grammatical categories and the expression of temporal events* HEATHER WINSKEL MARCS Auditory... more
J. Child Lang. 36 (2009), 355–380. f 2008 Cambridge University Press doi: 10.1017/S0305000908008970 Printed in the United Kingdom Obligatory grammatical categories and the expression of temporal events* HEATHER WINSKEL MARCS Auditory Laboratories and School of Psychology, University of Western Sydney, Australia AND SUDAPORN LUKSANEEYANAWIN Center for Research in Speech and Language Processing, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand (Received 18 April 2007. Revised 15 November 2007 ...
Many people exposed to sinewave analogues of speech first report hearing them as electronic glissando and, later, when they switch into a ‘speech mode’, hearing them as syllables. This perceptual switch modifies their discrimination... more
Many people exposed to sinewave analogues of speech first report hearing them as electronic glissando and, later, when they switch into a ‘speech mode’, hearing them as syllables. This perceptual switch modifies their discrimination abilities, enhancing perception of differences that cross phonemic boundaries while diminishing perception of differences within phonemic categories. Using high-density evoked potentials and fMRI in a discrimination