Revealing human brain syntactic processing: Insights from voxel-wise models and network representation

Abstract

Syntax serves as the framework that organizes words and is crucial for the human brain to comprehend language. However, the details of how the brain processes syntax remain poorly understood. Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data obtained from subjects listening to narratives, we developed voxel-wise models of syntax at the word-pair level from a data-driven perspective. Our findings suggest that the intensity of activation varies across brain regions when processing the same syntactic structure. In addition, using syntactic structures, we constructed syntactic networks for each voxel. The syntactic network provides a knowledge representation of syntax in the brain and further validates the differences in various brain regions during syntactic processing. Accordingly, our study highlights the intricate nature of the syntactic processing system of the brain and provides new insights into how the brain processes logical structures in language.