Pub Date : 2025-04-04DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105553
Isabella Fritz, Aditi Lahiri
Bilingual word recognition is assumed to be modulated by a word’s segmental and meaning similarity across languages, labelled cognate in psycholinguistics, usually conflating borrowed and inherited words. We conducted an ERP fragment priming study with Bengali-English bilinguals. English words borrowed into Bengali (doctor, Bengali: [ˈɖaktar]) were compared with those which were not (river). The stimuli varied in fine metrical details, one-foot (dóctor) or two-feet (éxpèrt) whilst stress placement was kept constant. Crucially, two-feet English words are always one-foot in Bengali [ˈeksparʈ]. Behavioural results (RTs) showed that although loan status did not affect priming, mismatch in feet significantly reduced the effect. In the ERP data, only one-foot words elicited significant priming effects. Furthermore, different ERP components were modulated depending on loan type. Thus, loan status alone is not sufficient to understand L2 word processing; the influence of the native metrical structure (preference for a single foot) constrains processing of all words.
{"title":"Native prosodic structures constrain L2 word recognition: Evidence from Bengali-English bilinguals","authors":"Isabella Fritz, Aditi Lahiri","doi":"10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105553","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105553","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Bilingual word recognition is assumed to be modulated by a word’s segmental and meaning similarity across languages, labelled <em>cognate</em> in psycholinguistics, usually conflating borrowed and inherited words. We conducted an ERP fragment priming study with Bengali-English bilinguals. English words <em>borrowed</em> into Bengali (<em>doctor,</em> Bengali: [ˈɖaktar]) were compared with those which were not (<em>river</em>). The stimuli varied in fine metrical details, one-foot (<em>dóctor</em>) or two-feet (<em>éxpèrt)</em> whilst stress placement was kept constant<em>.</em> Crucially, two-feet English words are always one-foot in Bengali [ˈeksparʈ]. Behavioural results (RTs) showed that although loan status did not affect priming, mismatch in feet significantly reduced the effect. In the ERP data, only one-foot words elicited significant priming effects. Furthermore, different ERP components were modulated depending on loan type. Thus, loan status alone is not sufficient to understand L2 word processing; the influence of the native metrical structure (preference for a single foot) constrains processing of all words.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55330,"journal":{"name":"Brain and Language","volume":"264 ","pages":"Article 105553"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143768519","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-03-29DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105571
Jueyao Lin , Xiaocong Chen , Xunan Huang , Patrick Chun Man Wong , Angel Wing Shan Chan , Michael T. Ullman , Caicai Zhang
The neurocognitive dynamics of semantic-syntactic interplay are not well understood in children with and without Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). This study examined the N400, P600 and their interplay in Cantonese-speaking children with DLD and age-matched typically developing (TD) children, by manipulating semantic and syntactic violations in Chinese classifier-noun agreement. Behaviorally, children with DLD demonstrated overall lower accuracy in grammaticality judgment. The N400 and P600 analyses respectively confirmed robust semantic processing but attenuated syntactic processing in the DLD group. Crucially, the N400-P600 interplay analyses revealed that TD children prioritized syntactic processing over semantic processing for outright syntactic violations, as indicated by less N400-P600 dependence and robust P600 dominance, whereas children with DLD relied on semantic processing and showed reduced P600 dominance. These results underscore a challenge to prioritize syntactic processing and (suboptimal) compensatory reliance on semantic processing in children with DLD, compatible with the predictions of the Procedural circuit Deficit Hypothesis.
{"title":"Semantic overreliance as a suboptimal compensation for syntactic impairments in children with Developmental Language Disorder","authors":"Jueyao Lin , Xiaocong Chen , Xunan Huang , Patrick Chun Man Wong , Angel Wing Shan Chan , Michael T. Ullman , Caicai Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105571","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105571","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The neurocognitive dynamics of semantic-syntactic interplay are not well understood in children with and without Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). This study examined the N400, P600 and their interplay in Cantonese-speaking children with DLD and age-matched typically developing (TD) children, by manipulating semantic and syntactic violations in Chinese classifier-noun agreement. Behaviorally, children with DLD demonstrated overall lower accuracy in grammaticality judgment. The N400 and P600 analyses respectively confirmed robust semantic processing but attenuated syntactic processing in the DLD group. Crucially, the N400-P600 interplay analyses revealed that TD children prioritized syntactic processing over semantic processing for outright syntactic violations, as indicated by less N400-P600 dependence and robust P600 dominance, whereas children with DLD relied on semantic processing and showed reduced P600 dominance. These results underscore a challenge to prioritize syntactic processing and (suboptimal) compensatory reliance on semantic processing in children with DLD, compatible with the predictions of the Procedural circuit Deficit Hypothesis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55330,"journal":{"name":"Brain and Language","volume":"266 ","pages":"Article 105571"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143726066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-03-22DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105548
Arrate Isasi-Isasmendi , Caroline Andrews , Eva Huber , Martin Meyer , Balthasar Bickel , Sebastian Sauppe
Sentence-initial arguments with role-specific case markers (e.g., accusatives) have been reported to be processed slower than arguments with default case markers (e.g., nominatives), both in adults and children. However, the evidence for this comes from studies that conflate word order and case, comparing initial arguments with default case and fronted (scrambled) arguments with role-specific case. Here, we disentangle these effects by studying the parsing of Basque sentences, where both role-specific (ergative) and default (absolutive) case can occur sentence-initially in canonical word order. Two EEG experiments explore how adults and six-year-old children process ergative and absolutive markers in sentence-initial position. We find that the ergative case elicits a power synchronization in theta compared to the absolutive case in both adults and children, an effect we attribute to retrieving more specific relational information from memory. In contrast, processing ergative case markers leads to a beta power desynchronization in adults but a synchronization in children. This suggests that six-year-old children are still developing top-down processing mechanisms for the parsing and integration of case marking information.
{"title":"Neural correlates of processing case in adults and children","authors":"Arrate Isasi-Isasmendi , Caroline Andrews , Eva Huber , Martin Meyer , Balthasar Bickel , Sebastian Sauppe","doi":"10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105548","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105548","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sentence-initial arguments with role-specific case markers (e.g., accusatives) have been reported to be processed slower than arguments with default case markers (e.g., nominatives), both in adults and children. However, the evidence for this comes from studies that conflate word order and case, comparing initial arguments with default case and fronted (scrambled) arguments with role-specific case. Here, we disentangle these effects by studying the parsing of Basque sentences, where both role-specific (ergative) and default (absolutive) case can occur sentence-initially in canonical word order. Two EEG experiments explore how adults and six-year-old children process ergative and absolutive markers in sentence-initial position. We find that the ergative case elicits a power synchronization in theta compared to the absolutive case in both adults and children, an effect we attribute to retrieving more specific relational information from memory. In contrast, processing ergative case markers leads to a beta power desynchronization in adults but a synchronization in children. This suggests that six-year-old children are still developing top-down processing mechanisms for the parsing and integration of case marking information.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55330,"journal":{"name":"Brain and Language","volume":"265 ","pages":"Article 105548"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143681216","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-03-21DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105570
S. Lukic , T. Qi , C. Watson Pereira , M.L. Mandelli , R. Bogley , M. Shabash , E. Caverzasi , V. Borghesani , N. Dronkers , M.L. Gorno-Tempini
Developmental dyslexia (DD) is characterized by difficulties in reading but includes a general verbal short-term memory (vSTM) dysfunction. However, the behavioral and brain basis of vSTM deficits within DD are unknown.
81 children with DD and 17 typically developing (TD) children completed MRI and a verbal repetition task in which length (6 and 9-syllable phrases) and meaningfulness of phrases varied (more or less meaningful phrases). A battery of reading, phonological, and vSTM tests was administered to all children with DD.
Children with DD had impaired repetition compared to TD, especially when repeating long and non-meaningful phrases. Lower repetition was associated with greater cortical thickness in the left temporoparietal area in DD. The findings enhance our understanding of one of the neurocognitive mechanisms of DD, suggesting that the repetition deficit may be related to the phonological short-term store and the auditory dorsal stream.
{"title":"Verbal short-term memory in developmental dyslexia: The role of the temporoparietal area","authors":"S. Lukic , T. Qi , C. Watson Pereira , M.L. Mandelli , R. Bogley , M. Shabash , E. Caverzasi , V. Borghesani , N. Dronkers , M.L. Gorno-Tempini","doi":"10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105570","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105570","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Developmental dyslexia (DD) is characterized by difficulties in reading but includes a general verbal short-term memory (vSTM) dysfunction. However, the behavioral and brain basis of vSTM deficits within DD are unknown.</div><div>81 children with DD and 17 typically developing (TD) children completed MRI and a verbal repetition task in which length (6 and 9-syllable phrases) and meaningfulness of phrases varied (more or less meaningful phrases). A battery of reading, phonological, and vSTM tests was administered to all children with DD.</div><div>Children with DD had impaired repetition compared to TD, especially when repeating long and non-meaningful phrases. Lower repetition was associated with greater cortical thickness in the left temporoparietal area in DD. The findings enhance our understanding of one of the neurocognitive mechanisms of DD, suggesting that the repetition deficit may be related to the phonological short-term store and the auditory dorsal stream.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55330,"journal":{"name":"Brain and Language","volume":"265 ","pages":"Article 105570"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143681215","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-03-17DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105569
Zongqing Tu , Liyun Dai , Baogang Zhang , Sihan Chen , Yuanyuan Yang , Deqi Meng , Yizhou Gong , Jiancheng Sun
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.
{"title":"Revealing human brain syntactic processing: Insights from voxel-wise models and network representation","authors":"Zongqing Tu , Liyun Dai , Baogang Zhang , Sihan Chen , Yuanyuan Yang , Deqi Meng , Yizhou Gong , Jiancheng Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105569","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105569","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>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.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55330,"journal":{"name":"Brain and Language","volume":"265 ","pages":"Article 105569"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143637332","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-03-13DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105568
Quentin Zhen Qin , Ruofan Wu , Caicai Zhang
This study investigates whether daytime naps facilitate perceptual learning of Cantonese tones and how prior knowledge mediates the consolidation effect. Ninety Mandarin native speakers were pseudo-randomly assigned to either a nap group, who napped for 1.5 h with brain activities recorded, or the non-nap group, who rested for 1.5 h. They were trained with Cantonese contour-level tonal contrasts and level-level tonal contrasts, followed by a tone identification task (trained talker) before the nap manipulation, and were re-tested (trained and novel talkers) after the nap. The results showed that naps facilitated Cantonese tone learning, with the nap group outperforming the non-nap group in the cross-talker perception. The cross-talker perception effect was specific to contour-level tonal contrasts (consistent with prior knowledge) and was associated with increased sleep spindles and slow oscillations. The findings suggest that prior knowledge plays an important role in prioritizing contour-level tonal contrasts for memory consolidation.
{"title":"Daytime naps consolidate Cantonese tone learning through promoting cross-talker perception: The role of prior knowledge","authors":"Quentin Zhen Qin , Ruofan Wu , Caicai Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105568","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105568","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates whether daytime naps facilitate perceptual learning of Cantonese tones and how prior knowledge mediates the consolidation effect. Ninety Mandarin native speakers were pseudo-randomly assigned to either a nap group, who napped for 1.5 h with brain activities recorded, or the non-nap group, who rested for 1.5 h. They were trained with Cantonese contour-level tonal contrasts and level-level tonal contrasts, followed by a tone identification task (trained talker) before the nap manipulation, and were re-tested (trained and novel talkers) after the nap. The results showed that naps facilitated Cantonese tone learning, with the nap group outperforming the non-nap group in the cross-talker perception. The cross-talker perception effect was specific to contour-level tonal contrasts (consistent with prior knowledge) and was associated with increased sleep spindles and slow oscillations. The findings suggest that prior knowledge plays an important role in prioritizing contour-level tonal contrasts for memory consolidation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55330,"journal":{"name":"Brain and Language","volume":"265 ","pages":"Article 105568"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143619763","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-03-09DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105567
Le Li , Jiaman Tang , Xinyi Chen , Liyu Xiang , Marcus Taft , Xiaoxia Feng
Sentences conveying abstract meanings are crucial tools for high-level thinking and communication. Previous research has sparked a debate on whether abstract concepts rely on the representation of the sensory-motor brain areas. We explored this issue with the assumption that abstract meanings at the sentence level could invoke the sensory-motor regions a context-dependent fashion. With a sentence comprehension task and functional MRI, we measured the neural response patterns of sentences with multimodal abstract meaning, which were presented following context sentences describing either concrete sound-related or action-related events. Multivariate pattern analyses revealed that neural responses to sentences could discriminate abstract sentences in sound- versus action-related contexts, and also context sentences describing these two types of events. The discrimination was manifested in the regions responsible for high-level auditory perception and action execution. Our finding indicates that abstract meanings in modality-specific contexts may require a certain degree of grounded processing in the sensory-motor regions.
{"title":"Abstract sentence meanings are grounded in the sensory-motor regions in a context-dependent fashion","authors":"Le Li , Jiaman Tang , Xinyi Chen , Liyu Xiang , Marcus Taft , Xiaoxia Feng","doi":"10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105567","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105567","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sentences conveying abstract meanings are crucial tools for high-level thinking and communication. Previous research has sparked a debate on whether abstract concepts rely on the representation of the sensory-motor brain areas. We explored this issue with the assumption that abstract meanings at the sentence level could invoke the sensory-motor regions a context-dependent fashion. With a sentence comprehension task and functional MRI, we measured the neural response patterns of sentences with multimodal abstract meaning, which were presented following context sentences describing either concrete sound-related or action-related events. Multivariate pattern analyses revealed that neural responses to sentences could discriminate abstract sentences in sound- versus action-related contexts, and also context sentences describing these two types of events. The discrimination was manifested in the regions responsible for high-level auditory perception and action execution. Our finding indicates that abstract meanings in modality-specific contexts may<!--> <!-->require a certain degree of grounded processing in the sensory-motor regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55330,"journal":{"name":"Brain and Language","volume":"265 ","pages":"Article 105567"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143578520","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-20DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105549
Jeremy D. Yeaton
Although there is a sizeable body of literature on sentence comprehension and processing both in healthy and disordered language users, the literature on sentence production remains much more sparse. Linguistic and computational descriptions of expressive syntactic deficits in aphasia are especially rare. In addition, the neuroimaging and (psycho) linguistic literatures operate largely separately. In this paper, I will first lay out the theoretical lay of the land with regard to psycholinguistic models of sentence production. I will then provide a brief narrative overview and large-scale meta-analysis of the neuroimaging literature as it pertains to syntactic computation, followed by an attempt to integrate the psycholinguistic models with the findings from functional and clinical neuroimaging. Finally, I provide a brief overview of the literature surrounding expressive syntactic deficits and propose a path forward to close some of the existing gaps.
{"title":"The neurobiology of sentence production: A narrative review and meta-analysis","authors":"Jeremy D. Yeaton","doi":"10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105549","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105549","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although there is a sizeable body of literature on sentence comprehension and processing both in healthy and disordered language users, the literature on sentence production remains much more sparse. Linguistic and computational descriptions of expressive syntactic deficits in aphasia are especially rare. In addition, the neuroimaging and (psycho) linguistic literatures operate largely separately. In this paper, I will first lay out the theoretical lay of the land with regard to psycholinguistic models of sentence production. I will then provide a brief narrative overview and large-scale meta-analysis of the neuroimaging literature as it pertains to syntactic computation, followed by an attempt to integrate the psycholinguistic models with the findings from functional and clinical neuroimaging. Finally, I provide a brief overview of the literature surrounding expressive syntactic deficits and propose a path forward to close some of the existing gaps.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55330,"journal":{"name":"Brain and Language","volume":"264 ","pages":"Article 105549"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143454350","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-20DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105552
Alexandra Remon , Sara Mascheretti , Ivan Voronin , Bei Feng , Isabelle Ouellet-Morin , Mara Brendgen , Frank Vitaro , Philippe Robaey , Michel Boivin , Ginette Dionne
Although individual differences in reading-related skills are largely influenced by genetic variation, the molecular basis of the heritability of this phenotype is far from understood. Functional single-nucleotide polymorphisms spanning reading-candidate genes and genome-wide significant top hits were identified. By using a multiple-predictor/multiple-mediator framework, we investigated whether relationships between functional genetic variants (DYX1C1-rs3743205, DYX1C1-rs57809907, KIAA0319-rs9461045, and KIAA0319-Haplotype) and genome-wide significant top hits (rs11208009 on chromosome 1) and reading skills could be explained by reading-related cognitive and sensory endophenotypes in a sample of 328 8-year-old twins. The association between rs3743205 and rs57809907 with reading skills is partially mediated by phonological awareness (PA). Specifically, the rs3743205-C/C genotype and carrying the minor ‘A’ allele of rs57809907 were associated with lower PA scores which in turn was correlated with poorer reading skills. These findings reveal insights into the sequential gene-behavior cascade in reading acquisition and contribute to the growing literature on the neurogenetic machinery of reading development.
{"title":"The mediation role of reading-related endophenotypes in the gene-to-reading pathway","authors":"Alexandra Remon , Sara Mascheretti , Ivan Voronin , Bei Feng , Isabelle Ouellet-Morin , Mara Brendgen , Frank Vitaro , Philippe Robaey , Michel Boivin , Ginette Dionne","doi":"10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105552","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105552","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although individual differences in reading-related skills are largely influenced by genetic variation, the molecular basis of the heritability of this phenotype is far from understood. Functional single-nucleotide polymorphisms spanning reading-candidate genes and genome-wide significant top hits were identified. By using a multiple-predictor/multiple-mediator framework, we investigated whether relationships between functional genetic variants (<em>DYX1C1</em>-rs3743205, <em>DYX1C1</em>-rs57809907, <em>KIAA0319</em>-rs9461045, and <em>KIAA0319</em>-Haplotype) and genome-wide significant top hits (rs11208009 on chromosome 1) and reading skills could be explained by reading-related cognitive and sensory endophenotypes in a sample of 328 8-year-old twins. The association between rs3743205 and rs57809907 with reading skills is partially mediated by phonological awareness (PA). Specifically, the rs3743205-C/C genotype and carrying the minor ‘A’ allele of rs57809907 were associated with lower PA scores which in turn was correlated with poorer reading skills. These findings reveal insights into the sequential gene-behavior cascade in reading acquisition and contribute to the growing literature on the neurogenetic machinery of reading development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55330,"journal":{"name":"Brain and Language","volume":"264 ","pages":"Article 105552"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143454349","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-20DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105550
Megan Nakamura , Eleonora Rossi
Working memory (WM) is essential for language comprehension. It enables us to retain and manipulate information, track context, and recall key details. While WM’s role in syntactic processing is well-established, its impact on semantic processing is less clear.WM resources are allocated based on task demands, with syntactic processing—requiring the maintenance and manipulation of hierarchical dependencies—placing higher demands on WM. The present study uses electroencephalography (EEG) to examine how WM constraints impact syntactic and semantic processing. Monolingual English speakers completed a Sentence Judgment Task (SJT). Participants were assigned to two groups: the NonMemory group completed the SJT alone, while the Memory group performed a dual-task version requiring them to memorize a sequence of three words and monitor the sentences for these words. Event-related potential (ERP) results reveal a diminished P600 effect for syntactic violations in the Memory group, suggesting reduced sensitivity to syntactic errors under WM constraints. In contrast, no significant group differences for the N400 were observed for semantic violations, indicating that semantic processing may be less affected by WM limitations. This study advances our understanding of the role of WM in language processing and highlights how WM constraints differentially impact syntactic vs semantic processing. Insights from this research can inform how the brain adapts to varying WM demands, such as in second language processing, where prioritizing semantic over syntactic processing may be necessary to optimize limited cognitive resources.
{"title":"Differential effects of working memory constraints on syntactic and semantic processing: Evidence from ERPs","authors":"Megan Nakamura , Eleonora Rossi","doi":"10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105550","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105550","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Working memory (WM) is essential for language comprehension. It enables us to retain and manipulate information, track context, and recall key details. While WM’s role in syntactic processing is well-established, its impact on semantic processing is less clear.WM resources are allocated based on task demands, with syntactic processing—requiring the maintenance and manipulation of hierarchical dependencies—placing higher demands on WM. The present study uses electroencephalography (EEG) to examine how WM constraints impact syntactic and semantic processing. Monolingual English speakers completed a Sentence Judgment Task (SJT). Participants were assigned to two groups: the NonMemory group completed the SJT alone, while the Memory group performed a dual-task version requiring them to memorize a sequence of three words and monitor the sentences for these words. Event-related potential (ERP) results reveal a diminished P600 effect for syntactic violations in the Memory group, suggesting reduced sensitivity to syntactic errors under WM constraints. In contrast, no significant group differences for the N400 were observed for semantic violations, indicating that semantic processing may be less affected by WM limitations. This study advances our understanding of the role of WM in language processing and highlights how WM constraints differentially impact syntactic vs semantic processing. Insights from this research can inform how the brain adapts to varying WM demands, such as in second language processing, where prioritizing semantic over syntactic processing may be necessary to optimize limited cognitive resources.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55330,"journal":{"name":"Brain and Language","volume":"264 ","pages":"Article 105550"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143445445","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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