Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism

Network dynamics of Broca’s area during word selection

This study investigates network dynamics in Broca’s area during word production, finding parallel network interactions and specific inter-regional couplings during lexical retrieval and selection.

fMRI reveals language-specific predictive coding during naturalistic sentence comprehension

This study uses fMRI to show that predictive coding during sentence comprehension is domain-specific and relies on both local word patterns and hierarchical structure, not domain-general circuits.

Traces of Meaning Itself: Encoding distributional word vectors in brain activity

This study investigates whether distributional word vectors can model brain activity during word processing without context, finding they predict neural patterns and outperform a taxonomic baseline.

Neural habituation enhances novelty detection: an EEG study of rapidly presented words

This study investigates how neural habituation affects novelty detection using EEG and machine learning, finding that longer prime durations enhance novelty detection.

Dissociable effects of prediction and integration during language comprehension: Evidence from a large-scale study using brain potentials

The paper investigates how word predictability and sentence plausibility affect the N400 brain response during language comprehension using a large-scale study.

A sensitive period in the neural phenotype of language in blind individuals

The paper investigates whether the neural basis of language in blind individuals follows a sensitive period by comparing congenitally blind, adult-onset blind, and sighted participants.

A representational asymmetry for composition in the human left-middle temporal gyrus

The paper shows that the left Middle Temporal Gyrus exhibits a representational asymmetry where verb-patient combinations are represented but verb-agent combinations are not, supporting linguistic theories of event structure.

The left angular gyrus is causally involved in information buffering and context formation: evidence from a narrative reading task

This study uses TMS to show that the left angular gyrus is causally involved in information buffering and context formation during narrative reading.

Transient perturbation of the left temporal cortex evokes plasticity-related reconfiguration of the lexical network

This study shows that disrupting the left middle temporal gyrus with cTBS leads to reconfiguration of the lexical network, recruiting prefrontal regions for lexical-semantic processing.

Auditory predictions and prediction errors in response to self-initiated vowels

The paper investigates whether forward predictions and prediction errors occur for self-initiated vowels using ERP components, finding N1-suppression for self-initiated speech but not for deviant vowels.

Looking forward does not mean forgetting about the past: ERP evidence for the interplay of predictive coding and interference during language processing

The paper investigates how interference and prediction interact during language processing using ERP data, finding that interference effects depend on predictability.

Evidence for shared conceptual representations for sign and speech

The paper investigates whether sign and speech languages evoke similar conceptual representations using fMRI and RSA, finding partial sharing of semantic representations in specific brain regions.

Exploring the effect of Relative Language Distance on Bilingual Brain Structure: a cross-sectional VBM study

This study investigates how relative language distance affects bilingual brain structure using VBM analysis across three language pairs.

The impact of Relative Language Distance on Bilingual Language Control - a functional imaging study

This study investigates how Relative Language Distance affects bilingual language control using fMRI, finding differential ACC responses across groups with varying RLD.

Functional connectivity reveals dissociable ventrolateral prefrontal mechanisms for the control of multilingual word retrieval

This study uses fMRI to investigate whether multilinguals use similar prefrontal mechanisms for word retrieval as monolinguals, finding proactive control involves boosting target language lexical activation.

Beyond the word and image: III. Neurodynamic properties of the semantic network

The paper investigates neural dynamics during semantic processing of visual images and sentences, finding common patterns in EEG responses to sequential coherence.

Interplay between metrical and semantic processing in French: an N400 study.

This study investigates how French initial accent (IA) interacts with semantic processing using ERP measurements, finding that IA influences semantic conflict resolution and is processed automatically at the lexical level.

A Tale of Two Positivities and the N400: Distinct neural signatures are evoked by confirmed and violated predictions at different levels of representation

The paper investigates distinct neural responses to fulfilled and violated predictions at different levels of representation during language comprehension, identifying specific ERP components associated with each.

Language beyond the language system: dorsal visuospatial pathways support processing of demonstratives and spatial language during naturalistic fast fMRI

This study identifies neural pathways involved in processing spatial language, showing dorsal visuospatial networks support demonstratives and spatial expressions.

Microstructural plasticity in the bilingual brain

This study uses qMRI and fMRI to find that early second language acquisition enhances microstructural cortical development in bilinguals.

Speaking in the brain: The interaction between words and syntax in producing sentences

This study examines brain activation during sentence production with different verb structures and lexical status, finding increased activation in language networks for complex structures and known verbs.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation during British Sign Language production reveals monitoring of discrete linguistic units in left superior parietal lobule

This study uses TMS to investigate the role of the left superior parietal lobule in sign language production, finding it monitors discrete linguistic units rather than visual information.

Finding the P3 in the P600: Decoding shared neural mechanisms of responses to syntactic violations and oddball target detection

The paper shows that P3 and P600 brain responses share neural patterns, challenging the view of P600 as language-specific and supporting a domain-general interpretation.

A transcallosal fiber system between homotopic inferior frontal regions supports complex linguistic processing

The paper identifies a transcallosal fiber system connecting homotopic inferior frontal regions involved in complex linguistic processing using DTI-based probabilistic fiber tracking in healthy volunteers.

Sentence processing is modulated by the current linguistic environment and a priori information: An fMRI study

This study uses fMRI to show how sentence processing in German is influenced by linguistic context and verb-based expectations, revealing distinct neural networks involved.

Dynamic brain interactions during picture naming

This study identifies dynamic neural network states during speech production using electrocorticographic signals from human patients.

Distributed Code for Semantic Relations Predicts Neural Similarity

The paper uses neuroimaging and computational modeling to show that semantic relations are represented in the brain as distributed patterns over abstract relations in parietal cortex.

Electrophysiological correlates of syntactic structures

The paper investigates the electrophysiological correlates of syntactic structures by comparing noun phrases (NPs) and verb phrases (VPs) using homophonous phrases and SEEG recordings.

Learning lexical-syntactic biases: An fMRI study on how we connect words and syntactic information

The paper shows that novel words and their syntactic properties are learned through co-occurrence probabilities and represented in language network regions, with left inferior frontal cortex involved in contextual unification.

Large-scale plurimodal networks common to listening, production and reading word-lists: an fMRI study combining tasks-induced activation and intrinsic connectivity in 144 right-handers.

The paper identifies common multimodal brain networks for listening, production, and reading word-lists using fMRI in right-handers, revealing hemispheric specialization and connectivity patterns.