scholarly journals Validated measures of semantic knowledge and semantic control: Normative data from young and older adults for more than 300 semantic judgements

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Wu ◽  
Paul Hoffman
Keyword(s):  
Normative Data ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Feature Matching ◽  
Cognitive Architecture ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
Large Set ◽  
Semantic Cognition ◽  
Control Processes

Recent studies suggest that knowledge representations and control processes are the two key components underpinning semantic cognition, and are also crucial indicators of the shifting cognitive architecture of semantics in later life. Although there are many standardized assessments that provide measures of the quantity of semantic knowledge participants possess, normative data for tasks that probe semantic control processes are not yet available. Here, we present normative data from more than 200 young and older participants on a large set of stimuli in two semantic tasks, which probe controlled semantic processing (feature-matching task) and semantic knowledge (synonym judgement task). We verify the validity of our norms by replicating established age- and psycholinguistic-property-related effects on semantic cognition. Specifically, we find that older people have more detailed semantic knowledge than young people but have less effective semantic control processes. We also obtain expected effects of word frequency and inter-item competition on performance. Parametrically varied difficulty levels are defined for half of the stimuli based on participants’ behavioral performance, allowing future studies to produce customized sets of experimental stimuli based on our norms. We provide all stimuli, data and code used for analysis, in the hope that they are useful to other researchers.

Semantic Cognition: Semantic Memory and Semantic Control

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Jefferies ◽  
Xiuyi Wang
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Memory ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Factual Knowledge ◽  
Conceptual Representations ◽  
Semantic Cognition ◽  
Control Processes ◽  
Functional Features

Semantic processing is a defining feature of human cognition, central not only to language, but also to object recognition, the generation of appropriate actions, and the capacity to use knowledge in reasoning, planning, and problem-solving. Semantic memory refers to our repository of conceptual or factual knowledge about the world. This semantic knowledge base is typically viewed as including “general knowledge” as well as schematic representations of objects and events distilled from multiple experiences and retrieved independently from their original spatial or temporal context. Semantic cognition refers to our ability to flexibly use this knowledge to produce appropriate thoughts and behaviors. Semantic cognition includes at least two interactive components: a long-term store of semantic knowledge and semantic control processes, each supported by a different network. Conceptual representations are organized according to the semantic relationships between items, with different theories proposing different key organizational principles, including sensory versus functional features, domain-specific theory, embodied distributed concepts, and hub-and-spoke theory, in which distributed features are integrated within a heteromodal hub in the anterior temporal lobes. The activity within the network for semantic representation must often be controlled to ensure that the system generates representations and inferences that are suited to the immediate task or context. Semantic control is thought to include both controlled retrieval processes, in which knowledge relevant to the goal or context is accessed in a top-down manner when automatic retrieval is insufficient for the task, and post-retrieval selection to resolve competition between simultaneously active representations. Control of semantic retrieval is supported by a strongly left-lateralized brain network, which partially overlaps with the bilateral network that supports domain-general control, but extends beyond these sites to include regions not typically associated with executive control, including anterior inferior frontal gyrus and posterior middle temporal gyrus. The interaction of semantic control processes with conceptual representations allows meaningful thoughts and behavior to emerge, even when the context requires non-dominant features of the concept to be brought to the fore.

scholarly journals An individual differences approach to semantic cognition: Divergent effects of age on representation, retrieval and selection

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Hoffman
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Semantic Information ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Semantic Representations ◽  
Semantic Cognition ◽  
Control Processes ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Representation Of Knowledge

AbstractSemantic cognition refers to the appropriate use of acquired knowledge about the world. This requires representation of knowledge as well as control processes which ensure that currently-relevant aspects of knowledge are retrieved and selected. Although these abilities can be impaired selectively following brain damage, the relationship between them in healthy individuals is unclear. It is also commonly assumed that semantic cognition is preserved in later life, because older people have greater reserves of knowledge. However, this claim overlooks the possibility of decline in semantic control processes. Here, semantic cognition was assessed in 100 young and older adults. Despite having a broader knowledge base, older people showed specific impairments in semantic control, performing more poorly than young people when selecting among competing semantic representations. Conversely, they showed preserved controlled retrieval of less salient information from the semantic store. Breadth of semantic knowledge was positively correlated with controlled retrieval but was unrelated to semantic selection ability, which was instead correlated with non-semantic executive function. These findings indicate that three distinct elements contribute to semantic cognition: semantic representations that accumulate throughout the lifespan, processes for controlled retrieval of less salient semantic information, which appear age-invariant, and mechanisms for selecting task-relevant aspects of semantic knowledge, which decline with age and may relate more closely to domain-general executive control.

scholarly journals The Role of the Angular Gyrus in Semantic Cognition – A Synthesis of Five Functional Neuroimaging Studies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Kuhnke ◽  
Curtiss A. Chapman ◽  
Vincent K.M. Cheung ◽  
Sabrina Turker ◽  
Astrid Graessner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Angular Gyrus ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Semantic Cognition ◽  
Independent Effects

Abstract Semantic knowledge is central to human cognition. The angular gyrus (AG) is widely considered a key brain region for semantic cognition. However, the role of the AG in semantic processing is controversial. Key controversies concern response polarity (activation vs. deactivation) and its relation to task difficulty, lateralization (left vs. right AG), and functional-anatomical subdivision (PGa vs. PGp subregions). Here, we combined the fMRI data of five studies on semantic processing (n = 172) and analyzed the response profiles from the same anatomical regions-of-interest for left and right PGa and PGp. We found that the AG was consistently deactivated during non-semantic conditions, whereas response polarity during semantic conditions was inconsistent. However, the AG consistently showed relative response differences between semantic and non-semantic conditions, and between different semantic conditions. A combined analysis across all studies revealed that AG responses could be best explained by independent effects of both task difficulty and semantic processing demand. Task difficulty effects were stronger in PGa than PGp, regardless of hemisphere. Semantic effects were stronger in left than right AG, regardless of subregion. These results suggest that the AG is independently engaged in both domain-general task-difficulty-related processes and domain-specific semantic processes. In semantic processing, we propose that left AG acts as a “multimodal convergence zone” that binds different semantic features associated with the same concept, enabling efficient access to task-relevant features.

The interplay between control processes and feature relevance: Evidence from dual-task methodology

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 384-395
Author(s):  
Maria Montefinese ◽  
Glyn Hallam ◽  
Hannah Elizabeth Thompson ◽  
Elizabeth Jefferies
Keyword(s):  
Divided Attention ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Conceptual Knowledge ◽  
Semantic Representation ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Semantic Retrieval ◽  
Semantic Cognition ◽  
Control Processes ◽  
And Control ◽  
Healthy Participants

Neuropsychological studies suggest a distinction between (a) semantic knowledge and (b) control processes that shape the retrieval of conceptual information to suit the task or context. These aspects of semantic cognition are specifically impaired in patients with semantic dementia and semantic aphasia, respectively. However, interactions between the structure of knowledge and control processes that are expected during semantic retrieval have not been fully characterised. In particular, domain-general executive resources may not have equal relevance for the capacity to promote weak yet task relevant features (i.e., “controlled retrieval) and to ignore or suppress distracting information (i.e., “selection”). Here, using a feature selection task, we tested the contribution of featural relevance to semantic performance in healthy participants under conditions of divided attention. Healthy participants showed greater dual-task disruption as the relevance value of the distractor feature linearly increased, supporting the emerging view that semantic relevance is one of the organising principles of the structure of semantic representation. Moreover, word frequency, and inter-correlational strength affected overall performance, but they did not show an interaction with dual-task conditions. These results suggest that domain-general control processes, disrupted by divided attention, are more important to the capacity to efficiently avoid distracting information during semantic decision-making than to the promotion of weak target features. The present study therefore provides novel information about the nature of the interaction between structured conceptual knowledge and control processes that support the retrieval of appropriate information and relates these results to a new theoretical framework, termed controlled semantic cognition.

scholarly journals The role of the angular gyrus in semantic cognition – A synthesis of five functional neuroimaging studies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Kuhnke ◽  
Curtiss A. Chapman ◽  
Vincent K.M. Cheung ◽  
Sabrina Turker ◽  
Astrid Graessner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Angular Gyrus ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Semantic Cognition ◽  
Independent Effects

Semantic knowledge is central to human cognition. The angular gyrus (AG) is widely considered a key brain region for semantic cognition. However, the role of the AG in semantic processing is controversial. Key controversies concern response polarity (activation vs. deactivation) and its relation to task difficulty, lateralization (left vs. right AG), and functional-anatomical subdivision (PGa vs. PGp subregions). Here, we combined the fMRI data of five studies on semantic processing (n = 172) and analyzed the response profiles from the same anatomical regions-of-interest for left and right PGa and PGp. We found that the AG was consistently deactivated during non-semantic conditions, whereas response polarity during semantic conditions was inconsistent. However, the AG consistently showed relative response differences between semantic and non-semantic conditions, and between different semantic conditions. A combined analysis across all studies revealed that AG responses could be best explained by independent effects of both task difficulty and semantic processing demand. Task difficulty effects were stronger in PGa than PGp, regardless of hemisphere. Semantic effects were stronger in left than right AG, regardless of subregion. These results suggest that the AG is independently engaged in both domain-general task-difficulty-related processes and domain-specific semantic processes. In semantic processing, we propose that left AG acts as a "multimodal convergence zone" that binds different semantic features associated with the same concept, enabling efficient access to task-relevant features.

scholarly journals The interplay between semantic control processes and feature relevance: Evidence from dual task methodology

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Montefinese ◽  
Glyn Hallam ◽  
Hannah Thompson ◽  
Beth Jefferies
Keyword(s):  
Divided Attention ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Conceptual Knowledge ◽  
Semantic Representation ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Semantic Retrieval ◽  
Semantic Cognition ◽  
Control Processes ◽  
And Control ◽  
Healthy Participants

Neuropsychological studies suggest a distinction between (i) semantic knowledge and (ii) control processes that shape the retrieval of conceptual information to suit the task or context. These aspects of semantic cognition are specifically impaired in patients with semantic dementia and semantic aphasia respectively. However, interactions between the structure of knowledge and control processes that are expected during semantic retrieval have not been fully characterised. In particular, domain-general executive resources may not have equal relevance for the capacity to promote weak yet relevant features (i.e., “controlled retrieval), and to ignore or suppress distracting information (i.e., “selection”). Here, using a feature selection task, we tested the contribution of featural relevance to semantic performance in healthy participants under conditions of divided attention. Healthy participants showed greater dual-task disruption as the relevance value of the distracter feature linearly increased, supporting the emerging view that semantic relevance is one of the organizing principles of the structure of semantic representation. Moreover, target relevance, word frequency and inter-correlational strength affected overall performance, but they did not show an interaction with dual-task conditions. These results suggest that domain-general control processes, disrupted by divided attention, are more relevant to the capacity to efficiently avoid distracting information during semantic decision-making than to the promotion of weak target features. The present study therefore provides novel information about the nature of the interaction between structured conceptual knowledge and control processes that support the retrieval of appropriate information, and relates these results to a new theoretical framework, termed controlled semantic cognition.

scholarly journals The Shifting Architecture of Cognition and Brain Function in Older Adulthood

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Nathan Spreng ◽  
Gary R. Turner
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Network Architecture ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Brain Aging ◽  
Cognitive Architecture ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Integrative Model ◽  
Older Adulthood ◽  
The Brain

Cognitive aging is often described in the context of loss or decline. Emerging research suggests that the story is more complex, with older adults showing both losses and gains in cognitive ability. With increasing age, declines in controlled, or fluid, cognition occur in the context of gains in crystallized knowledge of oneself and the world. This inversion in cognitive capacities, from greater reliance on fluid abilities in young adulthood to increasingly crystallized or semanticized cognition in older adulthood, has profound implications for cognitive and real-world functioning in later life. The shift in cognitive architecture parallels changes in the functional network architecture of the brain. Observations of greater functional connectivity between lateral prefrontal brain regions, implicated in cognitive control, and the default network, implicated in memory and semantic processing, led us to propose the default-executive coupling hypothesis of aging. In this review we provide evidence that these changes in the functional architecture of the brain serve as a neural mechanism underlying the shifting cognitive architecture from younger to older adulthood. We incorporate findings spanning cognitive aging and cognitive neuroscience to present an integrative model of cognitive and brain aging, describing its antecedents, determinants, and implications for real-world functioning.

scholarly journals The shifting architecture of cognition and brain function in older adulthood

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Nathan Spreng ◽  
Gary R. Turner
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Network Architecture ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Brain Aging ◽  
Cognitive Architecture ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Integrative Model ◽  
Older Adulthood ◽  
The Brain

Cognitive aging is often described in the context of loss or decline. Emerging research suggests that the story is more complex, with older adults showing both losses and gains in cognitive ability. With increasing age, declines in controlled, or fluid, cognition occurs in the context of gains in crystalized knowledge of oneself and the world. This inversion in cognitive capacities, from greater reliance on fluid abilities in young, to increasingly crystalized or semanticized cognition in older adulthood, has profound implications for cognitive and real-world functioning in later life. This shift in cognitive architecture parallels changes in the functional network architecture of the brain. Observations of greater functional connectivity between lateral prefrontal brain regions, implicated in cognitive control, and the default network, implicated in memory and semantic processing, led us to propose the Default Executive Coupling Hypothesis of Aging (DECHA). In this review we provide evidence that these changes in the functional architecture of the brain serve as a neural mechanism underlying the shifting cognitive architecture from younger to older adulthood. We incorporate findings spanning cognitive aging and cognitive neuroscience to present an integrative model of cognitive and brain aging, describing its antecedents, determinants, and implications for real-world functioning.

scholarly journals Age-related changes in the neural networks supporting semantic cognition: A meta-analysis of 47 functional neuroimaging studies

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Hoffman ◽  
Alexa M. Morcom
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Semantic Network ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Cognitive Domain ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Semantic Cognition ◽  
Age Related

AbstractSemantic cognition is central to understanding of language and the world and, unlike many cognitive domains, is thought to show little age-related decline. We investigated age-related differences in the neural basis of this critical cognitive domain by performing an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies comparing young and older people. On average, young people outperformed their older counterparts during semantic tasks. Overall, both age groups activated similar left-lateralised regions. However, older adults displayed less activation than young people in some elements of the typical left-hemisphere semantic network, including inferior prefrontal, posterior temporal and inferior parietal cortex. They also showed greater activation in right frontal and parietal regions, particularly those held to be involved in domain-general controlled processing, and principally when they performed more poorly than the young. Thus, semantic processing in later life is associated with a shift from semantic-specific to domain-general neural resources, consistent with the theory of neural dedifferentiation, and a performance-related reduction in prefrontal lateralisation, which may reflect a response to increased task demands.

scholarly journals Distinct but cooperating brain networks supporting semantic cognition

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
JeYoung Jung ◽  
Matthew A Lambon Ralph
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Semantic Network ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Semantic Networks ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
Semantic Cognition ◽  
Frontoparietal Network ◽  
The Neural Networks ◽  
General Networks

Semantic cognition is a complex brain function involving multiple processes from sensory systems, semantic systems, to domain-general cognitive systems, reflecting its multifaceted nature. However, it remain unclear how these systems cooperate with each other to achieve effective semantic cognition. Here, we investigated the neural networks involved in semantic cognition using independent component analysis (ICA). We used a semantic judgement task and a pattern matching task as a control task with two levels of difficulty to disentangle task-specific networks from domain-general networks and to delineate task-specific involvement of these networks. ICA revealed that semantic processing recruited two task-specific networks (semantic network [SN] and extended semantic network [ESN]) as well as domain general networks including the frontoparietal network (FPN) and default mode network (DMN). Specifically, two distinct semantic networks were differently modulated by task difficulty. The SN was coupled with the extended semantic network and FPN but decoupled with the DMN, whereas the ESN was synchronised with the FPN and DMN. Furthermore, the degree of decoupling between the SN and DMN was associated with semantic performance. Our findings suggest that human higher cognition is achieved by the neural dynamics of brain networks, serving distinct and shared cognitive functions depending on task demands.

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