Ontogenetic Development of Neurophysiological Mechanisms Underlying Language Processing

Cosmetic Use of Botulinum Toxin-A Affects Processing of Emotional Language

Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/0956797610374742 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 21 (7) ◽

pp. 895-900 ◽

Cited By ~ 134

Author(s):

David A. Havas ◽

Arthur M. Glenberg ◽

Karol A. Gutowski ◽

Mark J. Lucarelli ◽

Richard J. Davidson

Keyword(s):

Botulinum Toxin ◽

Language Processing ◽

Emotional Reactivity ◽

Botulinum Toxin A ◽

Mental Simulation ◽

Action Perception ◽

Toxin A ◽

Facial Feedback ◽

Emotional Language ◽

Neurophysiological Mechanisms

How does language reliably evoke emotion, as it does when people read a favorite novel or listen to a skilled orator? Recent evidence suggests that comprehension involves a mental simulation of sentence content that calls on the same neural systems used in literal action, perception, and emotion. In this study, we demonstrated that involuntary facial expression plays a causal role in the processing of emotional language. Subcutaneous injections of botulinum toxin-A (BTX) were used to temporarily paralyze the facial muscle used in frowning. We found that BTX selectively slowed the reading of sentences that described situations that normally require the paralyzed muscle for expressing the emotions evoked by the sentences. This finding demonstrates that peripheral feedback plays a role in language processing, supports facial-feedback theories of emotional cognition, and raises questions about the effects of BTX on cognition and emotional reactivity. We account for the role of facial feedback in language processing by considering neurophysiological mechanisms and reinforcement-learning theory.

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Neurophysiological mechanisms involved in language learning in adults

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2009.0130 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 364 (1536) ◽

pp. 3711-3735 ◽

Cited By ~ 101

Author(s):

Antoni Rodríguez-Fornells ◽

Toni Cunillera ◽

Anna Mestres-Missé ◽

Ruth de Diego-Balaguer

Keyword(s):

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Language Learning ◽

Language Processing ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Cognitive Mechanisms ◽

Grammatical Structure ◽

New Words ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Neurophysiological Mechanisms ◽

Neurophysiological Model

Little is known about the brain mechanisms involved in word learning during infancy and in second language acquisition and about the way these new words become stable representations that sustain language processing. In several studies we have adopted the human simulation perspective, studying the effects of brain-lesions and combining different neuroimaging techniques such as event-related potentials and functional magnetic resonance imaging in order to examine the language learning (LL) process. In the present article, we review this evidence focusing on how different brain signatures relate to (i) the extraction of words from speech, (ii) the discovery of their embedded grammatical structure, and (iii) how meaning derived from verbal contexts can inform us about the cognitive mechanisms underlying the learning process. We compile these findings and frame them into an integrative neurophysiological model that tries to delineate the major neural networks that might be involved in the initial stages of LL. Finally, we propose that LL simulations can help us to understand natural language processing and how the recovery from language disorders in infants and adults can be accomplished.

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Language processing is not a race against time

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x15000692 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 39 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Giosuè Baggio ◽

Carmelo M. Vicario

Keyword(s):

Information Processing ◽

Human Brain ◽

Language Processing ◽

Cognitive Functions ◽

Memory Systems ◽

Language System ◽

Moderating Factors

AbstractWe agree with Christiansen & Chater (C&C) that language processing and acquisition are tightly constrained by the limits of sensory and memory systems. However, the human brain supports a range of cognitive functions that mitigate the effects of information processing bottlenecks. The language system is partly organised around these moderating factors, not just around restrictions on storage and computation.

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Decision letter for "Neuroanatomical and neurophysiological mechanisms of acoustic and weakly electric signaling in synodontid catfish"

10.1002/cne.24920/v1/decision1 ◽

2019 ◽

Keyword(s):

Neurophysiological Mechanisms ◽

Weakly Electric

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Cognitive Processing of Miscommunication in Interactive Listening: An Evaluation of Listener Indecision and Cognitive Effort

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2020_jslhr-20-00128 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-17

Author(s):

Jennifer M. Roche ◽

Arkady Zgonnikov ◽

Laura M. Morett

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Cognitive Processing ◽

Language Processing ◽

Cognitive Effort ◽

Mouse Tracking ◽

Computer Mouse ◽

Decision Making Processes ◽

Computer Mouse Tracking ◽

Listening Task ◽

Processing Effort

Purpose The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the social and cognitive underpinnings of miscommunication during an interactive listening task. Method An eye and computer mouse–tracking visual-world paradigm was used to investigate how a listener's cognitive effort (local and global) and decision-making processes were affected by a speaker's use of ambiguity that led to a miscommunication. Results Experiments 1 and 2 found that an environmental cue that made a miscommunication more or less salient impacted listener language processing effort (eye-tracking). Experiment 2 also indicated that listeners may develop different processing heuristics dependent upon the speaker's use of ambiguity that led to a miscommunication, exerting a significant impact on cognition and decision making. We also found that perspective-taking effort and decision-making complexity metrics (computer mouse tracking) predict language processing effort, indicating that instances of miscommunication produced cognitive consequences of indecision, thinking, and cognitive pull. Conclusion Together, these results indicate that listeners behave both reciprocally and adaptively when miscommunications occur, but the way they respond is largely dependent upon the type of ambiguity and how often it is produced by the speaker.

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