Brain Function Differences in Language Processing in Children and Adults with Autism

Previous voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and cortical thickness (CT) studies on Parkinson's disease (PD) have mainly reported the gray matter size reduction, whereas the shape of cortical surface can also change in PD patients. For the first time, we analyzed sulcal depth (SD) patterns in PD patients by using whole brain region of interest (ROI)-based approach. In a cross-sectional study, high-resolution brain structural MRI images were collected from 60 PD patients without dementia and 56 age-and sex-matched healthy controls (HC). SD and CT were estimated using the Computational Anatomy Toolbox (CAT12) and statistically compared between groups on whole brain ROI-based level using statistical parametric mapping 12 (SPM12). Additionally, correlations between regional brain changes and clinical variables were also examined. Compared to HC, PD patients showed lower SD in widespread regions, including temporal (the bilateral transverse temporal, the left inferior temporal, the right middle temporal and the right superior temporal), insular (the left insula), frontal (the left pars triangularis, the left pars opercularis and the left precentral), parietal (the bilateral superior parietal) and occipital (the right cuneus) regions. For CT, only the left pars opercularis showed lower CT in PD patients compared to HC. No regions showed higher SD or CT in PD patients compared to HC. In PD patients, a significant positive correlation was found between SD of the left pars opercularis and MMSE scores, such that lower MMSE scores were related to lower SD of the left pars opercularis. Our results of widespread lower SD, but relatively localized lower CT, indicate that SD seems to be more sensitive to brain changes than CT and may be mainly affected by white matter damage. Hence, SD may be a more promising indicator to investigate the surface shape changes in PD patients. The significant positive correlation between SD of the left pars opercularis and MMSE scores suggests that SD may be prognostic of future cognitive decline.

Brain structural abnormalities and trait impulsivity in suicidal and non-suicidal patients with bipolar disorder

Prior literature has debated whether syntax is separable from semantics in the brain. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and multi-voxel pattern analysis, our previous studies investigated brain activity during morpho-syntactic versus semantic processing. These studies only detected semantic specialization in activation patterns and no syntactic specialization in 5- to 6-year-old and 7- to 8-year-old children. To examine if older children who have mastered morpho-syntactic skills would show specialization for syntax, the current study examined 64 9- to 10-year-old children using the same design and analyses. We observed that only the left IFG pars opercularis was sensitive to syntactic but not semantic information, supporting the hypothesis that this region serves as a core region for syntax. In addition, the left STG which has been implicated in the integration of semantics and syntax, as well as the left MTG and IFG pars triangularis which have been implicated in semantics, were sensitive to both semantic and syntactic information with no evidence of specialization. These findings suggest a lexicalized view of syntax, which argues that semantically sensitive regions are also critical regions for syntactic processing during language comprehension.

Event Abstract Back to Event Age of acquisition of the second language modulates structural and functional dynamics of bilingual reading Myriam Oliver1*, Manuel Carreiras1, Yasser Iturria Medina2 and Pedro M. Paz-Alonso1 1 Basque Center on Cognition,Brain and Language, Spain 2 Montreal Neurological Institute, Canada Neuroimaging evidence has suggested the involvement of left-lateralized perisylvian regions in reading processes (Turkeltaub et al., 2002). In contrast, research on bilingualism has showed contradictory evidence in regard to the differential involvement of language-related brain regions and networks for reading in the native (L1) and second language (L2) (Hernandez et al., 2015). This highlights the relevance of investigating in a systematic manner the main factors modulating the differential involvement of reading regions and networks in bilinguals, while controlling other potential sources of variance. The age-of-acquisition(AoA) of the L2 and language proficiency have been pointed out as critical variables that can determine potential differences in brain function and structure among bilingual readers (Klein et al., 2014). Here, we sought to investigate the effects of the L2 AoA on the function and structure of language-related regions associated with L1 and L2 reading, while controlling language proficiency and exposition to L1 and L2. To this end, we followed a multimodal neuroimaging approach examining fMRI, cortical thickness and tractography measures in a sample of early and late bilinguals. Thirty-six bilinguals with Spanish as their L1, who learned Basque as their L2 before age 3 (early bilinguals) or after age 6 (late bilinguals), participated. All participants were high-proficient in both languages. In the scanner, they performed two separate tasks during which they were asked to press a button when they saw a colored letter within a given string (perceptual-task) or when they saw an animal word (semantic-task). Whole-brain fMRI analysis reveals no differences between groups. Region-of-interest analysis revealed a similar recruitment of left and right language-related regions in both early and late bilinguals except for the left and right pars triangularis. As compared to late bilinguals, early bilinguals exhibited a different pattern of left triangularis engagement in the interaction between task and language effects. Similarly, early bilinguals showed a more selective recruitment for word versus pseudoword reading in right triangularis. Moreover, functional connectivity analyses confirmed a tighter coactivation among left and right pars triangularis in early, but not in late, bilinguals for reading in L1 relative to reading in L2. Importantly, structural analysis revealed increased cortical thickness in right pars triangularis for early relative to late bilinguals. Additionally, enhanced functional activation for L2-L1 language effects in the left triangularis predicted cortical thinning in their right triangularis counterpart only in early bilinguals. Finally, diffusion MR tractography of the connecting left and right pars triangularis also revealed differences between early and late bilinguals. In sum, our results indicate that the early exposure to two languages led to a more distributed involvement of regions beyond the classical left perisylvian areas in reading. Our findings provide the strongest converging evidence so far of structural and functional changes involving left and right triangularis as a result of L2 AoA in bilingual readers. Acknowledgements Basque Government PhD fellowship from Department of Education, University and Research from the Basque Government ERC-2011-ADG-295362 grant from the European Research Council References Hernandez, Arturo E., Elizabeth A. Woods, and Kailyn AL Bradley (2015). "Neural correlates of single word reading in bilingual children and adults." Brain and language 143: 11-19. Klein, D., Mok, K., Chen, J. K., & Watkins, K. E. (2014). Age of language learning shapes brain structure: a cortical thickness study of bilingual and monolingual individuals. Brain and language, 131, 20-24. Turkeltaub, P. E., Eden, G. F., Jones, K. M., & Zeffiro, T. A. (2002). Meta-analysis of the functional neuroanatomy of single-word reading: method and validation. Neuroimage, 16(3), 765-780 Keywords: Language, bilingualism, DTI, fMRI, reading Conference: International Conference - Educational Neuroscience, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 28 Feb - 29 Feb, 2016. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Educational Neuroscience Citation: Oliver M, Carreiras M, Iturria Medina Y and Paz-Alonso PM (2016). Age of acquisition of the second language modulates structural and functional dynamics of bilingual reading. Front. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: International Conference - Educational Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2016.92.00025 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 21 Jan 2016; Published Online: 23 Mar 2016. * Correspondence: Miss. Myriam Oliver, Basque Center on Cognition,Brain and Language, San Sebastian-Donostia, Spain, myriam.oliver4@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Myriam Oliver Manuel Carreiras Yasser Iturria Medina Pedro M Paz-Alonso Google Myriam Oliver Manuel Carreiras Yasser Iturria Medina Pedro M Paz-Alonso Google Scholar Myriam Oliver Manuel Carreiras Yasser Iturria Medina Pedro M Paz-Alonso PubMed Myriam Oliver Manuel Carreiras Yasser Iturria Medina Pedro M Paz-Alonso Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Anatomic, clinical, and neuropsychological correlates of spelling errors in primary progressive aphasia

Journal Article BOOK-REVIEWS Get access Language Processing in Children and Adults. An Introduction. By M. Harris and M. Coltheart. 1986. Pp. 47. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Price £8.95 (paper back). RUTH LESSER RUTH LESSER Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Brain, Volume 110, Issue 4, August 1987, Pages 1091–1092, https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/110.4.1091 Published: 01 August 1987

Prefrontal activation during a working memory task differs between patients with unipolar and bipolar depression: A preliminary exploratory study

The posterior sector of Broca's area (Brodmann area 44), a brain region critical for language, may have evolved from neurons active during observation and execution of manual movements. Imaging studies showing increased Broca's activity during execution, imagination, imitation and observation of hand movements support this hypothesis. Increased Broca's activity in motor task, however, may simply be due to inner speech. To test whether Broca's area is essential to imitation, we used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), which is known to transiently disrupt functions in stimulated areas. Subjects imitated finger key presses (imitation) or executed finger key presses in response to spatial cues (control task). While performing the tasks, subjects received rTMS over the left and right pars opercularis of the inferior frontal gyrus (where Brodmann area 44 is probabilistically located) and over the occipital cortex. There was significant impairment in imitation, but not in the control task, during rTMS over left and right pars opercularis compared to rTMS over the occipital cortex. This suggests that Broca's area is a premotor region essential to finger movement imitation.

Bilinguals perform better in interpreting intentions, the pillar of irony comprehension. As bilingualism becomes normal, exploring the role of the second language (L2) in irony comprehension seems invaluable. Evidence suggests that L2 proficiency impacts irony processing in the native language (L1). Some studies highlight the positive role of L2 proficiency in L2 irony processing - irony comprehension may proceed comparably in L1 and L2 provided one is highly proficient in both languages. While some evidence shows that irony processing is less efficient in L2, other suggests that the processing difficulty in L1 and L2 is attenuated. I review various studies exploring irony comprehension in the bilingual context. It is suggested that bilinguals may be privileged irony comprehenders due to a better developed mentalizing capacity. Bilingual irony processing evidence is inconclusive and needs further exploration.

Previous research has explored the neural mechanisms of bilinguals' language production, but most studies focused on neural mechanisms of cognitive control during language production. Therefore, it is unclear which brain regions represent lexical information (especially phonological information) during production and how they are affected by language context. To address those questions, we used representational similarity analysis to explore neural representations of phonological information in native (L1) and second languages (L2) in the single- and mixed-language contexts, respectively. Results showed that Chinese-English bilinguals behaviorally performed worse and exhibited more activations in brain regions associated with language processing and cognitive control in the mixed-language context relative to the single-language context. Further representational similarity analysis revealed that phonological representations of L1 were detected in the left pars opercularis, middle frontal gyrus, and anterior supramarginal gyrus, while phonological representations of L2 were detected in the bilateral occipitotemporal cortex regardless of the target language. More interestingly, robust phonological representations of L1 were observed in brain areas related to phonological processing during L2 production regardless of language context. These results provide direct neuroimaging evidence for the nonselective processing hypothesis and highlight the superiority of phonological representations in the dominant language during bilingual language production.

Looking at the brains behind figurative language—A quantitative meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies on metaphor, idiom, and irony processing

Migraine with aura (MwA) is a neurological condition manifested in moderate to severe headaches associated with transient visual and somatosensory symptoms, as well as higher cortical dysfunctions. Considering that about 5% of the world's population suffers from this condition and manifestation could be abundant and characterized by various symptoms, it is of great importance to focus on finding new and advanced techniques for the detection of different phenotypes, which in turn, can allow better diagnosis, classification, and biomarker validation, resulting in tailored treatments of MwA patients. This research aimed to test different machine learning techniques to distinguish healthy people from those suffering from MwA, as well as people with simple MwA and those experiencing complex MwA. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) post-processed data (cortical thickness, cortical surface area, cortical volume, cortical mean Gaussian curvature, and cortical folding index) was collected from 78 subjects [46 MwA patients (22 simple MwA and 24 complex MwA) and 32 healthy controls] with 340 different features used for the algorithm training. The results show that an algorithm based on post-processed MRI data yields a high classification accuracy (97%) of MwA patients and precise distinction between simple MwA and complex MwA with an accuracy of 98%. Additionally, the sets of features relevant to the classification were identified. The feature importance ranking indicates the thickness of the left temporal pole, right lingual gyrus, and left pars opercularis as the most prominent markers for MwA classification, while the thickness of left pericalcarine gyrus and left pars opercularis are proposed as the two most important features for the simple and complex MwA classification. This method shows significant potential in the validation of MwA diagnosis and subtype classification, which can tackle and challenge the current treatments of MwA.

Cross-modal representation of spoken and written word meaning in left pars triangularis

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) confers a significant risk for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), yet robust biomarkers for early detection remain limited. In this study, 150 age-matched participants (50 Healthy Controls, 50 T2DM, 50 T2DM with MCI) were assessed using high-resolution structural MRI, neuropsychological testing, and serological profiling to identify sensitive neuroanatomical and cognitive markers. Cortical thinning was observed, most prominently in the Left Pars Opercularis (LPO), which exhibited stepwise unidirectional atrophy across the diagnostic continuum, highlighting its potential as a structural marker for cognitive deterioration in T2DM. Significant deficits in episodic memory, processing speed, executive function, and verbal memory were also observed, reflecting disruptions in medial-temporal and frontoparietal networks. A Random Forest classifier integrating multimodal features achieved high discriminatory performance (AUC-ROC = 0.95) for distinguishing T2DM with MCI from T2DM patients. SHAP, an Explainable AI method, identified cortical thickness at LPO, and executive function assessed by TMTB as the most influential predictors. These findings establish the LPO as a key neuroanatomical substrate of T2DM-related cognitive impairment and demonstrate that combining targeted neuroimaging with domain-specific cognitive assessments provides a clinically viable framework for early identification of at-risk T2DM patients, offering critical opportunities for preventive intervention.

Language is one of the most significant and immense aspects of human evolution. Not surprisingly, it has been a research topic of scientists working in many disciplines. Numerous questions have been raised from this important research: Why is language so quickly acquired by children living in very different cultures with very different languages? How does the human brain produce and comprehend language? How is second-language learning influenced by the native language? Is the neural network that mediates language processing universal across languages? For years, scientists have attempted to answer these questions. With the advent of new technology, such as positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the past decade has seen an extremely rapid expansion of research on the aforementioned issues. Such technical advances have given researchers great power to visualize the activity of the intact human brain that is associated with language processing and language learning, and have consequently made significant contributions to the vast amount of discoveries in brain research. Whilst imaging technologies are improving every year, because language processing demands higher-order cognition, its neuro-cognitive mechanisms are very complex and much research remains to be done. Cross-linguistic studies provide a powerful contrast to elucidate the universality and specificity of the neural basis of language. Although the direct subtraction of the processing of the native language in one population (Language A) from the processing in another population (Language B) might seem like an interesting comparison, cognitive and psycholinguistic research has established that even at the lexical level, cognitive processing involves dozens of variables, such as visual and auditory complexity, spelling–sound regularity, word frequency, word familiarity, and age of acquisition. Thus, in brain mapping research, direct subtraction of two different populations may include a confounding of linguistic variables in two different languages, and these variables are often un-confoundable. For example, it might be possible to find seemingly identical words in two different languages (“banana” is banana in English and banana in Italian). However, the processing might be quite different due to many factors such as syllable structure (banana has a much more typical structure in Italian than in English), how common the spelling–sound relationships are (because far fewer spelling–sound relationships exist in Italian than in English, they are much more frequent), how consistent the spelling–sound relationships are (graphemes in English often map onto many different sounds but in Italian they typically do not), and so on. A better understanding of the generality and specificity of neural mechanisms associated with language should build on knowledge and conclusions from research on individual languages, rather than from a direct subtraction approach. A number of studies in this special issue show how cross-language research can lead to important insights. This special issue emerged from a research symposium in April 2002 at the University of Hong Kong, in which we as co-organizers invited researchers who were very active in the fields of cognitive neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and linguistics to present their functional brain imaging findings. These pages feature contrastive studies of Chinese and English, two languages that differ markedly in almost every aspect: phonology, orthography, semantics, and syntax. We hope that our readers will learn from these new findings, and will be inspired to further such research with their own particular knowledge and skills.