Exploring the neural dynamics underpinning individual differences in sentence comprehension.

ABSTRACT: This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate individual differences in the neural underpinnings of sentence comprehension, with a focus on neural adaptability (dynamic configuration of neural networks with changing task demands). Twenty-seven undergraduates, with varying working memory capacities and vocabularies, read sentences that were either syntactically simple or complex under conditions of varying extrinsic working memory demands (sentences alone or preceded by to-be-remembered words or nonwords). All readers showed greater neural adaptability when extrinsic working memory demands were low, suggesting that adaptability is related to resource availability. Higher capacity readers showed greater neural adaptability (greater increase in activation with increasin

SUBMITTER: Prat CS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3138509 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature