Reversing the Standard Neural Signature of the Word-Nonword Distinction.

ABSTRACT: The distinction between letter strings that form words and those that look and sound plausible but are not meaningful is a basic one. Decades of functional neuroimaging experiments have used this distinction to isolate the neural basis of lexical (word level) semantics, associated with areas such as the middle temporal, angular, and posterior cingulate gyri that overlap the default mode network. In two fMRI experiments, a different set of findings emerged when word stimuli were used that were less familiar (measured by word frequency) than those typically used. Instead of activating default mode network areas often associated with semantic processing, words activated task-positive areas such as the inferior pFC and SMA, along with multifunctional ventral occipitotemporal cortices related t

SUBMITTER: Graves WW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5193100 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature