The neural correlates of semantic richness: evidence from an fMRI study of word learning

Brain and Language
Roberto A FerreiraAndrew W Ellis

Abstract

We investigated the neural correlates of concrete nouns with either many or few semantic features. A group of 21 participants underwent two days of training and were then asked to categorize 40 newly learned words and a set of matched familiar words as living or nonliving in an MRI scanner. Our results showed that the most reliable effects of semantic richness were located in the left angular gyrus (AG) and middle temporal gyrus (MTG), where activation was higher for semantically rich than poor words. Other areas showing the same pattern included bilateral precuneus and posterior cingulate gyrus. Our findings support the view that AG and anterior MTG, as part of the multimodal network, play a significant role in representing and integrating semantic features from different input modalities. We propose that activation in bilateral precuneus and posterior cingulate gyrus reflects interplay between AG and episodic memory systems during semantic retrieval.

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Citations

Oct 23, 2016·Neuropsychologia·Jeffrey G MalinsW Einar Mencl
Sep 14, 2017·Human Brain Mapping·Arnaud FournelMoustafa Bensafi
Mar 9, 2019·The Laryngoscope·Robert PellegrinoThomas Hummel
Aug 26, 2019·Cognitive Science·W Gudrun ReijnierseTina Krennmayr
Dec 12, 2020·Neuropsychologia·Roberto A FerreiraGabriella Vigliocco

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