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Brain Sciences
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Expecting the Unexpected: Novel, Paradoxical and Surprising Findings in Neurobiology...
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Expecting the Unexpected: Novel, Paradoxical and Surprising Findings in Neurobiology of Language

A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Neurolinguistics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 10366

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Yury Shtyrov

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Interests: neuroimaging; cognitive neuroscience; speech; language; learning; EEG; MEG
Dr. Andreas Højlund

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Interests: cognitive neuroscience; MEG/EEG; speech; language; learning; Parkinson’s disease; DBS
Dr. Olga Shcherbakova

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
Department of General Psychology, St. Petersburg University, St. Petersburg, Russia
Interests: cognitive psychology; cognitive neuroscience; intelligence; speech; language; learning; text comprehension

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Language is arguably the most important cognitive skill we possess as human beings. It makes us who we are, allows us to communicate with others, enables our thinking abilities, and, as such, provides a backbone for the entire human society, enabling its function at personal, cultural and economic levels. Any deficits affecting the language function, be that a brain damage or a developmental disorder, have tragic consequences for the affected individuals and are very costly for the society. Nevertheless, and despite its importance, language as a neurocognitive function remains very poorly understood. We have only just begun to uncover the brain bases of how we process speech sounds, words, their meaning, word order in sentences as well as larger linguistic contexts, how our brain goes about learning this skill and acquiring novel linguistic information, and what goes wrong in language deficits.

This Special Issue is dedicated to the dynamic functioning of neurolinguistic circuits in the brain. Our aim is to provide a cross-section of contemporary cutting-edge research in this multidisciplinary field, which combines behavioral research, neurobiological instrumentation and psychological and linguistic theory. We welcome neurobiological, neurolinguistic and psycholinguistic studies dedicated to language comprehension, production and learning, using different tools and approaches.

As language scientists, we know all too well how often in this particular area of research we encounter paradoxical results – for instance, those that contradict the initial hypotheses, those that either fail to find in the brain the phenomena predicted by linguistic accounts, or find neurophysiological differences where linguistic theories predict none. We particularly welcome such unexpected, paradoxical and surprising findings (including null results), in this special issue – as long as the methods used to obtain them are sound and rigorous.

We look forward to your submissions!

Prof. Dr. Yury Shtyrov
Guest Editor

Dr. Andreas Højlund
Dr. Olga Shcherbakova
Co-Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Brain Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Language
  • Speech
  • Cortex
  • Brain
  • Neuroimaging
  • Word processing
  • Acquisition (learning)
  • Syntax (grammar)
  • Lexicon
  • Semantics

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 2116 KiB  
Article
Induced and Evoked Brain Activation Related to the Processing of Onomatopoetic Verbs
by Dorian Röders, Anne Klepp, Alfons Schnitzler, Katja Biermann-Ruben and Valentina Niccolai
Brain Sci. 2022, 12(4), 481; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12040481 - 6 Apr 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2148
Abstract
Grounded cognition theory postulates that cognitive processes related to motor or sensory content are processed by brain networks involved in motor execution and perception, respectively. Processing words with auditory features was shown to activate the auditory cortex. Our study aimed at determining whether [...] Read more.
Grounded cognition theory postulates that cognitive processes related to motor or sensory content are processed by brain networks involved in motor execution and perception, respectively. Processing words with auditory features was shown to activate the auditory cortex. Our study aimed at determining whether onomatopoetic verbs (e.g., “tröpfeln”—to dripple), whose articulation reproduces the sound of respective actions, engage the auditory cortex more than non-onomatopoetic verbs. Alpha and beta brain frequencies as well as evoked-related fields (ERFs) were targeted as potential neurophysiological correlates of this linguistic auditory quality. Twenty participants were measured with magnetoencephalography (MEG) while semantically processing visually presented onomatopoetic and non-onomatopoetic German verbs. While a descriptively stronger left temporal alpha desynchronization for onomatopoetic verbs did not reach statistical significance, a larger ERF for onomatopoetic verbs emerged at about 240 ms in the centro-parietal area. Findings suggest increased cortical activation related to onomatopoeias in linguistically relevant areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Expecting the Unexpected: Novel, Paradoxical and Surprising Findings in Neurobiology of Language)
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19 pages, 10654 KiB  
Article
Use of Parsing Heuristics in the Comprehension of Passive Sentences: Evidence from Dyslexia and Individual Differences
by Marianna Stella and Paul E. Engelhardt
Brain Sci. 2022, 12(2), 209; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12020209 - 1 Feb 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3696
Abstract
This study examined the comprehension of passive sentences in order to investigate whether individuals with dyslexia rely on parsing heuristics in language comprehension to a greater extent than non-dyslexic readers. One hundred adults (50 dyslexics and 50 controls) read active and passive sentences, [...] Read more.
This study examined the comprehension of passive sentences in order to investigate whether individuals with dyslexia rely on parsing heuristics in language comprehension to a greater extent than non-dyslexic readers. One hundred adults (50 dyslexics and 50 controls) read active and passive sentences, and we also manipulated semantic plausibility. Eye movements were monitored, while participants read each sentence, and afterwards, participants answered a comprehension question. We also assessed verbal intelligence and working memory in all participants. Results showed dyslexia status interacted with sentence structure and plausibility, such that participants with dyslexia showed significantly more comprehension errors with passive and implausible sentence. With respect to verbal intelligence and working memory, we found that individuals with lower verbal intelligence were overall more likely to make comprehension errors, and individuals with lower working memory showed particular difficulties with passive and implausible sentences. For reading times, we found that individuals with dyslexia were overall slower readers. These findings suggest that (1) individuals with dyslexia do rely on heuristics to a greater extent than do non-dyslexic individuals, and (2) individual differences variables (e.g., verbal intelligence and working memory) are also related to the use of parsing heuristics. For the latter, lower ability individuals tended to be more consistent with heuristic processing (i.e., good-enough representations). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Expecting the Unexpected: Novel, Paradoxical and Surprising Findings in Neurobiology of Language)
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14 pages, 478 KiB  
Case Report
“Hard to Say, Hard to Understand, Hard to Live”: Possible Associations between Neurologic Language Impairments and Suicide Risk
by Alessandra Costanza, Andrea Amerio, Andrea Aguglia, Luca Magnani, Gianluca Serafini, Mario Amore, Roberto Merli, Julia Ambrosetti, Guido Bondolfi, Lisa Marzano and Isabella Berardelli
Brain Sci. 2021, 11(12), 1594; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11121594 - 30 Nov 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3487
Abstract
In clinical practice, patients with language impairments often exhibit suicidal ideation (SI) and suicidal behavior (SB, covering the entire range from suicide attempts, SA, to completed suicides). However, only few studies exist regarding this subject. We conducted a mini-review on the possible associations [...] Read more.
In clinical practice, patients with language impairments often exhibit suicidal ideation (SI) and suicidal behavior (SB, covering the entire range from suicide attempts, SA, to completed suicides). However, only few studies exist regarding this subject. We conducted a mini-review on the possible associations between neurologic language impairment (on the motor, comprehension, and semantic sides) and SI/SB. Based on the literature review, we hypothesized that language impairments exacerbate psychiatric comorbidities, which, in turn, aggravate language impairments. Patients trapped in this vicious cycle can develop SI/SB. The so-called “affective prosody” provides some relevant insights concerning the interaction between the different language levels and the world of emotions. This hypothesis is illustrated in a clinical presentation, consisting of the case of a 74-year old woman who was admitted to a psychiatric emergency department (ED) after a failed SA. Having suffered an ischemic stroke two years earlier, she suffered from incomplete Broca’s aphasia and dysprosody. She also presented with generalized anxiety and depressive symptoms. We observed that her language impairments were both aggravated by the exacerbations of her anxiety and depressive symptoms. In this patient, who had deficits on the motor side, these exacerbations were triggered by her inability to express herself, her emotional status, and suffering. SI was fluctuant, and—one year after the SA—she completed suicide. Further studies are needed to ascertain possible reciprocal and interacting associations between language impairments, psychiatric comorbidities, and SI/SB. They could enable clinicians to better understand their patient’s specific suffering, as brought on by language impairment, and contribute to the refining of suicide risk detection in this sub-group of affected patients. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Expecting the Unexpected: Novel, Paradoxical and Surprising Findings in Neurobiology of Language)
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