Tracking down abstract linguistic meaning: neural correlates of spatial frame of reference ambiguities in language.

This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigates a crucial parameter in spatial description, namely variants in the frame of reference chosen. Two frames of reference are available in European languages for the description of small-scale assemblages, namely the intrinsic (or obje...

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Autores principales:	Gabriele Janzen, Daniel B M Haun, Stephen C Levinson
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/20007f403fe341158b4e3ede8923cf1d
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:20007f403fe341158b4e3ede8923cf1d2021-11-18T07:27:46ZTracking down abstract linguistic meaning: neural correlates of spatial frame of reference ambiguities in language.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0030657https://doaj.org/article/20007f403fe341158b4e3ede8923cf1d2012-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/22363462/pdf/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigates a crucial parameter in spatial description, namely variants in the frame of reference chosen. Two frames of reference are available in European languages for the description of small-scale assemblages, namely the intrinsic (or object-oriented) frame and the relative (or egocentric) frame. We showed participants a sentence such as "the ball is in front of the man", ambiguous between the two frames, and then a picture of a scene with a ball and a man--participants had to respond by indicating whether the picture did or did not match the sentence. There were two blocks, in which we induced each frame of reference by feedback. Thus for the crucial test items, participants saw exactly the same sentence and the same picture but now from one perspective, now the other. Using this method, we were able to precisely pinpoint the pattern of neural activation associated with each linguistic interpretation of the ambiguity, while holding the perceptual stimuli constant. Increased brain activity in bilateral parahippocampal gyrus was associated with the intrinsic frame of reference whereas increased activity in the right superior frontal gyrus and in the parietal lobe was observed for the relative frame of reference. The study is among the few to show a distinctive pattern of neural activation for an abstract yet specific semantic parameter in language. It shows with special clarity the nature of the neural substrate supporting each frame of spatial reference.Gabriele JanzenDaniel B M HaunStephen C LevinsonPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 7, Iss 2, p e30657 (2012)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Gabriele Janzen Daniel B M Haun Stephen C Levinson Tracking down abstract linguistic meaning: neural correlates of spatial frame of reference ambiguities in language.
description	This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigates a crucial parameter in spatial description, namely variants in the frame of reference chosen. Two frames of reference are available in European languages for the description of small-scale assemblages, namely the intrinsic (or object-oriented) frame and the relative (or egocentric) frame. We showed participants a sentence such as "the ball is in front of the man", ambiguous between the two frames, and then a picture of a scene with a ball and a man--participants had to respond by indicating whether the picture did or did not match the sentence. There were two blocks, in which we induced each frame of reference by feedback. Thus for the crucial test items, participants saw exactly the same sentence and the same picture but now from one perspective, now the other. Using this method, we were able to precisely pinpoint the pattern of neural activation associated with each linguistic interpretation of the ambiguity, while holding the perceptual stimuli constant. Increased brain activity in bilateral parahippocampal gyrus was associated with the intrinsic frame of reference whereas increased activity in the right superior frontal gyrus and in the parietal lobe was observed for the relative frame of reference. The study is among the few to show a distinctive pattern of neural activation for an abstract yet specific semantic parameter in language. It shows with special clarity the nature of the neural substrate supporting each frame of spatial reference.
format	article
author	Gabriele Janzen Daniel B M Haun Stephen C Levinson
author_facet	Gabriele Janzen Daniel B M Haun Stephen C Levinson
author_sort	Gabriele Janzen
title	Tracking down abstract linguistic meaning: neural correlates of spatial frame of reference ambiguities in language.
title_short	Tracking down abstract linguistic meaning: neural correlates of spatial frame of reference ambiguities in language.
title_full	Tracking down abstract linguistic meaning: neural correlates of spatial frame of reference ambiguities in language.
title_fullStr	Tracking down abstract linguistic meaning: neural correlates of spatial frame of reference ambiguities in language.
title_full_unstemmed	Tracking down abstract linguistic meaning: neural correlates of spatial frame of reference ambiguities in language.
title_sort	tracking down abstract linguistic meaning: neural correlates of spatial frame of reference ambiguities in language.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2012
url	https://doaj.org/article/20007f403fe341158b4e3ede8923cf1d
work_keys_str_mv	AT gabrielejanzen trackingdownabstractlinguisticmeaningneuralcorrelatesofspatialframeofreferenceambiguitiesinlanguage AT danielbmhaun trackingdownabstractlinguisticmeaningneuralcorrelatesofspatialframeofreferenceambiguitiesinlanguage AT stephenclevinson trackingdownabstractlinguisticmeaningneuralcorrelatesofspatialframeofreferenceambiguitiesinlanguage
_version_	1718423395892199424

Tracking down abstract linguistic meaning: neural correlates of spatial frame of reference ambiguities in language.

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