image: These brain maps show regions of the brain from which sentence meaning can be decoded. The brighter the area, the higher the decoding accuracy. view more
Credit: University of Rochester / Andrew Anderson and Xixi Wang
Representations reflecting non-linguistic experience have been detected in brain activity during reading in study of healthy, native English speakers published in JNeurosci. The research brings us one step closer to a more complete characterization of human language.
Words and their relationship to one's experience are thought to be combined in the brain to enable understanding of a sentence's meaning. Building on prior models using word co-occurrence statistics, Anderson et al. now show that integrating experiential information into previous models improves decoding of patterns of neural activity associated with meaning as participants read short sentences. These results may guide future efforts in the diagnosis and treatment of language disorders and development of artificial intelligence systems.
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Manuscript title: An integrated neural decoder of linguistic and experiential meaning
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About JNeurosci
JNeurosci, the Society for Neuroscience's first journal, was launched in 1981 as a means to communicate the findings of the highest quality neuroscience research to the growing field. Today, the journal remains committed to publishing cutting-edge neuroscience that will have an immediate and lasting scientific impact, while responding to authors' changing publishing needs, representing breadth of the field and diversity in authorship.
About The Society for Neuroscience
The Society for Neuroscience is the world's largest organization of scientists and physicians devoted to understanding the brain and nervous system. The nonprofit organization, founded in 1969, now has nearly 37,000 members in more than 90 countries and over 130 chapters worldwide.