TY - JOUR

T1 - Does the sound of a barking dog activate its corresponding visual form?

T2 - An fMRI investigation of modality-specific semantic access

AU - Reilly, Jamie

AU - Garcia, Amanda

AU - Binney, Richard J

N1 - Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

PY - 2016/8

Y1 - 2016/8

N2 - Much remains to be learned about the neural architecture underlying word meaning. Fully distributed models of semantic memory predict that the sound of a barking dog will conjointly engage a network of distributed sensorimotor spokes. An alternative framework holds that modality-specific features additionally converge within transmodal hubs. Participants underwent functional MRI while covertly naming familiar objects versus newly learned novel objects from only one of their constituent semantic features (visual form, characteristic sound, or point-light motion representation). Relative to the novel object baseline, familiar concepts elicited greater activation within association regions specific to the presentation modality. Furthermore, visual form elicited activation within high-level auditory association cortex. Conversely, environmental sounds elicited activation in regions proximal to visual association cortex. Both conditions commonly engaged a putative hub region within lateral anterior temporal cortex. These results support hybrid semantic models in which local hubs and distributed spokes are dually engaged in service of semantic memory.

AB - Much remains to be learned about the neural architecture underlying word meaning. Fully distributed models of semantic memory predict that the sound of a barking dog will conjointly engage a network of distributed sensorimotor spokes. An alternative framework holds that modality-specific features additionally converge within transmodal hubs. Participants underwent functional MRI while covertly naming familiar objects versus newly learned novel objects from only one of their constituent semantic features (visual form, characteristic sound, or point-light motion representation). Relative to the novel object baseline, familiar concepts elicited greater activation within association regions specific to the presentation modality. Furthermore, visual form elicited activation within high-level auditory association cortex. Conversely, environmental sounds elicited activation in regions proximal to visual association cortex. Both conditions commonly engaged a putative hub region within lateral anterior temporal cortex. These results support hybrid semantic models in which local hubs and distributed spokes are dually engaged in service of semantic memory.

KW - Anterior temporal lobe

KW - Concept acquisition

KW - Naming

KW - Semantic access

KW - semantic cognition

U2 - 10.1016/j.bandl.2016.05.006

DO - 10.1016/j.bandl.2016.05.006

M3 - Article

C2 - 27289210

VL - 159

SP - 45

EP - 59

JO - Brain and Language

JF - Brain and Language

SN - 0093-934X

ER -