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  What artificial grammar learning reveals about the neurobiology of syntax

Petersson, K. M., Folia, V., & Hagoort, P. (2012). What artificial grammar learning reveals about the neurobiology of syntax. Brain and Language, 120, 83-95. doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2010.08.003.

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 Creators:
Petersson, Karl Magnus1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Author           
Folia, Vasiliki1, 2, 3, 4, 6, Author           
Hagoort, Peter1, 2, 3, 6, Author           
Affiliations:
1Unification, MPI for Psycholinguistics, Max Planck Society, Nijmegen, NL, ou_55219              
2Radboud University Nijmegen, ou_persistent22              
3Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, External Organizations, ou_55236              
4Cognitive Neurophysiology Research Group, Stockholm Brain Institute, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, ou_persistent22              
5Cognitive Neuroscience Research Group, Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal, ou_persistent22              
6Neurobiology of Language Department, MPI for Psycholinguistics, Max Planck Society, ou_792551              

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Free keywords: FMRI; syntax; natural language; artificial language; comprehension; Broca’s region; formal language: artificial grammar learning; adaptive dynamical systems, computability, Chomsky hierarchy; complexity
 Abstract: In this paper we examine the neurobiological correlates of syntax, the processing of structured sequences, by comparing FMRI results on artificial and natural language syntax. We discuss these and similar findings in the context of formal language and computability theory. We used a simple right-linear unification grammar in an implicit artificial grammar learning paradigm in 32 healthy Dutch university students (natural language FMRI data were already acquired for these participants). We predicted that artificial syntax processing would engage the left inferior frontal region (BA 44/45) and that this activation would overlap with syntax-related variability observed in the natural language experiment. The main findings of this study show that the left inferior frontal region centered on BA 44/45 is active during artificial syntax processing of well-formed (grammatical) sequence independent of local subsequence familiarity. The same region is engaged to a greater extent when a syntactic violation is present and structural unification becomes difficult or impossible. The effects related to artificial syntax in the left inferior frontal region (BA 44/45) were essentially identical when we masked these with activity related to natural syntax in the same subjects. Finally, the medial temporal lobe was deactivated during this operation, consistent with the view that implicit processing does not rely on declarative memory mechanisms that engage the medial temporal lobe. In the context of recent FMRI findings, we raise the question whether Broca’s region (or subregions) is specifically related to syntactic movement operations or the processing of hierarchically nested non-adjacent dependencies in the discussion section. We conclude that this is not the case. Instead, we argue that the left inferior frontal region is a generic on-line sequence processor that unifies information from various sources in an incremental and recursive manner, independent of whether there are any processing requirements related to syntactic movement or hierarchically nested structures. In addition, we argue that the Chomsky hierarchy is not directly relevant for neurobiological systems.

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Language(s): eng - English
 Dates: 2009201020102012
 Publication Status: Issued
 Pages: -
 Publishing info: -
 Table of Contents: -
 Rev. Type: Peer
 Identifiers: DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2010.08.003
PMID: 20943261
 Degree: -

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Title: Brain and Language
Source Genre: Journal
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Publ. Info: Elsevier
Pages: - Volume / Issue: 120 Sequence Number: - Start / End Page: 83 - 95 Identifier: Other: 954922647078
ISSN: 0093-934X