TY - JOUR
T1 - Lexical Access in Naming and Reading
T2 - Spatiotemporal Localization of Semantic Facilitation and Interference Using MEG
AU - Dirani, Julien
AU - Pylkkänen, Liina
N1 - Funding Information:
Liina Pylkkänen, NYUAD Research Institute, Award ID: G1001.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
PY - 2020/6/1
Y1 - 2020/6/1
N2 - Naming an object involves quick retrieval of a target word from long-term memory. Research using the semantic interference paradigm has shown that objects take longer to name when they are preceded by primes in the same semantic category. This has been interpreted as reflecting either competition during lexical selection or as an interference effect at a later, postlexical level. Since the behavioral finding has been a core argument for the existence of competition during lexical selection in naming, understanding its processing level is important for models of language production. We used MEG to determine the spatiotemporal localization of the interference effect. We also compared its neural signature to the effect of semantic relatedness in reading, in which relatedness is expected to speed up behavioral responses and reduce activity in the left superior temporal cortex at around 200–300 ms. This is exactly what we found. However, in naming, we observed a more complex pattern for our semantically related targets. First, the angular gyrus showed a facilitory pattern at 300–400 ms, likely reflecting aspects of lexical access. This was followed by a broadly distributed and sustained interference pattern that lasted until articulatory stages. More transient interference effects were also observed at 395–485 ms in the left STG and at ∼100–200 ms before articulation in the parietal cortex. Thus, our findings suggest that the semantic interference effect originates from both early and late sources, which may explain its varying localizations in previous literature.
AB - Naming an object involves quick retrieval of a target word from long-term memory. Research using the semantic interference paradigm has shown that objects take longer to name when they are preceded by primes in the same semantic category. This has been interpreted as reflecting either competition during lexical selection or as an interference effect at a later, postlexical level. Since the behavioral finding has been a core argument for the existence of competition during lexical selection in naming, understanding its processing level is important for models of language production. We used MEG to determine the spatiotemporal localization of the interference effect. We also compared its neural signature to the effect of semantic relatedness in reading, in which relatedness is expected to speed up behavioral responses and reduce activity in the left superior temporal cortex at around 200–300 ms. This is exactly what we found. However, in naming, we observed a more complex pattern for our semantically related targets. First, the angular gyrus showed a facilitory pattern at 300–400 ms, likely reflecting aspects of lexical access. This was followed by a broadly distributed and sustained interference pattern that lasted until articulatory stages. More transient interference effects were also observed at 395–485 ms in the left STG and at ∼100–200 ms before articulation in the parietal cortex. Thus, our findings suggest that the semantic interference effect originates from both early and late sources, which may explain its varying localizations in previous literature.
KW - Lexical selection
KW - MEG
KW - Naming
KW - Reading
KW - Semantic interference
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U2 - 10.1162/nol_a_00008
DO - 10.1162/nol_a_00008
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85091222075
SN - 2641-4368
VL - 1
SP - 185
EP - 207
JO - Neurobiology of Language
JF - Neurobiology of Language
IS - 2
ER -