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Spatiotemporal characteristics of semantic facilitation and interference: An MEG study using the cyclic picture-naming task
Poster Session A - Sandbox Series, Thursday, October 24, 10:00 - 11:30 am, Great Hall 3 and 4
This poster is part of the Sandbox Series.
Jion Tominaga1, Kai Nakajima1, Dmitry Patashov1, Manabu Tanifuji1, Keita Tanaka2, Akihiko Tsukahara3, Hiroki Miyanaga4, Shoji Tsunematsu4, Takafumi Inoue1, Hiromu Sakai1; 1Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 2Graduate School of Electronic and Mechanical Engineering, Tokyo Denki University, 3School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Denki University, 44. Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd.
[INTRODUCTION] Word retrieval in speech production recruit complex mechanisms to overcome semantic interference from competing words. In this study, we aim to further clarify the spatiotemporal characteristics responsible for the interference effect. Using MEG, we measured the neural activities of participants while they performed a blocked-cyclic picture naming task (Kroll and Stewart, 1994) to induce either contextualized or non-contextualized semantic memory recall. Preliminary results of MEG amplitude comparisons between the two conditions are consistent with the interference account and contradict the facilitation account of the previous finding (Dirani and Pylkkänen, 2020). [METHOD] Eleven native Japanese speakers underwent MEG recording (whole-head 64-channel MEG system, Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd.) while performing a picture-naming task. Stimuli (picture images or line drawings) were projected onto a screen within the MEG through a prism glass. The tasks were divided into contextualized and decontextualized conditions: a homogeneous block where concepts from the same category were presented consecutively and a heterogeneous block where concepts from different categories were presented randomly. Each trial consisted of a fixation cross for 500 ms followed by the presentation of an image for 800 ms. We prepared six objects for each of four semantic categories (Animal, Plant, Food, Tool). Picture images and their line drawings were selected from the Bank Of Standard Stimulus (BOSS) (Brodeur et al., 2014), IMABASE (Bonin et al., 2020), or freepng.ru. Objects were randomly presented 12 times, yielding 576 trials per condition. The recorded data was preprocessed and analyzed using the MNE-Python software package. [RESULT] As shown in the previous study (Janssen et al., 2015), we observed increased signal in the homogeneous condition compared to the heterogeneous condition at the right frontal region during a later time window (400–800 ms), likely reflecting conflict resolution during articulation. The increased activity in the later time window in the homogeneous condition might thus support the viewpoint of a post-lexical interference effect. Unlike previous studies (de Zubicaray et al., 2017) reporting decreased signal in the homogeneous condition in the intraparietal sulcus, we observed an increase in the homogeneous condition at the left parietal region during an early time window (0–600 ms). This might reflect a process of resolving interference effects where the left parietal region is engaged in the selection of the target words during lexicalization. The presence of interference at both early and late time windows partially agrees with a previous study suggesting a mixed account of the classical interference and the response exclusion hypothesis (REH) (Dirani and Pylkkänen, 2020). However, we also observed decreased amplitude at the right frontal regions in the later time window (600–800 ms). This might imply either late-stage facilitation or reduced attention due to the repetitiveness of the task. Further research is needed to clarify the nature of decrease of activation in the right frontal region.
Topic Areas: Meaning: Lexical Semantics, Language Production