Language universals engage Broca's area.
It is well known that natural languages share certain aspects of their design. For example, across languages, syllables like blif are preferred to lbif. But whether language universals are myths or mentally active constraints-linguistic or otherwise-remains controversial. To address this question, w...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2014-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3990587?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1818943607017570304 |
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| author | Iris Berent Hong Pan Xu Zhao Jane Epstein Monica L Bennett Vibhas Deshpande Ravi Teja Seethamraju Emily Stern |
| author_facet | Iris Berent Hong Pan Xu Zhao Jane Epstein Monica L Bennett Vibhas Deshpande Ravi Teja Seethamraju Emily Stern |
| author_sort | Iris Berent |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | It is well known that natural languages share certain aspects of their design. For example, across languages, syllables like blif are preferred to lbif. But whether language universals are myths or mentally active constraints-linguistic or otherwise-remains controversial. To address this question, we used fMRI to investigate brain response to four syllable types, arrayed on their linguistic well-formedness (e.g., blif≻bnif≻bdif≻lbif, where ≻ indicates preference). Results showed that syllable structure monotonically modulated hemodynamic response in Broca's area, and its pattern mirrored participants' behavioral preferences. In contrast, ill-formed syllables did not systematically tax sensorimotor regions-while such syllables engaged primary auditory cortex, they tended to deactivate (rather than engage) articulatory motor regions. The convergence between the cross-linguistic preferences and English participants' hemodynamic and behavioral responses is remarkable given that most of these syllables are unattested in their language. We conclude that human brains encode broad restrictions on syllable structure. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T07:30:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6e8c3059b86e414398d7207916c40d8a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T07:30:00Z |
| publishDate | 2014-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-6e8c3059b86e414398d7207916c40d8a2022-12-21T19:48:26ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-0194e9515510.1371/journal.pone.0095155Language universals engage Broca's area.Iris BerentHong PanXu ZhaoJane EpsteinMonica L BennettVibhas DeshpandeRavi Teja SeethamrajuEmily SternIt is well known that natural languages share certain aspects of their design. For example, across languages, syllables like blif are preferred to lbif. But whether language universals are myths or mentally active constraints-linguistic or otherwise-remains controversial. To address this question, we used fMRI to investigate brain response to four syllable types, arrayed on their linguistic well-formedness (e.g., blif≻bnif≻bdif≻lbif, where ≻ indicates preference). Results showed that syllable structure monotonically modulated hemodynamic response in Broca's area, and its pattern mirrored participants' behavioral preferences. In contrast, ill-formed syllables did not systematically tax sensorimotor regions-while such syllables engaged primary auditory cortex, they tended to deactivate (rather than engage) articulatory motor regions. The convergence between the cross-linguistic preferences and English participants' hemodynamic and behavioral responses is remarkable given that most of these syllables are unattested in their language. We conclude that human brains encode broad restrictions on syllable structure.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3990587?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Iris Berent Hong Pan Xu Zhao Jane Epstein Monica L Bennett Vibhas Deshpande Ravi Teja Seethamraju Emily Stern Language universals engage Broca's area. PLoS ONE |
| title | Language universals engage Broca's area. |
| title_full | Language universals engage Broca's area. |
| title_fullStr | Language universals engage Broca's area. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Language universals engage Broca's area. |
| title_short | Language universals engage Broca's area. |
| title_sort | language universals engage broca s area |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3990587?pdf=render |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT irisberent languageuniversalsengagebrocasarea AT hongpan languageuniversalsengagebrocasarea AT xuzhao languageuniversalsengagebrocasarea AT janeepstein languageuniversalsengagebrocasarea AT monicalbennett languageuniversalsengagebrocasarea AT vibhasdeshpande languageuniversalsengagebrocasarea AT ravitejaseethamraju languageuniversalsengagebrocasarea AT emilystern languageuniversalsengagebrocasarea |