The University of Texas Health Houston (UTHealth) released findings from a study conducted by several members of the university showing that two separate portions of the brain are used in understanding semantic language while reading.
The study, conducted by UTHealth's Elliot Murphy, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery, and Nitin Tandon, MD, professor and chair of the neurosurgery department within the McGovern Medical School, aimed to understand how individuals integrate semantic information while reading to derive specific concepts from nonspecific language.
"We were able to expose the dynamics of how the human brain integrates semantic information, and which areas come online at different stages," said Murphy. "Both the frontal and posterior temporal cortexes disrupt semantic integration, which we see happen in individuals with various aphasias. We speculate that this intricately designed mosaic structure makes some sense out of the varying semantic deficits people experience after frontal strokes."
The researchers looked at 58 epilepsy patients and their intracranial recordings while they read written word definitions, either referencing or non-referencing a common object, as well as while the patients read coherent and incoherent phrases. The recordings showed that different areas of the language network within the brain reacted, with a complementary integration process occurring between the posterior temporal cortex and the inferior frontal cortex.
The posterior temporal cortex is activated during the early stages of the integration process, while the inferior frontal cortex is sensitive to all aspects of meaning. These findings can help researchers better understand aphasia, a disorder that affects the ability to express and understand written or spoken language clearly. Aphasia often occurs after a stroke or head injury and typically causes difficulty with semantic integration.
The goal of the study was to understand how individuals integrate semantic information while reading to derive specific concepts from nonspecific language, according to a press release from UTHealth. The example given from researchers was how people derive “apple” from the phrase “a round red fruit.”
The findings from this study provide valuable insights into the intricate workings of the human brain when it comes to understanding semantic language. By identifying the specific areas of the brain involved in semantic integration, researchers can further explore the causes and potential treatments for disorders like aphasia.
