PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Social vs. language role: researchers question function of two brain areas

2023-09-21
(Press-News.org)

A research team led by Prof. LIN Nan from the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that during sentence processing, the neural activity of two canonical language areas, i.e., the left ventral temporoparietal junction (vTPJ) and the lateral anterior temporal lobe (lATL), is associated with social-semantic working memory rather than language processing per se.

The study was published in Nature Human Behaviour on Sept. 21.

Language and social cognition are two deeply interrelated abilities of the human species, but have traditionally been studied as two separate domains. Both sentence processing and social tasks can evoke neural activity in the left vTPJ and lATL, suggesting that the function of these regions may link language comprehension with social cognition. However, previous studies have attributed the activity of these regions in language tasks to general semantic and/or syntactic processing, whereas their activity in social tasks is attributed to social concept activation.

In this study, the researchers tested a novel hypothesis that the activity of the left vTPJ and lATL in language and social tasks are both due to a common cognitive component—i.e., social-semantic working memory.

Using fMRI experiments, they validated that these regions were sensitive to sentences only if the sentences conveyed social meaning. In addition, these regions showed persistent social-semantic-selective activity after the linguistic stimuli disappeared and were sensitive to the sociality of nonlinguistic stimuli. Furthermore, these regions were more tightly connected to the social-semantic-processing areas than to the sentence-processing areas.

The results indicate that the left vTPJ and lATL are not specific to language processing and contribute to language comprehension through social-semantic working memory.

"Since the 1990s, it has been consistently observed that the left vTPJ and lATL are sensitive to sentence processing. Therefore, our findings were quite surprising," said Prof. LIN, corresponding author of the study.

These findings are likely to force a major reconsideration of the functional organization of the cortical language network, and they also make an important new contribution to the field of social neuroscience, according to a reviewer for Nature Human Behaviour.

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Scientific Foundation of the Institute of Psychology, and the National Science and Technology Innovation 2030 Major Program.

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Inauguration ceremony of carbon future

Inauguration ceremony of carbon future
2023-09-21
On September 17th, 2023, Carbon Future, an international interdisciplinary journal sponsored by Tsinghua University, has been officially inaugurated.   Carbon Future is an open access, peer-reviewed and international interdisciplinary journal that reports carbon-related materials and processes, including carbon materials, catalysis, energy conversion and storage, as well as low carbon emission process and engineering. The journal is published quarterly by Tsinghua University Press, and publicly released on SciOpen, an internationally digital ...

Revolutionizing data storage: DNA movable-type system paves the way for sustainable data storage technology

Revolutionizing data storage: DNA movable-type system paves the way for sustainable data storage technology
2023-09-21
In a groundbreaking study published in Engineering, researchers have developed a revolutionary method for data storage using DNA. The paper titled “Engineering DNA Materials for Sustainable Data Storage Using a DNA Movable-Type System” introduces a novel approach that utilizes DNA fragments, referred to as “DNA movable types,” for data writing, thereby eliminating the need for costly and environmentally hazardous DNA synthesis. DNA molecules have long been recognized as green materials ...

NIH center grant bolsters male contraceptive research

2023-09-21
Weill Cornell Medicine has received a three-year, nearly $6 million grant to lead one of three national contraceptive research centers. The grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health, will fund the Weill Cornell Medicine Contraception Development Research Center. Led by Drs. Jochen Buck and Lonny Levin, both professors of pharmacology at Weill Cornell Medicine, the center will focus on developing an on-demand male contraceptive. “It’s an honor to be selected for a second time for this award,” Dr. Levin ...

Supportive later-life social relationships mediate the risk of severe frailty in adults who had negative childhood experiences

2023-09-21
INDIANAPOLIS -- Frailty is a serious concern in later-life adults due to its association with additional health risks including disability, falls, hospitalization and mortality. The prevalence of frailty has risen over time; about 15 percent of those aged 65 years and older are considered frail. In one of the first studies to analyze the mediating effects of social relationships in the relationship between childhood experiences and frailty, Regenstrief Research Scientist Monica M. Williams-Farrelly, PhD, has found ...

Towards a better understanding of early human embryonic development

Towards a better understanding of early human embryonic development
2023-09-21
The onset of embryo-specific gene transcription, also known as embryonic genome activation (EGA), is a crucial step in the developmental journey of an organism. Although EGA has been studied to some extent in mice, human EGA remains largely unexplored, mainly due to the lack of novel in vitro cell models and ethical restrictions on the usage of human embryos. Thus, cell models resembling the human blastomere stage—when the embryo undergoes a cell duplication process—are necessary to study the earliest stages of human EGA and understand the events that occur during early embryonic development.   To ...

Evaluating the shear viscosity of different water models

Evaluating the shear viscosity of different water models
2023-09-21
Water is one of the most abundant substances on Earth and partakes in countless biological, chemical, and ecological processes. Thus, understanding its behavior and properties is essential in a wide variety of scientific and applied fields. To do so, researchers have developed various water models to reproduce the behavior of bulk water in molecular simulations. While these simulations can provide valuable insights into the specific properties of water, selecting an appropriate model for the system under study is crucial. ...

Precision treatment for pneumonia care: metagenomic sequencing takes the lead

Precision treatment for pneumonia care: metagenomic sequencing takes the lead
2023-09-21
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a major infectious disease worldwide and contributes to high mortality and massive economic burden. Hospital mortality among the severe CAP (SCAP) remains high, ranging from 25% to more than 50%. Early identification of patients at high risk of death is essential for improving patient outcomes. However, predicting outcomes in patients with SCAP is challenging, as the disease is complex and influenced by various factors, including the types of pathogen causing the infection, the host immune response, and underlying medical conditions. In this study published in eBioMedicine (a Lancet publication), a team led by Dr. Jinmin Ma, BGI Genomics Infection ...

Curiosity about religion is viewed as morally virtuous, new research finds

2023-09-21
People from diverse religious backgrounds in the United States view curiosity about religion as morally virtuous, according to new research published in Social Psychological and Personality Science. Atheists also view this curiosity as moral, although less moral than a lack of religious curiosity. Previous research has examined what makes people curious and how curiosity helps people learn new information, but psychologists know less about how displaying curiosity is viewed by other people. The current research finds that people ...

Scholarships awarded to high school students committed to whole body wellness

2023-09-21
DALLAS, September 21, 2023 — Supporting the next generation of health advocates, the American Heart Association awards five high school seniors with $1,000 college scholarships to energize their commitment to community health through service-learning opportunities. The grants are a part of the American Heart Challenge™, a school-based program that helps middle and high school students feel good about their health, while doing good for the community. The American Heart Association, devoted ...

Intra-lysosomal peptide assembly for the high selectivity Index against cancer

Intra-lysosomal peptide assembly for the high selectivity Index against cancer
2023-09-21
A groundbreaking anticancer treatment technology that selectively targets cancer cell lysosomes and overcomes drug resistance has been developed by Professor Ja-Hyoung Ryu and his research team in the Department of Chemistry at UNIST. This pioneering research promises a new paradigm for chemical anticancer drugs in the future. Lysosomes are crucial organelles responsible for breaking down and recycling cellular components. Targeting lysosomes with anticancer drugs has emerged as a promising approach to combat drug resistance in cancer cells. However, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Intra-arterial tenecteplase for acute stroke after successful endovascular therapy

Study reveals beneficial microbes that can sustain yields in unfertilized fields

Robotic probe quickly measures key properties of new materials

Climate change cuts milk production, even when farmers cool their cows

Frozen, but not sealed: Arctic Ocean remained open to life during ice ages

Some like it cold: Cryorhodopsins

Demystifying gut bacteria with AI

Human wellbeing on a finite planet towards 2100: new study shows humanity at a crossroads

Unlocking the hidden biodiversity of Europe’s villages

Planned hydrogen refuelling stations may lead to millions of euros in yearly losses

Planned C-sections increase the risk of certain childhood cancers

Adults who have survived childhood cancer are at increased risk of severe COVID-19

Drones reveal extreme coral mortality after bleaching

New genetic finding uncovers hidden cause of arsenic resistance in acute promyelocytic leukemia

Native habitats hold the key to the much-loved smashed avocado’s future

Using lightning to make ammonia out of thin air

Machine learning potential-driven insights into pH-dependent CO₂ reduction

Physician associates provide safe care for diagnosed patients when directly supervised by a doctor

How game-play with robots can bring out their human side

Asthma: patient expectations influence the course of the disease

UNM physician tests drug that causes nerve tissue to emit light, enabling faster, safer surgery

New study identifies EMP1 as a key driver of pancreatic cancer progression and poor prognosis

XPR1 identified as a key regulator of ovarian cancer growth through autophagy and immune evasion

Flexible, eco-friendly electronic plastic for wearable tech, sensors

Can the Large Hadron Collider snap string theory?

Stuckeman professor’s new book explores ‘socially sustainable’ architecture

Synthetic DNA nanoparticles for gene therapy

New model to find treatments for an aggressive blood cancer

Special issue of Journal of Intensive Medicine analyzes non-invasive respiratory support

T cells take aim at Chikungunya virus

[Press-News.org] Social vs. language role: researchers question function of two brain areas