Skip to main content

Main menu

  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
    • Podcast
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Information for Authors
    • Fees
    • Journal Clubs
    • eLetters
    • Submit
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
  • SUBSCRIBE

User menu

  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Neuroscience
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Neuroscience

Advanced Search

Submit a Manuscript
  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
    • Podcast
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Information for Authors
    • Fees
    • Journal Clubs
    • eLetters
    • Submit
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
  • SUBSCRIBE
PreviousNext
Research Articles, Behavioral/Cognitive

Decoding the Cortical Dynamics of Sound-Meaning Mapping

Ece Kocagoncu, Alex Clarke, Barry J. Devereux and Lorraine K. Tyler
Journal of Neuroscience 1 February 2017, 37 (5) 1312-1319; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2858-16.2016
Ece Kocagoncu
Centre for Speech, Language and the Brain, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Ece Kocagoncu
Alex Clarke
Centre for Speech, Language and the Brain, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Alex Clarke
Barry J. Devereux
Centre for Speech, Language and the Brain, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Barry J. Devereux
Lorraine K. Tyler
Centre for Speech, Language and the Brain, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Comprehending speech involves the rapid and optimally efficient mapping from sound to meaning. Influential cognitive models of spoken word recognition (Marslen-Wilson and Welsh, 1978) propose that the onset of a spoken word initiates a continuous process of activation of the lexical and semantic properties of the word candidates matching the speech input and competition between them, which continues until the point at which the word is differentiated from all other cohort candidates (the uniqueness point, UP). At this point, the word is recognized uniquely and only the target word's semantics are active. Although it is well established that spoken word recognition engages the superior (Rauschecker and Scott, 2009), middle, and inferior (Hickok and Poeppel, 2007) temporal cortices, little is known about the real-time brain activity that underpins the computations and representations that evolve over time during the transformation from speech to meaning. Here, we test for the first time the spatiotemporal dynamics of these processes by collecting MEG data while human participants listened to spoken words. By constructing quantitative models of competition and access to meaning in combination with spatiotemporal searchlight representational similarity analysis (Kriegeskorte et al., 2006) in source space, we were able to test where and when these models produced significant effects. We found early transient effects ∼400 ms before the UP of lexical competition in left supramarginal gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus (MTG), and left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and of semantic competition in MTG, left angular gyrus, and IFG. After the UP, there were no competitive effects, only target-specific semantic effects in angular gyrus and MTG.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Understanding spoken words involves complex processes that transform the auditory input into a meaningful interpretation. This effortless transition occurs on millisecond timescales, with remarkable speed and accuracy and without any awareness of the complex computations involved. Here, we reveal the real-time neural dynamics of these processes by collecting data about listeners' brain activity as they hear spoken words. Using novel statistical models of different aspects of the recognition process, we can locate directly which parts of the brain are accessing the stored form and meaning of words and how the competition between different word candidates is resolved neurally in real time. This gives us a uniquely differentiated picture of the neural substrate for the first 500 ms of word recognition.

  • cohort
  • competition
  • MEG
  • MVPA
  • searchlight
  • semantics
View Full Text
Back to top

In this issue

The Journal of Neuroscience: 37 (5)
Journal of Neuroscience
Vol. 37, Issue 5
1 Feb 2017
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
  • Advertising (PDF)
  • Ed Board (PDF)
Email

Thank you for sharing this Journal of Neuroscience article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Decoding the Cortical Dynamics of Sound-Meaning Mapping
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Journal of Neuroscience
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Journal of Neuroscience.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Print
View Full Page PDF
Citation Tools
Decoding the Cortical Dynamics of Sound-Meaning Mapping
Ece Kocagoncu, Alex Clarke, Barry J. Devereux, Lorraine K. Tyler
Journal of Neuroscience 1 February 2017, 37 (5) 1312-1319; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2858-16.2016

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Respond to this article
Request Permissions
Share
Decoding the Cortical Dynamics of Sound-Meaning Mapping
Ece Kocagoncu, Alex Clarke, Barry J. Devereux, Lorraine K. Tyler
Journal of Neuroscience 1 February 2017, 37 (5) 1312-1319; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2858-16.2016
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Introduction
    • Materials and Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Keywords

  • cohort
  • competition
  • MEG
  • MVPA
  • searchlight
  • semantics

Responses to this article

Respond to this article

Jump to comment:

No eLetters have been published for this article.

Related Articles

Cited By...

More in this TOC Section

Research Articles

  • Oxidative stress-induced damage to the developing hippocampus is mediated by GSK3beta
  • Disruption of endosomal sorting in Schwann cells leads to defective myelination and endosomal abnormalities observed in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
  • Depolarizing NaV and hyperpolarizing KV channels are co-trafficked in sensory neurons
Show more Research Articles

Behavioral/Cognitive

  • Spontaneous Alpha-Band Oscillations Bias Subjective Contrast Perception
  • The role of visual experience in individual differences of brain connectivity
  • A Neurodevelopmental Shift in Reward Circuitry from Mother's to Nonfamilial Voices in Adolescence
Show more Behavioral/Cognitive
  • Home
  • Alerts
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Facebook
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on Twitter
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on LinkedIn
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Youtube
  • Follow our RSS feeds

Content

  • Early Release
  • Current Issue
  • Issue Archive
  • Collections

Information

  • For Authors
  • For Advertisers
  • For the Media
  • For Subscribers

About

  • About the Journal
  • Editorial Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
(JNeurosci logo)
(SfN logo)

Copyright © 2022 by the Society for Neuroscience.
JNeurosci Online ISSN: 1529-2401

The ideas and opinions expressed in JNeurosci do not necessarily reflect those of SfN or the JNeurosci Editorial Board. Publication of an advertisement or other product mention in JNeurosci should not be construed as an endorsement of the manufacturer’s claims. SfN does not assume any responsibility for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from or related to any use of any material contained in JNeurosci.