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Research Articles, Behavioral/Cognitive

Disentangling Semantic Composition and Semantic Association in the Left Temporal Lobe

Jixing Li and Liina Pylkkänen
Journal of Neuroscience 28 July 2021, 41 (30) 6526-6538; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2317-20.2021
Jixing Li
1NYUAD Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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Liina Pylkkänen
1NYUAD Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
2Department of Linguistics, New York University, New York, New York 10003
3Department of Psychology, New York University Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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Abstract

Although composing two words into a complex representation (e.g., “coffee cake”) is conceptually different from forming associations between a pair of words (e.g., “coffee, cake”), the brain regions supporting semantic composition have also been implicated for associative encoding. Here, we adopted a two-word magnetoencephalography (MEG) paradigm which varies compositionality (“French/Korean cheese” vs “France/Korea cheese”) and strength of association (“France/French cheese” vs “Korea/Korean cheese”) between the two words. We collected MEG data while 42 English speakers (24 females) viewed the two words successively in the scanner, and we applied both univariate regression analyses and multivariate pattern classification to the source estimates of the two words. We show that the left anterior temporal lobe (LATL) and left middle temporal lobe (LMTL) are distinctively modulated by semantic composition and semantic association. Specifically, the LATL is mostly sensitive to high-association compositional phrases, while the LMTL responds more to low-association compositional phrases. Pattern-based directed connectivity analyses further revealed a continuous information flow from the anterior to the middle temporal region, suggesting that the integration of adjective and noun properties originated earlier in the LATL is consistently delivered to the LMTL when the complex meaning is newly encountered. Taken together, our findings shed light into a functional dissociation within the left temporal lobe for compositional and distributional semantic processing.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Prior studies on semantic composition and associative encoding have been conducted independently within the subfields of language and memory, and they typically adopt similar two-word experimental paradigms. However, no direct comparison has been made on the neural substrates of the two processes. The current study relates the two streams of literature, and appeals to audiences in both subfields within cognitive neuroscience. Disentangling the neural computations for semantic composition and association also offers insight into modeling compositional and distributional semantics, which has been the subject of much discussion in natural language processing and cognitive science.

  • LATL
  • LMTL
  • MEG
  • semantic association
  • semantic composition

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided that the original work is properly attributed.

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The Journal of Neuroscience: 41 (30)
Journal of Neuroscience
Vol. 41, Issue 30
28 Jul 2021
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Disentangling Semantic Composition and Semantic Association in the Left Temporal Lobe
Jixing Li, Liina Pylkkänen
Journal of Neuroscience 28 July 2021, 41 (30) 6526-6538; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2317-20.2021

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Disentangling Semantic Composition and Semantic Association in the Left Temporal Lobe
Jixing Li, Liina Pylkkänen
Journal of Neuroscience 28 July 2021, 41 (30) 6526-6538; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2317-20.2021
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Keywords

  • LATL
  • LMTL
  • MEG
  • semantic association
  • semantic composition

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