Neuromodulatory Control and Language Recovery in Bilingual Aphasia: An Active Inference Approach

• Published in: Behavioral sciences Vol. 10; no. 10; p. 161
• Main Authors: Sajid, Noor, Friston, Karl J, Ekert, Justyna O, Price, Cathy J, W Green, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.10.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: active inference; Aphasia; bilingual aphasia; Bilingualism; Brain damage; generative models; in-silico lesions; Language; neuromodulatory control; Neuropsychology; Physiological aspects; Simulation; United Kingdom; language recovery patterns; simulation; generative models; paradoxical translation; alternate antagonism; active inference; bilingual aphasia; in-silico lesions; neuromodulatory control
• ISSN: 2076-328X; 2076-328X
• DOI: 10.3390/bs10100161

Understanding the aetiology of the diverse recovery patterns in bilingual aphasia is a theoretical challenge with implications for treatment. Loss of control over intact language networks provides a parsimonious starting point that can be tested using in-silico lesions. We simulated a complex recovery pattern (alternate antagonism and paradoxical translation) to test the hypothesis-from an established hierarchical control model-that loss of control was mediated by constraints on neuromodulatory resources. We used active (Bayesian) inference to simulate a selective loss of sensory precision; i.e., confidence in the causes of sensations. This in-silico lesion altered the precision of beliefs about task relevant states, including appropriate actions, and reproduced exactly the recovery pattern of interest. As sensory precision has been linked to acetylcholine release, these simulations endorse the conjecture that loss of neuromodulatory control can explain this atypical recovery pattern. We discuss the relevance of this finding for other recovery patterns.