Brain correlates of constituent structure in sign language comprehension

• Published in: NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.) Vol. 167; pp. 151 - 161
• Main Authors: Moreno, Antonio, Limousin, Fanny, Dehaene, Stanislas, Pallier, Christophe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 15.02.2018; Elsevier Limited; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Age of acquisition; Aphasia; Basal ganglia; Brain; Brain Mapping - methods; Caudate Nucleus - diagnostic imaging; Caudate Nucleus - physiology; Cerebral Cortex - diagnostic imaging; Cerebral Cortex - physiology; Cognitive science; Comprehension; Comprehension - physiology; Constituent structure; Cortex; Deaf; Deafness; Deafness - congenital; Deafness - diagnostic imaging; Deafness - physiopathology; Female; fMRI; French as a second language; French as a second language learning; Frontal gyrus; Humans; Language; Language comprehension; Language processing; Linguistics; Listening comprehension; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medical imaging; Modality (Semantic); Native languages; Neuroscience; Psychology; Putamen; Putamen - diagnostic imaging; Putamen - physiology; Reading; Semantics; Sign Language; Sprachbund; Superior temporal sulcus; Syntactic processing; Syntactic structures; Word lists; Written language; Young Adult; fMRI; Sign language; Language comprehension; Constituent structure; Deaf
• ISSN: 1053-8119; 1095-9572; 1095-9572
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.11.040

During sentence processing, areas of the left superior temporal sulcus, inferior frontal gyrus and left basal ganglia exhibit a systematic increase in brain activity as a function of constituent size, suggesting their involvement in the computation of syntactic and semantic structures. Here, we asked whether these areas play a universal role in language and therefore contribute to the processing of non-spoken sign language. Congenitally deaf adults who acquired French sign language as a first language and written French as a second language were scanned while watching sequences of signs in which the size of syntactic constituents was manipulated. An effect of constituent size was found in the basal ganglia, including the head of the caudate and the putamen. A smaller effect was also detected in temporal and frontal regions previously shown to be sensitive to constituent size in written language in hearing French subjects (Pallier et al., 2011). When the deaf participants read sentences versus word lists, the same network of language areas was observed. While reading and sign language processing yielded identical effects of linguistic structure in the basal ganglia, the effect of structure was stronger in all cortical language areas for written language relative to sign language. Furthermore, cortical activity was partially modulated by age of acquisition and reading proficiency. Our results stress the important role of the basal ganglia, within the language network, in the representation of the constituent structure of language, regardless of the input modality. •For sign language, we found an effect of constituent size in the basal ganglia (smaller in temporal and frontal regions).•Reading and sign language processing yielded identical effects of linguistic structure in the basal ganglia..•The effect of structure was stronger in all cortical language areas for written language relative to sign language.•The basal ganglia have an important role for the representation of the constituent structure regardless of input modality.