A groundbreaking investigation has uncovered a surprising revelation regarding two pivotal brain regions. Previously believed to be primarily involved in language processing, these regions are now understood to play a more substantial role in social-semantic working memory, challenging conventional perspectives on language and social cognition.
Conducted by Professor LIN Nan and his team at the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, this study has shed light on the neural activities occurring in two well-established language regions: the left ventral temporoparietal junction (vTPJ) and the lateral anterior temporal lobe (lATL). Remarkably, these activities are associated more with social-semantic working memory than with the core aspects of language processing, as commonly assumed.
The findings of this research have been recently published in the prestigious journal Nature Human Behaviour.
Forging a Connection Between Language and Social Cognition
Language and social cognition are intricately intertwined abilities within the human repertoire, yet they have traditionally been studied as separate domains. Intriguingly, both sentence processing and social tasks can trigger neural responses in the left vTPJ and lATL, hinting at a potential link between language comprehension and social cognition.
Prior studies, however, attributed the activity of these regions during language tasks to general semantic and syntactic processing, while associating their engagement in social tasks with the activation of social concepts.
A Fresh Hypothesis and Innovative Methodology
In this pioneering study, researchers put forth a novel hypothesis: that the left vTPJ and lATL’s involvement in both language and social tasks arises from a common cognitive component—namely, social-semantic working memory.
Utilizing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments, they substantiated this hypothesis by demonstrating that these regions exhibited sensitivity to sentences exclusively when the sentences conveyed social meaning. Furthermore, these regions displayed sustained, socially-semantic-selective activity even after the linguistic stimuli had ceased, and they exhibited sensitivity to the social nature of non-linguistic stimuli.
Notably, these regions exhibited stronger connectivity with areas responsible for social-semantic processing than with those dedicated to sentence processing.
Implications and Research Support
The implications of these findings are profound, suggesting that the left vTPJ and lATL are not limited to language processing but significantly contribute to language comprehension through the lens of social-semantic working memory.
Professor LIN, the corresponding author of the study, commented, “Given the consistent sensitivity of the left vTPJ and lATL to sentence processing since the 1990s, our findings are indeed surprising.”
These discoveries are poised to prompt a substantial reevaluation of the functional organization of the cortical language network and make a noteworthy contribution to the realm of social neuroscience, as acknowledged by a reviewer for Nature Human Behaviour.
Reference: “A social-semantic working-memory account for two canonical language areas” by Guangyao Zhang, Yangwen Xu, Xiuyi Wang, Jixing Li, Weiting Shi, Yanchao Bi, and Nan Lin, published on September 21, 2023, in Nature Human Behaviour.
DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01704-8
This research received support from 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.
Table of Contents
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Neuroscience Discoveries
What was the main focus of the study conducted by Professor LIN Nan and his team?
The study aimed to investigate the role of two key brain regions, the left ventral temporoparietal junction (vTPJ) and the lateral anterior temporal lobe (lATL), which were previously associated with language processing. The main focus was to determine whether these regions were primarily involved in social-semantic working memory.
How did the researchers link language and social cognition in their study?
The researchers observed that both sentence processing and social tasks triggered neural activity in the vTPJ and lATL. This observation suggested a potential connection between language comprehension and social cognition, challenging the conventional separation of these domains.
What was the novel hypothesis proposed in the study?
The study proposed a novel hypothesis that the vTPJ and lATL’s activity in both language and social tasks could be attributed to a common cognitive component, specifically social-semantic working memory.
What methodology was employed to validate the hypothesis?
The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments to validate their hypothesis. They demonstrated that the vTPJ and lATL exhibited sensitivity to sentences conveying social meaning, even after the linguistic stimuli had ceased. Additionally, these regions showed sensitivity to the social aspect of non-linguistic stimuli.
What are the implications of the study’s findings?
The study’s findings suggest that the vTPJ and lATL are not solely dedicated to language processing but significantly contribute to language comprehension through social-semantic working memory. This challenges the traditional view of the functional organization of the cortical language network and contributes to the field of social neuroscience.
What support did the research receive?
The research 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.
More about Neuroscience Discoveries
- Nature Human Behaviour
- Study: “A social-semantic working-memory account for two canonical language areas”
- Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- National Science and Technology Innovation 2030 Major Program
4 comments
wow, this study is big, brain regions do more than we think, crazy stuff!
no way, brain’s more than horsepower, brainpower’s real!
This research, so cool, major shake-up in brain science, gonna need more studies tho.
wait, brain and social stuff mixed up? mind-blown!