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| Research article summary (published 30 Dec 2002): |
Semantic processing in the left inferior prefrontal cortex: a combined functional magnetic resonance imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation study.
Full Abstract
The involvement of the left inferior prefrontal cortex (LIPC) in phonological processing is well established from both lesion-deficit studies with neurological patients and functional neuroimaging studies of normals. Its involvement in semantic processing, on the other hand, is less clear. Although many imaging studies have demonstrated LIPC activation during semantic tasks, this may be due to implicit phonological processing. This article presents two experiments investigating semantic functions in the LIPC. Results from a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment demonstrated that both semantic and phonological processing activated a common set of areas within this region. In addition, there was a reliable increase in activation for semantic relative to phonological decisions in the anterior LIPC while the opposite comparison (phonological vs. semantic decisions) revealed an area of enhanced activation within the posterior LIPC. A second experiment used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to temporarily interfere with neural information processing in the anterior portion of the LIPC to determine whether this region was essential for normal semantic performance. Both repetitive and single pulse TMS significantly slowed subjects' reactions for the semantic but not for the perceptual control task. Our results clarify the functional anatomy of the LIPC by demonstrating that anterior and posterior regions contribute to both semantic and phonological processing, albeit to different extents. In addition, the findings go beyond simply establishing a correlation between semantic processing and activation in the LIPC and demonstrate that a transient disruption of processing selectively interfered with semantic processing.
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Author information
Author/s: Devlin, Joseph T (JT); Matthews, Paul M (PM); Rushworth, Matthew F S (MF);
Affiliation: FMRIB Center, Department of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, UK. devlin(-atsign-)mrib.org
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Journal: Journal of cognitive neuroscience (J Cogn Neurosci), published in United States. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2003-Jan; vol 15 (issue 1) : pp 71-84
Dates: Created 2003/02/19; Completed 2003/03/26; Revised 2006/11/15;
PMID: 12590844, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
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