Language testing has been long recognized to hold a crucial role in the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases [1]. However, screening batteries are seldomly developed by linguists, whose expertise could highlight fine-grained linguistic phenomena. In this study, we propose a new battery of interrelated linguistic tasks for Italian, to assess language processing in fronto-temporal dementia (FTD). FTD patients typically present with selective deficits at either semantic or morphosyntactic processing [1, 2, 3]. Accordingly, our resource aims at exploring the neurocognitive correlates of such dissociations at the morphosyntax/semantics interface by disentangling distinct kinds of semantic and morphosyntactic features [4]. The study is based on previous work on English by Romagno and collaborators [5-6], adapted to Italian. The battery is composed by 5 macro-categories (Morphosyntax/Semantics Interface, Bare Morphology and Syntax, Thematic Role Assignment, Production, Comprehension), which in turn consist of several targeted tasks. All stimuli were selected among the 1000 most frequent open-class items from [7] and balanced for length, familiarity, and frequency. We are currently collecting normative data on a sample of Italian speakers, pooled across homogeneous subgroups for age, gender, and education, to set a gold-standard. State-of-the-art statistical analyses (such as mixed-effect-modelling) will be performed on data both within and across sample. The final results of the project will be available in a few weeks. In sum, we propose a new resource to assess language abilities in FTD patients. Differently from other studies [8], our battery requires access to distinct interface properties, hence identifying types of neurocognitively distinguishable semantic and morphosyntactic deficits. Additionally, its structure also allows for studying language processing in physiological conditions, particularly the understanding of learning mechanisms. Methodologically, the battery is designed to be part of either behavioral or brain imaging studies. We expect that such a fine-grained resource will contribute to investigate different dimensions of language processing, on both formal and functional grounds. References 1. Breedin, S.D., Saffran, E.M. (1999). Sentence Processing in the Face of Semantic Loss: A Case Study. Journal of Experimental Psychology 128(4). 2. Lambon Ralph, M. A., et al. (2017). The neural and computational bases of semantic cognition. NatRevNeurosci, 18(1). 3. Gorno-Tempini, ML., et al. (2011). Classification of primary progressive aphasia and its variants. Neurology, 76(11). 4. VanValin, R.D., LaPolla, R.J. (1997), Syntax: Structure, Meaning, and Function, Cambridge, CUP. 5. Romagno, D. et al. (2010). Evidence from neuropsychology on verb features: The case of a patient with Semantic Dementia. Proceedings of Verb 2010, Interdisciplinary workshop on verbs. 6. Romagno, D. (2017). The neural architecture of the morphosyntax/semantics interface: a novel approach for testing language processing in fronto-temporal dementia. In Marotta, G., Strik-Lievers, F.(eds.) Strutture linguistiche e dati empirici in diacronia e sincronia, Pisa, PUP. 7. Baroni, M., et al. (2009). The WaCky wide web: a collection of very large linguistically processed web-crawled corpora. Language Resources and evaluation, 43(3). 8. Hutchinson, A. D., Mathias, J. L. (2007). Neuropsychological deficits in frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease: a meta-analytic review. JNNP, 78(9).
Language processing in the brain: a new battery for investigating the morphosyntax/semantics interface
DOMENICA ROMAGNO
;
2019-01-01
Abstract
Language testing has been long recognized to hold a crucial role in the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases [1]. However, screening batteries are seldomly developed by linguists, whose expertise could highlight fine-grained linguistic phenomena. In this study, we propose a new battery of interrelated linguistic tasks for Italian, to assess language processing in fronto-temporal dementia (FTD). FTD patients typically present with selective deficits at either semantic or morphosyntactic processing [1, 2, 3]. Accordingly, our resource aims at exploring the neurocognitive correlates of such dissociations at the morphosyntax/semantics interface by disentangling distinct kinds of semantic and morphosyntactic features [4]. The study is based on previous work on English by Romagno and collaborators [5-6], adapted to Italian. The battery is composed by 5 macro-categories (Morphosyntax/Semantics Interface, Bare Morphology and Syntax, Thematic Role Assignment, Production, Comprehension), which in turn consist of several targeted tasks. All stimuli were selected among the 1000 most frequent open-class items from [7] and balanced for length, familiarity, and frequency. We are currently collecting normative data on a sample of Italian speakers, pooled across homogeneous subgroups for age, gender, and education, to set a gold-standard. State-of-the-art statistical analyses (such as mixed-effect-modelling) will be performed on data both within and across sample. The final results of the project will be available in a few weeks. In sum, we propose a new resource to assess language abilities in FTD patients. Differently from other studies [8], our battery requires access to distinct interface properties, hence identifying types of neurocognitively distinguishable semantic and morphosyntactic deficits. Additionally, its structure also allows for studying language processing in physiological conditions, particularly the understanding of learning mechanisms. Methodologically, the battery is designed to be part of either behavioral or brain imaging studies. We expect that such a fine-grained resource will contribute to investigate different dimensions of language processing, on both formal and functional grounds. References 1. Breedin, S.D., Saffran, E.M. (1999). Sentence Processing in the Face of Semantic Loss: A Case Study. Journal of Experimental Psychology 128(4). 2. Lambon Ralph, M. A., et al. (2017). The neural and computational bases of semantic cognition. NatRevNeurosci, 18(1). 3. Gorno-Tempini, ML., et al. (2011). Classification of primary progressive aphasia and its variants. Neurology, 76(11). 4. VanValin, R.D., LaPolla, R.J. (1997), Syntax: Structure, Meaning, and Function, Cambridge, CUP. 5. Romagno, D. et al. (2010). Evidence from neuropsychology on verb features: The case of a patient with Semantic Dementia. Proceedings of Verb 2010, Interdisciplinary workshop on verbs. 6. Romagno, D. (2017). The neural architecture of the morphosyntax/semantics interface: a novel approach for testing language processing in fronto-temporal dementia. In Marotta, G., Strik-Lievers, F.(eds.) Strutture linguistiche e dati empirici in diacronia e sincronia, Pisa, PUP. 7. Baroni, M., et al. (2009). The WaCky wide web: a collection of very large linguistically processed web-crawled corpora. Language Resources and evaluation, 43(3). 8. Hutchinson, A. D., Mathias, J. L. (2007). Neuropsychological deficits in frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease: a meta-analytic review. JNNP, 78(9).I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
