Psychologie cognitive expérimentale

Enseignement Cours – Origines du langage et singularité de l’espèce humaine L’espèce humaine présente une multitude de spécificités cognitives qui la distinguent des autres animaux, au point qu’on peut légitimement parler d’une « singularité de l’espèce humaine » – sans pour autant nier, bien entendu, que chacune de nos facultés, comme le soulignait déjà Charles Darwin dans La Descendance de l’homme, trouve son origine dans l’évolution, donc dans l’existence de précurseurs toujours présents c..

EEG analysis based on dynamic visual stimuli: best practices in analysis of sign language data

This paper reviews best practices for experimental design and analysis for sign language research using neurophysiological methods, such as electroencephalography (EEG) and other methods with high temporal resolution, as well as identifies methodological challenges in neurophysiological research on natural sign language processing. In particular, we outline the considerations for generating linguistically and physically well-controlled stimuli accounting for 1) the layering of manual and non-manual information at different timescales, 2) possible unknown linguistic and non-linguistic visual cues that can affect processing, 3) variability across linguistic stimuli, and 4) predictive processing. Two specific concerns with regard to the analysis and interpretation of observed event related potential (ERP) effects for dynamic stimuli are discussed in detail. First, we discuss the “trigger/effect assignment problem”, which describes the difficulty of determining the time point for calculating ERPs. This issue is related to the problem of determining the onset of a critical sign (i.e., stimulus onset time), and the lack of clarity as to how the border between lexical (sign) and transitional movement (motion trajectory between individual signs) should be defined. Second, we discuss possible differences in the dynamics within signing that might influence ERP patterns and should be controlled for when creating natural sign language material for ERP studies. In addition, we outline alternative approaches to EEG data analyses for natural signing stimuli, such as the timestamping of continuous EEG with trigger markers for each potentially relevant cue in dynamic stimuli. Throughout the discussion, we present empirical evidence for the need to account for dynamic, multi-channel, and multi-timescale visual signal that characterizes sign languages in order to ensure the ecological validity of neurophysiological research in sign languages

Modalitat signada, modalitat parlada i cer-vell: és amodal o multimodal, el llenguatge?

Lesions in the perisylvian areas of the left hemisphere give rise to non-fluent or fluent aphasias depending on whether the lesions are frontal or posterior, respectively, both in spoken and signed modalities. Mainly because of this finding, the faculty of language, which is located in those areas, is said to be independent of the modality. However, an assessment of recent research on the subject shows that there is no conclusive evidence for an amodal neural system located in these areas. Cross-modal plasticity in sensory deprivation and a primary multimodal speech system might contribute to explain a neural overlap across both modalities that goes beyond left perisylvian areas whose lateralization depends on the acquisition of speech or sign production in childhood

Modalidad signada, modalidad hablada y cerebro: ¿es el lenguaje amodal o multimodal?

Una lesió en les àrees perisilvianes de l’hemisferi esquerre sol produir una afàsia no fluent si és frontal, i fluent si és posterior, tant en parlants com en signants. Principalment per aquesta descoberta, s’afirma que la facultat de llenguatge, que residiria en aquestes àrees perisilvianes esquerres, és independent de la modalitat parlada o signada. Ara, una avaluació de la recerca recent mostra que no hi ha proves concloents al respecte. La plasticitat transmodal concurrent amb la privació sensorial i un sistema primari multimodal per a la parla contribuirien a explicar una superposició neural per a ambdues modalitats que va més enllà de les àrees perisilvianes, la lateralització de les quals depèn de l’adquisició de la producció de la parla o del signar en la infantesa.Lesions in the perisylvian areas of the left hemisphere give rise to non-fluent or fluent aphasias depending on whether the lesions are frontal or posterior, respectively, both in spoken and signed modalities. Mainly because of this finding, the language faculty, which would be located in those areas, is said to be independent of modality. However, an assessment of recent research on the subject shows that there is no conclusive evidence for an amodal neural system located in these areas. Cross-modal plasticity in sensory deprivation and a primary multimodal speech system might contribute to explaining a neural overlap across both modalities that goes beyond left perisylvian areas, whose lateralization depends on the acquisition of speech or sign production in childhood.Una lesión en las áreas perisilvianas del hemisferio izquierdo suele producir una afasia no fluyente si es frontal, y fluyente si es posterior, tanto en hablantes como signantes. Principalmente por este descubrimiento, se afirma que la facultad de lenguaje, que residiría en dichas áreas, es independiente de la modalidad hablada o signada. Sin embargo, una evaluación de la investigación reciente sobre el tema muestra que no hay pruebas concluyentes al respecto. La plasticidad transmodal concurrente con la privación sensorial y un sistema primario multimodal para el habla contribuirían a explicar una superposición neural para ambas modalidades que va más allá de las áreas perisilvianas cuya lateralización depende de la adquisición de la producción del habla o del signar en la infancia

Basi neurobiologiche delle lingue dei segni

La seguente analisi si pone l’obiettivo di comparare l’esperienza linguistica dei segnanti con quella dei parlanti da un punto di vista neurobiologico e neuropsicologico. Dopo un’iniziale presentazione delle principali caratteristiche riguardo la lingua dei segni (parametri, lateralizzazione, monitoraggio, espressività), finalizzate ad una migliore comprensione degli argomenti successivi, saranno spiegate le principali somiglianze e differenze tra segnanti e parlanti sia nella produzione linguistica che nella comprensione; verranno inoltre presentate delle rilevazioni neurofisiologiche riguardanti gli ERPs coinvolti nell’elaborazione linguistica dei segni, degli studi neuropsicologici atti ad indagare una doppia dissociazione tra segni e gesti non linguistici in individui sordi e verrà infine trattato brevemente anche il fenomeno della riorganizzazione cross-modale

Syntax through the looking glass: A review on two-word linguistic processing across behavioral, neuroimaging and neurostimulation studies

In recent years a growing number of studies on syntactic processing has employed basic two-word constructions (e.g., “the tree”) to characterize the fundamental aspects of linguistic composition. This large body of evidence allows, for the first time, to closely examine which cognitive processes and neural substrates support the combination of two syntactic units into a more complex one, mirroring the nature of combinatory operations described in theoretical linguistics. The present review comprehensively examines behavioural, neuroimaging and neurostimulation studies investigating basic syntactic composition, covering more than forty years of psycho- and neuro-linguistic research. Across several paradigms, four key features of syntactic composition have emerged: (1) the rule-based and (2) automatic nature of the combinatorial process, (3) a central role of Broca’s area and the posterior temporal lobe in representing and combining syntactic features, and (4) the reliance on efficient bottom-up integration rather than top-down prediction

Brain correlates of constituent structure in sign language comprehension

International audienceDuring 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

Principled Explanations in Comparative Biomusicology – Toward a Comparative Cognitive Biology of the Human Capacities for Music and Language

The current thesis tackles the question “Why is music the way it is?” within a comparative biomusicology framework by focusing on musical syntax and its relation to syntax in language. Comparative biomusicology integrates different comparative approaches, biological frameworks as well as levels of analysis in cognitive science, and puts forward principled explanations, regarding cognitive systems as different instances of the same principles, as its central research strategy. The main goal is to provide a preliminary answer to this question in form of hypotheses about neurocognitive mechanisms, i.e., cognitive and neural processes, underlying a core function of syntactic computation in language and music, i.e., mapping hierarchical structure and temporal sequence. In particular, the relationship between language and music is discussed on the basis of a top-down approach taking syntax as combinatorial principles and a bottom-up approach taking neural structures and operations as implementational principles. On the basis of the top-down approach, the thesis identifies computational problems of musical syntax, cognitive processes and neural correlates of music syntactic processing, and the relationship to language syntax and syntactic processing. The neural correlates of music syntactic processing are investigated by ALE meta-analyses. The bottom-up approach then studies the relationship between language and music on the basis of neural processes implemented in the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuits. The main result of the current thesis suggests that the relationship between language and music syntactic processing can be explained in terms of the same neurocognitive mechanisms with different expressions on the motor-to-cognitive gradient. The current thesis, especially its bottom-up approach, opens up a possible way going toward comparative cognitive biology, i.e., a comparative approach to cognitive systems with a greater emphasis on the biology