Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
J Inherit Metab Dis. 2011 Apr;34(2):367-76. doi: 10.1007/s10545-010-9266-4. Epub 2011 Feb 3.
Most humans are social beings and we express our thoughts and feelings through language. In contrast to the ease with which we speak, the underlying cognitive and neural processes of language production are fairly complex and still little understood. In the hereditary metabolic disease classic galactosemia, failures in language production processes are among the most reported difficulties. It is unclear, however, what the underlying neural cause of this cognitive problem is. Modern brain imaging techniques allow us to look into the brain of a thinking patient online - while she or he is performing a task, such as speaking. We can measure indirectly neural activity related to the output side of a process (e.g. articulation). But most importantly, we can look into the planning phase prior to an overt response, hence tapping into subcomponents of speech planning. These components include verbal memory, intention to speak, and the planning of meaning, syntax, and phonology. This paper briefly introduces cognitive theories on language production and methods used in cognitive neuroscience. It reviews the possibilities of applying them in experimental paradigms to investigate language production and verbal memory in galactosemia.
大多数人都是社会生物，我们通过语言来表达自己的思想和感受。与我们轻松说话的方式形成对比的是，语言产生的潜在认知和神经过程相当复杂，而且仍不太为人所知。在遗传性代谢疾病经典型半乳糖血症中，语言产生过程中的失败是最常被报道的困难之一。然而，这种认知问题的潜在神经原因尚不清楚。现代脑成像技术使我们能够在在线思维患者执行任务（例如说话）时直接观察其大脑。我们可以间接测量与过程输出端相关的神经活动（例如发音）。但最重要的是，我们可以观察到明显反应之前的计划阶段，从而深入了解言语计划的子成分。这些成分包括言语记忆、说话意图以及意义、语法和音韵的规划。本文简要介绍了语言产生的认知理论和认知神经科学中使用的方法。它回顾了将这些方法应用于实验范式以研究半乳糖血症中的语言产生和言语记忆的可能性。
