University of Ulm, Department of Psychiatry, Ulm, Germany.
Cortex. 2012 Jul;48(7):805-25. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2011.04.006. Epub 2011 Apr 30.
Conceptual representations in long-term memory crucially contribute to perception and action, language and thought. However, the precise nature of these conceptual memory traces is discussed controversially. In particular, the grounding of concepts in the sensory and motor brain systems is the focus of a current debate. Here, we review theoretical accounts of the structure and neural basis of conceptual memory and evaluate them in light of recent empirical evidence. Models of conceptual processing can be distinguished along four dimensions: (i) amodal versus modality-specific, (ii) localist versus distributed, (iii) innate versus experience-dependent, and (iv) stable versus flexible. A systematic review of behavioral and neuroimaging studies in healthy participants along with brain-damaged patients will then be used to evaluate the competing theoretical approaches to conceptual representations. These findings indicate that concepts are flexible, distributed representations comprised of modality-specific conceptual features. Conceptual features are stored in distinct sensory and motor brain areas depending on specific sensory and motor experiences during concept acquisition. Three important controversial issues are highlighted, which require further clarification in future research: the existence of an amodal conceptual representation in the anterior temporal lobe, the causal role of sensory and motor activation for conceptual processing and the grounding of abstract concepts in perception and action. We argue that an embodiment view of conceptual representations realized as distributed sensory and motor cell assemblies that are complemented by supramodal integration brain circuits may serve as a theoretical framework to guide future research on concrete and abstract concepts.
长期记忆中的概念表示对感知和行动、语言和思维至关重要。然而,这些概念记忆痕迹的精确性质仍存在争议。特别是,概念在感觉和运动脑系统中的基础是当前争论的焦点。在这里,我们回顾了概念记忆的结构和神经基础的理论解释,并根据最近的实证证据对其进行了评估。概念处理模型可以沿四个维度区分:(i)非模态与模态特异性,(ii)局域与分布式,(iii)先天与经验依赖性,以及(iv)稳定与灵活。然后,我们将使用健康参与者的行为和神经影像学研究以及脑损伤患者的研究来评估竞争理论方法对概念表示的评估。这些发现表明,概念是灵活的、分布式的表示形式,由模态特异性的概念特征组成。概念特征存储在特定的感觉和运动脑区域中,具体取决于概念习得过程中的特定感觉和运动经验。强调了三个重要的有争议的问题,这些问题需要在未来的研究中进一步澄清:前颞叶中存在非模态的概念表示,感觉和运动激活对概念处理的因果作用,以及抽象概念在感知和行动中的基础。我们认为,概念表示的体现观点,即作为分布式感觉和运动细胞集合的体现,辅以超模态整合脑回路,可以作为指导未来对具体和抽象概念的研究的理论框架。