Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Department of Experimental Psychology and Ghent Institute for Functional and Metabolic Imaging, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, 9000 Gent, Belgium.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2013 Aug;8(6):688-93. doi: 10.1093/scan/nss047. Epub 2012 May 3.
Based on the philosophical notion that language embodies thought we investigated whether a habitual tendency for intrusive thought that younger and older participants report over a period of 100 sessions, spread out over about 6 months, is associated with brain regions related to language production. In favour of this hypothesis, we found that individual differences in habitual intrusive thoughts are correlated with activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG, Broca's area) as well as the cingulate cortex (CC) during a two-choice reaction-time task in fMRI. Participants who habitually tended to experience intrusive thoughts showed greater activity during task-free (baseline) compared to task periods in brain regions involved in language production. Task performance was unrelated to individual differences in intrusive thoughts. We conclude that intrusive thoughts may be represented in a language-like format and that individuals reporting a habitually higher tendency for intrusive thoughts may have stronger and more habitual inner speech processes.
基于语言体现思维这一哲学观点，我们研究了年轻人和老年人在大约 6 个月的 100 次会议期间报告的侵入性思维的习惯性倾向是否与与语言产生相关的大脑区域有关。支持这一假设，我们发现习惯性侵入性思维的个体差异与 fMRI 中在二选一反应时间任务期间左额下回（IFG，布罗卡区）以及扣带皮层（CC）的活动相关。习惯性倾向于经历侵入性思维的参与者在与语言产生相关的大脑区域中，在无任务（基线）期间比任务期间表现出更大的活动。任务表现与侵入性思维的个体差异无关。我们得出结论，侵入性思维可能以类似于语言的格式呈现，并且报告习惯性更高侵入性思维倾向的个体可能具有更强和更习惯的内部言语过程。
