Her One-Soon, Chen Ying-Chun, Yen Nai-Shing
Graduate Institute of Linguistics, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan; Research Center for Mind, Brain, and Learning, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Graduate Institute of Linguistics, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Brain Lang. 2018 Jan;176:11-18. doi: 10.1016/j.bandl.2017.10.007. Epub 2017 Nov 9.
Linguistic analysis suggests that numeral classifiers carry quantity information. However, previous neuroimaging studies have shown that classifiers did not elicit higher activation in the intraparietal sulcus (IPS), associated with representation of numerical magnitude, than tool nouns did. This study aimed to control the semantic attributes of classifiers and reexamine the underlying neural correlates. Participants performed a semantic distance comparison task in which they judged which one of the two items was semantically closer to the target. Processing classifiers elicited higher activation than tool nouns in the bilateral inferior parietal lobules (IPL), middle frontal gyri (MFG), right superior frontal gyrus (SFG), and left lingual gyrus. Conjunction analysis showed that the IPS was commonly activated for classifiers, numbers, dots, and number words. The results support that classifiers activate quantity representations, implicating that the system of classifiers is part of magnitude cognition. Furthermore, the results suggest that the IPS represents magnitude independent of notations.
语言分析表明，数量词带有数量信息。然而，先前的神经影像学研究表明，与数字大小表征相关的顶内沟（IPS）中，数量词引发的激活并不比工具名词更高。本研究旨在控制数量词的语义属性，并重新审视其潜在的神经关联。参与者执行了一项语义距离比较任务，在该任务中，他们判断两个项目中哪一个在语义上更接近目标。与工具名词相比，处理数量词在双侧顶下小叶（IPL）、额中回（MFG）、右侧额上回（SFG）和左侧舌回中引发了更高的激活。联合分析表明，IPS通常在处理数量词、数字、点和数字词时被激活。结果支持数量词激活数量表征，这意味着数量词系统是大小认知的一部分。此外，结果表明IPS独立于符号表征大小。
