Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA.
University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA.
Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2018 Oct;18(5):964-981. doi: 10.3758/s13415-018-0616-2.
Language production and cognitive control are complex processes that involve distinct yet interacting brain networks. However, the extent to which these processes interact and their neural bases have not been thoroughly examined. Here, we investigated the neural and behavioral bases of language production and cognitive control via a phonological go/no-go picture-naming task. Naming difficulty and cognitive control demands (i.e., conflict monitoring and response inhibition) were manipulated by varying the proportion of naming trials (go trials) and inhibition trials (no-go trials) across task runs. The results demonstrated that as task demands increased, participants' behavioral performance declined (i.e., longer reaction times on naming trials, more commission errors on inhibition trials) whereas brain activation generally increased. Increased activation was found not only within the language network but also in domain-general control regions. Additionally, right superior and inferior frontal and left supramarginal gyri were sensitive to increased task difficulty during both language production and response inhibition. We also found both positive and negative brain-behavior correlations. Most notably, increased activation in sensorimotor regions, such as precentral and postcentral gyri, was associated with better behavioral performance, in both successful picture naming and successful inhibition. Moreover, comparing the strength of correlations across conditions indicated that the brain-behavior correlations in sensorimotor regions that were associated with improved performance became stronger as task demands increased. Overall, our results suggest that cognitive control demands affect language production, and that successfully coping with increases in task difficulty relies on both language-specific and domain-general cognitive control regions.
语言产生和认知控制是复杂的过程，涉及到不同但相互作用的大脑网络。然而，这些过程的相互作用及其神经基础尚未得到彻底研究。在这里，我们通过语音 Go/No-Go 图片命名任务来研究语言产生和认知控制的神经和行为基础。通过在任务运行中改变命名试验（Go 试验）和抑制试验（No-Go 试验）的比例来操纵命名难度和认知控制需求（即冲突监测和反应抑制）。结果表明，随着任务需求的增加，参与者的行为表现下降（即命名试验的反应时间延长，抑制试验的错误增加），而大脑激活通常增加。增加的激活不仅在语言网络中，而且在域一般控制区域中都被发现。此外，右侧额上回和额下回以及左侧缘上回在语言产生和反应抑制过程中对增加的任务难度都很敏感。我们还发现了正相关和负相关的脑-行为关系。值得注意的是，感觉运动区域（如中央前回和中央后回）的激活增加与更好的行为表现有关，无论是成功的图片命名还是成功的抑制。此外，比较条件之间的相关性强度表明，与性能提高相关的感觉运动区域的脑-行为相关性随着任务需求的增加而增强。总的来说，我们的结果表明认知控制需求会影响语言产生，并且成功应对任务难度的增加依赖于语言特异性和域一般认知控制区域。
