Department of Psychology, Edge Hill University/, UK; Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, University of Liverpool/, UK; Liverpool Magnetic Resonance Imaging Centre (LiMRIC), University of Liverpool/, UK.
Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, University of Liverpool/, UK; Liverpool Magnetic Resonance Imaging Centre (LiMRIC), University of Liverpool/, UK.
Neuroscience. 2019 Oct 15;418:96-109. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2019.08.039. Epub 2019 Aug 29.
In pragmatic language, there is an intentional distinction between the literal meaning of what is said, and what the speaker actually means. Previous neuroimaging investigations of pragmatic language have contrasted it with literal language; however, such contrasts may have been confounded by the higher levels of ambiguity in pragmatic language. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare pragmatic sentences (specifically requiring the interpretation of nonliteral meaning in the form of hints) with unintentionally ambiguous scenarios. Analysis showed that ambiguous language activated brain areas recognized to play a role in generating a theory of mind (ToM) that have previously been argued to support understanding of pragmatic language, specifically medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and temporoparietal junction (TPJ). In contrast, the pragmatic scenarios drew on anterior temporal, superior parietal lobule, in addition to precuneus. While no effect of gender was found for unintentionally ambiguous stimuli, females showed greater activity than males within mPFC and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) for pragmatic scenarios - regions thought to be involved in cognitive and affective empathy, respectively. Findings suggest that while areas underpinning ToM are sufficient to support meaning derivation in the context of ambiguity, reasoning about pragmatic intent is more reliant on access to self-referential memory.
在实用语言中，存在着所说内容的字面意思与说话者实际意思之间的有意区分。先前关于实用语言的神经影像学研究将其与字面语言进行了对比；然而，这种对比可能因实用语言的歧义程度较高而受到混淆。在这里，我们使用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）来比较实用句子（特别是需要以暗示的形式解释非字面意义）和无意中歧义的情景。分析表明，歧义语言激活了被认为在生成心理理论（ToM）中起作用的大脑区域，这些区域先前被认为支持对实用语言的理解，特别是内侧前额叶皮层（mPFC）、后扣带皮层（PCC）和颞顶联合区（TPJ）。相比之下，实用场景则依赖于颞前区、顶下小叶，以及楔前叶。虽然对于无意中歧义的刺激物没有发现性别效应，但对于实用场景，女性在 mPFC 和额下回（IFG）中的活动比男性更强——这些区域被认为分别与认知和情感同理心有关。研究结果表明，虽然支持 ToM 的区域足以在歧义的情况下支持意义推导，但推理实用意图更依赖于对自我参照记忆的访问。
