Institute of Neurology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
Department of Clinical and Behavioral Neurology, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.
Cogn Neuropsychol. 2020 Oct-Dec;37(7-8):466-481. doi: 10.1080/02643294.2020.1739011. Epub 2020 Mar 15.
According to the original "hub-and-spoke" model of conceptual representations, the neural network for semantic memory requires a single convergence zone located in the anterior temporal lobes (ATLs). However, a more recent version of this model acknowledges that a graded specialization of the left and right ATLs might emerge as a consequence of their differential connectivity with language and sensory-motor regions. A recent influential paper maintained that both the format of semantic representations (representational account) and their differential connectivity (connectivity account) could contribute to the cognitive consequences of atrophy to the left versus the right ATL atrophy. That paper, however, also raised questions as to whether the distinction between representational and connectivity accounts is a meaningful question. I argue that an important theoretical difference exists between the representational and the connectivity-based models and that investigations, based on this difference, should allow to choose between these alternative accounts.
根据最初的“中心辐射”概念表示模型，语义记忆的神经网络需要位于前颞叶（ATL）中的单个收敛区。然而，该模型的一个较新版本承认，由于左、右 ATL 与语言和感觉运动区域的连接不同，可能会出现左、右 ATL 的分级专业化。最近一篇有影响力的论文认为，语义表示的格式（表示论）和它们的差异连接（连接论）都可能导致左、右 ATL 萎缩的认知后果。然而，该论文也提出了一个问题，即表示论和连接论之间的区别是否是一个有意义的问题。我认为，在表示论和基于连接的模型之间存在一个重要的理论差异，基于这一差异的研究应该能够在这些替代理论之间做出选择。
