School of Chinese Language and Literature, University of Chinese Academy of Social Science, Beijing 100102, China.
Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Sciences, School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
Brain Lang. 2024 Jun;253:105426. doi: 10.1016/j.bandl.2024.105426. Epub 2024 May 29.
In human languages, it is a common phenomenon for a single word to have multiple meanings. This study used fMRI to investigate how the brain processed different types of lexical ambiguity, and how it differentiated the meanings of ambiguous words. We focused on homonyms and polysemy that differed in the relatedness among multiple meanings. Participants (N = 35) performed a prime-target semantic relatedness task, where a specific meaning of an ambiguous word was primed. Results showed that homonyms elicited greater activation in bilateral dorsal prefrontal and posterior parietal cortices than polysemous words, suggesting that these regions may be more engaged in cognitive control when the meanings of ambiguous words are unrelated. Multivariate pattern analysis further revealed that meanings of homonyms with different syntactic categories were represented differently in the frontal and temporal cortices. The findings highlighted the importance of semantic relations and grammatical factors in the brain's representation of lexical ambiguities.
在人类语言中，一个单词具有多个含义是很常见的现象。本研究使用 fMRI 来探讨大脑如何处理不同类型的词汇歧义，并如何区分歧义单词的含义。我们专注于同形异义词和多义词，它们在多个含义之间的相关性上有所不同。参与者（N=35）执行了一个启动-目标语义相关性任务，其中一个歧义单词的特定含义被启动。结果表明，同形异义词在双侧背外侧前额叶和后顶叶皮层引起的激活比多义词更大，这表明当歧义单词的含义不相关时，这些区域可能更参与认知控制。多变量模式分析进一步表明，具有不同句法类别的同形异义词的含义在额颞叶皮层中以不同的方式表示。这些发现强调了语义关系和语法因素在大脑对词汇歧义的表示中的重要性。
