He Yaji, Shao Ximing, Liu Chang, Fan Chen, Jefferies Elizabeth, Zhang Meichao, Li Xiaoqing
CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101408, China.
J Neurosci. 2025 Jan 29;45(5):e1404242024. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1404-24.2024.
Predictive processing in the parietal, temporal, frontal, and sensory cortex allows us to anticipate future meanings to maximize the efficiency of language comprehension, with the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) thought to be situated toward the top of a predictive hierarchy. Although the regions underpinning this fundamental brain function are well-documented, it remains unclear how they interact to achieve efficient comprehension. To this end, we recorded functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 22 participants (11 males) while they comprehended sentences presented part by part, in which we manipulated the constraint provided by sentential contexts on upcoming semantic information. Using this paradigm, we examined the connectivity patterns of bilateral TPJ and IFG during anticipatory phases (i.e., before the onset of targets) and integration phases (i.e., after the onset of targets). When upcoming semantic content was highly predictable in strong constraint contexts, both the left TPJ and bilateral IFG showed stronger visual coupling, while the right TPJ showed stronger connectivity with regions within control, default mode, and visual networks, including the IFG, parahippocampal gyrus, posterior cingulate, and fusiform gyrus. These connectivity patterns were weaker when predicted semantic content appeared, in line with predictive coding theory. Conversely, for less-predictable content, these connectivity patterns were stronger during the integration phase. Overall, these results suggest that both top-down semantic prediction and bottom-up integration during predictive processing are supported by flexible coupling of frontoparietal regions with control, memory, and sensory systems.
顶叶、颞叶、额叶和感觉皮层中的预测性处理使我们能够预测未来的含义，以最大限度地提高语言理解效率，颞顶联合区（TPJ）和额下回（IFG）被认为处于预测层次结构的顶端。尽管支持这一基本脑功能的区域已有充分记录，但它们如何相互作用以实现高效理解仍不清楚。为此，我们对22名参与者（11名男性）进行了功能磁共振成像（fMRI）记录，他们逐部分理解句子，我们在其中操纵了句子语境对即将出现的语义信息提供的约束。使用这种范式，我们研究了双侧TPJ和IFG在预期阶段（即目标出现之前）和整合阶段（即目标出现之后）的连接模式。当在强约束语境中即将出现的语义内容具有高度可预测性时，左侧TPJ和双侧IFG都表现出更强的视觉耦合，而右侧TPJ与控制、默认模式和视觉网络内的区域表现出更强的连接，包括IFG、海马旁回、后扣带回和梭状回。当预测的语义内容出现时，这些连接模式较弱，这与预测编码理论一致。相反，对于较不可预测的内容，这些连接模式在整合阶段更强。总体而言，这些结果表明，预测性处理过程中的自上而下语义预测和自下而上整合均由额顶叶区域与控制、记忆和感觉系统的灵活耦合支持。
