Li Aqian, Chen Chuansheng, Feng Yuan, Hu Rui, Feng Xiaoxue, Yang Jingyu, Lin Xingying, Mei Leilei
Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, China; Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China; Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, China; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China.
Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
Neuroimage. 2025 May 1;311:121201. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121201. Epub 2025 Apr 10.
Previous studies have shown that the left temporoparietal junction (TPJ) plays a critical role in word reading. Nevertheless, there is still controversy surrounding the phonological and semantic functions of the left TPJ. The parietal unified connectivity-biased computation (PUCC) model posits that the function of the left TPJ depends on both the neurocomputation of this local area and its long-range connectivity. To clarify the specific roles of different TPJ subregions in phonological and semantic processing of Chinese characters, the present study used connectivity-based clustering to identify seven subdivisions within the left TPJ, and conducted comprehensive analyses including functional and structural connectivity, univariate and multivariate analyses (i.e., representational similarity analysis, RSA) on multimodal imaging data (task-state fMRI, resting-state fMRI, and diffusion-weighted imaging [DWI]). Functional and structural connectivity analyses revealed that the left anterior TPJ had stronger connections with the phonological network, while the left posterior TPJ had stronger connections with the semantic network. RSA revealed that the left anterior and posterior TPJ represented phonological and semantic information of Chinese characters, respectively. More importantly, the phonological and semantic representations of the left TPJ were respectively correlated with its functional connectivity to the phonological and semantic networks. Altogether, our results provide a more elaborate perspective on the functional dissociation of the left anterior and posterior TPJ in phonological and semantic processing of Chinese characters, and support the PUCC model.
先前的研究表明，左侧颞顶联合区（TPJ）在单词阅读中起关键作用。然而，围绕左侧TPJ的语音和语义功能仍存在争议。顶叶统一连接偏向计算（PUCC）模型假定，左侧TPJ的功能取决于该局部区域的神经计算及其远程连接。为了阐明不同TPJ子区域在汉字语音和语义处理中的具体作用，本研究采用基于连接性的聚类方法在左侧TPJ内识别出七个细分区域，并对多模态成像数据（任务态功能磁共振成像、静息态功能磁共振成像和扩散加权成像[DWI]）进行了包括功能和结构连接性、单变量和多变量分析（即表征相似性分析，RSA）在内的综合分析。功能和结构连接性分析显示，左侧前TPJ与语音网络的连接更强，而左侧后TPJ与语义网络的连接更强。RSA显示，左侧前TPJ和后TPJ分别表征了汉字的语音和语义信息。更重要的是，左侧TPJ的语音和语义表征分别与其与语音和语义网络的功能连接性相关。总之，我们的研究结果为左侧前TPJ和后TPJ在汉字语音和语义处理中的功能分离提供了更详尽的视角，并支持了PUCC模型。
