Open AccessPredictions interact with missing sensory evidence in semantic processing areas
Author(s) -
Scharinger Mathias,
Bendixen Alexandra,
Herrmann Björn,
Henry Molly J.,
Mildner Toralf,
Obleser Jonas
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
human brain mapping
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.005
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1097-0193
pISSN - 1065-9471
DOI - 10.1002/hbm.23060
Subject(s) - precuneus , predictability , functional magnetic resonance imaging , semantic memory , psychology , perception , cognitive psychology , angular gyrus , coactivation , context (archaeology) , brain activity and meditation , computer science , neuroscience , cognition , electroencephalography , paleontology , physics , quantum mechanics , electromyography , biology
Human brain function draws on predictive mechanisms that exploit higher‐level context during lower‐level perception. These mechanisms are particularly relevant for situations in which sensory information is compromised or incomplete, as for example in natural speech where speech segments may be omitted due to sluggish articulation. Here, we investigate which brain areas support the processing of incomplete words that were predictable from semantic context, compared with incomplete words that were unpredictable. During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), participants heard sentences that orthogonally varied in predictability (semantically predictable vs. unpredictable) and completeness (complete vs. incomplete, i.e. missing their final consonant cluster). The effects of predictability and completeness interacted in heteromodal semantic processing areas, including left angular gyrus and left precuneus, where activity did not differ between complete and incomplete words when they were predictable. The same regions showed stronger activity for incomplete than for complete words when they were unpredictable. The interaction pattern suggests that for highly predictable words, the speech signal does not need to be complete for neural processing in semantic processing areas. Hum Brain Mapp 37:704–716, 2016 . © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.