Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-995ml Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T12:29:24.444Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Relations of lexical access to neural implementation and syntactic encoding

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2004

Willem J. M. Levelt*
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, 6500 AH Nijmegen, The Netherlandshttp://www.mpi.nl
Antje S. Meyer*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdomhttp://www.bham.ac.uk/psychology/research_03/lang_cog.htm
Ardi Roelofs*
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, 6500 AH Nijmegen, The Netherlandshttp://www.mpi.nl

Abstract

How can one conceive of the neuronal implementation of the processing model we proposed in our target article? In his commentary (Pulvermüller 1999, reprinted here in this issue), Pulvermüller makes various proposals concerning the underlying neural mechanisms and their potential localizations in the brain. These proposals demonstrate the compatibility of our processing model and current neuroscience. We add further evidence on details of localization based on a recent meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies of word production (Indefrey & Levelt 2000). We also express some minor disagreements with respect to Pulvermüller's interpretation of the “lemma” notion, and concerning his neural modeling of phonological code retrieval. Branigan & Pickering discuss important aspects of syntactic encoding, which was not the topic of the target article. We discuss their well-taken proposal that multiple syntactic frames for a single verb lemma are represented as independent nodes, which can be shared with other verbs, such as accounting for syntactic priming in speech production. We also discuss how, in principle, the alternative multiple-frame-multiple-lemma account can be tested empirically. The available evidence does not seem to support that account.

Type
Authors' Response
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abeles, M. (1991) Corticonics - Neural circuits of the cerebral cortex. Cambridge University Press. [rWJML, FP]Google Scholar
Bangalore, S. & Joshi, A. K. (1999) Supertagging: An approach to almost parsing. Computational Linguistics 25:237-65. [rWJML]Google Scholar
Bock, J. K. (1986) Syntactic persistence in language production. Cognitive Psychology 18:355-87. [HPB, rWJML]Google Scholar
Bock, J. K. (1989) Closed class immanence in sentence production. Cognition 31:163-86. [HPB]Google Scholar
Bock, J. K. & Loebell, H. (1990) Framing sentences. Cognition 35:1-39. [HPB]Google Scholar
Braitenberg, V. (1978) Cell assemblies in the cerebral cortex. In: Theoretical approaches to complex systems. Lecture notes in biomathematics, vol. 21, ed. Heim, R. & Palm, G.. Springer. [FP]Google Scholar
Braitenberg, V. & Pulvermüller, F. (1992) Entwurf einer neurologischen Theorie der Sprache. Naturwissenschaften 79:103-17. [FP]Google Scholar
Braitenberg, V. & Schüz, A. (1991) Anatomy of the cortex. Statistics and geometry. Springer. (2nd edition). [FP]Google Scholar
Branigan, H. P., Pickering, M. J. & Cleland, A. A. (2000) Syntactic coordination in dialogue. Cognition 75:B13-B25. [HPB]Google Scholar
Branigan, H. P., Pickering, M. J., Liversedge, S. P., Stewart, A. J. & Urbach, T. P. (1995) Syntactic priming: Investigating the mental representation of language. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 24:489-506. [HPB]Google Scholar
Bresnan, J., ed. (1982) The mental representation of grammatical relations. MIT Press. [rWJML]Google Scholar
Caramazza, A. & Miozzo, M. (1997) The relation between syntactic and phonological knowledge in lexical access: Evidence from the “tip-of-thetongue” phenomenon. Cognition 64:309-43. [HPB]Google Scholar
Cutler, A. & Norris, D. (1999) Sharpening Ockham's razor. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 22(1):40-41. [HPB]Google Scholar
Damasio, H., Grabowski, T. J., Tranel, D., Hichwa, R. D. & Damasio, A. R. (1996) A neural basis for lexical retrieval. Nature 380:499-505. [FP]Google Scholar
Deacon, T. W. (1992) Cortical connections of the inferior arcuate sulcus cortex in the macaque brain. Brain Research 573:8-26. [FP]Google Scholar
Ferreira, F. (1999) Prosody and word production. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 22(1):43-44. [HPB]Google Scholar
Ferreira, V. (1996) Is it better to give than to donate? Syntactic flexibility in language production. Journal of Memory and Language 35:724-55. [rWJML]Google Scholar
Fuster, J. M. (1994) Memory in the cerebral cortex. An empirical approach to neural networks in the human and nonhuman primate. MIT Press. [FP]Google Scholar
Gordon, P. C. (1999) Naming versus referring in the selection of words. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 22(1):44. [HPB]Google Scholar
Harley, T. A. (1999) Will one-stage and no feedback suffice in lexicalization? Behavioral and Brain Sciences 22(1):45. [HPB]Google Scholar
Indefrey, P. & Levelt, W. J. M. (2000) The neural correlates of language production. In: The new cognitive neurosciences, ed. Gazzaniga, M.. MIT Press. [rWJML]Google Scholar
Lashley, K. S. (1951) The problem of serial order in behavior. In: Cerebral mechanisms in behavior: The Hixxon symposium, ed. Jeffress, L. A.. Wiley. [FP]Google Scholar
Levelt, W. J. M. (1989) Speaking: From intention to articulation. MIT Press. [rWJML]Google Scholar
Levelt, W. J. M., Roelofs, A. & Meyer, A. S. (1999) A theory of lexical access in speech production. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 22(1):1-75. [HPB]Google Scholar
Levelt, W. J. M., Schriefers, H., Vorberg, D., Meyer, A. S., Pechmann, T. & Havinga, J. (1991) The time course of lexical access in speech production: A study of picture naming. Psychological Review 98:122-42. [FP]Google Scholar
Martin, A. (1998) Organization of semantic knowledge and the origin of words in the brain. In: The origin and diversification of language, ed. Jablonski, N. G. & Aiello, L. C., pp. 69-88. California Academy of Sciences. [rWJML]Google Scholar
Pandya, D. N. & Yeterian, E. H. (1985) Architecture and connections of cortical association areas. In: Cerebral cortex. Vol. 4: Association and auditory cortices, ed. Peters, A. & Jones, E. G.. Plenum Press. [FP]Google Scholar
Pickering, M. J. & Branigan, H. P. (1998) The representation of verbs: Evidence from syntactic persistence in written language production. Journal of Memory and Language 39:633-51. [HPB, rWJML]Google Scholar
Pickering, M. J. & Branigan, H. P. (1999) Syntactic priming in language production. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 3:136-41. [HPB]Google Scholar
Pulvermüller, F. (1992) Constituents of a neurological theory of language. Concepts in Neuroscience 3:157-200. [FP]Google Scholar
Pulvermüller, F. (1995) Aggramatism: Behavioral description and neurobiological explanation. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 7:165-81. [FP]Google Scholar
Pulvermüller, F. (1996) Hebb's concept of cell assemblies and the psychophysiology of word processing. Psychophysiology 33:317-33. [FP]Google Scholar
Pulvermüller, F. (1999) Lexical access as a brain mechanism. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 22(1):52-54. (Reprinted in this issue of BBS). [rWJML]Google Scholar
Roberts, B., Kalish, M., Hird, K. & Kirsner, K. (1999) Decontextualised data IN, decontextualised theory OUT. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 22(1):54-55. [HPB]Google Scholar
Vanier, M. & Caplan, D. (1990) CT-scan correlates of agrammatism. In: Agrammatic aphasia: A cross-language narrative sourcebook, vol. 1, ed. Menn, L. & Obler, L. K.. John Benjamins. [FP]Google Scholar
Warrington, E. K. & McCarthy, R. A. (1987) Categories of knowledge: Further fractionations and an attempted integration. Brain 110:1273-96. [FP]Google Scholar
Wickelgren, W. A. (1969) Context-sensitive coding, associative memory, and serial order in (speech) behavior. Psychological Review 76:1-15. [FP]Google Scholar
Wickens, J. R. (1993) A theory of the striatum. Pergamon Press. [FP]Google Scholar