Conceptual representations in the default, control and attention networks are task-dependent and cross-modal

Brain Lang. 2023 Aug 16;244:105313. doi: 10.1016/j.bandl.2023.105313. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTConceptual knowledge is central to human cognition. Neuroimaging studies suggest that conceptual processing involves modality-specific and multimodal brain regions in a task-dependent fashion. However, it remains unclear (1) to what extent conceptual feature representations are also modulated by the task, (2) whether conceptual representations in multimodal regions are indeed cross-modal, and (3) how the conceptual system relates to the large-scale functional brain networks. To address these issues, we conducted multivariate pattern analyses on fMRI data. 40 participants performed three tasks-lexical decision, sound judgment, and action judgment-on written words. We found that (1) conceptual feature representations are strongly modulated by the task, (2) conceptual representations in several multimodal regions are cross-modal, and (3) conceptual feature retrieval involves the default, frontoparietal control, and dorsal attention networks. Conceptual representations in these large-scale networks are task-dependent and cross-modal. Our findings support theories that assume conceptual processing to rely on a flexible, multi-level architecture.PMID:37595340 | DOI:10.1016/j.bandl.2023.105313

Source: Brain and Language - August 18, 2023 Category: Neurology Authors: Philipp Kuhnke Markus Kiefer Gesa Hartwigsen Source Type: research