Neural correlates of semantic and syntactic processing in German Sign Language

Publication date: Available online 17 June 2019Source: NeuroImageAuthor(s): Anna-Lena Stroh, Frank Rösler, Giulia Dormal, Uta Salden, Nils Skotara, Barbara Hänel-Faulhaber, Brigitte RöderAbstractThe study of deaf and hearing native users of signed languages can offer unique insights into how biological constraints and environmental input interact to shape the neural bases of language processing. Here, we use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to address two questions: (1) Do semantic and syntactic processing in a signed language rely on anatomically and functionally distinct neural substrates as it has been shown for spoken languages? and (2) Does hearing status affect the neural correlates of these two types of linguistic processing? Deaf and hearing native signers performed a sentence judgement task on German Sign Language (Deutsche Gebärdensprache: DGS) sentences which were correct or contained either syntactic or semantic violations. We hypothesized that processing of semantic and syntactic violations in DGS relies on distinct neural substrates as it has been shown for spoken languages. Moreover, we hypothesized that effects of hearing status are observed within auditory regions, as deaf native signers have been shown to activate auditory areas to a greater extent than hearing native signers when processing a signed language. Semantic processing activated low-level visual areas and the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), suggesting both modality-dependent and...
Source: NeuroImage - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research