Neural Correlates of Verb Argument Structure Processing

Thompson, Cynthia K and Bonakdarpour, Borna and Blumenfeld, Henrike and Fix, Stephen C and Parrish, Todd B and Gitelman, Darren R and Mesulam, Marsel M
Neural Correlates of Verb Argument Structure Processing. In Clinical Aphasiology Conference: Clinical Aphasiology Conference (2005 : 35th : Sanibel Island, FL : May 31-June 4, 2005) / : (2005).

Abstract

This fMRI study examined the neural correlates of verbs controlled for argument structure complexity and nouns controlled for semantic class. Participants showed activation of left inferior frontal and posterior temporal regions for verbs as compared to nouns, and more widespread, non-perisylvian activation for nouns as compared to verbs. Verbs with more complex argument structure entries activated posterior temporal regions bilaterally. These findings suggest that posterior perisylvian regions are crucial for processing the argument structure information associated with verbs.