Individual Differences in the Neural Basis of Causal Inferencing

Autor/inn/en	Prat, Chantel S.; Mason, Robert A.; Just, Marcel Adam
Titel	Individual Differences in the Neural Basis of Causal Inferencing
Quelle	In: Brain and Language, 116 (2011) 1, S.1-13 (13 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0093-934X
DOI	10.1016/j.bandl.2010.08.004
Schlagwörter	Reading Comprehension; Sentences; Rhetoric; Reading Tests; Language Skills; Inferences; Brain Hemisphere Functions; Diagnostic Tests; Individual Differences; Scores; Connected Discourse; Nelson Denny Reading Tests + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Leseverstehen; Sentence analysis; Satzanalyse; Rhetorik; Lesetest; Language skill; Sprachkompetenz; Inference; Inferenz; Diagnostic test; Diagnostischer Test; Individueller Unterschied
Abstract	This study used fMRI to examine individual differences in the neural basis of causal inferencing. Participants with varying language skill levels, as indexed by scores on the vocabulary portion of the Nelson-Denny Reading Test, read four types of two-sentence passages in which causal relatedness (moderate and distant) and presence or absence of explicit clause connectives were orthogonally varied to manipulate coherence and cohesion during inference generation. Skilled readers showed better neural efficiency (less activation) during all context sentences and during all inference conditions. Increased activation in less-skilled readers was most extensively distributed in the right hemisphere (RH) homologues of left hemisphere (LH) language areas, especially in the most difficult passage types. Skilled readers also showed greater sensitivity to coherence (greater activation and synchronization in moderately related than distantly related passages) whereas less-skilled readers showed sensitivity to cohesion (greater activation and synchronization when clause connectives were present than when they were not). These finding support the hypothesis that skilled reading comprehension requires recruitment of the RH on an "as needed" basis. We describe the dynamic spillover hypothesis, a new theoretical framework that outlines the conditions under which RH language contributions are most likely evoked. (Contains 7 tables and 5 figures.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10