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. 2019 Oct:133:107183.
doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107183. Epub 2019 Sep 4.

Distinct neural mechanisms underlying conceptual knowledge of manner and instrument verbs

Wessel O van Dam  1 , Amit Almor  2 , Svetlana V Shinkareva  1 , Jongwan Kim  1 , Tim W Boiteau  1 , Elizabeth A Shay  3 , Rutvik H Desai  4
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Distinct neural mechanisms underlying conceptual knowledge of manner and instrument verbs

Wessel O van Dam et al. Neuropsychologia. 2019 Oct.

Abstract

Studies on the organization of conceptual knowledge have examined categories of concrete nouns extensively. Less is known about the neural basis of verb categories suggested by linguistic theories. We used functional MRI to examine the differences between manner verbs, which encode information about the manner of an action, versus instrument verbs, which encode information about an object as part of their meaning. Using both visual and verbal stimuli and a combination of univariate and multivariate pattern analyses, our results show that accessing conceptual representations of instrument class involves brain regions typically associated with complex action and object perception, including the anterior inferior parietal cortex and occipito-temporal cortex. On the other hand, accessing conceptual representations of the manner class involves regions that are commonly associated with the processing of visual and biological motion, in the posterior superior temporal sulcus. These findings support the idea that the semantics of manner and instrument verbs are supported by distinct neural mechanisms.

Keywords: Action; Instrument verbs; Language; Manner verbs; Semantics.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Example of the picture stimuli. (A) instrument verb picture (pouring); (B) manner verb picture (preaching); (C) implausible picture (girl hovering); (D) scrambled picture
Figure 2
Figure 2
(2A) Areas that showed greater activation for the Manner Verb Pictures (MVP) than for the Manner Verb Scrambled Pictures (MVS). (2B) Areas that showed greater activation for the Instrument Verb Pictures (IVP) than for the Instrument Verb Scrambled Pictures (IVS). L = left hemisphere, R = right hemisphere.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Areas implicated by the contrasts between Manner Verb Pictures (MVP) and Instrument Verb Pictures (IVP). Red-orange colors show greater activation for the MVP condition; blue-cyan colors show greater activation for the IVP condition. L = left hemisphere, R = right hemisphere.
Figure 4
Figure 4
(A) Searchlight results for classification of Manner Verb Pictures (MVP) and Instrument Verb Pictures (IVP). (B) Searchlight results for classification of Manner verbs (MV) and Instrument verbs (IV).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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