MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences UnitCBSU bibliography search
To request a reprint of a CBSU publication, please
click here to send us an email (reprints may not be available for all publications)
Category-specific conceptual processing of color and form in left fronto-temporal cortex: fMRI and EEG evidence
Authors:
PULVERMULLER, F., HAUK, O. & MOSCOSO DEL PRADO MARTIN, F.
Reference:
Society for Psychophysiological Research, 45th Annual Meeting, Session 6/37
Year of publication:
2005
CBU number:
6173
Abstract:
To investigate the cortical basis of color and form concepts, we examined event-related fMRI and ERP responses to matched words related to abstract color and form information. Silent word reading elicited activity in left temporal and frontal cortex, where also category-specific activity differences were observed. Whereas color words preferentially activated anterior parahippocampal gyrus, form words evoked category-specific activity in fusiform and middle temporal gyrus and in premotor and dorsolateral prefrontal areas in inferior and middle frontal gyri. These results demonstrate that abstract word meanings and concepts are not processed by a unique cortical area, but by different sets of areas each of which may contribute differentially to conceptual semantic processing. We hypothesise that the anterior parahippocampal activation to color words indexes computation of visual feature conjunctions and disjunctions necessary for classifying visual stimuli under a color concept. The predominant premotor and prefrontal activation to form words suggests action-related information processing and may reflect the involvement of multimodal canonical and mirror neurons related to adumbrating shapes. Corresponding category-specific topographical differences in the source estimates obtained from neurophysiological brain responses indicate early access to specific semantic information within 200 ms after stimulus onset.
