Role of left superior temporal gyrus during name recall process: An event-related fMRI study

When we cannot recall the name of a well-known person despite preserved access to his/her semantic knowledge, a phonological hint such as his/her initials sometimes helps us to recall the name. This type of recall failure appeared to occur by the transmission deficit from the lexical-semantic stage to the lexical-phonological stage in name recall processes, and the phonological cue appeared to activate this transmission, which leads to successful recall. We hypothesized that the brain regions responsible for the transmission would respond to the phonological cue that facilitates name recall, and would also respond to successful recall. A famous face image was presented with a phonological cue, and the subjects were required to recall and overtly pronounce the name during fMRI scanning. The behavioral results showed that the first syllable cue induced greater number of successful recall trials than both the non-verbal sound of the chime and the non-first syllable cue, suggesting that the first syllable facilitated name recall. The fMRI results demonstrated that two regions in the left superior temporal gyrus responded more strongly to the first syllable than both to the non-verbal sound of the chime and to the non-first syllable. In addition, these two regions were activated when the name recall was successful. These results suggest that two regions in the left superior temporal gyrus may play a crucial role in the transmission from the lexical-semantic to the lexical-phonological stage in the name recall processes.

[1]  P. Fletcher,et al.  Selecting among competing alternatives: selection and retrieval in the left inferior frontal gyrus. , 2005, Cerebral cortex.

[2]  Randy L. Buckner,et al.  An Event-Related fMRI Study of Overt and Covert Word Stem Completion , 2001, NeuroImage.

[3]  Keren B. Shatzman,et al.  The word frequency effect in picture naming: Contrasting two hypotheses using homonym pictures , 2004, Brain and Language.

[4]  Alan D Castel,et al.  Memory for Proper Names in Old Age: A Disproportionate Impairment? , 2005, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. A, Human experimental psychology.

[5]  Takamitsu Watanabe,et al.  Memory of music: Roles of right hippocampus and left inferior frontal gyrus , 2008, NeuroImage.

[6]  R. Buckner,et al.  Functional Dissociation among Components of Remembering: Control, Perceived Oldness, and Content , 2003, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[7]  Jill Kester Locantore,et al.  Cherry Pit Primes Brad Pitt , 2004, Psychological science.

[8]  Antje S. Meyer,et al.  Exploring the time course of lexical access in language production : Picture word interference studies , 1990 .

[9]  B. Ober,et al.  Naturally occurring and experimentally induced tip-of-the-tongue experiences in three adult age groups. , 1999, Psychology and aging.

[10]  D. Pisoni,et al.  Recognizing Spoken Words: The Neighborhood Activation Model , 1998, Ear and hearing.

[11]  Muriel Evrard,et al.  Ageing and Lexical Access to Common and Proper Names in Picture Naming , 2002, Brain and Language.

[12]  Russell A. Poldrack,et al.  Imaging phonology without print: Assessing the neural correlates of phonemic awareness using fMRI , 2005, NeuroImage.

[13]  Jean-Luc Anton,et al.  Region of interest analysis using an SPM toolbox , 2010 .

[14]  L W Poon,et al.  Effects of priming in word retrieval. , 1985, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[15]  Anthony D Wagner,et al.  Executive Control during Episodic Retrieval Multiple Prefrontal Processes Subserve Source Memory , 2002, Neuron.

[16]  Alan C. Evans,et al.  BrainWeb: Online Interface to a 3D MRI Simulated Brain Database , 1997 .

[17]  Jean K. Gordon,et al.  A Neural Signature of Phonological Access: Distinguishing the Effects of Word Frequency from Familiarity and Length in Overt Picture Naming , 2007, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[18]  Y. Tang,et al.  On the Tip of the Tongue , 2019, Lyric in its Times.

[19]  D. Pisoni,et al.  Phonotactics, Neighborhood Activation, and Lexical Access for Spoken Words , 1999, Brain and Language.

[20]  Bruce D. McCandliss,et al.  The visual word form area: expertise for reading in the fusiform gyrus , 2003, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[21]  J. Hanley,et al.  The effects of different types of retrieval cues on the recall of names of famous faces , 1988, Memory & cognition.

[22]  Lise Abrams,et al.  Does priming specific syllables during tip-of-the-tongue states facilitate word retrieval in older adults? , 2002 .

[23]  Kensuke Sekihara,et al.  Temporal characterization of memory retrieval processes: an fMRI study of the ‘tip of the tongue’ phenomenon , 2001 .

[24]  C. Price,et al.  The Constraints Functional Neuroimaging Places on Classical Models of Auditory Word Processing , 2001, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[25]  A. Young,et al.  Understanding face recognition. , 1986, British journal of psychology.

[26]  Matthew A. Lambon Ralph,et al.  Implicit Word Cues Facilitate Impaired Naming Performance: Evidence from a Case of Anomia , 2001, Brain and Language.

[27]  H Schriefers,et al.  Priming Effects from Phonologically Related Distractors in Picture—Word Interference , 2001, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. A, Human experimental psychology.

[28]  Albert Costa,et al.  Phonological activation of ignored pictures: Further evidence for a cascade model of lexical access , 2005 .

[29]  Michele Miozzo,et al.  Evidence for a cascade model of lexical access in speech production. , 2002, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[30]  Willem J. M. Levelt,et al.  The neural correlates of language production , 2000 .

[31]  Kayoko Okada,et al.  Identification of lexical–phonological networks in the superior temporal sulcus using functional magnetic resonance imaging , 2006, Neuroreport.

[32]  Daniel L. Schacter,et al.  Graded recall success: an event-related fMRI comparison of tip of the tongue and feeling of knowing , 2005, NeuroImage.

[33]  D. Burke,et al.  Phonological priming effects on word retrieval and tip-of-the-tongue experiences in young and older adults. , 2000, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[34]  Katie L. McMahon,et al.  Orthographic/Phonological Facilitation of Naming Responses in the Picture–Word Task: An Event-Related fMRI Study Using Overt Vocal Responding , 2002, NeuroImage.

[35]  Ulrich H. Frauenfelder,et al.  Neighborhood Density and Frequency Across Languages and Modalities , 1993 .

[36]  Kenichi Ohki,et al.  Neural Correlates for Feeling-of-Knowing An fMRI Parametric Analysis , 2002, Neuron.

[37]  S. Lupker.  The role of phonetic and orthographic similarity in picture-word interference. , 1982, Canadian journal of psychology.

[38]  M. Gruneberg,et al.  ‘Feeling of knowing’ and cued recall ☆ , 1974 .

[39]  A. Young,et al.  Putting names to faces , 1987 .

[40]  Victor S Ferreira,et al.  Phonological Influences on Lexical (Mis)Selection , 2003, Psychological science.

[41]  Toshio Iijima,et al.  Time-dependent neural activations related to recognition of people's names in emotional and neutral face-name associative learning: an fMRI study , 2003, NeuroImage.

[42]  W. Levelt,et al.  The spatial and temporal signatures of word production components , 2004, Cognition.

[43]  V. Bruce,et al.  Resolving semantically induced tip-of-the-tongue states for proper nouns , 1990, Memory & cognition.

[44]  Gillian Cohen,et al.  Why is it difficult to put names to faces , 1990 .

[45]  Richard S. J. Frackowiak,et al.  The neural correlates of the verbal component of working memory , 1993, Nature.

[46]  Tobias Sommer,et al.  Hippocampal–prefrontal encoding activation predicts whether words can be successfully recalled or only recognized , 2006, Behavioural Brain Research.

[47]  Vaidehi S. Natu,et al.  Category-Specific Cortical Activity Precedes Retrieval During Memory Search , 2005, Science.

[48]  G. Cohen,et al.  Memory for proper names: age differences in retrieval , 1986 .

[49]  R. C. Oldfield.  The assessment and analysis of handedness: the Edinburgh inventory. , 1971, Neuropsychologia.

[50]  Kensuke Sekihara,et al.  Temporal characterization of memory retrieval processes: a fMRI study of ‘tip of the tongue’ phenomenon , 2001, NeuroImage.

[51]  K Bock,et al.  The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon: Blocking or partial activation? , 1992, Memory & cognition.

[52]  Randi C. Martin,et al.  Semantic and phonological codes interact in single word production. , 1999, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[53]  Angela R Laird,et al.  Meta‐analyses of object naming: Effect of baseline , 2005, Human brain mapping.

[54]  N. Geschwind.  Language and the brain. , 1972, Scientific American.

[55]  M. Gazzaniga,et al.  The new cognitive neurosciences , 2000 .

[56]  C. Price,et al.  Three Distinct Ventral Occipitotemporal Regions for Reading and Object Naming , 1999, NeuroImage.

[57]  G Hickok,et al.  Functional Anatomy of Speech Perception and Speech Production: Psycholinguistic Implications , 2001, Journal of psycholinguistic research.

[58]  R. Turner,et al.  Event-Related fMRI: Characterizing Differential Responses , 1998, NeuroImage.

[59]  D. Poeppel,et al.  Dorsal and ventral streams: a framework for understanding aspects of the functional anatomy of language , 2004, Cognition.

[60]  Kevin R. Smith,et al.  Word length modulates neural activity in auditory cortex during covert object naming , 2003, Neuroreport.

[61]  Donald G. MacKay,et al.  On the tip of the tongue: What causes word finding failures in young and older adults? , 1991 .

[62]  A. Braun,et al.  Temporal dissociation of early lexical access and articulation using a delayed naming task--an FMRI study. , 2006, Cerebral cortex.

[63]  C. Price.  The functional anatomy of word comprehension and production , 1998, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[64]  Yasushi Miyashita,et al.  Temporal lobe activations of “feeling-of-knowing” induced by face-name associations , 2004, NeuroImage.

[65]  Gregory Hickok,et al.  Speech Perception, Conduction Aphasia, and the Functional Neuroanatomy of Language , 2000 .

[66]  Peter A. Starreveld,et al.  On the Interpretation of Onsets of Auditory Context Effects in Word Production , 2000 .

[67]  J. Desmond,et al.  Functional Specialization for Semantic and Phonological Processing in the Left Inferior Prefrontal Cortex , 1999, NeuroImage.

[68]  Lise Abrams,et al.  Isolating phonological components that increase tip-of-the-tongue resolution , 2003, Memory & cognition.