Origins of dissociations in the English past tense : A synthetic brain imaging model

Westermann, Gert and Jones, Samuel (2021) Origins of dissociations in the English past tense : A synthetic brain imaging model. Frontiers in Psychology, 12: 688908. ISSN 1664-1078

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Abstract

Brain imaging studies of English past tense inflection have found dissociations between regular and irregular verbs, but no coherent picture has emerged to explain how these dissociations arise. Here we use synthetic brain imaging on a neural network model to provide a mechanistic account of the origins of such dissociations. The model suggests that dissociations between regional activation patterns in verb inflection emerge in an adult processing system that has been shaped through experience-dependent structural brain development. Although these dissociations appear to be between regular and irregular verbs, they arise in the model from a combination of statistical properties including frequency, relationships to other verbs, and phonological complexity, without a causal role for regularity or semantics. These results are consistent with the notion that all inflections are produced in a single associative mechanism. The model generates predictions about the patterning of active brain regions for different verbs that can be tested in future imaging studies.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Frontiers in Psychology
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3200/3200
Subjects:
?? english past tenseconnectionist modelingsynthetic brain imagingexperience-dependent brain developmentverb inflectionverb morphologyneuroconstructivismgeneral psychologypsychology(all) ??
ID Code:
155857
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
07 Jun 2021 09:55
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
10 Sep 2024 00:36