Is there a common oscillatory brain mechanism for producing and predicting language?
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2016Author
Molinaro, Nicola
Monsalve, Irene F.
Lizarazu, Mikel
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Nicola Molinaro, Irene F. Monsalve & Mikel Lizarazu (2016) Is there a common oscillatory brain mechanism for producing and predicting language?, Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 31:1, 145-158, DOI: 10.1080/23273798.2015.1077978
Abstract
Recent proposals have suggested that language prediction is supported by the neurophysiological
mechanisms involved in language production. Both prediction and production in language imply
information processing percolating down from abstract semantic representations to lower-level
processing steps, either for articulation (action) or active sensation (perception). Language
production studies have repeatedly reported desynchronisation of oscillatory beta power (13–
30 Hz) over the left frontal cortex during word generation. Crucially, predictive coding theories
propose that the beta frequency channel mediates top-down propagation of information during
prediction. The present study evaluates initial experimental evidence on pre-stimulus activity
during speech production and discusses the similar oscillatory dynamics involved in preparation
for perception of words. We try to better characterise what processing dynamics the prestimulus
beta-band activity represents, illustrating with some results from our lab. This evidence
motivates the need for more fine-grained psycholinguistic paradigms to better characterise
whether prediction and production are supported by similar neurophysiological mechanisms.