Summary: A new study shows that our ability to remember details about family objects, such as the typical color of a bananano, depends on strong connections between the areas of visual processing and brain language. The researchers found that patients with stroke with interrupted neuronal pathways between these regions had weaker knowledge of object color and an altered brain activity.
Using FMRI and dissemination images, the equipment showed that the ventral occipitotempoal (VOTC) cortex, which processes visual details, works in conjunction with language areas such as the previous temporal lobe. This finding reveals that language not only describes the world, but helps structure how we perceive and store it.
Key facts:
Integrated systems: knowledge of the object depends on the connections between visual and language regions. Impact of brain damage: disconnection related to stroke interrupted brain activity and color-color precision. Language forms Perception: language is not only descriptive, it helps structure how the brain stores sensory information.
Source: PLOS
Our ability to store information about family objects depends on the connection between visual and language processing regions in the brain, according to a study published on May 20 in the open access magazine PLOS Biology of Bo Liu de Beijing Normal University, China and colleagues.
See an object and know visual information about it, as its usual color, activate the same parts of the brain.
See a yellow banana, for example, and know that the object represented by the word “banana” is usually yellow, both excite the ventral occipitotemporal cortex (Votc).
However, there is evidence that parts of the brain involved in the language, such as the Dorsal Temporary Lobe (ATL), are also involved in this process: patients with dementia with damage in ATL, for example, fight with the knowledge of the color of objects, despite having relatively normal visual processing areas.
To understand if the communication between the language of the brain and the sensory association systems is necessary to represent information about the objects, the authors proved if the damage induced by the stroke to the neuronal pathways that connects these two systems affected the ability of the patients to match the objects with their typical color.
They compared the color identification behavior in 33 patients with stroke with 35thly coincidental controls, using FMRI to record brain activity and dissemination images to map the connections of white matter between the regions of language and vote.
The researchers found that the strongest connections between language and visual processing regions were correlated with stronger object representations in the VOTC, and supported a better performance in the knowledge tasks of object color.
These effects cannot be explained by variations in patient accident lesions, related cognitive processes (such as simply recognizing a color patch) or problems with previous stages of visual processing.
The authors suggest that these results highlight the sophisticated connection between vision and language in the human brain.
The authors add: “Our findings reveal that the ability of the brain to store and recover the perceptual knowledge of objects, such as the color of a banana, relax in critical connections between visual and language systems.
“The damage to these connections interrupts both the activity of the brain and the behavior, which shows that language is not only for communication, since it fundamentally shares how sensory experiences are structured neurally in knowledge.”
FINANCING: This work was supported by the Sti2030-Major project (https://en.most.gov.cn/, 2021ZD0204100 (2021ZD0204104) A YB), the National Foundation of Natural Sciences of China (https://wwww.nsfc.gov.cn/english/site_1/index.html, 3192502020200 82021004 A YB, 32171052 A XSW, 32071050 A XYW), and fundamental research funds for central universities (http://en.moe.gov.cn/, a yb).
The financiers did not have any role in the design of the study, the collection and analysis of data, the decision to publish or the preparation of the manuscript.
About this research news in language and visual memory
Author: Claire Turner
Source: PLOS
Contact: Claire Turner – Plos
Image: The image is accredited to Neuroscience News
Original research: open access.
“The representation of the knowledge of objects in the human visual cortex requires a connection with the linguistic system” of Yanchao Bi et al. PLOS BIOLOGY
Abstract
The representation of the knowledge of the object in the human visual cortex requires a connection with the language system
How world knowledge is stored in the human brain is a central question in cognitive neuroscience. The effects of the knowledge of objects have been commonly observed in the cortes of higher order sensory association, with the role of highly discussed language.
Using the color of the object as a case of proof, we investigate whether communication with the language system plays a necessary role in the neuronal representation of knowledge in the visual cortex and the corresponding behaviors, combining dissemination images (measuring the structural integrity of white matter), functional magnetic resonance (FMRI; measurement of the functional neural representation of knowledge) and neuropsychological evaluations (measures of behavior integrity) Group of patients referring to patients in patients (n = 3 lesions of the left hemisphere, 11 with injuries of the right hemisphere and 4 with bilateral lesions).
The loss of structural integrity of the white connection between the previous temporal language region and the ventral visual cortex had a significant effect on the resistance of neural representation of the knowledge of the object in the ventral visual cortex and in the behavior of knowledge of the color of objects through modalities.
These contributions could not be explained by the possible effects of the early visual perception or possible cerebral or cognitive confusion variables.
Our experiments reveal the contribution of the vision language connection in the ventral occipitotemporal cortex (VOTC) Knowledge of neuronal representation objects and knowledge knowledge behaviors, highlighting the importance of the interface of the sensory system of language.
