Elsevier

Cognition

Volume 92, Issues 1–2, May–June 2004, Pages 101-144
Cognition

The spatial and temporal signatures of word production components

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2002.06.001Get rights and content

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a comprehensive meta-analysis of the relevant imaging literature on word production (82 experiments). In addition to the spatial overlap of activated regions, we also analyzed the available data on the time course of activations. The analysis specified regions and time windows of activation for the core processes of word production: lexical selection, phonological code retrieval, syllabification, and phonetic/articulatory preparation. A comparison of the word production results with studies on auditory word/non-word perception and reading showed that the time course of activations in word production is, on the whole, compatible with the temporal constraints that perception processes impose on the production processes they affect in picture/word interference paradigms.

Section snippets

The functional organization of word production

Producing spoken words, whether in isolation or in the context of a larger utterance, involves an extensive neural network. In a recent meta-analysis of 58 neuroimaging studies of word production, Indefrey and Levelt (2000) found that the main components of this network, defined as cerebral regions showing statistically distinguishable activation in word production tasks, are largely left-lateralized. In addition, different regions of activation appeared to be involved with different functional

Cerebral regions involved in word production and perception – a meta-analysis

The meta-analysis by Indefrey and Levelt (2000) identified a set of cerebral areas related to the core processes of word production. In the present paper, the focus is on cerebral areas that are possibly involved in the interaction of word production and perception. This means that in addition to the set of areas involved in word production we seek to identify areas that are active both in word production and perception. To this end, the present meta-analysis covers a large number of studies

The time course of cerebral activations during word production

So far, we have seen that neural structures subserving core processing components of word production are also activated in word perception. This spatial overlap may play a role in a neural explanation for interactions between the two pathways, for example by minimizing relay times for the exchange of information. Temporal overlap, however, is much more crucial. Psycholinguistic effects like the interference of semantically related distracter words with the selection of the target lemma in word

Conclusions

The spoken language user constantly operates a dual system, perceiving and producing utterances. These systems not only alternate, but in many cases they partially or wholly operate in concert. Levelt (2001) reviewed some of the experimental evidence demonstrating effects on utterance production that are caused by concomitant perceptual input. The two systems not only operate in concert, but they interact in specific ways at different levels of processing. These facts, it was argued, can be

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