Early Detection of Cognitive-Linguistic Change Associated with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Science.gov (United States)

Fleming, Valarie B.

2014-01-01

Individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may present with subtle declines in linguistic ability that go undetected by tasks not challenging enough to tax a relatively intact cognitive-linguistic system. This study was designed to replicate and extend a previous study of cognitive-linguistic ability in MCI using a complex discourse…

Cross-Linguistic Differences in the Neural Representation of Human Language: Evidence from Users of Signed Languages

Science.gov (United States)

Corina, David P.; Lawyer, Laurel A.; Cates, Deborah

2013-01-01

Studies of deaf individuals who are users of signed languages have provided profound insight into the neural representation of human language. Case studies of deaf signers who have incurred left- and right-hemisphere damage have shown that left-hemisphere resources are a necessary component of sign language processing. These data suggest that, despite frank differences in the input and output modality of language, core left perisylvian regions universally serve linguistic function. Neuroimaging studies of deaf signers have generally provided support for this claim. However, more fine-tuned studies of linguistic processing in deaf signers are beginning to show evidence of important differences in the representation of signed and spoken languages. In this paper, we provide a critical review of this literature and present compelling evidence for language-specific cortical representations in deaf signers. These data lend support to the claim that the neural representation of language may show substantive cross-linguistic differences. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings with respect to an emerging understanding of the neurobiology of language. PMID:23293624

Neuroimaging in dementia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barkhof, Frederik [VU Univ. Medical Center, Amsterdam (NL). Dept. of Radiology and Image Analysis Center (IAC); Fox, Nick C. [UCL Institute of Neurology, London (United Kingdom). Dementia Research Centre; VU Univ. Medical Center, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Bastos-Leite, Antonio J. [Porto Univ. (Portugal). Dept. of Medical Imaging; Scheltens, Philip [VU Univ. Medical Center, Amsterdam (Netherlands). Dept. of Neurology and Alzheimer Center

2011-07-01

Against a background of an ever-increasing number of patients, new management options, and novel imaging modalities, neuroimaging is playing an increasingly important role in the diagnosis of dementia. This up-to-date, superbly illustrated book aims to provide a practical guide to the effective use of neuroimaging in the patient with cognitive decline. It sets out the key clinical and imaging features of the wide range of causes of dementia and directs the reader from clinical presentation to neuroimaging and on to an accurate diagnosis whenever possible. After an introductory chapter on the clinical background, the available ''toolbox'' of structural and functional neuroimaging techniques is reviewed in detail, including CT, MRI and advanced MR techniques, SPECT and PET, and image analysis methods. The imaging findings in normal ageing are then discussed, followed by a series of chapters that carefully present and analyze the key imaging findings in patients with dementias. A structured path of analysis follows the main presenting feature: disorders associated with primary gray matter loss, with white matter changes, with brain swelling, etc. Throughout, a practical approach is adopted, geared specifically to the needs of clinicians (neurologists, radiologists, psychiatrists, geriatricians) working in the field of dementia, for whom this book should prove an invaluable resource. (orig.)

Forensic linguistics: Applications of forensic linguistics methods to anonymous letters

OpenAIRE

NOVÁKOVÁ, Veronika

2011-01-01

The title of my bachelor work is ?Forensic linguistics: Applications of forensic linguistics methods to anonymous letters?. Forensic linguistics is young and not very known branch of applied linguistics. This bachelor work wants to introduce forensic linguistics and its method. The bachelor work has two parts ? theory and practice. The theoretical part informs about forensic linguistics in general. Its two basic aspects utilized in forensic science and respective methods. The practical part t...

Applied Linguistics and the "Annual Review of Applied Linguistics."

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Robert B.; Grabe, William

2000-01-01

Examines the complexities and differences involved in granting disciplinary status to the role of applied linguistics, discusses the role of the "Annual Review of Applied Linguistics" as a contributor to the development of applied linguistics, and highlights a set of publications for the future of applied linguistics. (Author/VWL)

Consensus paper: combining transcranial stimulation with neuroimaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Siebner, Hartwig R; Bergmann, Til O; Bestmann, Sven

2009-01-01

neuroimaging (online approach), TMS can be used to test how focal cortex stimulation acutely modifies the activity and connectivity in the stimulated neuronal circuits. TMS and neuroimaging can also be separated in time (offline approach). A conditioning session of repetitive TMS (rTMS) may be used to induce...... information obtained by neuroimaging can be used to define the optimal site and time point of stimulation in a subsequent experiment in which TMS is used to probe the functional contribution of the stimulated area to a specific task. In this review, we first address some general methodologic issues that need......In the last decade, combined transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)-neuroimaging studies have greatly stimulated research in the field of TMS and neuroimaging. Here, we review how TMS can be combined with various neuroimaging techniques to investigate human brain function. When applied during...

Hemispheric lateralization of linguistic prosody recognition in comparison to speech and speaker recognition.

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Kreitewolf, Jens; Friederici, Angela D; von Kriegstein, Katharina

2014-11-15

Hemispheric specialization for linguistic prosody is a controversial issue. While it is commonly assumed that linguistic prosody and emotional prosody are preferentially processed in the right hemisphere, neuropsychological work directly comparing processes of linguistic prosody and emotional prosody suggests a predominant role of the left hemisphere for linguistic prosody processing. Here, we used two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments to clarify the role of left and right hemispheres in the neural processing of linguistic prosody. In the first experiment, we sought to confirm previous findings showing that linguistic prosody processing compared to other speech-related processes predominantly involves the right hemisphere. Unlike previous studies, we controlled for stimulus influences by employing a prosody and speech task using the same speech material. The second experiment was designed to investigate whether a left-hemispheric involvement in linguistic prosody processing is specific to contrasts between linguistic prosody and emotional prosody or whether it also occurs when linguistic prosody is contrasted against other non-linguistic processes (i.e., speaker recognition). Prosody and speaker tasks were performed on the same stimulus material. In both experiments, linguistic prosody processing was associated with activity in temporal, frontal, parietal and cerebellar regions. Activation in temporo-frontal regions showed differential lateralization depending on whether the control task required recognition of speech or speaker: recognition of linguistic prosody predominantly involved right temporo-frontal areas when it was contrasted against speech recognition; when contrasted against speaker recognition, recognition of linguistic prosody predominantly involved left temporo-frontal areas. The results show that linguistic prosody processing involves functions of both hemispheres and suggest that recognition of linguistic prosody is based on

Neuroimaging Endophenotypes in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Mahajan, Rajneesh; Mostofsky, Stewart H.

2015-01-01

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that has a strong genetic basis, and is heterogeneous in its etiopathogenesis and clinical presentation. Neuroimaging studies, in concert with neuropathological and clinical research, have been instrumental in delineating trajectories of development in children with ASD. Structural neuroimaging has revealed ASD to be a disorder with general and regional brain enlargement, especially in the frontotemporal cortices, while functional neuroimaging studies have highlighted diminished connectivity, especially between frontal-posterior regions. The diverse and specific neuroimaging findings may represent potential neuroendophenotypes, and may offer opportunities to further understand the etiopathogenesis of ASD, predict treatment response and lead to the development of new therapies. PMID:26234701

Language Development across the Life Span: A Neuropsychological/Neuroimaging Perspective

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Mónica Rosselli

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Language development has been correlated with specific changes in brain development. The aim of this paper is to analyze the linguistic-brain associations that occur from birth through senescence. Findings from the neuropsychological and neuroimaging literature are reviewed, and the relationship of language changes observable in human development and the corresponding brain maturation processes across age groups are examined. Two major dimensions of language development are highlighted: naming (considered a major measure of lexical knowledge and verbal fluency (regarded as a major measure of language production ability. Developmental changes in the brain lateralization of language are discussed, emphasizing that in early life there is an increase in functional brain asymmetry for language, but that this asymmetry changes over time, and that changes in the volume of gray and white matter are age-sensitive. The effects of certain specific variables, such as gender, level of education, and bilingualism are also analyzed. General conclusions are presented and directions for future research are suggested.

The linguistically aware teacher and the teacher-aware linguist.

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McCartney, Elspeth; Ellis, Sue

2013-07-01

This review evaluates issues of teacher linguistic knowledge relating to their work with children with speech, language and communication difficulties (SLCD). Information is from Ellis and McCartney [(2011a). Applied linguistics and primary school teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press], a state-of-the-art text deriving from a British Association of Applied Linguistics/Cambridge University Press expert seminar series that details: linguistic research underpinning primary school curricula and pedagogy; the form of linguistic knowledge useful for teachers supporting children with SLCD in partnership with speech and language therapists; and how and when teachers acquire and learn to apply such knowledge. Critical analysis of the options presented for teacher learning indicate that policy enjoinders now include linguistic application as an expected part of teachers' professional knowledge, for all children including those with SLCD, but there is a large unmet learning need. It is concluded that there is a role for clinical linguists to disseminate useable knowledge to teachers in an accessible format. Ways of achieving this are considered.

Research Article Abstracts in Two Related Disciplines: Rhetorical Variation between Linguistics and Applied Linguistics

Science.gov (United States)

Suntara, Watinee; Usaha, Siriluck

2013-01-01

The previous studies on abstracts (e.g., Santos, 1996; Samraj, 2002; Pho, 2008) illustrate that disciplinary variation in research article abstracts is discernible. However, the studies of abstracts from two related disciplines are still limited. The present study aimed to explore the rhetorical moves of abstracts in the fields of linguistics and…

Linguistic Polyphony

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nølke, Henning

on the Scandinavian variant of polyphony, ScaPoLine. ScaPoLine is a formal linguistic theory whose main purpose is to specify the instructions conveyed through linguistic form for the creation of polyphonic meaning. The theoretical introduction is followed by polyphonic analyses of linguistic phenomena...

A Fuzzy Linguistic Methodology to Deal With Unbalanced Linguistic Term Sets

OpenAIRE

Herrera, F.; Herrera-Viedma, Enrique; Martinez, L.

2008-01-01

Many real problems dealing with qualitative aspects use linguistic approaches to assess such aspects. In most of these problems, a uniform and symmetrical distribution of the linguistic term sets for linguistic modeling is assumed. However, there exist problems whose assessments need to be represented by means of unbalanced linguistic term sets, i.e., using term sets that are not uniformly and symmetrically distributed. The use of linguistic variables implies processes of computing with words...

Neuroimaging of consciousness

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cavanna, Andrea Eugenio [Birmingham Univ. (United Kingdom). Dept. of Neuropsychiatry; UCL Institute of Neurology, London (United Kingdom). Sobell Dept. of Motor, Neuroscience and Movement Disorders; Nani, Andrea [Birmingham Univ. (United Kingdom). Research Group BSMHFT; Blumenfeld, Hal [Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (United States). Depts. of Neurology, Neurobiology and Neurosurgery; Laureys, Steven (ed.) [Liege Univ. (Belgium). Cyclotron Research Centre

2013-07-01

An important reference work on a multidisciplinary and rapidly expanding area. Particular focus on the relevance of neuroimaging for the diagnosis and treatment of common neuropsychiatric disorders affecting consciousness. Written by world-class experts in the field. Relevant for clinicians, researchers, and scholars across different specialties. Within the field of neuroscience, the past few decades have witnessed an exponential growth of research into the brain mechanisms underlying both normal and pathological states of consciousness in humans. The development of sophisticated imaging techniques (above all fMRI and PET) to visualize and map brain activity in vivo has opened new avenues in our understanding of the pathological processes involved in common neuropsychiatric disorders affecting consciousness, such as epilepsy, coma, vegetative states, dissociative disorders, and dementia. This book presents the state of the art in neuroimaging exploration of the brain correlates of the alterations in consciousness across these conditions, with a particular focus on the potential applications for diagnosis and management. Although the book has a practical approach and is primarily targeted at neurologists, neuroradiologists, and psychiatrists, a wide range of researchers and health care professionals will find it an essential reference that explains the significance of neuroimaging of consciousness for clinical practice. Within the field of neuroscience, the past few decades have witnessed an exponential growth of research into the brain mechanisms underlying both normal and pathological states of consciousness in humans. The development of sophisticated imaging techniques (above all fMRI and PET) to visualize and map brain activity in vivo has opened new avenues in our understanding of the pathological processes involved in common neuropsychiatric disorders affecting consciousness, such as epilepsy, coma, vegetative states, dissociative disorders, and dementia. This

Neuroimaging of consciousness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cavanna, Andrea Eugenio; UCL Institute of Neurology, London; Nani, Andrea; Blumenfeld, Hal; Laureys, Steven

2013-01-01

An important reference work on a multidisciplinary and rapidly expanding area. Particular focus on the relevance of neuroimaging for the diagnosis and treatment of common neuropsychiatric disorders affecting consciousness. Written by world-class experts in the field. Relevant for clinicians, researchers, and scholars across different specialties. Within the field of neuroscience, the past few decades have witnessed an exponential growth of research into the brain mechanisms underlying both normal and pathological states of consciousness in humans. The development of sophisticated imaging techniques (above all fMRI and PET) to visualize and map brain activity in vivo has opened new avenues in our understanding of the pathological processes involved in common neuropsychiatric disorders affecting consciousness, such as epilepsy, coma, vegetative states, dissociative disorders, and dementia. This book presents the state of the art in neuroimaging exploration of the brain correlates of the alterations in consciousness across these conditions, with a particular focus on the potential applications for diagnosis and management. Although the book has a practical approach and is primarily targeted at neurologists, neuroradiologists, and psychiatrists, a wide range of researchers and health care professionals will find it an essential reference that explains the significance of neuroimaging of consciousness for clinical practice. Within the field of neuroscience, the past few decades have witnessed an exponential growth of research into the brain mechanisms underlying both normal and pathological states of consciousness in humans. The development of sophisticated imaging techniques (above all fMRI and PET) to visualize and map brain activity in vivo has opened new avenues in our understanding of the pathological processes involved in common neuropsychiatric disorders affecting consciousness, such as epilepsy, coma, vegetative states, dissociative disorders, and dementia. This

The Actualization of Literary Learning Model Based on Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence

Science.gov (United States)

Hali, Nur Ihsan

2017-01-01

This article is inspired by Howard Gardner's concept of linguistic intelligence and also from some authors' previous writings. All of them became the authors' reference in developing ideas on constructing a literary learning model based on linguistic intelligence. The writing of this article is not done by collecting data empirically, but by…

Changes in the Linguistic Confidence of Primary and Secondary Students in Catalonia: A Longitudinal Study

Science.gov (United States)

Bretxa, Vanessa; Comajoan, Llorenç; Ubalde, Josep; Vila, F. Xavier

2016-01-01

Previous research in first (L1) and second language (L2) acquisition has provided evidence that linguistic confidence is a key construct that can explain linguistic behaviour. In this paper, we apply previous research in the socio-contextual model of L2 learning to data from Catalonia. More specifically, the paper investigates linguistic…

The Actualization of Literary Learning Model Based on Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nur Ihsan Halil

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This article is inspired by Howard Gardner's concept of linguistic intelligence and also from some authors' previous writings. All of them became the authors' reference in developing ideas on constructing a literary learning model based on linguistic intelligence. The writing of this article is not done by collecting data empirically, but by developing and constructing an existing concept, namely the concept of linguistic intelligence, which is disseminated into a literature-based learning of verbal-linguistic intelligence. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question of how to apply the literary learning model based on the verbal-linguistic intelligence. Then, regarding Gardner's concept, the author formulated a literary learning model based on the verbal-linguistic intelligence through a story-telling learning model with five steps namely arguing, discussing, interpreting, speaking, and writing about literary works. In short, the writer draw a conclusion that learning-based models of verbal-linguistic intelligence can be designed with attention into five components namely (1 definition, (2 characteristics, (3 teaching strategy, (4 final learning outcomes, and (5 figures.

Neuroimaging in psychiatry: from bench to bedside

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David E Linden

2009-12-01

Full Text Available This perspective considers the present and the future role of different neuroimaging techniques in the field of psychiatry. After identifying shortcomings of the mainly symptom-focussed diagnostic processes and treatment decisions in modern psychiatry, we suggest topics where neuroimaging methods have the potential to help. These include better understanding of the pathophysiology, improved diagnoses, assistance in therapeutic decisions and the supervision of treatment success by direct assessment of improvement in disease-related brain functions. These different questions are illustrated by examples from neuroimaging studies, with a focus on severe mental and neuropsychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia, depression and dementia. Despite all reservations addressed in the article, we are optimistic, that neuroimaging has a huge potential with regard to the above-mentioned questions. We expect that neuroimaging will play an increasing role in the future refinement of the diagnostic process and aid in the development of new therapies in the field of psychiatry.

Neuroimaging findings in pediatric sports-related concussion.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, Michael J; Leiter, Jeff; Hall, Thomas; McDonald, Patrick J; Sawyer, Scott; Silver, Norm; Bunge, Martin; Essig, Marco

2015-09-01

The goal in this review was to summarize the results of clinical neuroimaging studies performed in patients with sports-related concussion (SRC) who were referred to a multidisciplinar ypediatric concussion program. The authors conducted a retrospective review of medical records and neuroimaging findings for all patients referred to a multidisciplinary pediatric concussion program between September 2013 and July 2014. Inclusion criteria were as follows: 1) age ≤ 19 years; and 2) physician-diagnosed SRC. All patients underwent evaluation and follow-up by the same neurosurgeon. The 2 outcomes examined in this review were the frequency of neuroimaging studies performed in this population (including CT and MRI) and the findings of those studies. Clinical indications for neuroimaging and the impact of neuroimaging findings on clinical decision making were summarized where available. This investigation was approved by the local institutional ethics review board. A total of 151 patients (mean age 14 years, 59% female) were included this study. Overall, 36 patients (24%) underwent neuroimaging studies, the results of which were normal in 78% of cases. Sixteen percent of patients underwent CT imaging; results were normal in 79% of cases. Abnormal CT findings included the following: arachnoid cyst (1 patient), skull fracture (2 patients), suspected intracranial hemorrhage (1 patient), and suspected hemorrhage into an arachnoid cyst (1 patient). Eleven percent of patients underwent MRI; results were normal in 75% of cases. Abnormal MRI findings included the following: intraparenchymal hemorrhage and sylvian fissure arachnoid cyst (1 patient); nonhemorrhagic contusion (1 patient); demyelinating disease (1 patient); and posterior fossa arachnoid cyst, cerebellar volume loss, and nonspecific white matter changes (1 patient). Results of clinical neuroimaging studies are normal in the majority of pediatric patients with SRC. However, in selected cases neuroimaging can provide

Near-infrared neuroimaging with NinPy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gary E Strangman

2009-05-01

Full Text Available There has been substantial recent growth in the use of non-invasive optical brain imaging in studies of human brain function in health and disease. Near-infrared neuroimaging (NIN is one of the most promising of these techniques and, although NIN hardware continues to evolve at a rapid pace, software tools supporting optical data acquisition, image processing, statistical modeling and visualization remain less refined. Python, a modular and computationally efficient development language, can support functional neuroimaging studies of diverse design and implementation. In particular, Python's easily readable syntax and modular architecture allow swift prototyping followed by efficient transition to stable production systems. As an introduction to our ongoing efforts to develop Python software tools for structural and functional neuroimaging, we discuss: (i the role of noninvasive diffuse optical imaging in measuring brain function, (ii the key computational requirements to support NIN experiments, (iii our collection of software tools to support near-infrared neuroimaging, called NinPy, and (iv future extensions of these tools that will allow integration of optical with other structural and functional neuroimaging data sources. Source code for the software discussed here will be made available at www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/Neural_SystemsGroup/software.html.

Corpus linguistics and statistics with R introduction to quantitative methods in linguistics

CERN Document Server

Desagulier, Guillaume

2017-01-01

This textbook examines empirical linguistics from a theoretical linguist’s perspective. It provides both a theoretical discussion of what quantitative corpus linguistics entails and detailed, hands-on, step-by-step instructions to implement the techniques in the field. The statistical methodology and R-based coding from this book teach readers the basic and then more advanced skills to work with large data sets in their linguistics research and studies. Massive data sets are now more than ever the basis for work that ranges from usage-based linguistics to the far reaches of applied linguistics. This book presents much of the methodology in a corpus-based approach. However, the corpus-based methods in this book are also essential components of recent developments in sociolinguistics, historical linguistics, computational linguistics, and psycholinguistics. Material from the book will also be appealing to researchers in digital humanities and the many non-linguistic fields that use textual data analysis and t...

Neuroimaging findings in movement disorders

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Topalov, N.

2015-01-01

Full text: Neuroimaging methods are of great importance for the differential diagnostic delimitation of movement disorders associated with structural damage (neoplasms, ischemic lesions, neuroinfections) from those associated with specific pathophysiological mechanisms (dysmetabolic disorders, neurotransmitter disorders). Learning objective: Presentation of typical imaging findings contributing to nosological differentiation in groups of movement disorders with similar clinical signs. In this presentation are discussed neuroimaging findings in Parkinson‘s disease, atypical parkinsonian syndromes (multiple system atrophy, progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration), parkinsonism in genetically mediated diseases (Wilson’s disease, pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration – PKAN), vascular parkinsonism, hyperkinetic movement disorders (palatal tremor, Huntington‘s chorea, symptomatic chorea in ischemic stroke and diabetes, rubral tremor, ballismus, hemifacial spasm). Contemporary neuroimaging methods enable support for diagnostic and differential diagnostic precision of a number of hypo- and hyperkinetic movement disorders, which is essential for neurological clinical practice

Linguistic analysis of discourse in aphasia: A review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Bryant, Lucy; Ferguson, Alison; Spencer, Elizabeth

This review examined previous research applications of linguistic discourse analysis to assess the language of adults with aphasia. A comprehensive literature search of seven databases identified 165 studies that applied linguistic measures to samples of discourse collected from people with aphasia. Analysis of methodological applications revealed an increase in published research using linguistic discourse analysis over the past 40 years, particularly to measure the generalisation of therapy outcomes to language in use. Narrative language samples were most frequently subject to analysis though all language genres were observed across included studies. A total of 536 different linguistic measures were applied to examine language behaviours. Growth in the research use of linguistic discourse analysis and suggestions that this growth may be reflected in clinical practice requires further investigation. Future research directions are discussed to investigate clinical use of discourse analysis and examine the differences that exist between research and clinical practice.

Neuromarketing: the hope and hype of neuroimaging in business.

Science.gov (United States)

Ariely, Dan; Berns, Gregory S

2010-04-01

The application of neuroimaging methods to product marketing - neuromarketing - has recently gained considerable popularity. We propose that there are two main reasons for this trend. First, the possibility that neuroimaging will become cheaper and faster than other marketing methods; and second, the hope that neuroimaging will provide marketers with information that is not obtainable through conventional marketing methods. Although neuroimaging is unlikely to be cheaper than other tools in the near future, there is growing evidence that it may provide hidden information about the consumer experience. The most promising application of neuroimaging methods to marketing may come before a product is even released - when it is just an idea being developed.

Altered Brain Activity in Unipolar Depression Revisited: Meta-analyses of Neuroimaging Studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, Veronika I; Cieslik, Edna C; Serbanescu, Ilinca; Laird, Angela R; Fox, Peter T; Eickhoff, Simon B

2017-01-01

During the past 20 years, numerous neuroimaging experiments have investigated aberrant brain activation during cognitive and emotional processing in patients with unipolar depression (UD). The results of those investigations, however, vary considerably; moreover, previous meta-analyses also yielded inconsistent findings. To readdress aberrant brain activation in UD as evidenced by neuroimaging experiments on cognitive and/or emotional processing. Neuroimaging experiments published from January 1, 1997, to October 1, 2015, were identified by a literature search of PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar using different combinations of the terms fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), PET (positron emission tomography), neural, major depression, depression, major depressive disorder, unipolar depression, dysthymia, emotion, emotional, affective, cognitive, task, memory, working memory, inhibition, control, n-back, and Stroop. Neuroimaging experiments (using fMRI or PET) reporting whole-brain results of group comparisons between adults with UD and healthy control individuals as coordinates in a standard anatomic reference space and using an emotional or/and cognitive challenging task were selected. Coordinates reported to show significant activation differences between UD and healthy controls during emotional or cognitive processing were extracted. By using the revised activation likelihood estimation algorithm, different meta-analyses were calculated. Meta-analyses tested for brain regions consistently found to show aberrant brain activation in UD compared with controls. Analyses were calculated across all emotional processing experiments, all cognitive processing experiments, positive emotion processing, negative emotion processing, experiments using emotional face stimuli, experiments with a sex discrimination task, and memory processing. All meta-analyses were calculated across experiments independent of reporting an increase or decrease of activity in

Retrospective study on structural neuroimaging in first-episode psychosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricardo Coentre

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Background. No consensus between guidelines exists regarding neuroimaging in first-episode psychosis. The purpose of this study is to assess anomalies found in structural neuroimaging exams (brain computed tomography (CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI in the initial medical work-up of patients presenting first-episode psychosis. Methods. The study subjects were 32 patients aged 18–48 years (mean age: 29.6 years, consecutively admitted with first-episode psychosis diagnosis. Socio-demographic and clinical data and neuroimaging exams (CT and MRI were retrospectively studied. Diagnostic assessments were made using the Operational Criteria Checklist +. Neuroimaging images (CT and MRI and respective reports were analysed by an experienced consultant psychiatrist. Results. None of the patients had abnormalities in neuroimaging exams responsible for psychotic symptoms. Thirty-seven percent of patients had incidental brain findings not causally related to the psychosis (brain atrophy, arachnoid cyst, asymmetric lateral ventricles, dilated lateral ventricles, plagiocephaly and falx cerebri calcification. No further medical referral was needed for any of these patients. No significant differences regarding gender, age, diagnosis, duration of untreated psychosis, in-stay and cannabis use were found between patients who had neuroimaging abnormalities versus those without. Discussion. This study suggests that structural neuroimaging exams reveal scarce abnormalities in young patients with first-episode psychosis. Structural neuroimaging is especially useful in first-episode psychosis patients with neurological symptoms, atypical clinical picture and old age.

Linguistic Structure Prediction

CERN Document Server

Smith, Noah A

2011-01-01

A major part of natural language processing now depends on the use of text data to build linguistic analyzers. We consider statistical, computational approaches to modeling linguistic structure. We seek to unify across many approaches and many kinds of linguistic structures. Assuming a basic understanding of natural language processing and/or machine learning, we seek to bridge the gap between the two fields. Approaches to decoding (i.e., carrying out linguistic structure prediction) and supervised and unsupervised learning of models that predict discrete structures as outputs are the focus. W

Neuroimaging in Psychiatry: A Review of the Background and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

There are two different types of neuroimaging of value in clinical psychiatry, namely: structural neuroimaging techniques (e.g., CT, MRI) which provide static images of the skull, and brain, and funnctional neuroimaging techniques (e.g., single photon emission CT [SPECT], positron emission tomography [PET], functional MRI ...

Neuroimaging of herpesvirus infections in children

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baskin, Henry J. [Cincinnati Children' s Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Cincinnati, OH (United States); Hedlund, Gary [Primary Children' s Medical Center, Department of Medical Imaging, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)

2007-10-15

Six members of the herpesvirus family cause well-described neurologic disease in children: herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1), herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2), varicella-zoster (VZV), Epstein-Barr (EBV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), and human herpes virus-6 (HHV-6). When herpesviruses infect the central nervous system (CNS), the clinical presentation is non-specific and often confounding. The clinical urgency is often underscored by progressive neurologic deficits, seizures, or even death, and prompt diagnosis and treatment rely heavily on neuroimaging. This review focuses on the spectrum of cerebral manifestations caused by these viruses, particularly on non-congenital presentations. Recent advances in our understanding of these viruses are discussed, including new polymerase chain reaction techniques that allow parallel detection, which has improved our recognition that the herpesviruses are neurotropic and involve the CNS more often than previously thought. Evolving knowledge has also better elucidated viral neuropathology, particularly the role of VZV vasculitis in the brain, HHV-6 in febrile seizures, and herpesvirus reactivation in immunosuppressed patients. The virology, clinical course, and CNS manifestations of each virus are reviewed, followed by descriptions of neuroimaging findings when these agents infect the brain. Characteristic but often subtle imaging findings are discussed, as well as technical pearls covering appropriate use of MRI and MRI adjuncts to help differentiate viral infection from mimics. (orig.)

Neuroimaging of herpesvirus infections in children

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baskin, Henry J.; Hedlund, Gary

2007-01-01

Six members of the herpesvirus family cause well-described neurologic disease in children: herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1), herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2), varicella-zoster (VZV), Epstein-Barr (EBV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), and human herpes virus-6 (HHV-6). When herpesviruses infect the central nervous system (CNS), the clinical presentation is non-specific and often confounding. The clinical urgency is often underscored by progressive neurologic deficits, seizures, or even death, and prompt diagnosis and treatment rely heavily on neuroimaging. This review focuses on the spectrum of cerebral manifestations caused by these viruses, particularly on non-congenital presentations. Recent advances in our understanding of these viruses are discussed, including new polymerase chain reaction techniques that allow parallel detection, which has improved our recognition that the herpesviruses are neurotropic and involve the CNS more often than previously thought. Evolving knowledge has also better elucidated viral neuropathology, particularly the role of VZV vasculitis in the brain, HHV-6 in febrile seizures, and herpesvirus reactivation in immunosuppressed patients. The virology, clinical course, and CNS manifestations of each virus are reviewed, followed by descriptions of neuroimaging findings when these agents infect the brain. Characteristic but often subtle imaging findings are discussed, as well as technical pearls covering appropriate use of MRI and MRI adjuncts to help differentiate viral infection from mimics. (orig.)

Probabilistic linguistics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bod, R.; Heine, B.; Narrog, H.

2010-01-01

Probabilistic linguistics takes all linguistic evidence as positive evidence and lets statistics decide. It allows for accurate modelling of gradient phenomena in production and perception, and suggests that rule-like behaviour is no more than a side effect of maximizing probability. This chapter

A Linguistic Analysis of Suicide-Related Twitter Posts.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Dea, Bridianne; Larsen, Mark E; Batterham, Philip J; Calear, Alison L; Christensen, Helen

2017-09-01

Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide. Identifying those at risk and delivering timely interventions is challenging. Social media site Twitter is used to express suicidality. Automated linguistic analysis of suicide-related posts may help to differentiate those who require support or intervention from those who do not. This study aims to characterize the linguistic profiles of suicide-related Twitter posts. Using a dataset of suicide-related Twitter posts previously coded for suicide risk by experts, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) and regression analyses were conducted to determine differences in linguistic profiles. When compared with matched non-suicide-related Twitter posts, strongly concerning suicide-related posts were characterized by a higher word count, increased use of first-person pronouns, and more references to death. When compared with safe-to-ignore suicide-related posts, strongly concerning suicide-related posts were characterized by increased use of first-person pronouns, greater anger, and increased focus on the present. Other differences were found. The predictive validity of the identified features needs further testing before these results can be used for interventional purposes. This study demonstrates that strongly concerning suicide-related Twitter posts have unique linguistic profiles. The examination of Twitter data for the presence of such features may help to validate online risk assessments and determine those in need of further support or intervention.

Flexible and fast: linguistic shortcut affects both shallow and deep conceptual processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Connell, Louise; Lynott, Dermot

2013-06-01

Previous research has shown that people use linguistic distributional information during conceptual processing, and that it is especially useful for shallow tasks and rapid responding. Using two conceptual combination tasks, we showed that this linguistic shortcut extends to the processing of novel stimuli, is used in both successful and unsuccessful conceptual processing, and is evident in both shallow and deep conceptual tasks. Specifically, as predicted by the ECCo theory of conceptual combination, people use the linguistic shortcut as a "quick-and-dirty" guide to whether the concepts are likely to combine into a coherent conceptual representation, in both shallow sensibility judgment and deep interpretation generation tasks. Linguistic distributional frequency predicts both the likelihood and the time course of rejecting a novel word compound as nonsensical or uninterpretable. However, it predicts the time course of successful processing only in shallow sensibility judgment, because the deeper conceptual process of interpretation generation does not allow the linguistic shortcut to suffice. Furthermore, the effects of linguistic distributional frequency are independent of any effects of conventional word frequency. We discuss the utility of the linguistic shortcut as a cognitive triage mechanism that can optimize processing in a limited-resource conceptual system.

Neuroimaging in childhood headache: a systematic review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alexiou, George A.; Argyropoulou, Maria I.

2013-01-01

Headache is a common complaint in children, one that gives rise to considerable parental concern and fear of the presence of a space-occupying lesion. The evaluation and diagnosis of headache is very challenging for paediatricians, and neuroimaging by means of CT or MRI is often requested as part of the investigation. CT exposes children to radiation, while MRI is costly and sometimes requires sedation or general anaesthesia, especially in children younger than 6 years. This review of the literature on the value of neuroimaging in children with headache showed that the rate of pathological findings is generally low. Imaging findings that led to a change in patient management were in almost all cases reported in children with abnormal signs on neurological examination. Neuroimaging should be limited to children with a suspicious clinical history, abnormal neurological findings or other physical signs suggestive of intracranial pathology. Well-designed prospective studies are needed to better define the clinical findings that warrant neuroimaging in children with headache. (orig.)

Neuroimaging in childhood headache: a systematic review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alexiou, George A. [University of Ioannina, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical School, P.O. Box 103, Ioannina (Greece); Argyropoulou, Maria I. [University of Ioannina, Department of Radiology, Medical School, Ioannina (Greece)

2013-07-15

Headache is a common complaint in children, one that gives rise to considerable parental concern and fear of the presence of a space-occupying lesion. The evaluation and diagnosis of headache is very challenging for paediatricians, and neuroimaging by means of CT or MRI is often requested as part of the investigation. CT exposes children to radiation, while MRI is costly and sometimes requires sedation or general anaesthesia, especially in children younger than 6 years. This review of the literature on the value of neuroimaging in children with headache showed that the rate of pathological findings is generally low. Imaging findings that led to a change in patient management were in almost all cases reported in children with abnormal signs on neurological examination. Neuroimaging should be limited to children with a suspicious clinical history, abnormal neurological findings or other physical signs suggestive of intracranial pathology. Well-designed prospective studies are needed to better define the clinical findings that warrant neuroimaging in children with headache. (orig.)

Interface of Linguistic and Visual Information During Audience Design.

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Fukumura, Kumiko

2015-08-01

Evidence suggests that speakers can take account of the addressee's needs when referring. However, what representations drive the speaker's audience design has been less clear. This study aims to go beyond previous studies by investigating the interplay between the visual and linguistic context during audience design. Speakers repeated subordinate descriptions (e.g., firefighter) given in the prior linguistic context less and used basic-level descriptions (e.g., man) more when the addressee did not hear the linguistic context than when s/he did. But crucially, this effect happened only when the referent lacked the visual attributes associated with the expressions (e.g., the referent was in plain clothes rather than in a firefighter uniform), so there was no other contextual cue available for the identification of the referent. This suggests that speakers flexibly use different contextual cues to help their addressee map the referring expression onto the intended referent. In addition, speakers used fewer pronouns when the addressee did not hear the linguistic antecedent than when s/he did. This suggests that although speakers may be egocentric during anaphoric reference (Fukumura & Van Gompel, 2012), they can cooperatively avoid pronouns when the linguistic antecedents were not shared with their addressee during initial reference. © 2014 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Turner Syndrome: Neuroimaging Findings--Structural and Functional

Science.gov (United States)

Mullaney, Ronan; Murphy, Declan

2009-01-01

Neuroimaging studies of Turner syndrome can advance our understanding of the X chromosome in brain development, and the modulatory influence of endocrine factors. There is increasing evidence from neuroimaging studies that TX individuals have significant differences in the anatomy, function, and metabolism of a number of brain regions; including…

Neuroimaging in eating disorders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jáuregui-Lobera I

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Ignacio Jáuregui-LoberaBehavioral Sciences Institute and Pablo de Olavide University, Seville, SpainAbstract: Neuroimaging techniques have been useful tools for accurate investigation of brain structure and function in eating disorders. Computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, single photon emission computed tomography, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and voxel-based morphometry have been the most relevant technologies in this regard. The purpose of this review is to update the existing data on neuroimaging in eating disorders. The main brain changes seem to be reversible to some extent after adequate weight restoration. Brain changes in bulimia nervosa seem to be less pronounced than in anorexia nervosa and are mainly due to chronic dietary restrictions. Different subtypes of eating disorders might be correlated with specific brain functional changes. Moreover, anorectic patients who binge/purge may have different functional brain changes compared with those who do not binge/purge. Functional changes in the brain might have prognostic value, and different changes with respect to the binding potential of 5-HT1A, 5-HT2A, and D2/D3 receptors may be persistent after recovering from an eating disorder.Keywords: neuroimaging, brain changes, brain receptors, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, eating disorders

Introduction to neuroimaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orrison, W.W.

1989-01-01

The author focuses on neuroradiology with emphasis on the current imaging modalities. There are chapters on angiography, myelography, nuclear medicine, ultrasonography, computer tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. The other chapters are dedicated to the spine, skull, head and neck, and pediatric neuroimaging

A New Hesitant Fuzzy Linguistic TOPSIS Method for Group Multi-Criteria Linguistic Decision Making

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Fangling Ren

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Hesitant fuzzy linguistic decision making is a focus point in linguistic decision making, in which the main method is based on preference ordering. This paper develops a new hesitant fuzzy linguistic TOPSIS method for group multi-criteria linguistic decision making; the method is inspired by the TOPSIS method and the preference degree between two hesitant fuzzy linguistic term sets (HFLTSs. To this end, we first use the preference degree to define a pseudo-distance between two HFLTSs and analyze its properties. Then we present the positive (optimistic and negative (pessimistic information of each criterion provided by each decision maker and aggregate these by using weights of decision makers to obtain the hesitant fuzzy linguistic positive and negative ideal solutions. On the basis of the proposed pseudo-distance, we finally obtain the positive (negative ideal separation matrix and a new relative closeness degree to rank alternatives. We also design an algorithm based on the provided method to carry out hesitant fuzzy linguistic decision making. An illustrative example shows the elaboration of the proposed method and comparison with the symbolic aggregation-based method, the hesitant fuzzy linguistic TOPSIS method and the hesitant fuzzy linguistic VIKOR method; it seems that the proposed method is a useful and alternative decision-making method.

Linguistic Imperialism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Phillipson, Robert

2013-01-01

The study of linguistic imperialism focuses on how and why certain languages dominate internationally, and attempts to account for such dominance in a theoretically informed way.......The study of linguistic imperialism focuses on how and why certain languages dominate internationally, and attempts to account for such dominance in a theoretically informed way....

Domain-General Brain Regions Do Not Track Linguistic Input as Closely as Language-Selective Regions.

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Blank, Idan A; Fedorenko, Evelina

2017-10-11

Language comprehension engages a cortical network of left frontal and temporal regions. Activity in this network is language-selective, showing virtually no modulation by nonlinguistic tasks. In addition, language comprehension engages a second network consisting of bilateral frontal, parietal, cingulate, and insular regions. Activity in this "multiple demand" (MD) network scales with comprehension difficulty, but also with cognitive effort across a wide range of nonlinguistic tasks in a domain-general fashion. Given the functional dissociation between the language and MD networks, their respective contributions to comprehension are likely distinct, yet such differences remain elusive. Prior neuroimaging studies have suggested that activity in each network covaries with some linguistic features that, behaviorally, influence on-line processing and comprehension. This sensitivity of the language and MD networks to local input characteristics has often been interpreted, implicitly or explicitly, as evidence that both networks track linguistic input closely, and in a manner consistent across individuals. Here, we used fMRI to directly test this assumption by comparing the BOLD signal time courses in each network across different people ( n = 45, men and women) listening to the same story. Language network activity showed fewer individual differences, indicative of closer input tracking, whereas MD network activity was more idiosyncratic and, moreover, showed lower reliability within an individual across repetitions of a story. These findings constrain cognitive models of language comprehension by suggesting a novel distinction between the processes implemented in the language and MD networks. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Language comprehension recruits both language-specific mechanisms and domain-general mechanisms that are engaged in many cognitive processes. In the human cortex, language-selective mechanisms are implemented in the left-lateralized "core language network

Neuroimaging and Research into Second Language Acquisition

Science.gov (United States)

Sabourin, Laura

2009-01-01

Neuroimaging techniques are becoming not only more and more sophisticated but are also coming to be increasingly accessible to researchers. One thing that one should take note of is the potential of neuroimaging research within second language acquisition (SLA) to contribute to issues pertaining to the plasticity of the adult brain and to general…

What Is Applied Linguistics?

Science.gov (United States)

James, Carl

1993-01-01

Ostensive and expository definitions of applied linguistics are assessed. It is suggested that the key to a meaningful definition lies in the dual articulation of applied linguistics: it is an interface between linguistics and practicality. Its role as an "expert system" is suggested. (45 references) (Author/LB)

Big Data and Neuroimaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Webb-Vargas, Yenny; Chen, Shaojie; Fisher, Aaron; Mejia, Amanda; Xu, Yuting; Crainiceanu, Ciprian; Caffo, Brian; Lindquist, Martin A

2017-12-01

Big Data are of increasing importance in a variety of areas, especially in the biosciences. There is an emerging critical need for Big Data tools and methods, because of the potential impact of advancements in these areas. Importantly, statisticians and statistical thinking have a major role to play in creating meaningful progress in this arena. We would like to emphasize this point in this special issue, as it highlights both the dramatic need for statistical input for Big Data analysis and for a greater number of statisticians working on Big Data problems. We use the field of statistical neuroimaging to demonstrate these points. As such, this paper covers several applications and novel methodological developments of Big Data tools applied to neuroimaging data.

Pragmatic Strategies and Linguistic Structures in Making ‘Suggestions’: Towards Comprehensive Taxonomies

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Hossein Abolfathiasl

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses and upgrades taxonomies of strategies and structures for the speech act of suggesting based on existing taxonomies and classifications in the pragmatics research literature. Previous studies have focused mainly on linguistic structures used to perform the speech act of suggesting. Thus, there seems to be a need to provide a more comprehensive set of taxonomies for structures as well as strategies that can be used in EFL/ESL classrooms and for research on the speech act of suggesting. To this end, the speech act of suggesting is defined first and the features of this speech act are discussed. Second, the most recent classifications proposed for structures and linguistic realization strategies for suggestions were analysed and contrasted and a more comprehensive taxonomy of structures and linguistic realization strategies is provided, based on previous taxonomies. Finally, taxonomy of politeness strategies in making suggestions are provided, based on recent studies in cross-cultural pragmatics research.

Mild cognitive impairment: loss of linguistic task-induced changes in motor cortex excitability.

Science.gov (United States)

Bracco, L; Giovannelli, F; Bessi, V; Borgheresi, A; Di Tullio, A; Sorbi, S; Zaccara, G; Cincotta, M

2009-03-10

In amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), functional neuronal connectivity may be altered, as suggested by quantitative EEG and neuroimaging data. In young healthy humans, the execution of linguistic tasks modifies the excitability of the hand area of the dominant primary motor cortex (M1(hand)), as tested by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). We used TMS to investigate functional connectivity between language-related cortical areas and M1(hand) in aMCI. Ten elderly women with aMCI and 10 age-matched women were recruited. All participants were right handed and underwent a neuropsychological evaluation. In the first TMS experiment, participants performed three different tasks: reading aloud, viewing of non-letter strings (baseline), and nonverbal oral movements. The second experiment included the baseline condition and three visual searching/matching tasks using letters, geometric shapes, or digits as target stimuli. In controls, motor evoked potentials (MEP) elicited by suprathreshold TMS of the left M1(hand) were significantly larger during reading aloud (170% baseline) than during nonverbal oral movements, whereas no difference was seen for right M1(hand) stimulation. Similarly, MEP elicited by left M1(hand) stimulation during letter and shape searching/matching tasks were significantly larger compared to digit task. In contrast, linguistic task performance did not produce any significant MEP modulation in patients with aMCI, although neuropsychological evaluation showed normal language abilities. Findings suggest that functional connectivity between the language-related brain regions and the dominant M1(hand) may be altered in amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Follow-up studies will reveal whether transcranial magnetic stimulation application during linguistic tasks may contribute to characterize the risk of conversion to Alzheimer disease.

Paediatric population neuroimaging and the Generation R Study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

White, Tonya; Muetzel, Ryan L.; El Marroun, Hanan

2018-01-01

Paediatric population neuroimaging is an emerging field that falls at the intersection between developmental neuroscience and epidemiology. A key feature of population neuroimaging studies involves large-scale recruitment that is representative of the general population. One successful approach f...

The Study of Critical Eco-Linguistic in Green Discourse: Prospective Eco-Linguistic Analysis

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Tommi Yuniawan

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Eco-linguistic studies are influenced by one of the other interdisciplinary sciences, namely critical discourse analysis. The combination of these two sciences is called critical eco-linguistic studies. Critical eco-linguistic examines the discourse about the environment and various forms of discourse and their ideology which concerns people and the environment. The environmental discourse with all its manifestations (oral text, written text is called green discourse. To that end, critical eco-linguistic dictates the linguistic aspects contained in the green discourse. Utilization of lingual units in green discourse will affect the sense and logic of people involved in the discourse, ie the writers and readers or the speakers and the speakers. What is recorded in their cognition, will affect their attitudes and actions to the environment. If green discourse is constructive, then their attitude and actions to the environment are constructive. Conversely, if green discourse is more destructive and exploitative, then their attitudes and actions towards the environment will also be affected towards destruction and exploitation. For this reason, critical eco-linguistic studies in green discourse deserve to be given space as a form of prospective eco-linguistic analysis.

Attention to pain! A neurocognitive perspective on attentional modulation of pain in neuroimaging studies.

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Torta, D M; Legrain, V; Mouraux, A; Valentini, E

2017-04-01

Several studies have used neuroimaging techniques to investigate brain correlates of the attentional modulation of pain. Although these studies have advanced the knowledge in the field, important confounding factors such as imprecise theoretical definitions of attention, incomplete operationalization of the construct under exam, and limitations of techniques relying on measuring regional changes in cerebral blood flow have hampered the potential relevance of the conclusions. Here, we first provide an overview of the major theories of attention and of attention in the study of pain to bridge theory and experimental results. We conclude that load and motivational/affective theories are particularly relevant to study the attentional modulation of pain and should be carefully integrated in functional neuroimaging studies. Then, we summarize previous findings and discuss the possible neural correlates of the attentional modulation of pain. We discuss whether classical functional neuroimaging techniques are suitable to measure the effect of a fluctuating process like attention, and in which circumstances functional neuroimaging can be reliably used to measure the attentional modulation of pain. Finally, we argue that the analysis of brain networks and spontaneous oscillations may be a crucial future development in the study of attentional modulation of pain, and why the interplay between attention and pain, as examined so far, may rely on neural mechanisms shared with other sensory modalities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Functional neuroimaging studies of episodic memory. Functional dissociation in the medial temporal lobe structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsukiura, Takashi

2008-01-01

Previous functional neuroimaging studies have demonstrated the critical role of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) regions in the encoding and retrieval of episodic memory. It has also been shown that an emotional factor in human memory enhances episodic encoding and retrieval. However, there is little evidence regarding the specific contribution of each MTL region to the relational, contextual, and emotional processes of episodic memory. The goal of this review article is to identify differential activation patterns of the processes between MTL regions. Results from functional neuroimaging studies of episodic memory show that the hippocampus is involved in encoding the relation between memory items, whereas the entorhinal and perirhinal cortices (anterior parahippocampal gyrus) contribute to the encoding of a single item. Additionally, the parahippocampal cortex (posterior parahippocampal gyrus) is selectively activated during the processing of contextual information of episodic memory. A similar pattern of functional dissociation is found in episodic memory retrieval. Functional neuroimaging has also shown that emotional information of episodic memory enhances amygdala-MTL correlations and that this enhancement is observed during both the encoding and retrieval of emotional memories. These findings from pervious neuroimaging studies suggest that different MTL regions could organize memory for personally experienced episodes via the 'relation' and 'context' factors of episodic memory, and that the emotional factor of episodes could modulate the functional organization in the MTL regions. (author)

Molecular neuroimaging of emotional decision-making.

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Hidehiko

2013-04-01

With the dissemination of non-invasive human neuroimaging techniques such as fMRI and the advancement of cognitive science, neuroimaging studies focusing on emotions and social cognition have become established. Along with this advancement, behavioral economics taking emotional and social factors into account for economic decisions has been merged with neuroscientific studies, and this interdisciplinary approach is called neuroeconomics. Past neuroeconomics studies have demonstrated that subcortical emotion-related brain structures play an important role in "irrational" decision-making. The research field that investigates the role of central neurotransmitters in this process is worthy of further development. Here, we provide an overview of recent molecular neuroimaging studies to further the understanding of the neurochemical basis of "irrational" or emotional decision-making and the future direction, including clinical implications, of the field. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd and the Japan Neuroscience Society. All rights reserved.

The Neuro-Image: Alain Resnais's Digital Cinema without the Digits

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pisters, P.

2011-01-01

This paper proposes to read cinema in the digital age as a new type of image, the neuroimage. Going back to Gilles Deleuze's cinema books and it is argued that the neuro-image is based in the future. The cinema of Alain Resnais is analyzed as a neuro-image and digital cinema .

Linguistic and Psycho-Linguistic Principles of Linguadidactics (theoretical interpretation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liudmila Mauzienė

2011-04-01

Full Text Available This article considers linguadidactics being closely related to linguistics, psychology, psycholinguistics and didactics and applies their theoretical statements and regularities in its scientific studies. Methodology refers to linguistics which investigates the language as a teaching subject. Methodology is linked to psychology in two ways. First of all, it is based on psychology as the teaching process is an intellectual psychical act and its regularities are necessary to know. On the other hand, methodology applies rules of pedagogy that predicts ways of learning and development of language skills. The article emphasizes that sustainable work experience and analysis of scientific research show that teaching process is more effective if consistent patterns of linguistics and psychology are appropriately applied.

Structural neuroimaging in neuropsychology: History and contemporary applications.

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Bigler, Erin D

2017-11-01

Neuropsychology's origins began long before there were any in vivo methods to image the brain. That changed with the advent of computed tomography in the 1970s and magnetic resonance imaging in the early 1980s. Now computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging are routinely a part of neuropsychological investigations with an increasing number of sophisticated methods for image analysis. This review examines the history of neuroimaging utilization in neuropsychological investigations, highlighting the basic methods that go into image quantification and the various metrics that can be derived. Neuroimaging methods and limitations for identify what constitutes a lesion are discussed. Likewise, the influence of various demographic and developmental factors that influence quantification of brain structure are reviewed. Neuroimaging is an integral part of 21st Century neuropsychology. The importance of neuroimaging to advancing neuropsychology is emphasized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Neuroimaging Biomarkers of Neurodegenerative Diseases and Dementia

OpenAIRE

Risacher, Shannon L.; Saykin, Andrew J.

2013-01-01

Neurodegenerative disorders leading to dementia are common diseases that affect many older and some young adults. Neuroimaging methods are important tools for assessing and monitoring pathological brain changes associated with progressive neurodegenerative conditions. In this review, the authors describe key findings from neuroimaging studies (magnetic resonance imaging and radionucleotide imaging) in neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and prodromal stages, famili...

The Co-evolution of Neuroimaging and Psychiatric Neurosurgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Dyster, Timothy G; Mikell, Charles B; Sheth, Sameer A

2016-01-01

The role of neuroimaging in psychiatric neurosurgery has evolved significantly throughout the field's history. Psychiatric neurosurgery initially developed without the benefit of information provided by modern imaging modalities, and thus lesion targets were selected based on contemporary theories of frontal lobe dysfunction in psychiatric disease. However, by the end of the 20th century, the availability of structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) allowed for the development of mechanistic theories attempting to explain the anatamofunctional basis of these disorders, as well as the efficacy of stereotactic neuromodulatory treatments. Neuroimaging now plays a central and ever-expanding role in the neurosurgical management of psychiatric disorders, by influencing the determination of surgical candidates, allowing individualized surgical targeting and planning, and identifying network-level changes in the brain following surgery. In this review, we aim to describe the coevolution of psychiatric neurosurgery and neuroimaging, including ways in which neuroimaging has proved useful in elucidating the therapeutic mechanisms of neuromodulatory procedures. We focus on ablative over stimulation-based procedures given their historical precedence and the greater opportunity they afford for post-operative re-imaging, but also discuss important contributions from the deep brain stimulation (DBS) literature. We conclude with a discussion of how neuroimaging will transition the field of psychiatric neurosurgery into the era of precision medicine.

Mathematical modeling and visualization of functional neuroimages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Peter Mondrup

This dissertation presents research results regarding mathematical modeling in the context of the analysis of functional neuroimages. Specifically, the research focuses on pattern-based analysis methods that recently have become popular analysis tools within the neuroimaging community. Such methods...... neuroimaging data sets are characterized by relatively few data observations in a high dimensional space. The process of building models in such data sets often requires strong regularization. Often, the degree of model regularization is chosen in order to maximize prediction accuracy. We focus on the relative...... be carefully selected, so that the model and its visualization enhance our ability to interpret brain function. The second part concerns interpretation of nonlinear models and procedures for extraction of ‘brain maps’ from nonlinear kernel models. We assess the performance of the sensitivity map as means...

Machine Learning for Neuroimaging with Scikit-Learn

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandre eAbraham

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Statistical machine learning methods are increasingly used for neuroimaging data analysis. Their main virtue is their ability to model high-dimensional datasets, e.g. multivariate analysis of activation images or resting-state time series. Supervised learning is typically used in decoding or encoding settings to relate brain images to behavioral or clinical observations, while unsupervised learning can uncover hidden structures in sets of images (e.g. resting state functional MRI or find sub-populations in large cohorts. By considering different functional neuroimaging applications, we illustrate how scikit-learn, a Python machine learning library, can be used to perform some key analysis steps. Scikit-learn contains a very large set of statistical learning algorithms, both supervised and unsupervised, and its application to neuroimaging data provides a versatile tool to study the brain.

Machine learning for neuroimaging with scikit-learn.

Science.gov (United States)

Abraham, Alexandre; Pedregosa, Fabian; Eickenberg, Michael; Gervais, Philippe; Mueller, Andreas; Kossaifi, Jean; Gramfort, Alexandre; Thirion, Bertrand; Varoquaux, Gaël

2014-01-01

Statistical machine learning methods are increasingly used for neuroimaging data analysis. Their main virtue is their ability to model high-dimensional datasets, e.g., multivariate analysis of activation images or resting-state time series. Supervised learning is typically used in decoding or encoding settings to relate brain images to behavioral or clinical observations, while unsupervised learning can uncover hidden structures in sets of images (e.g., resting state functional MRI) or find sub-populations in large cohorts. By considering different functional neuroimaging applications, we illustrate how scikit-learn, a Python machine learning library, can be used to perform some key analysis steps. Scikit-learn contains a very large set of statistical learning algorithms, both supervised and unsupervised, and its application to neuroimaging data provides a versatile tool to study the brain.

Forensic Linguistics: The Linguistic Analyst and Expert Witness of Language Evidence in Criminal Trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Jordan, Sherilynn Nidever

Forensic linguistics (FL) provides consultation to lawyers through the analysis of language evidence during the pre-trial investigation. Evidence commonly analyzed by linguists in criminal cases includes transcripts of police interviews and language crimes (such as bribery) and anonymous or questioned texts. Forensic linguistic testimony is rarely…

Sample Undergraduate Linguistics Courses. Linguistics in the Undergraduate Curriculum, Appendix 5.

Science.gov (United States)

Linguistic Society of America, Washington, DC.

Thirty-six nontraditional undergraduate courses in linguistics are described. Course topics include: animal communication, bilingualism, sociolinguistics, introductory linguistics, language and formal reasoning, language and human conflict, language and power, language and sex, language and the brain, language planning, language typology and…

The progress and clinical application of radionuclide neuroimaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Wenxin; He Pinyu

2008-01-01

Development of site-specific brain radiopharmaceuticals extends the the functional neuroimaging applications in the diagnosis and monitoring treatments of various neurologic and psychiatric disorders. This article highlights recent advances and clinical applications of the functional neuroimaging in Parkinson disease, epilepsy, dementia, substance abuse, psychiatric disorders and brain functional research. (authors)

Pituitary gland in psychiatric disorders: a review of neuroimaging findings.

Science.gov (United States)

Atmaca, Murad

2014-08-01

In this paper, it was reviewed neuroimaging results of the pituitary gland in psychiatric disorders, particularly schizophrenia, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and somatoform disorders. The author made internet search in detail by using PubMed database including the period between 1980 and 2012 October. It was included in the articles in English, Turkish and French languages on pituitary gland in psychiatric disorders through structural or functional neuroimaging results. After searching mentioned in the Methods section in detail, investigations were obtained on pituitary gland neuroimaging in a variety of psychiatric disorders. There have been so limited investigations on pituitary neuroimaging in psychiatric disorders including major psychiatric illnesses like schizophrenia and mood disorders. Current findings are so far from the generalizability of the results. For this reason, it is required to perform much more neuroimaging studies of pituitary gland in all psychiatric disorders to reach the diagnostic importance of measuring it.

Linguistics and the digital humanities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Kim Ebensgaard

2014-01-01

Corpus linguistics has been closely intertwined with digital technology since the introduction of university computer mainframes in the 1960s. Making use of both digitized data in the form of the language corpus and computational methods of analysis involving concordancers and statistics software......, corpus linguistics arguably has a place in the digital humanities. Still, it remains obscure and figures only sporadically in the literature on the digital humanities. This article provides an overview of the main principles of corpus linguistics and the role of computer technology in relation to data...... and method and also offers a bird's-eye view of the history of corpus linguistics with a focus on its intimate relationship with digital technology and how digital technology has impacted the very core of corpus linguistics and shaped the identity of the corpus linguist. Ultimately, the article is oriented...

Neuroimaging studies of self-reflection

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHU Ying

2004-01-01

This paper reviews some basic findings and methodological issues in neuroimaging studies of self-referential processing.As a general rule,making judgments about one's self,inclusive of personality trait adjectives or current mental states(person's prefer ences,norms,aesthetic values and feeling)uniformly generates medial prefrontal activations,regardless of stimulus materials(words or pictures)and modality(visual or auditory).Cingulate activations are also observed in association with most self-referential processing.Methodological issues include treating self-referential processing as either representing one's own personality traits or representing one's own current mental states.Finally,self-referential processing could Be considered as implement of "I think therefore I am" approach to neuroimaging the self.

The Routledge Applied Linguistics Reader

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Li, Ed.

2011-01-01

"The Routledge Applied Linguistics Reader" is an essential collection of readings for students of Applied Linguistics. Divided into five sections: Language Teaching and Learning, Second Language Acquisition, Applied Linguistics, Identity and Power and Language Use in Professional Contexts, the "Reader" takes a broad…

Terminology development towards harmonizing multiple clinical neuroimaging research repositories.

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Jessica A; Pasquerello, Danielle; Turner, Matthew D; Keator, David B; Alpert, Kathryn; King, Margaret; Landis, Drew; Calhoun, Vince D; Potkin, Steven G; Tallis, Marcelo; Ambite, Jose Luis; Wang, Lei

2015-07-01

Data sharing and mediation across disparate neuroimaging repositories requires extensive effort to ensure that the different domains of data types are referred to by commonly agreed upon terms. Within the SchizConnect project, which enables querying across decentralized databases of neuroimaging, clinical, and cognitive data from various studies of schizophrenia, we developed a model for each data domain, identified common usable terms that could be agreed upon across the repositories, and linked them to standard ontological terms where possible. We had the goal of facilitating both the current user experience in querying and future automated computations and reasoning regarding the data. We found that existing terminologies are incomplete for these purposes, even with the history of neuroimaging data sharing in the field; and we provide a model for efforts focused on querying multiple clinical neuroimaging repositories.

25 years of neuroimaging in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Science.gov (United States)

Foerster, Bradley R.; Welsh, Robert C.; Feldman, Eva L.

2014-01-01

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal motor neuron disease for which a precise cause has not yet been identified. Standard CT or MRI evaluation does not demonstrate gross structural nervous system changes in ALS, so conventional neuroimaging techniques have provided little insight into the pathophysiology of this disease. Advanced neuroimaging techniques—such as structural MRI, diffusion tensor imaging and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy—allow evaluation of alterations of the nervous system in ALS. These alterations include focal loss of grey and white matter and reductions in white matter tract integrity, as well as changes in neural networks and in the chemistry, metabolism and receptor distribution in the brain. Given their potential for investigation of both brain structure and function, advanced neuroimaging methods offer important opportunities to improve diagnosis, guide prognosis, and direct future treatment strategies in ALS. In this article, we review the contributions made by various advanced neuroimaging techniques to our understanding of the impact of ALS on different brain regions, and the potential role of such measures in biomarker development. PMID:23917850

Measuring Linguistic Empathy: An Experimental Approach to Connecting Linguistic and Social Psychological Notions of Empathy

Science.gov (United States)

Kann, Trevor

2017-01-01

This dissertation investigated the relationship between Linguistic Empathy and Psychological Empathy by implementing a psycholinguistic experiment that measured a person's acceptability ratings of sentences with violations of Linguistic Empathy and correlating them with a measure of the person's Psychological Empathy. Linguistic Empathy…

Neuropsychological and neuroimaging underpinnings of schizoaffective disorder: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Madre, M; Canales-Rodríguez, E J; Ortiz-Gil, J; Murru, A; Torrent, C; Bramon, E; Perez, V; Orth, M; Brambilla, P; Vieta, E; Amann, B L

2016-07-01

The neurobiological basis and nosological status of schizoaffective disorder remains elusive and controversial. This study provides a systematic review of neurocognitive and neuroimaging findings in the disorder. A comprehensive literature search was conducted via PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus and Web of Knowledge (from 1949 to 31st March 2015) using the keyword 'schizoaffective disorder' and any of the following terms: 'neuropsychology', 'cognition', 'structural neuroimaging', 'functional neuroimaging', 'multimodal', 'DTI' and 'VBM'. Only studies that explicitly examined a well defined sample, or subsample, of patients with schizoaffective disorder were included. Twenty-two of 43 neuropsychological and 19 of 51 neuroimaging articles fulfilled inclusion criteria. We found a general trend towards schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder being related to worse cognitive performance than bipolar disorder. Grey matter volume loss in schizoaffective disorder is also more comparable to schizophrenia than to bipolar disorder which seems consistent across further neuroimaging techniques. Neurocognitive and neuroimaging abnormalities in schizoaffective disorder resemble more schizophrenia than bipolar disorder. This is suggestive for schizoaffective disorder being a subtype of schizophrenia or being part of the continuum spectrum model of psychosis, with schizoaffective disorder being more skewed towards schizophrenia than bipolar disorder. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

LANGUE AND PAROLE IN AMERICAN LINGUISTICS.

Science.gov (United States)

LEVIN, SAMUEL R.

THE PROBLEM OF THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE STRUCTURE IS CONSIDERED AND THE FORM WHICH ANY LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION SHOULD TAKE. THE AUTHOR EXAMINES THE INFLUENCE OF THE SWISS LINGUIST, FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE, ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS. THE QUESTION OF "MENTALISM" IN LINGUISTICS IS REDUCED TO THE PROBLEM OF WHETHER LINGUISTIC…

Linguistic Communications 1.

Science.gov (United States)

Monash Univ., Clayton, Victoria (Australia).

The present compilation of papers on linguistics is the result of joint efforts by the Classical Studies, French, Japanese, Linguistics, and Russian Departments of Monash University. Selections in the Pre-Prints and Articles section include: "For/Arabic Bilingualism in the Zalingei Area," by B. Jernudd; "Prosodic Problems in a Generative Phonology…

Working Memory for Linguistic and Non-linguistic Manual Gestures: Evidence, Theory, and Application.

Science.gov (United States)

Rudner, Mary

2018-01-01

Linguistic manual gestures are the basis of sign languages used by deaf individuals. Working memory and language processing are intimately connected and thus when language is gesture-based, it is important to understand related working memory mechanisms. This article reviews work on working memory for linguistic and non-linguistic manual gestures and discusses theoretical and applied implications. Empirical evidence shows that there are effects of load and stimulus degradation on working memory for manual gestures. These effects are similar to those found for working memory for speech-based language. Further, there are effects of pre-existing linguistic representation that are partially similar across language modalities. But above all, deaf signers score higher than hearing non-signers on an n-back task with sign-based stimuli, irrespective of their semantic and phonological content, but not with non-linguistic manual actions. This pattern may be partially explained by recent findings relating to cross-modal plasticity in deaf individuals. It suggests that in linguistic gesture-based working memory, semantic aspects may outweigh phonological aspects when processing takes place under challenging conditions. The close association between working memory and language development should be taken into account in understanding and alleviating the challenges faced by deaf children growing up with cochlear implants as well as other clinical populations.

LINGUISTICS AND SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING: AN ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The relationship between linguistics and second language teaching has always been a controversial one. Many linguists have argued that linguistics has nothing to say to the teacher. Sampson (1980, p.10), for example, says: ·"1 do not believe that linguistics has any contribution to make to the teaching of English or the.

On the concept of a linguistic variable

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kerre, E.

1996-01-01

The concept of a linguistic variable plays a crucial role in the representation of imprecise knowledge in information sciences. A variable is called linguistic as soon as its values are linguistic terms rather than numerical ones. The power of daily communication and common sense reasoning lies in the use of such linguistic values. Even when exact numerical values are available, experts tend to transform these values into linguistic ones. A physician will usually translate a numerical measurement of a blood pressure into linguistic specifications such as normal, very high, too low... Zadeh has argued that the set of values for a linguistic variable assumes a more-or-less fixed structure. Starting from an atomic value and its antonym all remaining values are constructed using logical connectives on the one hand and linguistic hedges on the other hand. In this paper we will describe how to represent the value set of a linguistic variable in general and of linguistic hedges in particular

Clinical Linguistics--Retrospect and Prospect.

Science.gov (United States)

Grunwell, Pamela

In the past 20 years, linguistics has gained a prominent position in speech and language pathology in Britain, evolving into a new field, clinical linguistics. It includes three related areas of activity: training of speech pathologists/therapists; professional practice; and research. Linguistics and speech/language pathology have developed as…

Etymology and Modern Linguistics

Science.gov (United States)

Malkiel, Yakov

1975-01-01

Discusses the estrangement between etymology and modern linguistics, and concludes that a reconciliation between spatio-temporal linguistics and etymology must occur, because without it, both disciplines are doomed to inanition. (Author/AM)

Imperial College near infrared spectroscopy neuroimaging analysis framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Orihuela-Espina, Felipe; Leff, Daniel R; James, David R C; Darzi, Ara W; Yang, Guang-Zhong

2018-01-01

This paper describes the Imperial College near infrared spectroscopy neuroimaging analysis (ICNNA) software tool for functional near infrared spectroscopy neuroimaging data. ICNNA is a MATLAB-based object-oriented framework encompassing an application programming interface and a graphical user interface. ICNNA incorporates reconstruction based on the modified Beer-Lambert law and basic processing and data validation capabilities. Emphasis is placed on the full experiment rather than individual neuroimages as the central element of analysis. The software offers three types of analyses including classical statistical methods based on comparison of changes in relative concentrations of hemoglobin between the task and baseline periods, graph theory-based metrics of connectivity and, distinctively, an analysis approach based on manifold embedding. This paper presents the different capabilities of ICNNA in its current version.

Linguistic Corpora and Language Teaching.

Science.gov (United States)

Murison-Bowie, Simon

1996-01-01

Examines issues raised by corpus linguistics concerning the description of language. The article argues that it is necessary to start from correct descriptions of linguistic units and the contexts in which they occur. Corpus linguistics has joined with language teaching by sharing a recognition of the importance of a larger, schematic view of…

Linguistic dating of biblical texts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Young, Ian; Rezetko, Robert; Ehrensvärd, Martin Gustaf

Since the beginning of critical scholarship biblical texts have been dated using linguistic evidence. In recent years this has become a controversial topic, especially with the publication of Ian Young (ed.), Biblical Hebrew: Studies in Chronology and Typology (2003). However, until now there has...... been no introduction and comprehensive study of the field. Volume 1 introduces the field of linguistic dating of biblical texts, particularly to intermediate and advanced students of biblical Hebrew who have a reasonable background in the language, having completed at least an introductory course...... in this volume are: What is it that makes Archaic Biblical Hebrew archaic , Early Biblical Hebrew early , and Late Biblical Hebrew late ? Does linguistic typology, i.e. different linguistic characteristics, convert easily and neatly into linguistic chronology, i.e. different historical origins? A large amount...

Combination Across Domains: An MEG Investigation into the Relationship between Mathematical, Pictorial, and Linguistic Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Bemis, Douglas K.; Pylkkänen, Liina

2013-01-01

Debates surrounding the evolution of language often hinge upon its relationship to cognition more generally and many investigations have attempted to demark the boundary between the two. Though results from these studies suggest that language may recruit domain-general mechanisms during certain types of complex processing, the domain-generality of basic combinatorial mechanisms that lie at the core of linguistic processing is still unknown. Our previous work (Bemis and Pylkkänen, 2011, 2012) used magnetoencephalography to isolate neural activity associated with the simple composition of an adjective and a noun (“red boat”) and found increased activity during this processing localized to the left anterior temporal lobe (lATL), ventro-medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), and left angular gyrus (lAG). The present study explores the domain-generality of these effects and their associated combinatorial mechanisms through two parallel non-linguistic combinatorial tasks designed to be as minimal and natural as the linguistic paradigm. In the first task, we used pictures of colored shapes to elicit combinatorial conceptual processing similar to that evoked by the linguistic expressions and find increased activity again localized to the vmPFC during combinatorial processing. This result suggests that a domain-general semantic combinatorial mechanism operates during basic linguistic composition, and that activity generated by its processing localizes to the vmPFC. In the second task, we recorded neural activity as subjects performed simple addition between two small numerals. Consistent with a wide array of recent results, we find no effects related to basic addition that coincide with our linguistic effects and instead find increased activity localized to the intraparietal sulcus. This result suggests that the scope of the previously identified linguistic effects is restricted to compositional operations and does not extend generally to all tasks that are merely similar

Update on neuroimaging phenotypes of mid-hindbrain malformations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jissendi-Tchofo, Patrice [University Hospital of Lille (CHRU), Department of Neuroradiology, MRI 3T Research, Plateforme Imagerie du vivant, IMPRT-IFR 114, Lille-Cedex (France); CHU Saint-Pierre, Radiology Department, Pediatric Neuroradiology Section, Brussels (Belgium); Severino, Mariasavina [Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Neuroradiology Unit, Genoa (Italy); Nguema-Edzang, Beatrice; Toure, Cisse; Soto Ares, Gustavo [University Hospital of Lille (CHRU), Department of Neuroradiology, MRI 3T Research, Plateforme Imagerie du vivant, IMPRT-IFR 114, Lille-Cedex (France); Barkovich, Anthony James [University of California, Neuroradiology Section, Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, San Francisco, CA (United States)

2014-10-23

Neuroimaging techniques including structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional positron emission tomography (PET) are useful in categorizing various midbrain-hindbrain (MHB) malformations, both in allowing diagnosis and in helping to understand the developmental processes that were disturbed. Brain imaging phenotypes of numerous malformations are characteristic features that help in guiding the genetic testing in case of direct neuroimaging-genotype correlation or, at least, to differentiate among MHB malformations entities. The present review aims to provide the reader with an update of the use of neuroimaging applications in the fine analysis of MHB malformations, using a comprehensive, recently proposed developmental and genetic classification. We have performed an extensive systematic review of the literature, from the embryology main steps of MHB development through the malformations entities, with regard to their molecular and genetic basis, conventional MRI features, and other neuroimaging characteristics. We discuss disorders in which imaging features are distinctive and how these features reflect the structural and functional impairment of the brain. Recognition of specific MRI phenotypes, including advanced imaging features, is useful to recognize the MHB malformation entities, to suggest genetic investigations, and, eventually, to monitor the disease outcome after supportive therapies. (orig.)

Nipype: A flexible, lightweight and extensible neuroimaging data processing framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krzysztof eGorgolewski

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Current neuroimaging software offer users an incredible opportunity to analyze their data in different ways, with different underlying assumptions. Several sophisticated software packages (e.g., AFNI, BrainVoyager, FSL, FreeSurfer, Nipy, R, SPM are used to process and analyze large and often diverse (highly multi-dimensional data. However, this heterogeneous collection of specialized applications creates several issues that hinder replicable, efficient and optimal use of neuroimaging analysis approaches: 1 No uniform access to neuroimaging analysis software and usage information; 2 No framework for comparative algorithm development and dissemination; 3 Personnel turnover in laboratories often limits methodological continuity and training new personnel takes time; 4 Neuroimaging software packages do not address computational efficiency; and 5 Methods sections in journal articles are inadequate for reproducing results. To address these issues, we present Nipype (Neuroimaging in Python: Pipelines and Interfaces; http://nipy.org/nipype, an open-source, community-developed, software package and scriptable library. Nipype solves the issues by providing Interfaces to existing neuroimaging software with uniform usage semantics and by facilitating interaction between these packages using Workflows. Nipype provides an environment that encourages interactive exploration of algorithms, eases the design of Workflows within and between packages, allows rapid comparative development of algorithms and reduces the learning curve necessary to use different packages. Nipype supports both local and remote execution on multi-core machines and clusters, without additional scripting. Nipype is BSD licensed, allowing anyone unrestricted usage. An open, community-driven development philosophy allows the software to quickly adapt and address the varied needs of the evolving neuroimaging community, especially in the context of increasing demand for reproducible research.

Working Memory for Linguistic and Non-linguistic Manual Gestures: Evidence, Theory, and Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mary Rudner

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Linguistic manual gestures are the basis of sign languages used by deaf individuals. Working memory and language processing are intimately connected and thus when language is gesture-based, it is important to understand related working memory mechanisms. This article reviews work on working memory for linguistic and non-linguistic manual gestures and discusses theoretical and applied implications. Empirical evidence shows that there are effects of load and stimulus degradation on working memory for manual gestures. These effects are similar to those found for working memory for speech-based language. Further, there are effects of pre-existing linguistic representation that are partially similar across language modalities. But above all, deaf signers score higher than hearing non-signers on an n-back task with sign-based stimuli, irrespective of their semantic and phonological content, but not with non-linguistic manual actions. This pattern may be partially explained by recent findings relating to cross-modal plasticity in deaf individuals. It suggests that in linguistic gesture-based working memory, semantic aspects may outweigh phonological aspects when processing takes place under challenging conditions. The close association between working memory and language development should be taken into account in understanding and alleviating the challenges faced by deaf children growing up with cochlear implants as well as other clinical populations.

Occipital headaches and neuroimaging in children.

Science.gov (United States)

Bear, Joshua J; Gelfand, Amy A; Goadsby, Peter J; Bass, Nancy

2017-08-01

To investigate the common thinking, as reinforced by the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition (beta), that occipital headaches in children are rare and suggestive of serious intracranial pathology. We performed a retrospective chart review cohort study of all patients ≤18 years of age referred to a university child neurology clinic for headache in 2009. Patients were stratified by headache location: solely occipital, occipital plus other area(s) of head pain, or no occipital involvement. Children with abnormal neurologic examinations were excluded. We assessed location as a predictor of whether neuroimaging was ordered and whether intracranial pathology was found. Analyses were performed with cohort study tools in Stata/SE 13.0 (StataCorp, College Station, TX). A total of 308 patients were included. Median age was 12 years (32 months-18 years), and 57% were female. Headaches were solely occipital in 7% and occipital-plus in 14%. Patients with occipital head pain were more likely to undergo neuroimaging than those without occipital involvement (solely occipital: 95%, relative risk [RR] 10.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.4-77.3; occipital-plus: 88%, RR 3.7, 95% CI 1.5-9.2; no occipital pain: 63%, referent). Occipital pain alone or with other locations was not significantly associated with radiographic evidence of clinically significant intracranial pathology. Children with occipital headache are more likely to undergo neuroimaging. In the absence of concerning features on the history and in the setting of a normal neurologic examination, neuroimaging can be deferred in most pediatric patients when occipital pain is present. © 2017 American Academy of Neurology.

The linguistic repudiation of Wundt.

Science.gov (United States)

Nerlich, B; Clarke, D D

1998-08-01

Wilhelm Wundt's influence on the development of linguistics and psychology was pervasive. The foundations for this web of influence on the sciences of mind and language were laid down in Wundt's own research program, which was quite different from other attempts at founding a new psychology, as it was deeply rooted in German philosophy. This resulted in certain gaps in Wundt's conception of mind and language. These gaps provoked a double repudiation of Wundt's theories, by linguists and psychologists. The psychological repudiation has been studied by historians of psychology, and the linguistic repudiation has been studied by historians of linguistics. The intent of this article is to bring the linguistic repudiation to the attention of historians of psychology, especially the one outlined by two important figures in the history of psychology: Karl Buhler and George Mead.

Neuroimaging findings in the at-risk mental state: a review of recent literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, Stephen J; Reniers, Renate L E P; Heinze, Kareen

2013-01-01

The at-risk mental state (ARMS) has been the subject of much interest during the past 15 years. A great deal of effort has been expended to identify neuroimaging markers that can inform our understanding of the risk state and to help predict who will transition to frank psychotic illness. Recently, there has been an explosion of neuroimaging literature from people with an ARMS, which has meant that reviews and meta-analyses lack currency. Here we review papers published in the past 2 years, and contrast their findings with previous reports. While it is clear that people in the ARMS do show brain alterations when compared with healthy control subjects, there is an overall lack of consistency as to which of these alterations predict the development of psychosis. This problem arises because of variations in methodology (in patient recruitment, region of interest, method of analysis, and functional task employed), but there has also been too little effort put into replicating previous research. Nonetheless, there are areas of promise, notably that activation of the stress system and increased striatal dopamine synthesis seem to mark out patients in the ARMS most at risk for later transition. Future studies should focus on these areas, and on network-level analysis, incorporating graph theoretical approaches and intrinsic connectivity networks.

Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus: Journal Sponsorship

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Publisher. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics (SPiL) is published by the Department of General Linguistics of Stellenbosch University. Department of General Linguistics, Stellenbosch University. Sources of Support. The Department of General Linguistics acknowledges the financial support provided by the Fonds ...

Peace linguistics for language teachers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco GOMES DE MATOS

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This text aims at presenting the concept of Peace Linguistics - origins and recent developments -- as being implemented in the author's ongoing work in that emerging branch of Applied Linguistics. Examples of applicational possibilities are given, with a focus on language teaching-learning and a Checklist is provided, of topics for suggested linguistic-educational research, centered on communicative peace.

Legal Linguistics as a Mutual Arena for Cooperation: Recent Developments in the Field of Applied Linguistics and Law

Science.gov (United States)

Engberg, Jan

2013-01-01

This article reports on some of the recent projects and individual works in the field of Legal Linguistics as examples of cooperation between Applied Linguistics and law. The article starts by discussing relevant prototypical concepts of Legal Linguistics. Legal Linguistics scrutinizes interactions between human beings in the framework of legal…

NeuroDebian Virtual Machine Deployment Facilitates Trainee-Driven Bedside Neuroimaging Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Alexander; Kenney-Jung, Daniel; Botha, Hugo; Tillema, Jan-Mendelt

2017-01-01

Freely available software, derived from the past 2 decades of neuroimaging research, is significantly more flexible for research purposes than presently available clinical tools. Here, we describe and demonstrate the utility of rapidly deployable analysis software to facilitate trainee-driven translational neuroimaging research. A recipe and video tutorial were created to guide the creation of a NeuroDebian-based virtual computer that conforms to current neuroimaging research standards and can exist within a HIPAA-compliant system. This allows for retrieval of clinical imaging data, conversion to standard file formats, and rapid visualization and quantification of individual patients' cortical and subcortical anatomy. As an example, we apply this pipeline to a pediatric patient's data to illustrate the advantages of research-derived neuroimaging tools in asking quantitative questions "at the bedside." Our goal is to provide a path of entry for trainees to become familiar with common neuroimaging tools and foster an increased interest in translational research.

Measuring the diffusion of linguistic change.

Science.gov (United States)

Nerbonne, John

2010-12-12

We examine situations in which linguistic changes have probably been propagated via normal contact as opposed to via conquest, recent settlement and large-scale migration. We proceed then from two simplifying assumptions: first, that all linguistic variation is the result of either diffusion or independent innovation, and, second, that we may operationalize social contact as geographical distance. It is clear that both of these assumptions are imperfect, but they allow us to examine diffusion via the distribution of linguistic variation as a function of geographical distance. Several studies in quantitative linguistics have examined this relation, starting with Séguy (Séguy 1971 Rev. Linguist. Romane 35, 335-357), and virtually all report a sublinear growth in aggregate linguistic variation as a function of geographical distance. The literature from dialectology and historical linguistics has mostly traced the diffusion of individual features, however, so that it is sensible to ask what sort of dynamic in the diffusion of individual features is compatible with Séguy's curve. We examine some simulations of diffusion in an effort to shed light on this question.

Meeting Curation Challenges in a Neuroimaging Group

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angus Whyte

2008-08-01

Full Text Available The SCARP project is a series of short studies with two aims; firstly to discover more about disciplinary approaches and attitudes to digital curation through ‘immersion’ in selected cases; secondly to apply known good practice, and where possible, identify new lessons from practice in the selected discipline areas. The study summarised here is of the Neuroimaging Group in the University of Edinburgh’s Division of Psychiatry, which plays a leading role in eScience collaborations to improve the infrastructure for neuroimaging data integration and reuse. The Group also aims to address growing data storage and curation needs, given the capabilities afforded by new infrastructure. The study briefly reviews the policy context and current challenges to data integration and sharing in the neuroimaging field. It then describes how curation and preservation risks and opportunities for change were identified throughout the curation lifecycle; and their context appreciated through field study in the research site. The results are consistent with studies of neuroimaging eInfrastructure that emphasise the role of local data sharing and reuse practices. These sustain mutual awareness of datasets and experimental protocols through sharing peer to peer, and among senior researchers and students, enabling continuity in research and flexibility in project work. This “human infrastructure” is taken into account in considering next steps for curation and preservation of the Group’s datasets and a phased approach to supporting data documentation.

Linguistic Dating of Biblical Texts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ehrensvärd, Martin Gustaf

2003-01-01

For two centuries, scholars have pointed to consistent differences in the Hebrew of certain biblical texts and interpreted these differences as reflecting the date of composition of the texts. Until the 1980s, this was quite uncontroversial as the linguistic findings largely confirmed the chronol......For two centuries, scholars have pointed to consistent differences in the Hebrew of certain biblical texts and interpreted these differences as reflecting the date of composition of the texts. Until the 1980s, this was quite uncontroversial as the linguistic findings largely confirmed...... the chronology of the texts established by other means: the Hebrew of Genesis-2 Kings was judged to be early and that of Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles to be late. In the current debate where revisionists have questioned the traditional dating, linguistic arguments in the dating of texts have...... come more into focus. The study critically examines some linguistic arguments adduced to support the traditional position, and reviewing the arguments it points to weaknesses in the linguistic dating of EBH texts to pre-exilic times. When viewing the linguistic evidence in isolation it will be clear...

Turner syndrome: neuroimaging findings: structural and functional.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Mullaney, Ronan

2009-01-01

Neuroimaging studies of Turner syndrome can advance our understanding of the X chromosome in brain development, and the modulatory influence of endocrine factors. There is increasing evidence from neuroimaging studies that TX individuals have significant differences in the anatomy, function, and metabolism of a number of brain regions; including the parietal lobe; cerebellum, amygdala, hippocampus; and basal ganglia; and perhaps differences in "connectivity" between frontal and parieto-occipital regions. Finally, there is preliminary evidence that genomic imprinting, sex hormones and growth hormone have significant modulatory effects on brain maturation in TS.

Neuroimaging of tic disorders with co-existing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Plessen, Kerstin J; Royal, Jason M; Peterson, Bradley S

2007-01-01

BACKGROUND: Tourette syndrome (TS) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are common and debilitating neuropsychiatric illnesses that typically onset in the preschool years. Recently, both conditions have been subject to neuroimaging studies, with the aim of understanding...... contrast these findings with those in ADHD without comorbid tic disorders. RESULTS: The frequent comorbidity of TS and ADHD may reflect a common underlying neurobiological substrate, and studies confirm the hypothesized involvement of fronto-striatal circuits in both TS and ADHD. However, poor inhibitory...... their underlying neurobiological correlates. OBJECTIVE: The relation of TS and ADHD is discussed against the background of findings from previous Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) studies. METHODS: We review the designs and major findings of previous studies that have examined TS with comorbid ADHD, and we briefly...

Functional neuroimaging of emotional learning and autonomic reactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Peper, Martin; Herpers, Martin; Spreer, Joachim; Hennig, Jürgen; Zentner, Josef

2006-06-01

This article provides a selective overview of the functional neuroimaging literature with an emphasis on emotional activation processes. Emotions are fast and flexible response systems that provide basic tendencies for adaptive action. From the range of involved component functions, we first discuss selected automatic mechanisms that control basic adaptational changes. Second, we illustrate how neuroimaging work has contributed to the mapping of the network components associated with basic emotion families (fear, anger, disgust, happiness), and secondary dimensional concepts that organise the meaning space for subjective experience and verbal labels (emotional valence, activity/intensity, approach/withdrawal, etc.). Third, results and methodological difficulties are discussed in view of own neuroimaging experiments that investigated the component functions involved in emotional learning. The amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and striatum form a network of reciprocal connections that show topographically distinct patterns of activity as a correlate of up and down regulation processes during an emotional episode. Emotional modulations of other brain systems have attracted recent research interests. Emotional neuroimaging calls for more representative designs that highlight the modulatory influences of regulation strategies and socio-cultural factors responsible for inhibitory control and extinction. We conclude by emphasising the relevance of the temporal process dynamics of emotional activations that may provide improved prediction of individual differences in emotionality.

Neuroimaging in psychiatric pharmacogenetics research: the promise and pitfalls.

Science.gov (United States)

Falcone, Mary; Smith, Ryan M; Chenoweth, Meghan J; Bhattacharjee, Abesh Kumar; Kelsoe, John R; Tyndale, Rachel F; Lerman, Caryn

2013-11-01

The integration of research on neuroimaging and pharmacogenetics holds promise for improving treatment for neuropsychiatric conditions. Neuroimaging may provide a more sensitive early measure of treatment response in genetically defined patient groups, and could facilitate development of novel therapies based on an improved understanding of pathogenic mechanisms underlying pharmacogenetic associations. This review summarizes progress in efforts to incorporate neuroimaging into genetics and treatment research on major psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and addiction. Methodological challenges include: performing genetic analyses in small study populations used in imaging studies; inclusion of patients with psychiatric comorbidities; and the extensive variability across studies in neuroimaging protocols, neurobehavioral task probes, and analytic strategies. Moreover, few studies use pharmacogenetic designs that permit testing of genotype × drug effects. As a result of these limitations, few findings have been fully replicated. Future studies that pre-screen participants for genetic variants selected a priori based on drug metabolism and targets have the greatest potential to advance the science and practice of psychiatric treatment.

The application of neuroimaging to social inequity and language disparity: A cautionary examination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monica E. Ellwood-Lowe

2016-12-01

Full Text Available In the nascent field of the cognitive neuroscience of socioeconomic status (SES, researchers are using neuroimaging to examine how growing up in poverty affects children’s neurocognitive development, particularly their language abilities. In this review we highlight difficulties inherent in the frequent use of reverse inference to interpret SES-related abnormalities in brain regions that support language. While there is growing evidence suggesting that SES moderates children’s developing brain structure and function, no studies to date have elucidated explicitly how these neural findings are related to variations in children’s language abilities, or precisely what it is about SES that underlies or contributes to these differences. This issue is complicated by the fact that SES is confounded with such linguistic factors as cultural language use, first language, and bilingualism. Thus, SES-associated differences in brain regions that support language may not necessarily indicate differences in neurocognitive abilities. In this review we consider the multidimensionality of SES, discuss studies that have found SES-related differences in structure and function in brain regions that support language, and suggest future directions for studies in the area of cognitive neuroscience of SES that are less reliant on reverse inference.

Linguistic Intuitions and Cognitive Penetrability

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Michael Devitt

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Metalinguistic intuitions play a very large evidential role in both linguistics and philosophy. Linguists think that these intuitions are products of underlying linguistic competence. I call this view “the voice of competence” (“VoC”. Although many philosophers seem to think that metalinguistic intuitions are a priori many may implicitly hold the more scientifically respectable VoC. According to VoC, I argue, these intuitions can be cognitively penetrated by the central processor. But, I have argued elsewhere, VoC is false. Instead, we should hold “the modest explanation” (“ME” according to which these intuitions are fairly unreflective empirical theory-laden central-processor responses to phenomena. On ME, no question of cognitive penetration arises. ME has great methodological significance for the study of language. Insofar as we rely on intuitions as evidence we should prefer those of linguists and philosophers because they are more expert. But, more importantly, we should be seeking other evidence in linguistic usage.

M.Yu. Lermontov’s linguistic/literary personality through perspective of linguistic personality perception by philologist V.V. Vinogrado

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Larisa N. Kuznetsova

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The article considers M.Yu. Lermontov’s linguistic / literary personality through perspective of linguistic personality perception by Great Russian scientist-philologist and linguist, Academician V.V. Vinogradov.

Teaching Hispanic Linguistics: Strategies to Engage Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Knouse, Stephanie M.; Gupton, Timothy; Abreau, Laurel

2015-01-01

Even though many post-secondary institutions offer a variety of Hispanic linguistics classes (Hualde 2006; Lipski 2006), research on the pedagogy of Hispanic linguistics is an underdeveloped or non-existent area of the discipline. Courses in Hispanic linguistics can present not only linguistic challenges for non-native speakers of Spanish, but…

Mathematics and linguistics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Landauer, C.; Bellman, K.L.

1996-12-31

In this paper, we study foundational issues that we believe will help us develop a theoretically sound approach to constructing complex systems. The two theoretical approaches that have helped us understand and develop computational systems in the past are mathematics and linguistics. We describe some differences and strengths of the approaches, and propose a research program to combine the richness of linguistic reasoning with the precision of mathematics.

Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics (SPiL) is an annual/biannual open access, peer-reviewed international journal, published by the Department of General Linguistics, Stellenbosch University. The papers published in SPiL are ... Poetry in South African Sign Language: What is different? EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT EMAIL ...

Finding related functional neuroimaging volumes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Finn Årup; Hansen, Lars Kai

2004-01-01

We describe a content-based image retrieval technique for finding related functional neuroimaging experiments by voxelization of sets of stereotactic coordinates in Talairach space, comparing the volumes and reporting related volumes in a sorted list. Voxelization is accomplished by convolving ea...

The Dutch Linguistic Intraoperative Protocol: a valid linguistic approach to awake brain surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

De Witte, E; Satoer, D; Robert, E; Colle, H; Verheyen, S; Visch-Brink, E; Mariën, P

2015-01-01

Intraoperative direct electrical stimulation (DES) is increasingly used in patients operated on for tumours in eloquent areas. Although a positive impact of DES on postoperative linguistic outcome is generally advocated, information about the neurolinguistic methods applied in awake surgery is scarce. We developed for the first time a standardised Dutch linguistic test battery (measuring phonology, semantics, syntax) to reliably identify the critical language zones in detail. A normative study was carried out in a control group of 250 native Dutch-speaking healthy adults. In addition, the clinical application of the Dutch Linguistic Intraoperative Protocol (DuLIP) was demonstrated by means of anatomo-functional models and five case studies. A set of DuLIP tests was selected for each patient depending on the tumour location and degree of linguistic impairment. DuLIP is a valid test battery for pre-, intraoperative and postoperative language testing and facilitates intraoperative mapping of eloquent language regions that are variably located. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Unbalanced Linguistic Aggregation Operator in Group Decision Making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Zou

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Many linguistic aggregation methods have been proposed and applied in the linguistic decision-making problems. In practice, experts need to assess a number of values in a side of reference domain higher than in the other one; that is, experts use unbalanced linguistic values to express their evaluation for problems. In this paper, we propose a new linguistic aggregation operator to deal with unbalanced linguistic values in group decision making, we adopt 2-tuple representation model of linguistic values and linguistic hierarchies to express unbalanced linguistic values, and moreover, we present the unbalanced linguistic ordered weighted geometric operator to aggregate unbalanced linguistic evaluation values; a comparison example is given to show the advantage of our method.

Quantitative Research in Systemic Functional Linguistics

Science.gov (United States)

He, Qingshun

2018-01-01

The research of Systemic Functional Linguistics has been quite in-depth in both theory and practice. However, many linguists hold that Systemic Functional Linguistics has no hypothesis testing or experiments and its research is only qualitative. Analyses of the corpus, intelligent computing and language evolution on the ideological background of…

Neuroimaging with functional near infrared spectroscopy: From formation to interpretation

Science.gov (United States)

Herrera-Vega, Javier; Treviño-Palacios, Carlos G.; Orihuela-Espina, Felipe

2017-09-01

Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) is gaining momentum as a functional neuroimaging modality to investigate the cerebral hemodynamics subsequent to neural metabolism. As other neuroimaging modalities, it is neuroscience's tool to understand brain systems functions at behaviour and cognitive levels. To extract useful knowledge from functional neuroimages it is critical to understand the series of transformations applied during the process of the information retrieval and how they bound the interpretation. This process starts with the irradiation of the head tissues with infrared light to obtain the raw neuroimage and proceeds with computational and statistical analysis revealing hidden associations between pixels intensities and neural activity encoded to end up with the explanation of some particular aspect regarding brain function.To comprehend the overall process involved in fNIRS there is extensive literature addressing each individual step separately. This paper overviews the complete transformation sequence through image formation, reconstruction and analysis to provide an insight of the final functional interpretation.

Linguistic fuzzy selection of liquid levelmeters in nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghyym, S. H.

1999-01-01

In this work, a selection methodology of liquid levelmeters, especially, level sensors in non-nuclear category, to be installed in nuclear facilities is developed using a linguistic fuzzy approach. Depending on defuzzification techniques, the linguistic fuzzy methodology leads to either linguistic (exactly, fully-linguistic) or cardinal (i.e., semi-linguistic) evaluation. In the case of the linguistic method, for each alternative, fuzzy preference index is converted to linguistic utility value by means of a similarity measure determining the degree of similarity between fuzzy index and linguistic ratings. For the cardinal method, the index is translated to cardinal overall utility value. According to these values, alternatives of interest are linguistically or numerically evaluated and a suitable alternative can be selected. Under given selection criteria, the suitable selections out of some liquid levelmeters for nuclear facilities are dealt with using the linguistic fuzzy methodology proposed. Then, linguistic fuzzy evaluation results are compared with numerical results available in the literature. It is found that as to a suitable option the linguistic fuzzy selection is in agreement with the crisp numerical selection. In addition, this comparison shows that the fully-linguistic method facilitates linguistic interpretation regarding evaluation results

Linguistic fuzzy selection of liquid levelmeters in nuclear facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ghyym, S. H. [KEPRI, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1999-10-01

In this work, a selection methodology of liquid levelmeters, especially, level sensors in non-nuclear category, to be installed in nuclear facilities is developed using a linguistic fuzzy approach. Depending on defuzzification techniques, the linguistic fuzzy methodology leads to either linguistic (exactly, fully-linguistic) or cardinal (i.e., semi-linguistic) evaluation. In the case of the linguistic method, for each alternative, fuzzy preference index is converted to linguistic utility value by means of a similarity measure determining the degree of similarity between fuzzy index and linguistic ratings. For the cardinal method, the index is translated to cardinal overall utility value. According to these values, alternatives of interest are linguistically or numerically evaluated and a suitable alternative can be selected. Under given selection criteria, the suitable selections out of some liquid levelmeters for nuclear facilities are dealt with using the linguistic fuzzy methodology proposed. Then, linguistic fuzzy evaluation results are compared with numerical results available in the literature. It is found that as to a suitable option the linguistic fuzzy selection is in agreement with the crisp numerical selection. In addition, this comparison shows that the fully-linguistic method facilitates linguistic interpretation regarding evaluation results.

Good-enough linguistic representations and online cognitive equilibrium in language processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Karimi, Hossein; Ferreira, Fernanda

2016-01-01

We review previous research showing that representations formed during language processing are sometimes just "good enough" for the task at hand and propose the "online cognitive equilibrium" hypothesis as the driving force behind the formation of good-enough representations in language processing. Based on this view, we assume that the language comprehension system by default prefers to achieve as early as possible and remain as long as possible in a state of cognitive equilibrium where linguistic representations are successfully incorporated with existing knowledge structures (i.e., schemata) so that a meaningful and coherent overall representation is formed, and uncertainty is resolved or at least minimized. We also argue that the online equilibrium hypothesis is consistent with current theories of language processing, which maintain that linguistic representations are formed through a complex interplay between simple heuristics and deep syntactic algorithms and also theories that hold that linguistic representations are often incomplete and lacking in detail. We also propose a model of language processing that makes use of both heuristic and algorithmic processing, is sensitive to online cognitive equilibrium, and, we argue, is capable of explaining the formation of underspecified representations. We review previous findings providing evidence for underspecification in relation to this hypothesis and the associated language processing model and argue that most of these findings are compatible with them.

Functional MR imaging of cerebral auditory cortex with linguistic and non-linguistic stimulation: preliminary study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Su Jin; Kim, Jae Hyoung; Shin, Tae Min

1999-01-01

To obtain preliminary data for understanding the central auditory neural pathway by means of functional MR imaging (fMRI) of the cerebral auditory cortex during linguistic and non-linguistic auditory stimulation. In three right-handed volunteers we conducted fMRI of auditory cortex stimulation at 1.5 T using a conventional gradient-echo technique (TR/TE/flip angle: 80/60/40 deg). Using a pulsed tone of 1000 Hz and speech as non-linguistic and linguistic auditory stimuli, respectively, images-including those of the superior temporal gyrus of both hemispheres-were obtained in sagittal plases. Both stimuli were separately delivered binaurally or monoaurally through a plastic earphone. Images were activated by processing with homemade software. In order to analyze patterns of auditory cortex activation according to type of stimulus and which side of the ear was stimulated, the number and extent of activated pixels were compared between both temporal lobes. Biaural stimulation led to bilateral activation of the superior temporal gyrus, while monoaural stimulation led to more activation in the contralateral temporal lobe than in the ipsilateral. A trend toward slight activation of the left (dominant) temporal lobe in ipsilateral stimulation, particularly with a linguistic stimulus, was observed. During both biaural and monoaural stimulation, a linguistic stimulus produced more widespread activation than did a non-linguistic one. The superior temporal gyri of both temporal lobes are associated with acoustic-phonetic analysis, and the left (dominant) superior temporal gyrus is likely to play a dominant role in this processing. For better understanding of physiological and pathological central auditory pathways, further investigation is needed

The Generic Style Rules for Linguistics

OpenAIRE

Haspelmath, Martin

2014-01-01

The Generic Style Rules for Linguistics provide a style sheet that can be used by any linguistics journal or edited book, or for teaching purposes. They regulate aspects of text-structure style such as typographic highlighting, citation style, use of capitalization, and bibliographic style (based on the LSA's Unified Stylesheet for linguistics).

Looking inside the brain the power of neuroimaging

CERN Document Server

Le Bihan, Denis

2014-01-01

It is now possible to witness human brain activity while we are talking, reading, or thinking, thanks to revolutionary neuroimaging techniques like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These groundbreaking advances have opened infinite fields of investigation—into such areas as musical perception, brain development in utero, and faulty brain connections leading to psychiatric disorders—and have raised unprecedented ethical issues. In Looking Inside the Brain, one of the leading pioneers of the field, Denis Le Bihan, offers an engaging account of the sophisticated interdisciplinary research in physics, neuroscience, and medicine that have led to the remarkable neuroimaging methods that give us a detailed look into the human brain. Introducing neurological anatomy and physiology, Le Bihan walks readers through the historical evolution of imaging technology—from the x-ray and CT scan to the PET scan and MRI—and he explains how neuroimaging uncovers afflictions like stroke or cancer and the workings of high...

Having Linguistic Rules and Knowing Linguistic Facts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Ludlow

2010-11-01

Full Text Available

'Knowledge' doesn't correctly describe our relation to linguistic rules. It is too thick a notion (for example, we don't believe linguistic rules. On the other hand, 'cognize', without further elaboration, is too thin a notion, which is to say that it is too thin to play a role in a competence theory. One advantage of the term 'knowledge'-and presumably Chomsky's original motivation for using it-is that knowledge would play the right kind of role in a competence theory: Our competence would consist in a body of knowledge which we have and which we may or may not act upon-our performance need not conform to the linguistic rules that we know.

Is there a way out of the dilemma? I'm going to make the case that the best way to talk about grammatical rules is simply to say that we have them. That doesn't sound very deep, I know, but saying that we have individual rules leaves room for individual norm guidance in a way that 'cognize' does not. Saying we have a rule like subjacency is also thicker than merely saying we cognize it. Saying I have such a rule invites the interpretation that it is a rule for me-that I am normatively guided by it. The competence theory thus becomes a theory of the rules that we have. Whether we follow those rules is another matter entirely.

The Shepherd's Crook Sign: A New Neuroimaging Pareidolia in Joubert Syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Manley, Andrew T; Maertens, Paul M

2015-01-01

By pareidolically recognizing specific patterns indicative of particular diseases, neuroimagers reinforce their mnemonic strategies and improve their neuroimaging diagnostic skills. Joubert Syndrome (JS) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized clinically by mental retardation, episodes of abnormal deep and rapid breathing, abnormal eye movements, and ataxia. Many neuroimaging signs characteristic of JS have been reported. In retrospective case study, two consanguineous neonates diagnosed with JS were evaluated with brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), and neurosonography. Both cranial ultrasound and MRI of the brain showed the characteristic molar tooth sign. There was a shepherd's crook in the sagittal views of the posterior fossa where the shaft of the crook is made by the brainstem and the pons. The arc of the crook is made by the abnormal superior cerebellar peduncle and cerebellar hemisphere. By ultrasound, the shepherd's crook sign was seen through the posterior fontanelle only. CT imaging also showed the shepherd's crook sign. Neuroimaging diagnosis of JS, which already involves the pareidolical recognition of specific patterns indicative of the disease, can be improved by recognition of the shepherd's crook sign on MRI, CT, and cranial ultrasound. Copyright © 2014 by the American Society of Neuroimaging.

Non-linguistic Conditions for Causativization as a Linguistic Attractor.

Science.gov (United States)

Nichols, Johanna

2017-01-01

An attractor, in complex systems theory, is any state that is more easily or more often entered or acquired than departed or lost; attractor states therefore accumulate more members than non-attractors, other things being equal. In the context of language evolution, linguistic attractors include sounds, forms, and grammatical structures that are prone to be selected when sociolinguistics and language contact make it possible for speakers to choose between competing forms. The reasons why an element is an attractor are linguistic (auditory salience, ease of processing, paradigm structure, etc.), but the factors that make selection possible and propagate selected items through the speech community are non-linguistic. This paper uses the consonants in personal pronouns to show what makes for an attractor and how selection and diffusion work, then presents a survey of several language families and areas showing that the derivational morphology of pairs of verbs like fear and frighten , or Turkish korkmak 'fear, be afraid' and korkutmak 'frighten, scare', or Finnish istua 'sit' and istutta 'seat (someone)', or Spanish sentarse 'sit down' and sentar 'seat (someone)' is susceptible to selection. Specifically, the Turkish and Finnish pattern, where 'seat' is derived from 'sit' by addition of a suffix-is an attractor and a favored target of selection. This selection occurs chiefly in sociolinguistic contexts of what is defined here as linguistic symbiosis, where languages mingle in speech, which in turn is favored by certain demographic, sociocultural, and environmental factors here termed frontier conditions. Evidence is surveyed from northern Eurasia, the Caucasus, North and Central America, and the Pacific and from both modern and ancient languages to raise the hypothesis that frontier conditions and symbiosis favor causativization.

Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics 2001. Linguistics, Language, and the Real World: Discourse and Beyond.

Science.gov (United States)

Tannen, Deborah, Ed.; Alatis, James E., Ed.

This book contains papers from the 2001 Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics, "Linguistics, Language, and the Real World: Discourse and Beyond." Papers include: "Introduction" (Deborah Tannen); "A Brief History of the Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics" (James E.…

Effect of Spatial Alignment Transformations in PCA and ICA of Functional Neuroimages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lukic, Ana S.; Wernick, Miles N.; Yang, Yongui

2007-01-01

this observation is true, not only for spatial ICA, but also for temporal ICA and for principal component analysis (PCA). In each case we find conditions that the spatial alignment operator must satisfy to ensure invariance of the results. We illustrate our findings using functional magnetic-resonance imaging (f......It has been previously observed that spatial independent component analysis (ICA), if applied to data pooled in a particular way, may lessen the need for spatial alignment of scans in a functional neuroimaging study. In this paper we seek to determine analytically the conditions under which...

Conversation Analysis and Applied Linguistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Schegloff, Emanuel A.; Koshik, Irene; Jacoby, Sally; Olsher, David

2002-01-01

Offers biographical guidance on several major areas of conversation-analytic work--turn-taking, repair, and word selection--and indicates past or potential points of contact with applied linguistics. Also discusses areas of applied linguistic work. (Author/VWL)

International Meeting on Languages, Applied Linguistics and Translation

OpenAIRE

Guerra, Luis

2012-01-01

This meeting aims at providing an overview of the current theory and practice, exploring new directions and emerging trends, sharing good practice, and exchanging information regarding foreign languages, applied linguistics and translation. The meeting is an excellent opportunity for the presentation of current or previous language learning and translation projects funded by the European Commission or by other sources. Proposals are invited for one or more of the following topics, in any of t...

Linking Essential Tremor to the Cerebellum-Neuroimaging Evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Cerasa, Antonio; Quattrone, Aldo

2016-06-01

Essential tremor (ET) is the most common pathological tremor disorder in the world, and post-mortem evidence has shown that the cerebellum is the most consistent area of pathology in ET. In the last few years, advanced neuroimaging has tried to confirm this evidence. The aim of the present review is to discuss to what extent the evidence provided by this field of study may be generalised. We performed a systematic literature search combining the terms ET with the following keywords: MRI, VBM, MRS, DTI, fMRI, PET and SPECT. We summarised and discussed each study and placed the results in the context of existing knowledge regarding the cerebellar involvement in ET. A total of 51 neuroimaging studies met our search criteria, roughly divided into 19 structural and 32 functional studies. Despite clinical and methodological differences, both functional and structural imaging studies showed similar findings but without defining a clear topography of neurodegeneration. Indeed, the vast majority of studies found functional and structural abnormalities in several parts of the anterior and posterior cerebellar lobules, but it remains to be established to what degree these neural changes contribute to clinical symptoms of ET. Currently, advanced neuroimaging has confirmed the involvement of the cerebellum in pathophysiological processes of ET, although a high variability in results persists. For this reason, the translation of this knowledge into daily clinical practice is again partially limited, although new advanced multivariate neuroimaging approaches (machine-learning) are proving interesting changes of perspective.

Lancaster Summer School in Corpus Linguistics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaka Čibej

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Med 12. in 15. julijem je na Univerzi v Lancastru potekala poletna šola korpusnega jezikoslovja Lancaster Summer Schools in Corpus Linguistics and Other Digital Methods. Poletno šolo so organizirali UCREL (University Centre for Computer Corpus Research on Language, ERC (Evropski svet za raziskave – European Research Council, CASS (ESRC Centre for Corpus Approaches to Social Science in ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council, razdeljena pa je bila na šest programov, prilagojenih različnim področjem: Korpusno jezikoslovje za proučevanje jezikov (Corpus Linguistics for Language Studies, Korpusno jezikoslovje za družbene vede (Corpus Linguistics for Social Science, Korpusno jezikoslovje za humanistiko (Corpus Linguistics for Humanities, Statistika za korpusno jezikoslovje (Statistics for Corpus Linguistics, Geografski informacijski sistemi za digitalno humanistiko (Geographical Information Systems for the Digital Humanities in Korpusno podprta obdelava naravnih jezikov (Corpus-based Natural Language Processing.

Model sparsity and brain pattern interpretation of classification models in neuroimaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Peter Mondrup; Madsen, Kristoffer Hougaard; Churchill, Nathan W

2012-01-01

Interest is increasing in applying discriminative multivariate analysis techniques to the analysis of functional neuroimaging data. Model interpretation is of great importance in the neuroimaging context, and is conventionally based on a ‘brain map’ derived from the classification model. In this ...

Predicting panel scores by linguistic analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van den Besselaar, P.; Stout, L.; Gou, X

2016-07-01

In this paper we explore the use of text analysis for deriving quality indicators of project proposals. We do full text analysis of 3030 review reports. After term extraction, we aggregate the term occurrences to linguistic categories. Using thse linguistic categories as independent variables, we study how well these predict the grading by the review panels. Together, the different linguistic categories explain about 50% of the variance in the grading of the applications. The relative importance of the different linguistic categories inform us about the way the panels work. This can be used to develop altmetrics for the quality of the peer and panel review processes. (Author)

English linguistic purism: history, development, criticism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grishechko Ovsanna Savvichna

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Linguistic purism as an area of linguistic analysis describes the practices of identification and acknowledgement of a certain language variety as more structurally advanced as compared to its other varieties. Linguistic protection is associated with preservation of some abstract, classical, conservative linguistic ideal and performs the regulatory function, above all. The puristic approach to the development of the English language has been subjected to heated debate for several centuries and is reflected in both scientific research and literary texts. Supporters of purification of the English language champion the idea of protection of “pure language”. The idea, however, is actively criticized by opponents.

Writing, Literacy, and Applied Linguistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Leki, Ilona

2000-01-01

Discusses writing and literacy in the domain of applied linguistics. Focus is on needs analysis for literacy acquisition; second language learner identity; longitudinal studies as extensions of identity work; and applied linguistics contributions to second language literacy research. (Author/VWL)

When Should Neuroimaging be Applied in the Criminal Court?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ryberg, Jesper

2014-01-01

When does neuroimaging constitute a sufficiently developed technology to be put into use in the work of determining whether or not a defendant is guilty of crime? This question constitutes the starting point of the present paper. First, it is suggested that an overall answer is provided by what i......-suited for delivering the sort of theoretical guidance that is required for assessing the desirability of using neuroimaging in the work of the criminal court....

Integration of a neuroimaging processing pipeline into a pan-canadian computing grid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lavoie-Courchesne, S; Chouinard-Decorte, F; Doyon, J; Bellec, P; Rioux, P; Sherif, T; Rousseau, M-E; Das, S; Adalat, R; Evans, A C; Craddock, C; Margulies, D; Chu, C; Lyttelton, O

2012-01-01

The ethos of the neuroimaging field is quickly moving towards the open sharing of resources, including both imaging databases and processing tools. As a neuroimaging database represents a large volume of datasets and as neuroimaging processing pipelines are composed of heterogeneous, computationally intensive tools, such open sharing raises specific computational challenges. This motivates the design of novel dedicated computing infrastructures. This paper describes an interface between PSOM, a code-oriented pipeline development framework, and CBRAIN, a web-oriented platform for grid computing. This interface was used to integrate a PSOM-compliant pipeline for preprocessing of structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging into CBRAIN. We further tested the capacity of our infrastructure to handle a real large-scale project. A neuroimaging database including close to 1000 subjects was preprocessed using our interface and publicly released to help the participants of the ADHD-200 international competition. This successful experiment demonstrated that our integrated grid-computing platform is a powerful solution for high-throughput pipeline analysis in the field of neuroimaging.

Non-linguistic Conditions for Causativization as a Linguistic Attractor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johanna Nichols

2018-01-01

Full Text Available An attractor, in complex systems theory, is any state that is more easily or more often entered or acquired than departed or lost; attractor states therefore accumulate more members than non-attractors, other things being equal. In the context of language evolution, linguistic attractors include sounds, forms, and grammatical structures that are prone to be selected when sociolinguistics and language contact make it possible for speakers to choose between competing forms. The reasons why an element is an attractor are linguistic (auditory salience, ease of processing, paradigm structure, etc., but the factors that make selection possible and propagate selected items through the speech community are non-linguistic. This paper uses the consonants in personal pronouns to show what makes for an attractor and how selection and diffusion work, then presents a survey of several language families and areas showing that the derivational morphology of pairs of verbs like fear and frighten, or Turkish korkmak ‘fear, be afraid’ and korkutmak ‘frighten, scare’, or Finnish istua ‘sit’ and istutta ‘seat (someone’, or Spanish sentarse ‘sit down’ and sentar ‘seat (someone’ is susceptible to selection. Specifically, the Turkish and Finnish pattern, where ‘seat’ is derived from ‘sit’ by addition of a suffix—is an attractor and a favored target of selection. This selection occurs chiefly in sociolinguistic contexts of what is defined here as linguistic symbiosis, where languages mingle in speech, which in turn is favored by certain demographic, sociocultural, and environmental factors here termed frontier conditions. Evidence is surveyed from northern Eurasia, the Caucasus, North and Central America, and the Pacific and from both modern and ancient languages to raise the hypothesis that frontier conditions and symbiosis favor causativization.

Neurobiological narratives: Experiences of mood disorder through the lens of neuroimaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buchman, Daniel Z; Borgelt, Emily L; Whiteley, Louise Emma

2013-01-01

of receiving neuroimaging for prediction, diagnosis and planning treatment. The participants discussed the potential role of neuroimages in (i) mitigating stigma; (ii) supporting morally loaded explanations of mental illness due to an imbalance of brain chemistry; (iii) legitimising psychiatric symptoms, which...... illness view functional neuroimaging, or of the potential psychological impacts of its clinical use. We conducted 12 semi-structured interviews with adults diagnosed with major depression or bipolar disorder, probing their experiences with mental health care and their perspectives on the prospect...... to biologisation of mental illness, and argue for bringing these voices into upstream ethics discussion....

Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics: Contact

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Mailing Address. Editors SPiL. Department of General Linguistics University of Stellenbosch Private Bag X1 Matieland, 7602. Stellenbosch South Africa. Principal Contact. Dr Kate Huddlestone Journal Manager Department of General Linguistics. University of Stellenbosch. Private Bag X1. Matieland, 7602. Stellenbosch.

Evaluating automatically annotated treebanks for linguistic research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bloem, J.; Bański, P.; Kupietz, M.; Lüngen, H.; Witt, A.; Barbaresi, A.; Biber, H.; Breiteneder, E.; Clematide, S.

2016-01-01

This study discusses evaluation methods for linguists to use when employing an automatically annotated treebank as a source of linguistic evidence. While treebanks are usually evaluated with a general measure over all the data, linguistic studies often focus on a particular construction or a group

Can a linguistic serial founder effect originating in Africa explain the worldwide phonemic cline?

Science.gov (United States)

Fort, Joaquim; Pérez-Losada, Joaquim

2016-04-01

It has been proposed that a serial founder effect could have caused the present observed pattern of global phonemic diversity. Here we present a model that simulates the human range expansion out of Africa and the subsequent spatial linguistic dynamics until today. It does not assume copying errors, Darwinian competition, reduced contrastive possibilities or any other specific linguistic mechanism. We show that the decrease of linguistic diversity with distance (from the presumed origin of the expansion) arises under three assumptions, previously introduced by other authors: (i) an accumulation rate for phonemes; (ii) small phonemic inventories for the languages spoken before the out-of-Africa dispersal; (iii) an increase in the phonemic accumulation rate with the number of speakers per unit area. Numerical simulations show that the predictions of the model agree with the observed decrease of linguistic diversity with increasing distance from the most likely origin of the out-of-Africa dispersal. Thus, the proposal that a serial founder effect could have caused the present observed pattern of global phonemic diversity is viable, if three strong assumptions are satisfied. © 2016 The Authors.

Can a linguistic serial founder effect originating in Africa explain the worldwide phonemic cline?

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

It has been proposed that a serial founder effect could have caused the present observed pattern of global phonemic diversity. Here we present a model that simulates the human range expansion out of Africa and the subsequent spatial linguistic dynamics until today. It does not assume copying errors, Darwinian competition, reduced contrastive possibilities or any other specific linguistic mechanism. We show that the decrease of linguistic diversity with distance (from the presumed origin of the expansion) arises under three assumptions, previously introduced by other authors: (i) an accumulation rate for phonemes; (ii) small phonemic inventories for the languages spoken before the out-of-Africa dispersal; (iii) an increase in the phonemic accumulation rate with the number of speakers per unit area. Numerical simulations show that the predictions of the model agree with the observed decrease of linguistic diversity with increasing distance from the most likely origin of the out-of-Africa dispersal. Thus, the proposal that a serial founder effect could have caused the present observed pattern of global phonemic diversity is viable, if three strong assumptions are satisfied. PMID:27122180

Linguistica matematica, statistica linguistica e linguistica applicata. Una nota storica sui lessici di frequenza e l'educazione linguistica (Mathematical Linguistics, Linguistic Statistics, and Applied Linguistics. An Historical Note on Word Frequencies and Linguistic Education)

Science.gov (United States)

Elia, Annibale

1977-01-01

This article traces the history of several themes in applied linguistics and to show the relationships between linguistic theory and the sciences concerned with the learning and teaching of languages. Interest in word frequency statistics is discussed in particular. (Text is in Italian.) (CFM)

Genetic and linguistic coevolution in Northern Island Melanesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunley, Keith; Dunn, Michael; Lindström, Eva; Reesink, Ger; Terrill, Angela; Healy, Meghan E; Koki, George; Friedlaender, Françoise R; Friedlaender, Jonathan S

2008-10-01

Recent studies have detailed a remarkable degree of genetic and linguistic diversity in Northern Island Melanesia. Here we utilize that diversity to examine two models of genetic and linguistic coevolution. The first model predicts that genetic and linguistic correspondences formed following population splits and isolation at the time of early range expansions into the region. The second is analogous to the genetic model of isolation by distance, and it predicts that genetic and linguistic correspondences formed through continuing genetic and linguistic exchange between neighboring populations. We tested the predictions of the two models by comparing observed and simulated patterns of genetic variation, genetic and linguistic trees, and matrices of genetic, linguistic, and geographic distances. The data consist of 751 autosomal microsatellites and 108 structural linguistic features collected from 33 Northern Island Melanesian populations. The results of the tests indicate that linguistic and genetic exchange have erased any evidence of a splitting and isolation process that might have occurred early in the settlement history of the region. The correlation patterns are also inconsistent with the predictions of the isolation by distance coevolutionary process in the larger Northern Island Melanesian region, but there is strong evidence for the process in the rugged interior of the largest island in the region (New Britain). There we found some of the strongest recorded correlations between genetic, linguistic, and geographic distances. We also found that, throughout the region, linguistic features have generally been less likely to diffuse across population boundaries than genes. The results from our study, based on exceptionally fine-grained data, show that local genetic and linguistic exchange are likely to obscure evidence of the early history of a region, and that language barriers do not particularly hinder genetic exchange. In contrast, global patterns may

Genetic and linguistic coevolution in Northern Island Melanesia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keith Hunley

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Recent studies have detailed a remarkable degree of genetic and linguistic diversity in Northern Island Melanesia. Here we utilize that diversity to examine two models of genetic and linguistic coevolution. The first model predicts that genetic and linguistic correspondences formed following population splits and isolation at the time of early range expansions into the region. The second is analogous to the genetic model of isolation by distance, and it predicts that genetic and linguistic correspondences formed through continuing genetic and linguistic exchange between neighboring populations. We tested the predictions of the two models by comparing observed and simulated patterns of genetic variation, genetic and linguistic trees, and matrices of genetic, linguistic, and geographic distances. The data consist of 751 autosomal microsatellites and 108 structural linguistic features collected from 33 Northern Island Melanesian populations. The results of the tests indicate that linguistic and genetic exchange have erased any evidence of a splitting and isolation process that might have occurred early in the settlement history of the region. The correlation patterns are also inconsistent with the predictions of the isolation by distance coevolutionary process in the larger Northern Island Melanesian region, but there is strong evidence for the process in the rugged interior of the largest island in the region (New Britain. There we found some of the strongest recorded correlations between genetic, linguistic, and geographic distances. We also found that, throughout the region, linguistic features have generally been less likely to diffuse across population boundaries than genes. The results from our study, based on exceptionally fine-grained data, show that local genetic and linguistic exchange are likely to obscure evidence of the early history of a region, and that language barriers do not particularly hinder genetic exchange. In contrast

Literacy in Somali: Linguistic Consequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Biber, Douglas; Hared, Mohamed

1991-01-01

Linguistic consequences of literacy in Somalia are examined in a review of the literature and through a study of five dimensions of variation among Somali registers and the expansion of linguistic variation in Somali resulting from the introduction of written registers. (36 references) (LB)

Functional categories in comparative linguistics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rijkhoff, Jan

, Roger M. 1979. Linguistic knowledge and cultural knowledge: some doubts and speculation. American Anthropologist 81-1, 14-36. Levinson, Stephen C. 1997. From outer to inner space: linguistic categories and non-linguistic thinking. In J. Nuyts and E. Pederson (eds.), Language and Conceptualization, 13......). Furthermore certain ‘ontological categories’ are language-specific (Malt 1995). For example, speakers of Kalam (New Guinea) do not classify the cassowary as a bird, because they believe it has a mythical kinship relation with humans (Bulmer 1967).       In this talk I will discuss the role of functional...

The application of neuroimaging to social inequity and language disparity: A cautionary examination.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellwood-Lowe, Monica E; Sacchet, Matthew D; Gotlib, Ian H

2016-12-01

In the nascent field of the cognitive neuroscience of socioeconomic status (SES), researchers are using neuroimaging to examine how growing up in poverty affects children's neurocognitive development, particularly their language abilities. In this review we highlight difficulties inherent in the frequent use of reverse inference to interpret SES-related abnormalities in brain regions that support language. While there is growing evidence suggesting that SES moderates children's developing brain structure and function, no studies to date have elucidated explicitly how these neural findings are related to variations in children's language abilities, or precisely what it is about SES that underlies or contributes to these differences. This issue is complicated by the fact that SES is confounded with such linguistic factors as cultural language use, first language, and bilingualism. Thus, SES-associated differences in brain regions that support language may not necessarily indicate differences in neurocognitive abilities. In this review we consider the multidimensionality of SES, discuss studies that have found SES-related differences in structure and function in brain regions that support language, and suggest future directions for studies in the area of cognitive neuroscience of SES that are less reliant on reverse inference. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Running Neuroimaging Applications on Amazon Web Services: How, When, and at What Cost?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tara M. Madhyastha

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The contribution of this paper is to identify and describe current best practices for using Amazon Web Services (AWS to execute neuroimaging workflows “in the cloud.” Neuroimaging offers a vast set of techniques by which to interrogate the structure and function of the living brain. However, many of the scientists for whom neuroimaging is an extremely important tool have limited training in parallel computation. At the same time, the field is experiencing a surge in computational demands, driven by a combination of data-sharing efforts, improvements in scanner technology that allow acquisition of images with higher image resolution, and by the desire to use statistical techniques that stress processing requirements. Most neuroimaging workflows can be executed as independent parallel jobs and are therefore excellent candidates for running on AWS, but the overhead of learning to do so and determining whether it is worth the cost can be prohibitive. In this paper we describe how to identify neuroimaging workloads that are appropriate for running on AWS, how to benchmark execution time, and how to estimate cost of running on AWS. By benchmarking common neuroimaging applications, we show that cloud computing can be a viable alternative to on-premises hardware. We present guidelines that neuroimaging labs can use to provide a cluster-on-demand type of service that should be familiar to users, and scripts to estimate cost and create such a cluster.

What do people with dementia and their carers want to know about neuroimaging for dementia?

Science.gov (United States)

Featherstone, Hannah; Butler, Marie-Louise; Ciblis, Aurelia; Bokde, Arun L; Mullins, Paul G; McNulty, Jonathan P

2017-05-01

Neuroimaging forms an important part of dementia diagnosis. Provision of information on neuroimaging to people with dementia and their carers may aid understanding of the pathological, physiological and psychosocial changes of the disease, and increase understanding of symptoms. This qualitative study aimed to investigate participants' knowledge of the dementia diagnosis pathway, their understanding of neuroimaging and its use in diagnosis, and to determine content requirements for a website providing neuroimaging information. Structured interviews and a focus group were conducted with carers and people with dementia. The findings demonstrate an unmet need for information on neuroimaging both before and after the examination. Carers were keen to know about neuroimaging at a practical and technical level to help avoid diagnosis denial. People with dementia requested greater information, but with a caveat to avoid overwhelming detail, and were less likely to favour an Internet resource.

How Acute Total Sleep Loss Affects the Attending Brain: A Meta-Analysis of Neuroimaging Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Ning; Dinges, David F.; Basner, Mathias; Rao, Hengyi

2015-01-01

Study Objectives: Attention is a cognitive domain that can be severely affected by sleep deprivation. Previous neuroimaging studies have used different attention paradigms and reported both increased and reduced brain activation after sleep deprivation. However, due to large variability in sleep deprivation protocols, task paradigms, experimental designs, characteristics of subject populations, and imaging techniques, there is no consensus regarding the effects of sleep loss on the attending brain. The aim of this meta-analysis was to identify brain activations that are commonly altered by acute total sleep deprivation across different attention tasks. Design: Coordinate-based meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies of performance on attention tasks during experimental sleep deprivation. Methods: The current version of the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) approach was used for meta-analysis. The authors searched published articles and identified 11 sleep deprivation neuroimaging studies using different attention tasks with a total of 185 participants, equaling 81 foci for ALE analysis. Results: The meta-analysis revealed significantly reduced brain activation in multiple regions following sleep deprivation compared to rested wakefulness, including bilateral intraparietal sulcus, bilateral insula, right prefrontal cortex, medial frontal cortex, and right parahippocampal gyrus. Increased activation was found only in bilateral thalamus after sleep deprivation compared to rested wakefulness. Conclusion: Acute total sleep deprivation decreases brain activation in the fronto-parietal attention network (prefrontal cortex and intraparietal sulcus) and in the salience network (insula and medial frontal cortex). Increased thalamic activation after sleep deprivation may reflect a complex interaction between the de-arousing effects of sleep loss and the arousing effects of task performance on thalamic activity. Citation: Ma N, Dinges DF, Basner M, Rao H. How acute total

Machine Learning and Applied Linguistics

OpenAIRE

Vajjala, Sowmya

2018-01-01

This entry introduces the topic of machine learning and provides an overview of its relevance for applied linguistics and language learning. The discussion will focus on giving an introduction to the methods and applications of machine learning in applied linguistics, and will provide references for further study.

Ontological problems of contemporary linguistics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

А В Бондаренко

2009-03-01

Full Text Available The article studies linguistic ontology problems such as evolution of essential-existential views of language, interrelation within Being-Language-Man triad, linguistics gnosiological principles, language essence localization, and «expression» as language metalinguistic unit as well as architectonics of language personality et alia.

Concise Lexicon for Sign Linguistics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

dr. Jan Nijen Twilhaar; Dr. Beppie van den Bogaerde

2016-01-01

This extensive, well-researched and clearly formatted lexicon of a wide variety of linguistic terms is a long overdue. It is an extremely welcome addition to the bookshelves of sign language teachers, interpreters, linguists, learners and other sign language users, and of course of the Deaf

Heritage language and linguistic theory

Science.gov (United States)

Scontras, Gregory; Fuchs, Zuzanna; Polinsky, Maria

2015-01-01

This paper discusses a common reality in many cases of multilingualism: heritage speakers, or unbalanced bilinguals, simultaneous or sequential, who shifted early in childhood from one language (their heritage language) to their dominant language (the language of their speech community). To demonstrate the relevance of heritage linguistics to the study of linguistic competence more broadly defined, we present a series of case studies on heritage linguistics, documenting some of the deficits and abilities typical of heritage speakers, together with the broader theoretical questions they inform. We consider the reorganization of morphosyntactic feature systems, the reanalysis of atypical argument structure, the attrition of the syntax of relativization, and the simplification of scope interpretations; these phenomena implicate diverging trajectories and outcomes in the development of heritage speakers. The case studies also have practical and methodological implications for the study of multilingualism. We conclude by discussing more general concepts central to linguistic inquiry, in particular, complexity and native speaker competence. PMID:26500595

Diagnostic and therapeutic utility of neuroimaging in depression: an overview.

Science.gov (United States)

Wise, Toby; Cleare, Anthony J; Herane, Andrés; Young, Allan H; Arnone, Danilo

2014-01-01

A growing number of studies have used neuroimaging to further our understanding of how brain structure and function are altered in major depression. More recently, these techniques have begun to show promise for the diagnosis and treatment of depression, both as aids to conventional methods and as methods in their own right. In this review, we describe recent neuroimaging findings in the field that might aid diagnosis and improve treatment accuracy. Overall, major depression is associated with numerous structural and functional differences in neural systems involved in emotion processing and mood regulation. Furthermore, several studies have shown that the structure and function of these systems is changed by pharmacological and psychological treatments of the condition and that these changes in candidate brain regions might predict clinical response. More recently, "machine learning" methods have used neuroimaging data to categorize individual patients according to their diagnostic status and predict treatment response. Despite being mostly limited to group-level comparisons at present, with the introduction of new methods and more naturalistic studies, neuroimaging has the potential to become part of the clinical armamentarium and may improve diagnostic accuracy and inform treatment choice at the patient level.

Contributions of neuroimaging in singing voice studies: a systematic review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Geová Oliveira de Amorim

Full Text Available ABSTRACT It is assumed that singing is a highly complex activity, which requires the activation and interconnection of sensorimotor areas. The aim of the current research was to present the evidence from neuroimaging studies in the performance of the motor and sensory system in the process of singing. Research articles on the characteristics of human singing analyzed by neuroimaging, which were published between 1990 and 2016, and indexed and listed in databases such as PubMed, BIREME, Lilacs, Web of Science, Scopus, and EBSCO were chosen for this systematic review. A total of 9 articles, employing magnetoencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, and electrocorticography were chosen. These neuroimaging approaches enabled the identification of a neural network interconnecting the spoken and singing voice, to identify, modulate, and correct pitch. This network changed with the singer's training, variations in melodic structure and harmonized singing, amusia, and the relationship among the brain areas that are responsible for speech, singing, and the persistence of musicality. Since knowledge of the neural networks that control singing is still scarce, the use of neuroimaging methods to elucidate these pathways should be a focus of future research.

Uncovering the etiology of conversion disorder: insights from functional neuroimaging

Science.gov (United States)

Ejareh dar, Maryam; Kanaan, Richard AA

2016-01-01

Conversion disorder (CD) is a syndrome of neurological symptoms arising without organic cause, arguably in response to emotional stress, but the exact neural substrates of these symptoms and the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood with the hunt for a biological basis afoot for centuries. In the past 15 years, novel insights have been gained with the advent of functional neuroimaging studies in patients suffering from CDs in both motor and nonmotor domains. This review summarizes recent functional neuroimaging studies including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT), and positron emission tomography (PET) to see whether they bring us closer to understanding the etiology of CD. Convergent functional neuroimaging findings suggest alterations in brain circuits that could point to different mechanisms for manifesting functional neurological symptoms, in contrast with feigning or healthy controls. Abnormalities in emotion processing and in emotion-motor processing suggest a diathesis, while differential reactions to certain stressors implicate a specific response to trauma. No comprehensive theory emerges from these clues, and all results remain preliminary, but functional neuroimaging has at least given grounds for hope that a model for CD may soon be found. PMID:26834476

Cognitive and linguistic sources of variance in 2-year-olds’ speech-sound discrimination: a preliminary investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lalonde, Kaylah; Holt, Rachael Frush

2014-02-01

This preliminary investigation explored potential cognitive and linguistic sources of variance in 2-year-olds’ speech-sound discrimination by using the toddler change/ no-change procedure and examined whether modifications would result in a procedure that can be used consistently with younger 2-year-olds. Twenty typically developing 2-year-olds completed the newly modified toddler change/no-change procedure. Behavioral tests and parent report questionnaires were used to measure several cognitive and linguistic constructs. Stepwise linear regression was used to relate discrimination sensitivity to the cognitive and linguistic measures. In addition, discrimination results from the current experiment were compared with those from 2-year-old children tested in a previous experiment. Receptive vocabulary and working memory explained 56.6% of variance in discrimination performance. Performance was not different on the modified toddler change/no-change procedure used in the current experiment from in a previous investigation, which used the original version of the procedure. The relationship between speech discrimination and receptive vocabulary and working memory provides further evidence that the procedure is sensitive to the strength of perceptual representations. The role for working memory might also suggest that there are specific subject-related, nonsensory factors limiting the applicability of the procedure to children who have not reached the necessary levels of cognitive and linguistic development.

Functional Neuroimaging in Psychopathy.

Science.gov (United States)

Del Casale, Antonio; Kotzalidis, Georgios D; Rapinesi, Chiara; Di Pietro, Simone; Alessi, Maria Chiara; Di Cesare, Gianluigi; Criscuolo, Silvia; De Rossi, Pietro; Tatarelli, Roberto; Girardi, Paolo; Ferracuti, Stefano

2015-01-01

Psychopathy is associated with cognitive and affective deficits causing disruptive, harmful and selfish behaviour. These have considerable societal costs due to recurrent crime and property damage. A better understanding of the neurobiological bases of psychopathy could improve therapeutic interventions, reducing the related social costs. To analyse the major functional neural correlates of psychopathy, we reviewed functional neuroimaging studies conducted on persons with this condition. We searched the PubMed database for papers dealing with functional neuroimaging and psychopathy, with a specific focus on how neural functional changes may correlate with task performances and human behaviour. Psychopathy-related behavioural disorders consistently correlated with dysfunctions in brain areas of the orbitofrontal-limbic (emotional processing and somatic reaction to emotions; behavioural planning and responsibility taking), anterior cingulate-orbitofrontal (correct assignment of emotional valence to social stimuli; violent/aggressive behaviour and challenging attitude) and prefrontal-temporal-limbic (emotional stimuli processing/response) networks. Dysfunctional areas more consistently included the inferior frontal, orbitofrontal, dorsolateral prefrontal, ventromedial prefrontal, temporal (mainly the superior temporal sulcus) and cingulated cortices, the insula, amygdala, ventral striatum and other basal ganglia. Emotional processing and learning, and several social and affective decision-making functions are impaired in psychopathy, which correlates with specific changes in neural functions. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Neuroimaging of Alzheimer's disease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuda, Hiroshi

2005-01-01

Main purposes of neuroimaging in Alzheimer's disease have been moved from diagnosis of advanced Alzheimer's disease to diagnosis of very early Alzheimer's disease at a prodromal stage of mild cognitive impairment, prediction of conversion from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease, and differential diagnosis from other diseases causing dementia. Structural MRI studies and functional studies using fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET and brain perfusion SPECT are widely used in diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Outstanding progress in diagnostic accuracy of these neuroimaging modalities has been obtained using statistical analysis on a voxel-by-voxel basis after spatial normalization of individual scans to a standardized brain-volume template instead of visual inspection or a conventional region of interest technique. In a very early stage of Alzheimer's disease, this statistical approach revealed gray matter loss in the entorhinal and hippocampal areas and hypometabolism or hypoperfusion in the posterior cingulate cortex. These two findings might be related in view of anatomical knowledge that the regions are linked through the circuit of Papez. This statistical approach also offers accurate evaluation of therapeutical effects on brain metabolism or perfusion. The latest development in functional imaging relates to the final pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease-amyloid plaques. Amyloid imaging might be an important surrogate marker for trials of disease-modifying agents. (author)

The Extension of Quality Function Deployment Based on 2-Tuple Linguistic Representation Model for Product Design under Multigranularity Linguistic Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ming Li

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Quality function deployment (QFD is a customer-driven approach for product design and development. A QFD analysis process includes a series of subprocesses, such as determination of the importance of customer requirements (CRs, the correlation among engineering characteristics (ECs, and the relationship between CRs and ECs. Usually more than group of one decision makers are involved in the subprocesses to make the decision. In most decision making problems, they often provide their evaluation information in the linguistic form. Moreover, because of different knowledge, background, and discrimination ability, decision makers may express their linguistic preferences in multigranularity linguistic information. Therefore, an effective approach to deal with the multi-granularity linguistic information in QFD analysis process is highly needed. In this study, the QFD methodology is extended with 2-tuple linguistic representation model under multi-granularity linguistic environment. The extended QFD methodology can cope with multi-granularity linguistic evaluation information and avoid the loss of information. The applicability of the proposed approach is demonstrated with a numerical example.

How Shakespeare tempests the brain: neuroimaging insights.

Science.gov (United States)

Keidel, James L; Davis, Philip M; Gonzalez-Diaz, Victorina; Martin, Clara D; Thierry, Guillaume

2013-04-01

Shakespeare made extensive use of the functional shift (FS), a rhetorical device involving a change in the grammatical status of words, e.g., using nouns as verbs. Previous work using event-related brain potentials showed how FS triggers a surprise effect inviting mental re-evaluation, seemingly independent of semantic processing. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate brain activation in participants making judgements on the semantic relationship between sentences -some containing a Shakespearean FS- and subsequently presented words. Behavioural performance in the semantic decision task was high and unaffected by sentence type. However, neuroimaging results showed that sentences featuring FS elicited significant activation beyond regions classically activated by typical language tasks, including the left caudate nucleus, the right inferior frontal gyrus and the right inferior temporal gyrus. These findings show how Shakespeare's grammatical exploration forces the listener to take a more active role in integrating the meaning of what is said. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

New Conceptualizations of Linguistic Giftedness

Science.gov (United States)

Biedron, Adriana; Pawlak, Miroslaw

2016-01-01

This state-of-the art paper focuses on the issue of linguistic giftedness, somewhat neglected in the second language acquisition (SLA) literature, attempting to reconceptualize, expand and update this concept in response to latest developments in the fields of psychology, linguistics and neurology. It first discusses contemporary perspectives on…

Nonhuman primate positron emission tomography neuroimaging in drug abuse research.

Science.gov (United States)

Howell, Leonard Lee; Murnane, Kevin Sean

2011-05-01

Positron emission tomography (PET) neuroimaging in nonhuman primates has led to significant advances in our current understanding of the neurobiology and treatment of stimulant addiction in humans. PET neuroimaging has defined the in vivo biodistribution and pharmacokinetics of abused drugs and related these findings to the time course of behavioral effects associated with their addictive properties. With novel radiotracers and enhanced resolution, PET neuroimaging techniques have also characterized in vivo drug interactions with specific protein targets in the brain, including neurotransmitter receptors and transporters. In vivo determinations of cerebral blood flow and metabolism have localized brain circuits implicated in the effects of abused drugs and drug-associated stimuli. Moreover, determinations of the predisposing factors to chronic drug use and long-term neurobiological consequences of chronic drug use, such as potential neurotoxicity, have led to novel insights regarding the pathology and treatment of drug addiction. However, similar approaches clearly need to be extended to drug classes other than stimulants. Although dopaminergic systems have been extensively studied, other neurotransmitter systems known to play a critical role in the pharmacological effects of abused drugs have been largely ignored in nonhuman primate PET neuroimaging. Finally, the study of brain activation with PET neuroimaging has been replaced in humans mostly by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). There has been some success in implementing pharmacological fMRI in awake nonhuman primates. Nevertheless, the unique versatility of PET imaging will continue to complement the systems-level strengths of fMRI, especially in the context of nonhuman primate drug abuse research.

Diagnostic and therapeutic utility of neuroimaging in depression: an overview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wise T

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Toby Wise,1 Anthony J Cleare,1 Andrés Herane,1,2 Allan H Young,1 Danilo Arnone1 1King’s College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Psychological Medicine, Centre for Affective Disorders, London, United Kingdom; 2Clínica Psiquiátrica Universitaria, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile Abstract: A growing number of studies have used neuroimaging to further our understanding of how brain structure and function are altered in major depression. More recently, these techniques have begun to show promise for the diagnosis and treatment of depression, both as aids to conventional methods and as methods in their own right. In this review, we describe recent neuroimaging findings in the field that might aid diagnosis and improve treatment accuracy. Overall, major depression is associated with numerous structural and functional differences in neural systems involved in emotion processing and mood regulation. Furthermore, several studies have shown that the structure and function of these systems is changed by pharmacological and psychological treatments of the condition and that these changes in candidate brain regions might predict clinical response. More recently, “machine learning” methods have used neuroimaging data to categorize individual patients according to their diagnostic status and predict treatment response. Despite being mostly limited to group-level comparisons at present, with the introduction of new methods and more naturalistic studies, neuroimaging has the potential to become part of the clinical armamentarium and may improve diagnostic accuracy and inform treatment choice at the patient level. Keywords: depression, mood disorder, neuroimaging, diagnosis, treatment

Critical and Alternative Directions in Applied Linguistics

Science.gov (United States)

Pennycook, Alastair

2010-01-01

Critical directions in applied linguistics can be understood in various ways. The term "critical" as it has been used in "critical applied linguistics," "critical discourse analysis," "critical literacy" and so forth, is now embedded as part of applied linguistic work, adding an overt focus on questions of power and inequality to discourse…

Lin4Neuro: a customized Linux distribution ready for neuroimaging analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Nemoto, Kiyotaka; Dan, Ippeita; Rorden, Christopher; Ohnishi, Takashi; Tsuzuki, Daisuke; Okamoto, Masako; Yamashita, Fumio; Asada, Takashi

2011-01-25

A variety of neuroimaging software packages have been released from various laboratories worldwide, and many researchers use these packages in combination. Though most of these software packages are freely available, some people find them difficult to install and configure because they are mostly based on UNIX-like operating systems. We developed a live USB-bootable Linux package named "Lin4Neuro." This system includes popular neuroimaging analysis tools. The user interface is customized so that even Windows users can use it intuitively. The boot time of this system was only around 40 seconds. We performed a benchmark test of inhomogeneity correction on 10 subjects of three-dimensional T1-weighted MRI scans. The processing speed of USB-booted Lin4Neuro was as fast as that of the package installed on the hard disk drive. We also installed Lin4Neuro on a virtualization software package that emulates the Linux environment on a Windows-based operation system. Although the processing speed was slower than that under other conditions, it remained comparable. With Lin4Neuro in one's hand, one can access neuroimaging software packages easily, and immediately focus on analyzing data. Lin4Neuro can be a good primer for beginners of neuroimaging analysis or students who are interested in neuroimaging analysis. It also provides a practical means of sharing analysis environments across sites.

On Redundancy in Describing Linguistic Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vladimir Borissov Pericliev

2015-12-01

Full Text Available On Redundancy in Describing Linguistic Systems The notion of system of linguistic elements figures prominently in most post-Saussurian linguistics up to the present. A “system” is the network of the contrastive (or, distinctive features each element in the system bears to the remaining elements. The meaning (valeur of each element in the system is the set of features that are necessary and jointly sufficient to distinguish this element from all others. The paper addresses the problems of “redundancy”, i.e. the occurrence of features that are not strictly necessary in describing an element in a system. Redundancy is shown to smuggle into the description of linguistic systems, this infelicitous practice illustrated with some examples from the literature (e.g. the classical phonemic analysis of Russian by Cherry, Halle, and Jakobson, 1953. The logic and psychology of the occurrence of redundancy are briefly sketched and it is shown that, in addition to some other problems, redundancy leads to a huge and unresolvable ambiguity of descriptions of linguistic systems (the Buridan’s ass problem.

Linguistic Theory and Actual Language.

Science.gov (United States)

Segerdahl, Par

1995-01-01

Examines Noam Chomsky's (1957) discussion of "grammaticalness" and the role of linguistics in the "correct" way of speaking and writing. It is argued that the concern of linguistics with the tools of grammar has resulted in confusion, with the tools becoming mixed up with the actual language, thereby becoming the central…

The Perilous Life of a Linguistic Genre Convention

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borchmann, Simon

2014-01-01

, the descriptions are more informative than the structures hitherto described by text linguistics. Secondly, as historical norms, they are a testimony to the development and change of language use. Thirdly, the descriptions contribute to language users’ awareness of the origin of standards, their understanding......The primary, theoretical aim of the article is to present a linguistic text analysis that differs from standard text linguistic approaches by being informative with regard to the linguistic choices and textual organisation that characterise a text as a social act. The analysis is exemplified...... by using texts of a relatively new Danish journalistic genre nyhedsanalyse (news analysis). The secondary, empirical aim of the article is to present a corpus-based, linguistic analysis of central elements of the genre nyhedsanalyse within the Danish system of newspaper genres. Text linguistics is based...

BIDS apps: Improving ease of use, accessibility, and reproducibility of neuroimaging data analysis methods.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krzysztof J Gorgolewski

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The rate of progress in human neurosciences is limited by the inability to easily apply a wide range of analysis methods to the plethora of different datasets acquired in labs around the world. In this work, we introduce a framework for creating, testing, versioning and archiving portable applications for analyzing neuroimaging data organized and described in compliance with the Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS. The portability of these applications (BIDS Apps is achieved by using container technologies that encapsulate all binary and other dependencies in one convenient package. BIDS Apps run on all three major operating systems with no need for complex setup and configuration and thanks to the comprehensiveness of the BIDS standard they require little manual user input. Previous containerized data processing solutions were limited to single user environments and not compatible with most multi-tenant High Performance Computing systems. BIDS Apps overcome this limitation by taking advantage of the Singularity container technology. As a proof of concept, this work is accompanied by 22 ready to use BIDS Apps, packaging a diverse set of commonly used neuroimaging algorithms.

Language Works. Linguistic Journal

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hartling, Anna Sofie; Nørreby, Thomas Rørbeck; Skovse, Astrid Ravn

2016-01-01

Language works! – and with this initiative and this journal we want to give the opportunity to many more students to present their linguistic research to each other, to the scientific community and to all interested.......Language works! – and with this initiative and this journal we want to give the opportunity to many more students to present their linguistic research to each other, to the scientific community and to all interested....

Collective Variables in Apphed Linguistics Research

OpenAIRE

ヘンスリー, ジョール; HENSLEY, Joel

2011-01-01

This paper focuses on the key dynamic(al)systems theory concept of collective variables as it relates to developmental research in applied linguistics. Dynamic(al) systems theory is becoming prevalent in linguistic research and in the past two decades has jumped to the forefront of cutting edge in the field. One key concept in dynamic(al) systems theory is that of collective variables. In order to help properly orient this concept in the field of applied linguistics, this paper discusses the ...

Linguistics and the TEFL Teacher.

Science.gov (United States)

Fraser, Bruce

This paper asserts the "unquestionable" relevance of linguistic insights in the training of and subsequent use by teachers of English as a foreign language. Although the author agrees with Chomsky's view that linguistics has nothing to offer the teacher in the form of specific proposals for language teaching methodology, he argues that linguistics…

Verbal Working Memory Is Related to the Acquisition of Cross-Linguistic Phonological Regularities.

Science.gov (United States)

Bosma, Evelyn; Heeringa, Wilbert; Hoekstra, Eric; Versloot, Arjen; Blom, Elma

2017-01-01

Closely related languages share cross-linguistic phonological regularities, such as Frisian -âld [ͻ:t] and Dutch -oud [ʱut], as in the cognate pairs kâld [kͻ:t] - koud [kʱut] 'cold' and wâld [wͻ:t] - woud [wʱut] 'forest'. Within Bybee's (1995, 2001, 2008, 2010) network model, these regularities are, just like grammatical rules within a language, generalizations that emerge from schemas of phonologically and semantically related words. Previous research has shown that verbal working memory is related to the acquisition of grammar, but not vocabulary. This suggests that verbal working memory supports the acquisition of linguistic regularities. In order to test this hypothesis we investigated whether verbal working memory is also related to the acquisition of cross-linguistic phonological regularities. For three consecutive years, 5- to 8-year-old Frisian-Dutch bilingual children ( n = 120) were tested annually on verbal working memory and a Frisian receptive vocabulary task that comprised four cognate categories: (1) identical cognates, (2) non-identical cognates that either do or (3) do not exhibit a phonological regularity between Frisian and Dutch, and (4) non-cognates. The results showed that verbal working memory had a significantly stronger effect on cognate category (2) than on the other three cognate categories. This suggests that verbal working memory is related to the acquisition of cross-linguistic phonological regularities. More generally, it confirms the hypothesis that verbal working memory plays a role in the acquisition of linguistic regularities.

Cross-Linguistic Analysis of Vietnamese and English with Implications for Vietnamese Language Acquisition and Maintenance in the United States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giang Tang

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Two overall goals of this paper are a to provide a linguistic basis for promoting first language maintenance of Vietnamese in a larger United States context and b to stimulate future research in language acquisition of Vietnamese-English speakers. This paper is divided into three sections. Section 1 discusses previous studies on first language (L1 maintenance among Vietnamese Americans. Section 2 presents a cross-linguistic comparison of Vietnamese and English across speech-sound, word, and grammatical language levels. A cross-linguistic analysis may help educators better understand speaking patterns of Vietnamese American students. Based on this cross-linguistic comparison, Section 3 presents potential bi-directional interactions between Vietnamese and English within an individual speaker. These predictions are intended to provide a framework for future empirical studies related to bilingual development.

Recent progress of neuroimaging studies on sleeping brain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sasaki, Yuka

2012-01-01

Although sleep is a familiar phenomenon, its functions are yet to be elucidated. Understanding these functions of sleep is an important focus area in neuroscience. Electroencephalography (EEG) has been the predominantly used method in human sleep research but does not provide detailed spatial information about brain activation during sleep. To supplement the spatial information provided by this method, researchers have started using a combination of EEG and various advanced neuroimaging techniques that have been recently developed, including positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In this paper, we will review the recent progress in sleep studies, especially studies that have used such advanced neuroimaging techniques. First, we will briefly introduce several neuroimaging techniques available for use in sleep studies. Next, we will review the spatiotemporal brain activation patterns during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the dynamics of functional connectivity during sleep, and the consolidation of learning and memory during sleep; studies on the neural correlates of dreams, which have not yet been identified, will also be discussed. Lastly, possible directions for future research in this area will be discussed. (author)

[Recent progress of neuroimaging studies on sleeping brain].

Science.gov (United States)

Sasaki, Yuka

2012-06-01

Although sleep is a familiar phenomenon, its functions are yet to be elucidated. Understanding these functions of sleep is an important focus area in neuroscience. Electroencephalography (EEG) has been the predominantly used method in human sleep research but does not provide detailed spatial information about brain activation during sleep. To supplement the spatial information provided by this method, researchers have started using a combination of EEG and various advanced neuroimaging techniques that have been recently developed, including positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In this paper, we will review the recent progress in sleep studies, especially studies that have used such advanced neuroimaging techniques. First, we will briefly introduce several neuroimaging techniques available for use in sleep studies. Next, we will review the spatiotemporal brain activation patterns during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the dynamics of functional connectivity during sleep, and the consolidation of learning and memory during sleep; studies on the neural correlates of dreams, which have not yet been identified, will also be discussed. Lastly, possible directions for future research in this area will be discussed.

Linguistics and the Literary Text.

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Ferrar, Madeleine

1984-01-01

Discusses the opposing viewpoints of the two most influential linguists of this century--Saussure and Chomsky--suggesting that while both are interested in form as opposed to substance, Saussure sees linguistics as a branch of semiotics and Chomsky sees it as part of cognitive psychology. Evaluates the relevance of these two viewpoints to the…

Prologue: Toward Accurate Identification of Developmental Language Disorder Within Linguistically Diverse Schools.

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Oetting, Janna B

2018-04-05

Although the 5 studies presented within this clinical forum include children who differ widely in locality, language learning profile, and age, all were motivated by a desire to improve the accuracy at which developmental language disorder is identified within linguistically diverse schools. The purpose of this prologue is to introduce the readers to a conceptual framework that unites the studies while also highlighting the approaches and methods each research team is pursuing to improve assessment outcomes within their respective linguistically diverse community. A disorder within diversity framework is presented to replace previous difference vs. disorder approaches. Then, the 5 studies within the forum are reviewed by clinical question, type of tool(s), and analytical approach. Across studies of different linguistically diverse groups, research teams are seeking answers to similar questions about child language screening and diagnostic practices, using similar analytical approaches to answer their questions, and finding promising results with tools focused on morphosyntax. More studies that are modeled after or designed to extend those in this forum are needed to improve the accuracy at which developmental language disorder is identified.

GENE X ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA AND BIPOLAR DISORDER:EVIDENCE FROM NEUROIMAGING

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Pierre Alexis Geoffroy

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Schizophrenia (SZ and Bipolar disorder (BD are considered as severe multifactorial diseases, stemming from genetic and environmental influences. Growing evidence supports gene x environment (GxE interactions in these disorders and neuroimaging studies can help us to understand how those factors mechanistically interact. No reviews synthesized the existing data of neuroimaging studies in these issues.Methods: We conduct a systematic review on the neuroimaging studies exploring GxE interactions relative to SZ or BD in PubMed.Results: First results of the influence of genetic and environmental risks on brain structures came from monozygotic twin pairs concordant and discordant for SZ or BD. Few structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI studies have explored the GxE interactions. No other imaging methods were found. Two main GxE interactions on brain volumes have arisen. First, an interaction between genetic liability to SZ and obstetric complications on gray matter, cerebrospinal fluid and hippocampal volumes. Second, cannabis use and genetic liability interaction effects on cortical thickness and white matter volumes.Conclusion: Combining GxE interactions and neuroimaging domains is a promising approach. Genetic risk and environmental exposures such as cannabis or obstetrical complications seem to interact leading to specific neuroimaging cerebral alterations in SZ. They are suggestive of GxE interactions that confer phenotypic abnormalities in SZ and possibly BD. We need further, larger neuroimaging studies of GxE interactions for which we may propose a framework focusing on GxE interactions data already known to have a clinical effect such as infections, early stress, urbanicity and substance abuse.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE EEG changes and neuroimaging abnormalities ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

salah

Clinical Genetics Department, Human Genetics & Genome Research Division, ... neuroimaging changes of the brain and EEG abnormalities in correlation to the ... level and by developmental changes2. .... for IQ as a confounding factor.30.

Listening to patients' voices: linguistic indicators related to diabetes self-management.

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Connor, Ulla; Anton, Marta; Goering, Elizabeth; Lauten, Kathryn; Hayat, Amir; Roach, Paris; Balunda, Stephanie

2012-01-01

A great deal of research in health care has examined a wide range of variables to better understand the degree to which patients follow the advice of medical professionals in managing their health, known as adherence. This paper explains the development of the linguistic systems to describe and evaluate two psychosocial constructs (i.e. control orientation and agency) that have been found to be related to adherence in previous research for subjects with diabetes (Trento et al. 2007; Wangberg 2007; O'Hea et al. 2009). The present data came from 43 semi-structured in-depth interviews of subjects with Type 2 diabetes. One-on-one interviews with open-ended questions elicited subjects' 'stories' about living with diabetes, and the transcribed interviews were analyzed to develop the linguistic systems of control orientation and agency. The resultant systems were applied to the 43 interviews by raters with high inter-rater reliability. The results showed demarcations of clearly identified codings of patient types. The paper presents the linguistic coding systems developed in the study, the results of their application to the patient interview data, and recommendations for improved communication with patients.

PET radioligand injection for pig neuroimaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alstrup, Aage Kristian Olsen; Munk, Ole Lajord; Landau, Anne M.

2018-01-01

Pigs are useful models in neuroimaging studies with positron emission tomography. Radiolabeled ligands are injected intravenously at the start of the scan and in pigs, the most easily accessible route of administration is the ear vein. However, in brain studies the short distance between the brai...

Clinical linguistics: its past, present and future.

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Perkins, Michael R

2011-11-01

Historiography is a growing area of research within the discipline of linguistics, but so far the subfield of clinical linguistics has received virtually no systematic attention. This article attempts to rectify this by tracing the development of the discipline from its pre-scientific days up to the present time. As part of this, I include the results of a survey of articles published in Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics between 1987 and 2008 which shows, for example, a consistent primary focus on phonetics and phonology at the expense of grammar, semantics and pragmatics. I also trace the gradual broadening of the discipline from its roots in structural linguistics to its current reciprocal relationship with speech and language pathology and a range of other academic disciplines. Finally, I consider the scope of clinical linguistic research in 2011 and assess how the discipline seems likely develop in the future.

PET-based molecular nuclear neuro-imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jong Ho

2004-01-01

Molecular nuclear neuro-imaging in CNS drug discovery and development can be divided into four categories that are clearly inter-related. (1) Neuroreceptor mapping to examine the involvement of specific neurotransmitter system in CNS diseases, drug occupancy characteristics and perhaps examine mechanisms of action;(2) Structural and spectroscopic imaging to examine morphological changes and their consequences;(3) Metabolic mapping to provide evidence of central activity and CNS fingerprinting the neuroanatomy of drug effects;(4) Functional mapping to examine disease-drug interactions. In addition, targeted delivery of therapeutic agents could be achieved by modifying stem cells to release specific drugs at the site of transplantation('stem cell pharmacology'). Future exploitation of stem cell biology, including enhanced release of therapeutic factors through genetic stem cell engineering might thus constitute promising pharmaceutical approaches to treating diseases of the nervous system. With continued improvements in instrumentation, identification of better imaging probes by innovative chemistry, molecular nuclear neuro-imaging promise to play increasingly important roles in disease diagnosis and therapy

PET-based molecular nuclear neuro-imaging

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Kim, Jong Ho [Gil Medical Center, Gachon (Korea, Republic of)

2004-04-01

Molecular nuclear neuro-imaging in CNS drug discovery and development can be divided into four categories that are clearly inter-related. (1) Neuroreceptor mapping to examine the involvement of specific neurotransmitter system in CNS diseases, drug occupancy characteristics and perhaps examine mechanisms of action;(2) Structural and spectroscopic imaging to examine morphological changes and their consequences;(3) Metabolic mapping to provide evidence of central activity and CNS fingerprinting the neuroanatomy of drug effects;(4) Functional mapping to examine disease-drug interactions. In addition, targeted delivery of therapeutic agents could be achieved by modifying stem cells to release specific drugs at the site of transplantation('stem cell pharmacology'). Future exploitation of stem cell biology, including enhanced release of therapeutic factors through genetic stem cell engineering might thus constitute promising pharmaceutical approaches to treating diseases of the nervous system. With continued improvements in instrumentation, identification of better imaging probes by innovative chemistry, molecular nuclear neuro-imaging promise to play increasingly important roles in disease diagnosis and therapy.

Mathematical modeling and visualization of functional neuroimages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Peter Mondrup

This dissertation presents research results regarding mathematical modeling in the context of the analysis of functional neuroimages. Specifically, the research focuses on pattern-based analysis methods that recently have become popular within the neuroimaging community. Such methods attempt...... sets are characterized by relatively few data observations in a high dimensional space. The process of building models in such data sets often requires strong regularization. Often, the degree of model regularization is chosen in order to maximize prediction accuracy. We focus on the relative influence...... be carefully selected, so that the model and its visualization enhance our ability to interpret the brain. The second part concerns interpretation of nonlinear models and procedures for extraction of ‘brain maps’ from nonlinear kernel models. We assess the performance of the sensitivity map as means...

Applied linguistics - a science of culture?

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Benke, Gertraud

2003-01-01

Full Text Available In this article, the status of applied linguistics as discipline is questioned and problems of establishing it - and other newly formed scientific enterprises like cultural science - as disciplines are discussed. This discussion is contextualized using the author's own experience as applied linguist working in (the institutional structure of Austria. Secondly, applied linguistics is presented as complementing cultural science, with both exploring at times the same phenomena albeit under different perspectives and focussing on different levels of experience. Two examples of research involving such a joint interest with different foci are discussed.

Linguistic fire and human cognitive powers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cowley, Stephen

2012-01-01

To view language as a cultural tool challenges much of what claims to be linguistic science while opening up a new people-centred linguistics. On this view, how we speak, think and act depends on, not just brains (or minds), but also cultural traditions. Yet, Everett is conservative: like others...... theory, bodily dynamics themselves act as cues to meaning. Linguistic exostructures resemble tools that constrain how people concert acting-perceiving bodies. The result is unending renewal of verbal structures: like artefacts and institutions, they function to sustain a species-specific cultural ecology...

Neural organization of linguistic short-term memory is sensory modality-dependent: evidence from signed and spoken language.

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Pa, Judy; Wilson, Stephen M; Pickell, Herbert; Bellugi, Ursula; Hickok, Gregory

2008-12-01

Despite decades of research, there is still disagreement regarding the nature of the information that is maintained in linguistic short-term memory (STM). Some authors argue for abstract phonological codes, whereas others argue for more general sensory traces. We assess these possibilities by investigating linguistic STM in two distinct sensory-motor modalities, spoken and signed language. Hearing bilingual participants (native in English and American Sign Language) performed equivalent STM tasks in both languages during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Distinct, sensory-specific activations were seen during the maintenance phase of the task for spoken versus signed language. These regions have been previously shown to respond to nonlinguistic sensory stimulation, suggesting that linguistic STM tasks recruit sensory-specific networks. However, maintenance-phase activations common to the two languages were also observed, implying some form of common process. We conclude that linguistic STM involves sensory-dependent neural networks, but suggest that sensory-independent neural networks may also exist.

The Effects of Tai Chi Intervention on Healthy Elderly by Means of Neuroimaging and EEG: A Systematic Review.

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Pan, Zhujun; Su, Xiwen; Fang, Qun; Hou, Lijuan; Lee, Younghan; Chen, Chih C; Lamberth, John; Kim, Mi-Lyang

2018-01-01

Aging is a process associated with a decline in cognitive and motor functions, which can be attributed to neurological changes in the brain. Tai Chi, a multimodal mind-body exercise, can be practiced by people across all ages. Previous research identified effects of Tai Chi practice on delaying cognitive and motor degeneration. Benefits in behavioral performance included improved fine and gross motor skills, postural control, muscle strength, and so forth. Neural plasticity remained in the aging brain implies that Tai Chi-associated benefits may not be limited to the behavioral level. Instead, neurological changes in the human brain play a significant role in corresponding to the behavioral improvement. However, previous studies mainly focused on the effects of behavioral performance, leaving neurological changes largely unknown. This systematic review summarized extant studies that used brain imaging techniques and EEG to examine the effects of Tai Chi on older adults. Eleven articles were eligible for the final review. Three neuroimaging techniques including fMRI ( N = 6), EEG ( N = 4), and MRI ( N = 1), were employed for different study interests. Significant changes were reported on subjects' cortical thickness, functional connectivity and homogeneity of the brain, and executive network neural function after Tai Chi intervention. The findings suggested that Tai Chi intervention give rise to beneficial neurological changes in the human brain. Future research should develop valid and convincing study design by applying neuroimaging techniques to detect effects of Tai Chi intervention on the central nervous system of older adults. By integrating neuroimaging techniques into randomized controlled trials involved with Tai Chi intervention, researchers can extend the current research focus from behavioral domain to neurological level.

What's new in neuroimaging methods?

Science.gov (United States)

Bandettini, Peter A.

2009-01-01

The rapid advancement of neuroimaging methodology and availability has transformed neuroscience research. The answers to many questions that we ask about how the brain is organized depend on the quality of data that we are able to obtain about the locations, dynamics, fluctuations, magnitudes, and types of brain activity and structural changes. In this review, an attempt is made to take a snapshot of the cutting edge of a small component of the very rapidly evolving field of neuroimaging. For each area covered, a brief context is provided along with a summary of a few of the current developments and issues. Then, several outstanding papers, published in the past year or so, are described, providing an example of the directions in which each area is progressing. The areas covered include functional MRI (fMRI), voxel based morphometry (VBM), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), optical imaging, and positron emission tomography (PET). More detail is included on fMRI, as subsections include: functional MRI interpretation, new functional MRI contrasts, MRI technology, MRI paradigms and processing, and endogenous oscillations in functional MRI. PMID:19338512

Relations between Formal Linguistic Insecurity and the Perception of Linguistic Insecurity: A Quantitative Study in an Educational Environment at the Valencian Community (Spain)

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Baldaqui Escandell, Josep M.

2011-01-01

What is the relationship between the awareness of linguistic prestige and the security or insecurity in the use of minoritised languages? Is formal linguistic insecurity (as initially described by Labov) the same as the speakers' perception of linguistic insecurity? Which are the variables related to the various types of linguistic insecurity in…

Traumatic Brain Injury: Nuclear Medicine Neuroimaging

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sánchez-Catasús, Carlos A; Vállez Garcia, David; Le Riverend Morales, Eloísa; Galvizu Sánchez, Reinaldo; Dierckx, Rudi; Dierckx, Rudi AJO; Otte, Andreas; de Vries, Erik FJ; van Waarde, Aren; Leenders, Klaus L

2014-01-01

This chapter provides an up-to-date review of nuclear medicine neuroimaging in traumatic brain injury (TBI). 18F-FDG PET will remain a valuable tool in researching complex mechanisms associated with early metabolic dysfunction in TBI. Although evidence-based imaging studies are needed, 18F-FDG PET

Online open neuroimaging mass meta-analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Finn Årup; Kempton, Matthew J.; Williams, Steven C. R.

We describe a system for meta-analysis where a wiki stores numerical data in a simple format and a web service performs the numerical computation. We initially apply the system on multiple meta-analyses of structural neuroimaging data results. The described system allows for mass meta-analysis, e...

Psychological and Linguistic Portrait of Criminals. Introduction to Discussion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jadwiga Stawnicka

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article concerns one aspect of forensic linguistics, which concerns determination by the challenged statements. This is done in collaboration with linguist – creating a profile linguistic songwriter – and a psychologist – that creates a psychological profile. The cooperation of specialists can be used at the level of assessment, which is used for the purposes of investigation and legal proceedings. Expertise in the field of forensic linguistics (forensic linguistics, German. Forensische Linguistik include setting by/performance of speech based on the content of spoken or written (eg. The farewell letters, threatening letters, ransom demands; the possibility of setting texts by anonymous on the Internet, to determine the characteristics of linguistic stalkers and cyberstalkerów that can identify the sender of the message sender identification of the origin country, constructing linguistic profile anonymous author, the linguistic profile of the author of the well-known text. It should be added that the analysis of the content in content-language document contains emotional component, which is related to our knowledge about the determinants of language to express emotions, both negative and positive. An important element of the text is a matter of psychological portrait of the sender (author and / or performer of the text based on the identified linguistic features.

What can literature do for linguistics?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nørgaard, Nina

2007-01-01

  Through analyses of selected passages from James Joyce's Ulysses, this article demonstrates how the challenging of the boundaries between linguistics and literary studies can be more than a one-way process aimed at uncovering linguistic patterns of literary texts. The theoretical basis...

Heads in the Cloud: A Primer on Neuroimaging Applications of High Performance Computing.

Science.gov (United States)

Shatil, Anwar S; Younas, Sohail; Pourreza, Hossein; Figley, Chase R

2015-01-01

With larger data sets and more sophisticated analyses, it is becoming increasingly common for neuroimaging researchers to push (or exceed) the limitations of standalone computer workstations. Nonetheless, although high-performance computing platforms such as clusters, grids and clouds are already in routine use by a small handful of neuroimaging researchers to increase their storage and/or computational power, the adoption of such resources by the broader neuroimaging community remains relatively uncommon. Therefore, the goal of the current manuscript is to: 1) inform prospective users about the similarities and differences between computing clusters, grids and clouds; 2) highlight their main advantages; 3) discuss when it may (and may not) be advisable to use them; 4) review some of their potential problems and barriers to access; and finally 5) give a few practical suggestions for how interested new users can start analyzing their neuroimaging data using cloud resources. Although the aim of cloud computing is to hide most of the complexity of the infrastructure management from end-users, we recognize that this can still be an intimidating area for cognitive neuroscientists, psychologists, neurologists, radiologists, and other neuroimaging researchers lacking a strong computational background. Therefore, with this in mind, we have aimed to provide a basic introduction to cloud computing in general (including some of the basic terminology, computer architectures, infrastructure and service models, etc.), a practical overview of the benefits and drawbacks, and a specific focus on how cloud resources can be used for various neuroimaging applications.

Towards a model-based cognitive neuroscience of stopping - a neuroimaging perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Sebastian, Alexandra; Forstmann, Birte U; Matzke, Dora

2018-07-01

Our understanding of the neural correlates of response inhibition has greatly advanced over the last decade. Nevertheless the specific function of regions within this stopping network remains controversial. The traditional neuroimaging approach cannot capture many processes affecting stopping performance. Despite the shortcomings of the traditional neuroimaging approach and a great progress in mathematical and computational models of stopping, model-based cognitive neuroscience approaches in human neuroimaging studies are largely lacking. To foster model-based approaches to ultimately gain a deeper understanding of the neural signature of stopping, we outline the most prominent models of response inhibition and recent advances in the field. We highlight how a model-based approach in clinical samples has improved our understanding of altered cognitive functions in these disorders. Moreover, we show how linking evidence-accumulation models and neuroimaging data improves the identification of neural pathways involved in the stopping process and helps to delineate these from neural networks of related but distinct functions. In conclusion, adopting a model-based approach is indispensable to identifying the actual neural processes underlying stopping. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Incidental Findings in Neuroimaging: Ethical and Medicolegal Considerations

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Lawrence Leung

2013-01-01

Full Text Available With the rapid advances in neurosciences in the last three decades, there has been an exponential increase in the use of neuroimaging both in basic sciences and clinical research involving human subjects. During routine neuroimaging, incidental findings that are not part of the protocol or scope of research agenda can occur and they often pose a challenge as to how they should be handled to abide by the medicolegal principles of research ethics. This paper reviews the issue from various ethical (do no harm, general duty to rescue, and mutual benefits and owing and medicolegal perspectives (legal liability, fiduciary duties, Law of Tort, and Law of Contract with a suggested protocol of approach.

Incidental Findings in Neuroimaging: Ethical and Medicolegal Considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, Lawrence

2013-01-01

With the rapid advances in neurosciences in the last three decades, there has been an exponential increase in the use of neuroimaging both in basic sciences and clinical research involving human subjects. During routine neuroimaging, incidental findings that are not part of the protocol or scope of research agenda can occur and they often pose a challenge as to how they should be handled to abide by the medicolegal principles of research ethics. This paper reviews the issue from various ethical (do no harm, general duty to rescue, and mutual benefits and owing) and medicolegal perspectives (legal liability, fiduciary duties, Law of Tort, and Law of Contract) with a suggested protocol of approach.

Hirayama disease: diagnostic essentials in neuroimaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Kapetanakis, Stylianos; Chourmouzi, Danae; Terzoudi, Aikaterini; Georgiou, Nikiforos; Giovannopoulou, Eirini

2017-12-01

A 22-year-old male presented with progressive muscular weakness of the upper extremities. MRI of the cervical spine established the final diagnosis of Hirayama disease (HD). HD is a rare disease with benign progress. Neurologists and radiologists should be aware of the specific neuroimaging signs of this rare clinical entity.

Cross-View Neuroimage Pattern Analysis for Alzheimer's Disease Staging

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Sidong eLiu

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The research on staging of pre-symptomatic and prodromal phase of neurological disorders, e.g., Alzheimer's disease (AD, is essential for prevention of dementia. New strategies for AD staging with a focus on early detection, are demanded to optimize potential efficacy of disease-modifying therapies that can halt or slow the disease progression. Recently, neuroimaging are increasingly used as additional research-based markers to detect AD onset and predict conversion of MCI and normal control (NC to AD. Researchers have proposed a variety of neuroimaging biomarkers to characterize the patterns of the pathology of AD and MCI, and suggested that multi-view neuroimaging biomarkers could lead to better performance than single-view biomarkers in AD staging. However, it is still unclear what leads to such synergy and how to preserve or maximize. In an attempt to answer these questions, we proposed a cross-view pattern analysis framework for investigating the synergy between different neuroimaging biomarkers. We quantitatively analyzed 9 types of biomarkers derived from FDG-PET and T1-MRI, and evaluated their performance in a task of classifying AD, MCI and NC subjects obtained from the ADNI baseline cohort. The experiment results showed that these biomarkers could depict the pathology of AD from different perspectives, and output distinct patterns that are significantly associated with the disease progression. Most importantly, we found that these features could be separated into clusters, each depicting a particular aspect; and the inter-cluster features could always achieve better performance than the intra-cluster features in AD staging.

Verbal Working Memory Is Related to the Acquisition of Cross-Linguistic Phonological Regularities

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Evelyn Bosma

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Closely related languages share cross-linguistic phonological regularities, such as Frisian -âld [ͻ:t] and Dutch -oud [ʱut], as in the cognate pairs kâld [kͻ:t] – koud [kʱut] ‘cold’ and wâld [wͻ:t] – woud [wʱut] ‘forest’. Within Bybee’s (1995, 2001, 2008, 2010 network model, these regularities are, just like grammatical rules within a language, generalizations that emerge from schemas of phonologically and semantically related words. Previous research has shown that verbal working memory is related to the acquisition of grammar, but not vocabulary. This suggests that verbal working memory supports the acquisition of linguistic regularities. In order to test this hypothesis we investigated whether verbal working memory is also related to the acquisition of cross-linguistic phonological regularities. For three consecutive years, 5- to 8-year-old Frisian-Dutch bilingual children (n = 120 were tested annually on verbal working memory and a Frisian receptive vocabulary task that comprised four cognate categories: (1 identical cognates, (2 non-identical cognates that either do or (3 do not exhibit a phonological regularity between Frisian and Dutch, and (4 non-cognates. The results showed that verbal working memory had a significantly stronger effect on cognate category (2 than on the other three cognate categories. This suggests that verbal working memory is related to the acquisition of cross-linguistic phonological regularities. More generally, it confirms the hypothesis that verbal working memory plays a role in the acquisition of linguistic regularities.

Neuroimaging in nuclear medicine: drug addicted brain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chung, Yong-An; Kim, Dae-Jin [The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2006-02-15

Addiction to illicit drugs in one of today's most important social issues. Most addictive drugs lead to irreversible parenchymal changes in the human brain. Neuroimaging data bring to light the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of the abused drugs, and demonstrate that addiction is a disease of the brain. Continuous researches better illustrate the neurochemical alterations in brain function, and attempt to discover the links to consequent behavioral changes. Newer hypotheses and theories follow the numerous results, and more rational methods of approaching therapy are being developed. Substance abuse is on the rise in Korea, and social interest in the matter as well. On the other hand, diagnosis and treatment of drug addiction is still very difficult, because how the abused substance acts in the brain, or how it leads to behavioral problems in not widely known. Therefore, understanding the mechanism of drug addiction can improve the process of diagnosing addict patients, planning therapy, and predicting the prognosis . Neuroimaging approaches by nuclear medicine methods are expected to objectively judge behavioral and neurochemical changes, and response to treatment. In addition, as genes associated with addictive behavior are discovered, functional nuclear medicine images will aid in the assessment of individuals. Reviewing published literature on neuroimaging regarding nuclear medicine is expected to be of assistance to the management of drug addict patients. What's more, means of applying nuclear medicine to the care of drug addict patients should be investigated further.

Neuroimaging in nuclear medicine: drug addicted brain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, Yong-An; Kim, Dae-Jin

2006-01-01

Addiction to illicit drugs in one of today's most important social issues. Most addictive drugs lead to irreversible parenchymal changes in the human brain. Neuroimaging data bring to light the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of the abused drugs, and demonstrate that addiction is a disease of the brain. Continuous researches better illustrate the neurochemical alterations in brain function, and attempt to discover the links to consequent behavioral changes. Newer hypotheses and theories follow the numerous results, and more rational methods of approaching therapy are being developed. Substance abuse is on the rise in Korea, and social interest in the matter as well. On the other hand, diagnosis and treatment of drug addiction is still very difficult, because how the abused substance acts in the brain, or how it leads to behavioral problems in not widely known. Therefore, understanding the mechanism of drug addiction can improve the process of diagnosing addict patients, planning therapy, and predicting the prognosis . Neuroimaging approaches by nuclear medicine methods are expected to objectively judge behavioral and neurochemical changes, and response to treatment. In addition, as genes associated with addictive behavior are discovered, functional nuclear medicine images will aid in the assessment of individuals. Reviewing published literature on neuroimaging regarding nuclear medicine is expected to be of assistance to the management of drug addict patients. What's more, means of applying nuclear medicine to the care of drug addict patients should be investigated further

Functional neuroimaging in Tourette syndrome: recent perspectives

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Debes NM

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Nanette Mol Debes, Marie Préel, Liselotte Skov Pediatric Department, Tourette Clinic, Herlev University Hospital, Herlev, DenmarkAbstract: The most recent functional neuroimaging studies on Tourette syndrome (TS are reviewed in this paper. Although it can be difficult to compare functional neuroimaging studies due to differences in methods, differences in age of the included subjects, and differences in the extent to which the presence of comorbidity, medical treatment, and severity of tics are considered in the various studies; most studies show that the cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuit seems to be involved in the generation of tics. Changes in this circuit seem to be correlated with tic severity. Correlations have been found between the presence of tics and hypermetabolism in various brain regions. Abnormalities of GABAergic, serotonergic, and dopaminergic neurotransmission in patients with TS have been suggested. During tic suppression, increased activity in the inferior frontal gyrus is seen. The premotor cortex might be involved in inhibition of motor control in subjects with TS. The right anterior insula is suggested to be a part of the urge–tic network. Several studies have shown altered motor network activations and sensorimotor gating deficits in subjects with TS. In future studies, inclusion of more well-defined subjects and further examination of premonitory urge and tic suppression is needed in order to increase the knowledge about the pathophysiology and treatment possibilities of TS. Keywords: functional neuroimaging, Tourette syndrome

Neuroimaging of aggressive and violent behaviour in children and adolescents

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Philipp Sterzer

2009-10-01

Full Text Available In recent years, a number of functional and structural neuroimaging studies have investigated the neural bases of aggressive and violent behaviour in children and adolescents. Most functional neuroimaging studies have persued the hypothesis that pathological aggression is a consequence of deficits in the neural circuits involved in emotion processing. There is converging evidence for deficient neural responses to emotional stimuli in youths with a propensity towards aggressive behaviour. In addition, recent neuroimaging work has suggested that aggressive behaviour is also associated with abnormalities in neural processes that subserve both the inhibitory control of behaviour and the flexible adaptation of behaviour in accord with reinforcement information. Structural neuroimaging studies in children and adolescents with conduct problems are still scarce, but point to deficits in brain structures in volved in the processing of social information and in the regulation of social and goal directed behaviour. The indisputable progress that this research field has made in recent years notwithstanding, the overall picture is still rather patchy and there are inconsistencies between studies that await clarification. Despite this, we attempt to provide an integrated view on the neural abnormalities that may contribute to various forms of juvenile aggression and violence, and discuss research strategies that may help to provide a more profound understanding of these important issues in the future.

Towards a theoretical framework for analyzing complex linguistic networks

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Lücking, Andy; Banisch, Sven; Blanchard, Philippe; Job, Barbara

2016-01-01

The aim of this book is to advocate and promote network models of linguistic systems that are both based on thorough mathematical models and substantiated in terms of linguistics. In this way, the book contributes first steps towards establishing a statistical network theory as a theoretical basis of linguistic network analysis the boarder of the natural sciences and the humanities.This book addresses researchers who want to get familiar with theoretical developments, computational models and their empirical evaluation in the field of complex linguistic networks. It is intended to all those who are interested in statisticalmodels of linguistic systems from the point of view of network research. This includes all relevant areas of linguistics ranging from phonological, morphological and lexical networks on the one hand and syntactic, semantic and pragmatic networks on the other. In this sense, the volume concerns readers from many disciplines such as physics, linguistics, computer science and information scien...

Constructive interference in steady-state/FIESTA-C clinical applications in neuroimaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulkami, Makarand

2011-01-01

Full text: High spatial resolution is one of the major problems in neuroimaging, par ticularly in cranial and spinal nerve imaging. Constructive interference in steady-state/fast imaging employing steady-state acquisition with phase cycling is a robust sequence in imaging the cranial and spinal nerve patholo gies. This pictorial review is a concise article about the applications of this sequence in neuroimaging with clinical examples.

LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY AT PORTUGUESE TEXTBOOK: SOME CONSIDERATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paula Gaida Winch

2013-12-01

Full Text Available It is analyzed how linguistic diversity is dealt with in a Portuguese textbook, where two chapters are designated to it. In these, it is pointed out that speaker ethnic origin can be manifested differently by: morphological changes; use of foreign expressions; accent in oral language. In synthesis, the linguistic diversity is dealt with through activities of identification and reproduction of linguistic varieties to be carried out by the students.

Cognitive linguistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Vyvyan

2012-03-01

Cognitive linguistics is one of the fastest growing and influential perspectives on the nature of language, the mind, and their relationship with sociophysical (embodied) experience. It is a broad theoretical and methodological enterprise, rather than a single, closely articulated theory. Its primary commitments are outlined. These are the Cognitive Commitment-a commitment to providing a characterization of language that accords with what is known about the mind and brain from other disciplines-and the Generalization Commitment-which represents a dedication to characterizing general principles that apply to all aspects of human language. The article also outlines the assumptions and worldview which arises from these commitments, as represented in the work of leading cognitive linguists. WIREs Cogn Sci 2012, 3:129-141. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1163 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Linguistic Characteristics of Advertising English

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

易高燕

2010-01-01

Advertising language takes form under the influence of linguistics,psychology and sociology,etc,and its way of choosing words and building sentences are quite different from normal English.And as a practical language,advertising English has its specific functions,and it has been distinguished from normal English as an independent language,and it has plentiful values.This paper aims to discuss some linguistic characteristics of advertising English.

Are Prospective English Teachers Linguistically Intelligent?

Science.gov (United States)

Tezel, Kadir Vefa

2017-01-01

Language is normally associated with linguistic capabilities of individuals. In the theory of multiple intelligences, language is considered to be related primarily to linguistic intelligence. Using the theory of Multiple Intelligences as its starting point, this descriptive survey study investigated to what extent prospective English teachers'…

Linguistic Recycling and the Open Community.

Science.gov (United States)

Dasgupta, Probal

2001-01-01

Examines linguistic recycling in the context of domestic Esperanto use. Argues that word-meaning recycling reflects the same fundamental principles as sentential recursion, and that a linguistics theoretically sensitive to these principles strengthens practical efforts towards the social goal of an open speech community. (Author/VWL)

Communication linguistique: Etude comparative faite sur le terrain (Linguistic Communication: A Comparative Field Study).

Science.gov (United States)

Piron, Claude

2002-01-01

Compares the four international systems of linguistic communication used in the field (systems used in the United Nations, multinationals, the European Union, and Esperanto organizations) on select criteria (e.g., previous government investment). Discusses research that shows unilingual systems (English used alone, Esperanto) are those that…

Data Acquisition and Linguistic Resources

Science.gov (United States)

Strassel, Stephanie; Christianson, Caitlin; McCary, John; Staderman, William; Olive, Joseph

All human language technology demands substantial quantities of data for system training and development, plus stable benchmark data to measure ongoing progress. While creation of high quality linguistic resources is both costly and time consuming, such data has the potential to profoundly impact not just a single evaluation program but language technology research in general. GALE's challenging performance targets demand linguistic data on a scale and complexity never before encountered. Resources cover multiple languages (Arabic, Chinese, and English) and multiple genres -- both structured (newswire and broadcast news) and unstructured (web text, including blogs and newsgroups, and broadcast conversation). These resources include significant volumes of monolingual text and speech, parallel text, and transcribed audio combined with multiple layers of linguistic annotation, ranging from word aligned parallel text and Treebanks to rich semantic annotation.

Linguistic history of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome: mirror of developing knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Maizlin, Zeev V; Ghandehari, Hournaz; Maizels, Leonid; Shewchuk, Jason R; Kirby, John M; Vora, Parag; Clement, Jason J

2011-01-01

the term posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) was first proposed in 2000. Since then, the acronym PRES has become very popular in imaging and clinical literature as it is short, easy to say and remember, and neatly couples the frequent localization of neuroimaging findings along with the typical outcome of this syndrome. Another possible reason for the popularity of this acronym in clinical circles is the connotation of PRES with (elevated blood) PRESsure, as a majority of cases are believed to be associated with hypertension. However, problems exist with the interpretation and common understanding of PRES, questioning the appropriateness of "P" and "R" in the acronym. The linguistic issues related to the acronym of PRES are interesting. the aim of this work is to analyze the controversies related to the acronym of PRES. in 2006, modifying the meaning of the acronym was suggested, renaming it Potentially Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome in order to adjust to the cases when posterior involvement is not prominent and emphasize that the reversibility is not spontaneous. This meant the creation of a backronym, where the new phrase is constructed by starting with an existing acronym. this new backronym indicates that the original acronym of PRES has become a misnomer.

Protein linguistics - a grammar for modular protein assembly?

Science.gov (United States)

Gimona, Mario

2006-01-01

The correspondence between biology and linguistics at the level of sequence and lexical inventories, and of structure and syntax, has fuelled attempts to describe genome structure by the rules of formal linguistics. But how can we define protein linguistic rules? And how could compositional semantics improve our understanding of protein organization and functional plasticity?

On Norms and Linguistic Categories in Linguistic Diversity Management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Marácz, L.

2014-01-01

Due to globalization there is an increase in the appearances of languages in the multilingual linguistic landscape in urban spaces. Commentators have described this state of affairs as super-, mega- or complex diversity. Mainstream sociolinguists have argued that languages have no fixed boundaries

Neuroimaging Studies Illustrate the Commonalities Between Ageing and Brain Diseases.

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Cole, James H

2018-07-01

The lack of specificity in neuroimaging studies of neurological and psychiatric diseases suggests that these different diseases have more in common than is generally considered. Potentially, features that are secondary effects of different pathological processes may share common neurobiological underpinnings. Intriguingly, many of these mechanisms are also observed in studies of normal (i.e., non-pathological) brain ageing. Different brain diseases may be causing premature or accelerated ageing to the brain, an idea that is supported by a line of "brain ageing" research that combines neuroimaging data with machine learning analysis. In reviewing this field, I conclude that such observations could have important implications, suggesting that we should shift experimental paradigm: away from characterizing the average case-control brain differences resulting from a disease toward methods that place individuals in their age-appropriate context. This will also lead naturally to clinical applications, whereby neuroimaging can contribute to a personalized-medicine approach to improve brain health. © 2018 WILEY Periodicals, Inc.

Mind-Body Practices and the Adolescent Brain: Clinical Neuroimaging Studies.

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Sharma, Anup; Newberg, Andrew B

Mind-Body practices constitute a large and diverse group of practices that can substantially affect neurophysiology in both healthy individuals and those with various psychiatric disorders. In spite of the growing literature on the clinical and physiological effects of mind-body practices, very little is known about their impact on central nervous system (CNS) structure and function in adolescents with psychiatric disorders. This overview highlights findings in a select group of mind-body practices including yoga postures, yoga breathing techniques and meditation practices. Mind-body practices offer novel therapeutic approaches for adolescents with psychiatric disorders. Findings from these studies provide insights into the design and implementation of neuroimaging studies for adolescents with psychiatric disorders. Clinical neuroimaging studies will be critical in understanding how different practices affect disease pathogenesis and symptomatology in adolescents. Neuroimaging of mind-body practices on adolescents with psychiatric disorders will certainly be an open and exciting area of investigation.

Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics: Journal Sponsorship

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Publisher. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics (SPiL) is published by the Department of General Linguistics of Stellenbosch University. Publisher contact person: Mrs Christine Smit. Email: linguis@sun.ac.za. Phone: 021 808 2052. Fax: 021 808 2009. Mailing address: Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602. Department of General ...

Applied Linguistics in Its Disciplinary Context

Science.gov (United States)

Liddicoat, Anthony J.

2010-01-01

Australia's current attempt to develop a process to evaluate the quality of research (Excellence in Research for Australia--ERA) places a central emphasis on the disciplinary organisation of academic work. This disciplinary focus poses particular problems for Applied Linguistics in Australia. This paper will examine Applied Linguistics in relation…

Conceptual and methodological challenges for neuroimaging studies of autistic spectrum disorders

OpenAIRE

Mazzone, Luigi; Curatolo, Paolo

2010-01-01

Abstract Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are a set of complex developmental disabilities defined by impairment in social interaction and communication, as well as by restricted interests or repetitive behaviors. Neuroimaging studies have substantially advanced our understanding of the neural mechanisms that underlie the core symptoms of ASDs. Nevertheless, a number of challenges still remain in the application of neuroimaging techniques to the study of ASDs. We review three major conceptua...

Heads in the Cloud: A Primer on Neuroimaging Applications of High Performance Computing

Science.gov (United States)

Shatil, Anwar S.; Younas, Sohail; Pourreza, Hossein; Figley, Chase R.

2015-01-01

With larger data sets and more sophisticated analyses, it is becoming increasingly common for neuroimaging researchers to push (or exceed) the limitations of standalone computer workstations. Nonetheless, although high-performance computing platforms such as clusters, grids and clouds are already in routine use by a small handful of neuroimaging researchers to increase their storage and/or computational power, the adoption of such resources by the broader neuroimaging community remains relatively uncommon. Therefore, the goal of the current manuscript is to: 1) inform prospective users about the similarities and differences between computing clusters, grids and clouds; 2) highlight their main advantages; 3) discuss when it may (and may not) be advisable to use them; 4) review some of their potential problems and barriers to access; and finally 5) give a few practical suggestions for how interested new users can start analyzing their neuroimaging data using cloud resources. Although the aim of cloud computing is to hide most of the complexity of the infrastructure management from end-users, we recognize that this can still be an intimidating area for cognitive neuroscientists, psychologists, neurologists, radiologists, and other neuroimaging researchers lacking a strong computational background. Therefore, with this in mind, we have aimed to provide a basic introduction to cloud computing in general (including some of the basic terminology, computer architectures, infrastructure and service models, etc.), a practical overview of the benefits and drawbacks, and a specific focus on how cloud resources can be used for various neuroimaging applications. PMID:27279746

Heads in the Cloud: A Primer on Neuroimaging Applications of High Performance Computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anwar S. Shatil

2015-01-01

Full Text Available With larger data sets and more sophisticated analyses, it is becoming increasingly common for neuroimaging researchers to push (or exceed the limitations of standalone computer workstations. Nonetheless, although high-performance computing platforms such as clusters, grids and clouds are already in routine use by a small handful of neuroimaging researchers to increase their storage and/or computational power, the adoption of such resources by the broader neuroimaging community remains relatively uncommon. Therefore, the goal of the current manuscript is to: 1 inform prospective users about the similarities and differences between computing clusters, grids and clouds; 2 highlight their main advantages; 3 discuss when it may (and may not be advisable to use them; 4 review some of their potential problems and barriers to access; and finally 5 give a few practical suggestions for how interested new users can start analyzing their neuroimaging data using cloud resources. Although the aim of cloud computing is to hide most of the complexity of the infrastructure management from end-users, we recognize that this can still be an intimidating area for cognitive neuroscientists, psychologists, neurologists, radiologists, and other neuroimaging researchers lacking a strong computational background. Therefore, with this in mind, we have aimed to provide a basic introduction to cloud computing in general (including some of the basic terminology, computer architectures, infrastructure and service models, etc., a practical overview of the benefits and drawbacks, and a specific focus on how cloud resources can be used for various neuroimaging applications.

Ninth international conference on computational linguistics Coling 82

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1983-01-01

This paper presents the summary reports presented at the concluding session and evaluating the state of the art, trends and perspectives as reflected in the papers presented at Coling 82 in six domains: machine translation, grammatico-semantic analysis, linguistics in its relations to computational linguistics, question answering, artificial intelligence and knowledge representation, and information retrieval and linguistic data bases.

A phylogenetic and cognitive perspective on linguistic complexity ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In recent years a growing interest in the nature of linguistic complexity has emerged in linguistic circles. A striking feature of this interest is that linguistic complexity is taken to be a phenomenon in its own right. In fact, an extreme construal of the inherent complexity of language is represented in the notion of universal ...

Ideologeme "Order" in Modern American Linguistic World Image

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Ibatova, Aygul Z.; Vdovichenko, Larisa V.; Ilyashenko, Lubov K.

2016-01-01

The paper studies the topic of modern American linguistic world image. It is known that any language is the most important instrument of cognition of the world by a person but there is also no doubt that any language is the way of perception and conceptualization of this knowledge about the world. In modern linguistics linguistic world image is…

How acute total sleep loss affects the attending brain: a meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Ning; Dinges, David F; Basner, Mathias; Rao, Hengyi

2015-02-01

Attention is a cognitive domain that can be severely affected by sleep deprivation. Previous neuroimaging studies have used different attention paradigms and reported both increased and reduced brain activation after sleep deprivation. However, due to large variability in sleep deprivation protocols, task paradigms, experimental designs, characteristics of subject populations, and imaging techniques, there is no consensus regarding the effects of sleep loss on the attending brain. The aim of this meta-analysis was to identify brain activations that are commonly altered by acute total sleep deprivation across different attention tasks. Coordinate-based meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies of performance on attention tasks during experimental sleep deprivation. The current version of the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) approach was used for meta-analysis. The authors searched published articles and identified 11 sleep deprivation neuroimaging studies using different attention tasks with a total of 185 participants, equaling 81 foci for ALE analysis. The meta-analysis revealed significantly reduced brain activation in multiple regions following sleep deprivation compared to rested wakefulness, including bilateral intraparietal sulcus, bilateral insula, right prefrontal cortex, medial frontal cortex, and right parahippocampal gyrus. Increased activation was found only in bilateral thalamus after sleep deprivation compared to rested wakefulness. Acute total sleep deprivation decreases brain activation in the fronto-parietal attention network (prefrontal cortex and intraparietal sulcus) and in the salience network (insula and medial frontal cortex). Increased thalamic activation after sleep deprivation may reflect a complex interaction between the de-arousing effects of sleep loss and the arousing effects of task performance on thalamic activity. © 2015 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.

A Survey on the Exchange of Linguistic Resources: Publishing Linguistic Linked Open Data on the Web

Science.gov (United States)

Lezcano, Leonardo; Sanchez-Alonso, Salvador; Roa-Valverde, Antonio J.

2013-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a literature review of the principal formats and frameworks that have been used in the last 20 years to exchange linguistic resources. It aims to give special attention to the most recent approaches to publishing linguistic linked open data on the Web. Design/methodology/approach: Research papers…

Neuroimaging Correlates of Post-Stroke Aphasia Rehabilitation in a Pilot Randomized Trial of Constraint-Induced Aphasia Therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Nenert, Rodolphe; Allendorfer, Jane B; Martin, Amber M; Banks, Christi; Ball, Angel; Vannest, Jennifer; Dietz, Aimee R; Szaflarski, Jerzy P

2017-07-18

BACKGROUND Recovery from post-stroke aphasia is a long and complex process with an uncertain outcome. Various interventions have been proposed to augment the recovery, including constraint-induced aphasia therapy (CIAT). CIAT has been applied to patients suffering from post-stroke aphasia in several unblinded studies to show mild-to-moderate linguistic gains. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the neuroimaging correlates of CIAT in patients with chronic aphasia related to left middle cerebral artery stroke. MATERIAL AND METHODS Out of 24 patients recruited in a pilot randomized blinded trial of CIAT, 19 patients received fMRI of language. Eleven of them received CIAT (trained) and eight served as a control group (untrained). Each patient participated in three fMRI sessions (before training, after training, and 3 months later) that included semantic decision and verb generation fMRI tasks, and a battery of language tests. Matching healthy control participants were also included (N=38; matching based on age, handedness, and sex). RESULTS Language testing showed significantly improved performance on Boston Naming Test (BNT; paphasia with no specific effect from CIAT training.

Functional Neuro-Imaging and Post-Traumatic Olfactory Impairment

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Richard J.; Sheehan, William; Thurber, Steven; Roberts, Mary Ann

2010-01-01

Objective: To evaluate via a research literature survey the anterior neurological significance of decreased olfactory functioning following traumatic brain injuries. Materials and Methods: A computer literature review was performed to locate all functional neuro-imaging studies on patients with post-traumatic anosmia and other olfactory deficits. Results: A convergence of findings from nine functional neuro-imaging studies indicating evidence for reduced metabolic activity at rest or relative hypo-perfusion during olfactory activations. Hypo-activation of the prefrontal regions was apparent in all nine post-traumatic samples, with three samples yielding evidence of reduced activity in the temporal regions as well. Conclusions: The practical ramifications include the reasonable hypothesis that a total anosmic head trauma patient likely has frontal lobe involvement. PMID:21716782

MODERN LINGUISTICS, ITS DEVELOPMENT AND SCOPE.

Science.gov (United States)

LEVIN, SAMUEL R.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN LINGUISTICS STARTED WITH JONES' DISCOVERY IN 1786 THAT SANSKRIT IS CLOSELY RELATED TO THE CLASSICAL, GERMANIC, AND CELTIC LANGUAGES, AND HAS ADVANCED TO INCLUDE THE APPLICATION OF COMPUTERS IN LANGUAGE ANALYSIS. THE HIGHLIGHTS OF LINGUISTIC RESEARCH HAVE BEEN DE SAUSSURE'S DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE DIACHRONIC AND THE…

Applied Linguistics: The Challenge of Theory

Science.gov (United States)

McNamara, Tim

2015-01-01

Language has featured prominently in contemporary social theory, but the relevance of this fact to the concerns of Applied Linguistics, with its necessary orientation to practical issues of language in context, represents an ongoing challenge. This article supports the need for a greater engagement with theory in Applied Linguistics. It considers…

Automated Linguistic Personality Description and Recognition Methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danylyuk Illya

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Background: The relevance of our research, above all, is theoretically motivated by the development of extraordinary scientific and practical interest in the possibilities of language processing of huge amount of data generated by people in everyday professional and personal life in the electronic forms of communication (e-mail, sms, voice, audio and video blogs, social networks, etc.. Purpose: The purpose of the article is to describe the theoretical and practical framework of the project "Communicative-pragmatic and discourse-grammatical lingvopersonology: structuring linguistic identity and computer modeling". The description of key techniques is given, such as machine learning for language modeling, speech synthesis, handwriting simulation. Results: Lingvopersonology developed some great theoretical foundations, its methods, tools, and significant achievements let us predict that the newest promising trend is a linguistic identity modeling by means of information technology, including language. We see three aspects of the modeling: 1 modeling the semantic level of linguistic identity – by means of the use of corpus linguistics; 2 sound level formal modeling of linguistic identity – with the help of speech synthesis; 3 formal graphic level modeling of linguistic identity – with the help of image synthesis (handwriting. For the first case, we suppose to use machine learning technics and vector-space (word2vec algorithm for textual speech modeling. Hybrid CUTE method for personality speech modeling will be applied to the second case. Finally, trained with the person handwriting images neural network can be an instrument for the last case. Discussion: The project "Communicative-pragmatic, discourse, and grammatical lingvopersonology: structuring linguistic identity and computer modeling", which is implementing by the Department of General and Applied Linguistics and Slavonic philology, selected a task to model Yuriy Shevelyov (Sherekh�

The search for neuroimaging and cognitive endophenotypes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Miskowiak, Kamilla W.; Kjærstad, Hanne L; Meluken, Iselin

2017-01-01

and structural neuroimaging. Seventy-seven cross-sectional studies met the inclusion criteria. The present review revealed that URs in comparison with HCs showed: (i) widespread deficits in verbal memory, sustained attention, and executive function; (ii) abnormalities in the reactivity to and regulation...

Neuroimaging Measures as Endophenotypes in Alzheimer's Disease

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Meredith N. Braskie

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Late onset Alzheimer's disease (AD is moderately to highly heritable. Apolipoprotein E allele ε4 (APOE4 has been replicated consistently as an AD risk factor over many studies, and recently confirmed variants in other genes such as CLU, CR1, and PICALM each increase the lifetime risk of AD. However, much of the heritability of AD remains unexplained. AD is a complex disease that is diagnosed largely through neuropsychological testing, though neuroimaging measures may be more sensitive for detecting the incipient disease stages. Difficulties in early diagnosis and variable environmental contributions to the disease can obscure genetic relationships in traditional case-control genetic studies. Neuroimaging measures may be used as endophenotypes for AD, offering a reliable, objective tool to search for possible genetic risk factors. Imaging measures might also clarify the specific mechanisms by which proposed risk factors influence the brain.

Ghana Journal of Linguistics: Editorial Policies

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Focus and Scope. The Ghana Journal of Linguistics is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal appearing twice a year, published by the Linguistics Association of Ghana. Beginning with Volume 2 (2013) it is published in electronic format only, open access, at www.ajol.info. However print-on-demand copies can be made ...

Physical Linguistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Tice, Bradley S.

Physical linguistics is defined as the use of treatments from the field of speech pathology to enhance first and second language production in healthy individuals, resulting in increased quality and strength of phonation and articulation. A series of exercises for treating dysarthria (weakness, paralysis, discoordination, primary and secondary…

Dissociating linguistic and non-linguistic gesture processing: electrophysiological evidence from American Sign Language.

Science.gov (United States)

Grosvald, Michael; Gutierrez, Eva; Hafer, Sarah; Corina, David

2012-04-01

A fundamental advance in our understanding of human language would come from a detailed account of how non-linguistic and linguistic manual actions are differentiated in real time by language users. To explore this issue, we targeted the N400, an ERP component known to be sensitive to semantic context. Deaf signers saw 120 American Sign Language sentences, each consisting of a "frame" (a sentence without the last word; e.g. BOY SLEEP IN HIS) followed by a "last item" belonging to one of four categories: a high-close-probability sign (a "semantically reasonable" completion to the sentence; e.g. BED), a low-close-probability sign (a real sign that is nonetheless a "semantically odd" completion to the sentence; e.g. LEMON), a pseudo-sign (phonologically legal but non-lexical form), or a non-linguistic grooming gesture (e.g. the performer scratching her face). We found significant N400-like responses in the incongruent and pseudo-sign contexts, while the gestures elicited a large positivity. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL STUDIES: THE QUEST FOR NEW IDEAS

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Vitalii Kononenko

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The article highlights the principles of researching into text from the interdisciplinary linguistic and cultural perspective. Cognitological analysis of linguistic and extralinguistic cultural meanings reveals that there exist of specific linguistic and aesthetic formations best presented through the ‘language – culture – identity’ triad. One of the components of literary discourse is monocultural layer, which secures the continuity of national cultural tradition; researching into it, one should take into account mental and historical, psycholinguistic, sociolinguistic and other factors. Linguistic and aesthetic analysis helps to establish the system of linguistic and cultural means (metaphorization, imagery, verbal symbols, linguistic conceptualization, connotative meanings, which reveals its potential in literary texts. The lingual identity as a general notional category shows its nationally-oriented characteristics through the dichotomies of ‘addresser-addressee’ , ‘author-reader’, ‘narrator-narratee’ and is presented in the author’s idiolect.

Role of linguistic skills in fifth-grade mathematics.

Science.gov (United States)

Kleemans, Tijs; Segers, Eliane; Verhoeven, Ludo

2018-03-01

The current study investigated the direct and indirect relations between basic linguistic skills (i.e., phonological skills and grammatical ability) and advanced linguistic skills (i.e., academic vocabulary and verbal reasoning), on the one hand, and fifth-grade mathematics (i.e., arithmetic, geometry, and fractions), on the other, taking working memory and general intelligence into account and controlling for socioeconomic status, age, and gender. The results showed the basic linguistic representations of 167 fifth graders to be indirectly related to their geometric and fraction skills via arithmetic. Furthermore, advanced linguistic skills were found to be directly related to geometry and fractions after controlling for arithmetic. It can be concluded that linguistic skills directly and indirectly relate to mathematical ability in the upper grades of primary education, which highlights the importance of paying attention to such skills in the school curriculum. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Aspects of conversational style-linguistic versus behavioral analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, G A

1992-01-01

Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior has been contrasted with formal linguistic analysis which studies the grammatical structure and "meaning" of verbal response-products, regardless of the circumstances under which they are produced. Nevertheless, it appears that certain areas of linguistic analysis are not entirely structural. In her recent books That's Not What I Meant (1986) and You Just Don't Understand (1990), the linguist Deborah Tannen purports to explain how people exhibit different "conversation styles"-that is, how they speak and achieve effects on listeners in different ways. There are indications, however, that the linguistic model may not be the most functional and precise one that could be used in analyzing conversational style. This paper takes concepts presented in Deborah Tannen's book That's Not What I Meant (1986), analyzes them from a linguistic and a behavioral perspective, and compares the relative utility of the two approaches.

Wittgenstein and the linguistic turn in social theory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hermansen, Jens Christian

of Winch in social theory, the wider and more recent influence of Wittgenstein in areas such as technology and science studies, social theory, feminist and gender studies and conversation and discourse analysis is also considered. Historically, the readings of Wittgenstein in the social sciences have taken...... of the linguistic turn in social theory, the linguistic turn is a double-edged sword of both profound insights and limits; the claim is that the limits of the linguistic turn are the strengths of functionalist, structuralist and materialist approaches to the social sciences. The approach of the critical turn...... is to develop a more comprehensive social theory that is sensitive to these strengths and thus supersedes the limits of the linguistic turn. This paper suggests a different approach. Against the critical turn, the paper argues that the limits of the linguistic turn are identical with the very assumptions...

Statistical Measures for Usage-Based Linguistics

Science.gov (United States)

Gries, Stefan Th.; Ellis, Nick C.

2015-01-01

The advent of usage-/exemplar-based approaches has resulted in a major change in the theoretical landscape of linguistics, but also in the range of methodologies that are brought to bear on the study of language acquisition/learning, structure, and use. In particular, methods from corpus linguistics are now frequently used to study distributional…

Educational language planning and linguistic identity

Science.gov (United States)

Sutton, Peter

1991-03-01

There are cases in which a "high" form of a language is taught and used in formal situations, but linguistic variation is also caused by geography, ethnicity and socioeconomic class. Certain variants are regarded as inferior and restricted in expressive capacity, and are disadvantageous. The paper suggests that it is possible to map each person's linguistic identity in two dimensions: the number of languages spoken, and the situation-specific variants of each language. Further, it is argued that the distance between a "low" variant and a "high" standard form of a language may present to the "low" learner of a standardized mother tongue a barrier just as great as that posed by the learning of a related foreign language to a speaker of the high variant. It is proposed that greater tolerance be exercised in acceptance of variation and in recognition of linguistic identity, so that this can be built on in the necessary and desirable expansion of linguistic competence, rather than being devalued. The relevance of the communicative approach to language teaching is touched on.

An Investigation of the Linguistic Construction of Identity in Individuals after Traumatic Brain Injury

Science.gov (United States)

Keegan, Louise C.

2012-01-01

Previous research has emphasized the importance of a positive identity in the rehabilitation of individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and although identity is constructed and negotiated socially, through the use of language, there is little research available on the linguistic tools used by this population in constructing their identities.…

Unexpected pattern of pearl millet genetic diversity among ethno-linguistic groups in the Lake Chad Basin.

Science.gov (United States)

Naino Jika, A K; Dussert, Y; Raimond, C; Garine, E; Luxereau, A; Takvorian, N; Djermakoye, R S; Adam, T; Robert, T

2017-05-01

Despite of a growing interest in considering the role of sociological factors in seed exchanges and their consequences on the evolutionary dynamics of agro-biodiversity, very few studies assessed the link between ethno-linguistic diversity and genetic diversity patterns in small-holder farming systems. This is key for optimal improvement and conservation of crop genetic resources. Here, we investigated genetic diversity at 17 SSR markers of pearl millet landraces (varieties named by farmers) in the Lake Chad Basin. 69 pearl millet populations, representing 27 landraces collected in eight ethno-linguistic farmer groups, were analyzed. We found that the farmers' local taxonomy was not a good proxy for population's genetic differentiation as previously shown at smaller scales. Our results show the existence of a genetic structure of pearl millet mainly associated with ethno-linguistic diversity in the western side of the lake Chad. It suggests there is a limit to gene flow between landraces grown by different ethno-linguistic groups. This result was rather unexpected, because of the highly outcrossing mating system of pearl millet, the high density of pearl millet fields all along the green belt of this Sahelian area and the fact that seed exchanges among ethno-linguistic groups are known to occur. In the eastern side of the Lake, the pattern of genetic diversity suggests a larger efficient circulation of pearl millet genes between ethno-linguistic groups that are less numerous, spatially intermixed and, for some of them, more prone to exogamy. Finally, other historical and environmental factors which may contribute to the observed diversity patterns are discussed.

Partial Least Squares tutorial for analyzing neuroimaging data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patricia Van Roon

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Partial least squares (PLS has become a respected and meaningful soft modeling analysis technique that can be applied to very large datasets where the number of factors or variables is greater than the number of observations. Current biometric studies (e.g., eye movements, EKG, body movements, EEG are often of this nature. PLS eliminates the multiple linear regression issues of over-fitting data by finding a few underlying or latent variables (factors that account for most of the variation in the data. In real-world applications, where linear models do not always apply, PLS can model the non-linear relationship well. This tutorial introduces two PLS methods, PLS Correlation (PLSC and PLS Regression (PLSR and their applications in data analysis which are illustrated with neuroimaging examples. Both methods provide straightforward and comprehensible techniques for determining and modeling relationships between two multivariate data blocks by finding latent variables that best describes the relationships. In the examples, the PLSC will analyze the relationship between neuroimaging data such as Event-Related Potential (ERP amplitude averages from different locations on the scalp with their corresponding behavioural data. Using the same data, the PLSR will be used to model the relationship between neuroimaging and behavioural data. This model will be able to predict future behaviour solely from available neuroimaging data. To find latent variables, Singular Value Decomposition (SVD for PLSC and Non-linear Iterative PArtial Least Squares (NIPALS for PLSR are implemented in this tutorial. SVD decomposes the large data block into three manageable matrices containing a diagonal set of singular values, as well as left and right singular vectors. For PLSR, NIPALS algorithms are used because it provides amore precise estimation of the latent variables. Mathematica notebooks are provided for each PLS method with clearly labeled sections and subsections. The

Plenary Speeches: Applied Linguists without Borders

Science.gov (United States)

Tarone, Elaine

2013-01-01

Until 1989, the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) could have been viewed as an interest group of the Linguistics Society of America (LSA); AAAL met in two designated meeting rooms as a subsection of the LSA conference. In 1991, I was asked to organize the first independent meeting of AAAL in New York City, with the help of…

Educational Linguistics and College English Syllabus Design

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LIU Ji-xin

2016-01-01

The direct application of linguistic theories to syllabus design gives rise to frequent change of syllabus type in the histo-ry of syllabus development, which makes language teachers feel difficult to adapt to, to adopt and to implement. The recognition and popularization of the new-born discipline educational linguistics servers as a method to ease the situation, especially in the college English syllabus design in China. The development and application of the fruitful achievements in educational linguis-tics is bound to provide us with a more scientific approach to syllabus design in the future.

Translating Linguistic Jokes for Dubbing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena ALEKSANDROVA

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This study has attempted to establish the possible ways of translating linguistic jokes whendubbing. The study is also intended to identify the most problematic cases of screen translation andthe factors which cause these problems. In order to support such an approach a corpus of 7American and British films has been compiled, including as many as 16 as their various dubbingtranslations into Russian. In the films, almost 12 instances of original linguistic jokes have beenidentified.

Predicting Age Using Neuroimaging: Innovative Brain Ageing Biomarkers.

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, James H; Franke, Katja

2017-12-01

The brain changes as we age and these changes are associated with functional deterioration and neurodegenerative disease. It is vital that we better understand individual differences in the brain ageing process; hence, techniques for making individualised predictions of brain ageing have been developed. We present evidence supporting the use of neuroimaging-based 'brain age' as a biomarker of an individual's brain health. Increasingly, research is showing how brain disease or poor physical health negatively impacts brain age. Importantly, recent evidence shows that having an 'older'-appearing brain relates to advanced physiological and cognitive ageing and the risk of mortality. We discuss controversies surrounding brain age and highlight emerging trends such as the use of multimodality neuroimaging and the employment of 'deep learning' methods. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reading the Freudian theory of sexual drives from a functional neuroimaging perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Serge eStoléru

2014-03-01

Full Text Available One of the essential tasks of neuropsychoanalysis is to investigate the neural correlates of sexual drives. Here, we consider the four defining characteristics of sexual drives as delineated by Freud: their pressure, aim, object, and source. We systematically examine the relations between these characteristics and the four-component neurophenomenological model that we have proposed based on functional neuroimaging studies, which comprises a cognitive, a motivational, an emotional and an autonomic/neuroendocrine component. Functional neuroimaging studies of sexual arousal have thrown a new light on the four fundamental characteristics of sexual drives by identifying their potential neural correlates. While these studies are essentally consistent with the Freudian model of drives, the main difference emerging between the functional neuroimaging perspective on sexual drives and the Freudian theory relates to the source of drives. From a functional neuroimaging perspective sources of sexual drives, conceived by psychoanalysis as processes of excitation occurring in a peripheral organ, do not seem, at least in adult subjects, to be an essential part of the determinants of sexual arousal. It is rather the central processing of visual or genital stimuli that gives to these stimuli their sexually arousing and sexually pleasurable character.

Statistical Challenges in "Big Data" Human Neuroimaging.

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Smith, Stephen M; Nichols, Thomas E

2018-01-17

Smith and Nichols discuss "big data" human neuroimaging studies, with very large subject numbers and amounts of data. These studies provide great opportunities for making new discoveries about the brain but raise many new analytical challenges and interpretational risks. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Transition from Animal to Linguistic Communication

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smit, Harry

2016-01-01

Darwin's theory predicts that linguistic behavior gradually evolved out of animal forms of communication (signaling). However, this prediction is confronted by the conceptual problem that there is an essential difference between signaling and linguistic behavior: using words is a normative practice.

Aspects of conversational style—linguistic versus behavioral analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Genae A.

1992-01-01

Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior has been contrasted with formal linguistic analysis which studies the grammatical structure and “meaning” of verbal response-products, regardless of the circumstances under which they are produced. Nevertheless, it appears that certain areas of linguistic analysis are not entirely structural. In her recent books That's Not What I Meant (1986) and You Just Don't Understand (1990), the linguist Deborah Tannen purports to explain how people exhibit different “conversation styles”—that is, how they speak and achieve effects on listeners in different ways. There are indications, however, that the linguistic model may not be the most functional and precise one that could be used in analyzing conversational style. This paper takes concepts presented in Deborah Tannen's book That's Not What I Meant (1986), analyzes them from a linguistic and a behavioral perspective, and compares the relative utility of the two approaches. PMID:22477048

Citation Analysis and Authorship Patterns of Two Linguistics Journals

Science.gov (United States)

Ezema, Ifeanyi J.; Asogwa, Brendan E.

2014-01-01

This article analyzes the sources cited in articles published in two linguistics journals, "Applied Linguistics and Journal of Linguistics," from 2001 to 2010. A retrospective descriptive study was conducted using bibliometric indicators, such as types of cited sources, timeliness of cited sources, authorship patterns, rank lists of the…

Australia and New Zealand Applied Linguistics (ANZAL): Taking Stock

Science.gov (United States)

Kleinsasser, Robert C.

2004-01-01

This paper reviews some emerging trends in applied linguistics in both Australia and New Zealand. It sketches the current scene of (selected) postgraduate applied linguistics programs in higher education and considers how various university programs define applied linguistics through the classes (titles) they have postgraduate students complete to…

[Neuroimaging and Blood Biomarkers in Functional Prognosis after Stroke].

Science.gov (United States)

Branco, João Paulo; Costa, Joana Santos; Sargento-Freitas, João; Oliveira, Sandra; Mendes, Bruno; Laíns, Jorge; Pinheiro, João

2016-11-01

Stroke remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality around the world and it is associated with an important long-term functional disability. Some neuroimaging resources and certain peripheral blood or cerebrospinal fluid proteins can give important information about etiology, therapeutic approach, follow-up and functional prognosis in acute ischemic stroke patients. However, among the scientific community, there is currently more interest in the stroke vital prognosis over the functional prognosis. Predicting the functional prognosis during acute phase would allow more objective rehabilitation programs and better management of the available resources. The aim of this work is to review the potential role of acute phase neuroimaging and blood biomarkers as functional recovery predictors after ischemic stroke. Review of the literature published between 2005 and 2015, in English, using the terms "ischemic stroke", "neuroimaging" e "blood biomarkers". We included nine studies, based on abstract reading. Computerized tomography, transcranial doppler ultrasound and diffuse magnetic resonance imaging show potential predictive value, based on the blood flow study and the evaluation of stroke's volume and localization, especially when combined with the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale. Several biomarkers have been studied as diagnostic, risk stratification and prognostic tools, namely the S100 calcium binding protein B, C-reactive protein, matrix metalloproteinases and cerebral natriuretic peptide. Although some biomarkers and neuroimaging techniques have potential predictive value, none of the studies were able to support its use, alone or in association, as a clinically useful functionality predictor model. All the evaluated markers were considered insufficient to predict functional prognosis at three months, when applied in the first hours after stroke. Additional studies are necessary to identify reliable predictive markers for functional

Neuroimaging in human MDMA (Ecstasy) users: A cortical model

Science.gov (United States)

Cowan, Ronald L; Roberts, Deanne M; Joers, James M

2009-01-01

MDMA (3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine) has been used by millions of people worldwide as a recreational drug. MDMA and Ecstasy are often used synonymously but it is important to note that the purity of Ecstasy sold as MDMA is not certain. MDMA use is of public health concern, not so much because MDMA produces a common or severe dependence syndrome, but rather because rodent and non-human primate studies have indicated that MDMA (when administered at certain dosages and intervals) can cause long-lasting reductions in markers of brain serotonin (5-HT) that appear specific to fine diameter axons arising largely from the dorsal raphe nucleus (DR). Given the popularity of MDMA, the potential for the drug to produce long-lasting or permanent 5-HT axon damage or loss, and the widespread role of 5-HT function in the brain, there is a great need for a better understanding of brain function in human users of this drug. To this end, neuropsychological, neuroendocrine, and neuroimaging studies have all suggested that human MDMA users may have long-lasting changes in brain function consistent with 5-HT toxicity. Data from animal models leads to testable hypotheses regarding MDMA effects on the human brain. Because neuropsychological and neuroimaging findings have focused on the neocortex, a cortical model is developed to provide context for designing and interpreting neuroimaging studies in MDMA users. Aspects of the model are supported by the available neuroimaging data but there are controversial findings in some areas and most findings have not been replicated across different laboratories and using different modalities. This paper reviews existing findings in the context of a cortical model and suggests directions for future research. PMID:18991874

Historical Trajectory of the Quechuan Linguistic Family and its Relations to the Aimaran Linguistic Family

OpenAIRE

Adelaar, Willem

2012-01-01

This article seeks to present the principal stages of the prehistory and history of the Quechuan language family in its interaction with the Aimaran family. It reconstructs a plausible scenario for a unique, intensive process of linguistic convergence that underlies the protolanguages of both families. From there on, it traces the principal developments that characterize the history of the Quechuan linguistic family, such as the initial split in two main branches, Quechua I and Quechua II (fo...

Selective processing of linguistic and pictorial food stimuli in females with anorexia and bulimia nervosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Stormark, Kjell Morten; Torkildsen, Øivind

2004-01-01

This study investigated subjects with eating disorders' selective attention to linguistic and pictorial representations of food stimuli in a version of the Stroop color-naming task. If subjects with eating disorders' attention really are biased by food stimuli, one would expect equally delayed color-naming latencies to food pictures as previous studies have found to food words. Twenty females with eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or a combination of both) and 24 female controls identified the color of Stroop versions of linguistic and pictorial representations of color, food, emotional, and neutral stimuli. The eating disorder group was slower than the controls in identifying the color of all words (including the food words) and the pictures depicting food stimuli (but not any of the other pictures). The eating disorder group was also slower in identifying the color of both food and emotional than neutral stimuli, both for the linguistic and pictorial stimuli. These findings indicate that females with bulimia and anorexia nervosa's biased attention to food stimuli are not restricted to linguistic representations. The delayed responses to the emotional words and pictures suggest that processing of negative emotional stimuli, in addition to dysfunctional concerns about stimuli related to food and eating, is important in the maintenance of eating disorders.

Implicit learning of non-linguistic and linguistic regularities in children with dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Nigro, Luciana; Jiménez-Fernández, Gracia; Simpson, Ian C; Defior, Sylvia

2016-07-01

One of the hallmarks of dyslexia is the failure to automatise written patterns despite repeated exposure to print. Although many explanations have been proposed to explain this problem, researchers have recently begun to explore the possibility that an underlying implicit learning deficit may play a role in dyslexia. This hypothesis has been investigated through non-linguistic tasks exploring implicit learning in a general domain. In this study, we examined the abilities of children with dyslexia to implicitly acquire positional regularities embedded in both non-linguistic and linguistic stimuli. In experiment 1, 42 children (21 with dyslexia and 21 typically developing) were exposed to rule-governed shape sequences; whereas in experiment 2, a new group of 42 children were exposed to rule-governed letter strings. Implicit learning was assessed in both experiments via a forced-choice task. Experiments 1 and 2 showed a similar pattern of results. ANOVA analyses revealed no significant differences between the dyslexic and the typically developing group, indicating that children with dyslexia are not impaired in the acquisition of simple positional regularities, regardless of the nature of the stimuli. However, within group t-tests suggested that children from the dyslexic group could not transfer the underlying positional rules to novel instances as efficiently as typically developing children.

Aspects of conversational style—linguistic versus behavioral analysis

OpenAIRE

Hall, Genae A.

1992-01-01

Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior has been contrasted with formal linguistic analysis which studies the grammatical structure and “meaning” of verbal response-products, regardless of the circumstances under which they are produced. Nevertheless, it appears that certain areas of linguistic analysis are not entirely structural. In her recent books That's Not What I Meant (1986) and You Just Don't Understand (1990), the linguist Deborah Tannen purports to explain how people exhibi...

Neuroimaging. Recent issues and future progresses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukuyama, Hidenao

2002-01-01

Recent advances in the technology of non-invasive neuroimaging techniques, include X-ray CT, magnetic resonance imaging, positron CT, etc. The trend of neuroimaging is from the diagnosis of the brain structural change to the functional localization of the brain function with accurate topographical data. Brain activation studies disclosed the responsible regions in the brain for various kinds of paradigms, including motor, sensory, cognitive functions. Another aspect of brain imaging shows the pathophysiological changes of the neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease by abnormal CBF or metabolism changes. It is very important to note that the neurotransmitter receptor imaging is now available for various kinds of transmitters. We recently developed a new tracer for nicotinic type acetylcholine receptor, which might be involved in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease and its treatment. In the near future, we will be able to visualize the proteins in the brain such as amyloid protein, which will make us to diagnose Alzheimer's patients accurately, and with respect to neuroscience research, not only neuronal functional localizations but also relationship between them will become important to disclose the functional aspects of the brain. (author)

Social network size can influence linguistic malleability and the propagation of linguistic change.

Science.gov (United States)

Lev-Ari, Shiri

2018-07-01

We learn language from our social environment, but the more sources we have, the less informative each source is, and therefore, the less weight we ascribe its input. According to this principle, people with larger social networks should give less weight to new incoming information, and should therefore be less susceptible to the influence of new speakers. This paper tests this prediction, and shows that speakers with smaller social networks indeed have more malleable linguistic representations. In particular, they are more likely to adjust their lexical boundary following exposure to a new speaker. Experiment 2 uses computational simulations to test whether this greater malleability could lead people with smaller social networks to be important for the propagation of linguistic change despite the fact that they interact with fewer people. The results indicate that when innovators were connected with people with smaller rather than larger social networks, the population exhibited greater and faster diffusion. Together these experiments show that the properties of people's social networks can influence individuals' learning and use as well as linguistic phenomena at the community level. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Prediction of Driving Safety in Individuals with Homonymous Hemianopia and Quadrantanopia from Clinical Neuroimaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael S. Vaphiades

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background. This study aimed to determine whether it is possible to predict driving safety of individuals with homonymous hemianopia or quadrantanopia based upon a clinical review of neuroimages that are routinely available in clinical practice. Methods. Two experienced neuroophthalmologists viewed a summary report of the CT/MRI scans of 16 participants with homonymous hemianopic or quadrantanopic field defects which indicated the site and extent of the lesion and they made predictions regarding whether participants would be safe/unsafe to drive. Driving safety was independently defined at the time of the study using state-recorded motor vehicle crashes (all crashes and at-fault for the previous 5 years and ratings of driving safety determined through a standardized on-road driving assessment by a certified driving rehabilitation specialist. Results. The ability to predict driving safety was highly variable regardless of the driving safety measure, ranging from 31% to 63% (kappa levels ranged from −0.29 to 0.04. The level of agreement between the neuroophthalmologists was only fair (kappa = 0.28. Conclusions. Clinical evaluation of summary reports of currently available neuroimages by neuroophthalmologists is not predictive of driving safety. Future research should be directed at identifying and/or developing alternative tests or strategies to better enable clinicians to make these predictions.

Prediction of driving safety in individuals with homonymous hemianopia and quadrantanopia from clinical neuroimaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaphiades, Michael S; Kline, Lanning B; McGwin, Gerald; Owsley, Cynthia; Shah, Ritu; Wood, Joanne M

2014-01-01

Background. This study aimed to determine whether it is possible to predict driving safety of individuals with homonymous hemianopia or quadrantanopia based upon a clinical review of neuroimages that are routinely available in clinical practice. Methods. Two experienced neuroophthalmologists viewed a summary report of the CT/MRI scans of 16 participants with homonymous hemianopic or quadrantanopic field defects which indicated the site and extent of the lesion and they made predictions regarding whether participants would be safe/unsafe to drive. Driving safety was independently defined at the time of the study using state-recorded motor vehicle crashes (all crashes and at-fault) for the previous 5 years and ratings of driving safety determined through a standardized on-road driving assessment by a certified driving rehabilitation specialist. Results. The ability to predict driving safety was highly variable regardless of the driving safety measure, ranging from 31% to 63% (kappa levels ranged from -0.29 to 0.04). The level of agreement between the neuroophthalmologists was only fair (kappa = 0.28). Conclusions. Clinical evaluation of summary reports of currently available neuroimages by neuroophthalmologists is not predictive of driving safety. Future research should be directed at identifying and/or developing alternative tests or strategies to better enable clinicians to make these predictions.

A lattice-valued linguistic decision model for nuclear safeguards applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruan, D.; Liu, J.; Carchon, R.

2001-01-01

In this study, we focus our attention on decision making models to process uncertainty-based information directly without transforming them into any particular membership function, i.e., directly using linguistic information (linguistic values) instead of numbers (numerical values). By analyzing the feature of linguistic values ordered by their means of common usage, we argue that the set of linguistic values should be characterized by a lattice structure. We propose the lattice structure based on a logical algebraic structure i.e., lattice implication algebra. Finally, we obtain a multi-objective decision-making model by extending Yager's multi-objective model from the following aspects: (1) extension of linguistic information: from a set of linear ordered linguistic labels (values) to that of lattice-valued linguistic labels; (2) extension of the combination function M, which is used to combine the individual ratings with the weights of criteria. We propose an implication operation form of M. The implication operation can be drawn from lattice implication algebra. As an illustration, we will finally apply this decision model to the evaluation problem in safeguard relevant information. (orig.)

Chomsky and Wittgenstein on Linguistic Competence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas McNally

2012-11-01

Full Text Available In his Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language, Saul Kripke presents his influential reading of Wittgenstein’s later writings on language. One of the largely unexplored features of that reading is that Kripke makes a small number of suggestive remarks concerning the possible threat that Wittgenstein’s arguments pose for Chomsky’s linguistic project. In this paper, we attempt to characterise the relevance of Wittgenstein’s later work on meaning and rule-following for transformational linguistics, and in particular to identify the potentially negative impact it has on that project. Although we use Kripke’s remarks to articulate some of the pertinent issues, we return to Wittgenstein’s later writings to address them. We argue that Wittgenstein’s main target in the relevant sections of the Philosophical Investigations is the notion of ‘logical compulsion’, which involves assuming that there is more to applying a word or rule than how we are naturally or “psychologically” compelled to apply. We characterise two of the main lines of argument in the Investigations in terms of the rejection of logical compulsion. We thus propose to address the relevance of Wittgenstein’s writings for Chomsky by considering whether Chomsky’s linguistics presupposes the targeted notion of logical compulsion. We argue that Chomsky’s conception of linguistic competence in terms of successive states of the “language faculty” (containing the principles of universal grammar does presuppose this problematic notion. Chomsky responded to Kripke by devoting a chapter of his Knowledge of Language to defending this conception of linguistic competence against the Wittgensteinian arguments. We evaluate his response and argue that he has misidentified the threat to his linguistic project as consisting in the attack on its ‘individual psychology’ standpoint, rather than its commitment to logical compulsion. We conclude by arguing that Chomsky�

Linguistic complex networks as a young field of quantitative linguistics. Comment on "Approaching human language with complex networks" by J. Cong and H. Liu

Science.gov (United States)

Köhler, Reinhard

2014-12-01

We have long been used to the domination of qualitative methods in modern linguistics. Indeed, qualitative methods have advantages such as ease of use and wide applicability to many types of linguistic phenomena. However, this shall not overshadow the fact that a great part of human language is amenable to quantification. Moreover, qualitative methods may lead to over-simplification by employing the rigid yes/no scale. When variability and vagueness of human language must be taken into account, qualitative methods will prove inadequate and give way to quantitative methods [1, p. 11]. In addition to such advantages as exactness and precision, quantitative concepts and methods make it possible to find laws of human language which are just like those in natural sciences. These laws are fundamental elements of linguistic theories in the spirit of the philosophy of science [2,3]. Theorization effort of this type is what quantitative linguistics [1,4,5] is devoted to. The review of Cong and Liu [6] has provided an informative and insightful survey of linguistic complex networks as a young field of quantitative linguistics, including the basic concepts and measures, the major lines of research with linguistic motivation, and suggestions for future research.

Correlation analysis of findings from neuroimaging and histopathology in focal cortical dysplasia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma Mingping; Fan Jianzhong; Jiang Zirong; Bao Qiang; Du Ruibin; Ritter, J.L.

2009-01-01

Objective: To characterize neuroimaging features of focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) retrospectively and correlate those with pathological findings, which may improve our understanding of neuroimaging characteristics of FCD. Methods: Clinical information and neuroimaging findings of 28 cases with FCD proved by pathology were retrospectively reviewed, and neuroimaging features of FCD were correlated with the pathological changes. Results: MRI revealed abnormal changes in 24 of 28 patients (85.7%) and no abnormalities were observed in 4 cases. Focal cortical thickening and blurring of the gray- white matter junction were the major features of FCD on MRI. Accompanied abnormal MR signals can also be observed in cortical or subcortical white matter in FCD. The radial band of hyperintensity in subcortical white matter tapering to the ventricle is one of the characteristic features of FCD on MRI. On FDG-PET examination, focal hypometabolism were revealed in 9 of 14 cases (64.3%). Histologically, cortical dyslamination was accompanied by various degrees of dysmorphic neurons and balloon cells in cortical and subcortical areas. Subcortical white matter dysmyelination and spongiotic necrotic changes were found in some cases with FCD. Conclusion: High resolution MRI can reveal most of the lesions in FCD, including abnormal changes of cortical and subcortical white matter, which makes MRI the best pre-operation examination for FCD. (authors)

Use of a New Set of Linguistic Features to Improve Automatic Assessment of Text Readability

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshimi, Takehiko; Kotani, Katsunori; Isahara, Hitoshi

2012-01-01

The present paper proposes and evaluates a readability assessment method designed for Japanese learners of EFL (English as a foreign language). The proposed readability assessment method is constructed by a regression algorithm using a new set of linguistic features that were employed separately in previous studies. The results showed that the…

[An essay about science and linguistics].

Science.gov (United States)

Cugini, P

2011-01-01

Both the methodology and epistemology of science provided the criteria by which the scientific research can describe and interpret data and results of its observational or experimental studies. When the scientist approaches the conclusive inference, it is mandatory to think that both the knowledge and truth imply the use of words semantically and etymologically (semiologically) appropriate, especially if neologisms are required. Lacking a vocabulary, there will be the need of popularizing the inference to the linguistics of the context to which the message is addressed. This could imply a discrepancy among science, knowledge, truth and linguistics, that can be defined "semiologic bias". To avoid this linguistic error, the scientist must feel the responsibility to provide the scientific community with the new words that are semantically and etymologically coherent with what it has been scientifically discovered.

Political Liberalism, Linguistic Diversity and Equal Treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Bonotti, Matteo

2017-01-01

This article explores the implications of John Rawls' political liberalism for linguistic diversity and language policy, by focusing on the following question: what kind(s) of equality between speakers of different languages and with different linguistic identities should the state guarantee under political liberalism? The article makes three…

Child Participant Roles in Applied Linguistics Research

Science.gov (United States)

Pinter, Annamaria

2014-01-01

Children's status as research participants in applied linguistics has been largely overlooked even though unique methodological and ethical concerns arise in projects where children, rather than adults, are involved. This article examines the role of children as research participants in applied linguistics and discusses the limitations of…

Term Bases and Linguistic Linked Open Data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

for pursuing their work. The theme of this year’s TKE is ‘Term Bases and Linguistic Linked Open Data’. Mono- and multi-lingual term bases, which contain information about concepts (terms, definitions, examples of use, references, comments on equivalence etc.), have always made up valuable linguistic resources...

Linguistic dimensions of l2 accentedness and comprehensibility vary across speaking tasks

OpenAIRE

Crowther, D.; Trofimovich, P.; Isaacs, T.; Saito, Kazuya

2017-01-01

This study critically examined the previously reported partial independence between second language (L2) accentedness (degree to which L2 speech differs from the target variety) and comprehensibility (ease of understanding). In prior work, comprehensibility was linked to multiple linguistic dimensions of L2 speech (phonology, fluency, lexis, grammar) whereas accentedness was narrowly associated with L2 phonology. However, these findings stemmed from a single task (picture narrative), suggesti...

Linguistic approaches to the study of Persian Literature

OpenAIRE

محمد امین ناصح

2010-01-01

Since the start of the last century, along with those literary men who took a literary approach to the study of literary texts, there has been another group who has taken a linguistic approach. The ancient and ever flourishing tradition of literary studies of translation can no doubt take benefit from linguistic methods and tools in the investigations of literary texts. As a result of this we come across linguistic terms in three high school textbooks of Persian language and literature. In f...

[Functional neuroimaging in the diagnosis of patients with Parkinsonism: Update and recommendations for clinical use].

Science.gov (United States)

Arbizu, J; Luquin, M R; Abella, J; de la Fuente-Fernández, R; Fernandez-Torrón, R; García-Solís, D; Garrastachu, P; Jiménez-Hoyuela, J M; Llaneza, M; Lomeña, F; Lorenzo-Bosquet, C; Martí, M J; Martinez-Castrillo, J C; Mir, P; Mitjavila, M; Ruiz-Martínez, J; Vela, L

2014-01-01

Functional Neuroimaging has been traditionally used in research for patients with different Parkinsonian syndromes. However, the emergence of commercial radiotracers together with the availability of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and, more recently, positron emission tomography (PET) have made them available for clinical practice. Particularly, the development of clinical evidence achieved by functional neuroimaging techniques over the past two decades have motivated a progressive inclusion of several biomarkers in the clinical diagnostic criteria for neurodegenerative diseases that occur with Parkinsonism. However, the wide range of radiotracers designed to assess the involvement of different pathways in the neurodegenerative process underlying Parkinsonian syndromes (dopaminergic nigrostriatal pathway integrity, basal ganglia and cortical neuronal activity, myocardial sympathetic innervation), and the different neuroimaging techniques currently available (scintigraphy, SPECT and PET), have generated some controversy concerning the best neuroimaging test that should be indicated for the differential diagnosis of Parkinsonism. In this article, a panel of nuclear medicine and neurology experts has evaluated the functional neuroimaging techniques emphazising practical considerations related to the diagnosis of patients with uncertain origin parkinsonism and the assessment Parkinson's disease progression. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L. and SEMNIM. All rights reserved.

Making Individual Prognoses in Psychiatry Using Neuroimaging and Machine Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Janssen, Ronald J; Mourão-Miranda, Janaina; Schnack, Hugo G

2018-04-22

Psychiatric prognosis is a difficult problem. Making a prognosis requires looking far into the future, as opposed to making a diagnosis, which is concerned with the current state. During the follow-up period, many factors will influence the course of the disease. Combined with the usually scarcer longitudinal data and the variability in the definition of outcomes/transition, this makes prognostic predictions a challenging endeavor. Employing neuroimaging data in this endeavor introduces the additional hurdle of high dimensionality. Machine-learning techniques are especially suited to tackle this challenging problem. This review starts with a brief introduction to machine learning in the context of its application to clinical neuroimaging data. We highlight a few issues that are especially relevant for prediction of outcome and transition using neuroimaging. We then review the literature that discusses the application of machine learning for this purpose. Critical examination of the studies and their results with respect to the relevant issues revealed the following: 1) there is growing evidence for the prognostic capability of machine-learning-based models using neuroimaging; and 2) reported accuracies may be too optimistic owing to small sample sizes and the lack of independent test samples. Finally, we discuss options to improve the reliability of (prognostic) prediction models. These include new methodologies and multimodal modeling. Paramount, however, is our conclusion that future work will need to provide properly (cross-)validated accuracy estimates of models trained on sufficiently large datasets. Nevertheless, with the technological advances enabling acquisition of large databases of patients and healthy subjects, machine learning represents a powerful tool in the search for psychiatric biomarkers. Copyright © 2018 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ideology, Linguistic Capital and the Medium of Instruction in Hong Kong.

Science.gov (United States)

Morrison, Keith; Lui, Icy

2000-01-01

Examines the links between linguistic capital, cultural capital, linguistic imperialism, and the use of English as the medium of instruction (MOI) in Hong Kong. Suggests that the notion of linguistic imperialism in Hong Kong is superceded by the notion of linguistic capital, although neither presents a complete analysis of the MOI issue in Hong…

Words Get in the Way: Linguistic Effects on Talker Discrimination.

Science.gov (United States)

Narayan, Chandan R; Mak, Lorinda; Bialystok, Ellen

2017-07-01

A speech perception experiment provides evidence that the linguistic relationship between words affects the discrimination of their talkers. Listeners discriminated two talkers' voices with various linguistic relationships between their spoken words. Listeners were asked whether two words were spoken by the same person or not. Word pairs varied with respect to the linguistic relationship between the component words, forming either: phonological rhymes, lexical compounds, reversed compounds, or unrelated pairs. The degree of linguistic relationship between the words affected talker discrimination in a graded fashion, revealing biases listeners have regarding the nature of words and the talkers that speak them. These results indicate that listeners expect a talker's words to be linguistically related, and more generally, indexical processing is affected by linguistic information in a top-down fashion even when listeners are not told to attend to it. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Exploring Linguistic Identity in Young Multilingual Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Dressler, Roswita

2014-01-01

This article explores the linguistic identity of young multilingual learners through the use of a Language Portrait Silhouette. Examples from a research study of children aged 6-8 years in a German bilingual program in Canada provide teachers with an understanding that linguistic identity comprises expertise, affiliation, and inheritance. This…

Youth Culture, Language Endangerment and Linguistic Survivance

Science.gov (United States)

Wyman, Leisy

2012-01-01

Detailing a decade of life and language use in a remote Alaskan Yup'ik community, Youth Culture, Language Endangerment and Linguistic Survivance provides rare insight into young people's language brokering and Indigenous people's contemporary linguistic ecologies. This book examines how two consecutive groups of youth in a Yup'ik village…

Improving English Instruction through Neuro-Linguistic Programming

Science.gov (United States)

Helm, David Jay

2009-01-01

This study examines the background information and numerous applications of neuro-linguistic programming as it applies to improving English instruction. In addition, the N.L.P. modalities of eye movement, the use of predicates, and posturing are discussed. Neuro-linguistic programming presents all students of English an opportunity to reach their…

Neuroimaging of autism

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Verhoeven, Judith S; Cock, Paul de; Lagae, Lieven [University Hospitals of the Catholic University of Leuven, Department of Pediatrics, Leuven (Belgium); Sunaert, Stefan [University Hospitals of the Catholic University of Leuven, Department of Radiology, Leuven (Belgium)

2010-01-15

Neuroimaging studies done by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have provided important insights into the neurobiological basis for autism. The aim of this article is to review the current state of knowledge regarding brain abnormalities in autism. Results of structural MRI studies dealing with total brain volume, the volume of the cerebellum, caudate nucleus, thalamus, amygdala and the area of the corpus callosum are summarised. In the past 5 years also new MRI applications as functional MRI and diffusion tensor imaging brought considerable new insights in the pathophysiological mechanisms of autism. Dysfunctional activation in key areas of verbal and non-verbal communication, social interaction, and executive functions are revised. Finally, we also discuss white matter alterations in important communication pathways in the brain of autistic patients. (orig.)

Neuroimaging of autism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verhoeven, Judith S.; Cock, Paul de; Lagae, Lieven; Sunaert, Stefan

2010-01-01

Neuroimaging studies done by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have provided important insights into the neurobiological basis for autism. The aim of this article is to review the current state of knowledge regarding brain abnormalities in autism. Results of structural MRI studies dealing with total brain volume, the volume of the cerebellum, caudate nucleus, thalamus, amygdala and the area of the corpus callosum are summarised. In the past 5 years also new MRI applications as functional MRI and diffusion tensor imaging brought considerable new insights in the pathophysiological mechanisms of autism. Dysfunctional activation in key areas of verbal and non-verbal communication, social interaction, and executive functions are revised. Finally, we also discuss white matter alterations in important communication pathways in the brain of autistic patients. (orig.)

Linguistic Theory in the Practical Lexicography of the African Languages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emmanuel Chabata

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract: In this article, we look at the relationship between linguistics and lexicography. We specifically look at the relevance of data derived from theoretical linguistic investigations to the compilation of diction-aries in African languages. Our point of departure is that since it is language description that lies at the core of both lexicography and linguistic theory, lexicographers can improve their work by using insights from theoretically-guided linguistic investigations. Our view is that as long as lexicographers focus on words and their existence in the linguistic system, they cannot work effectively without referring to linguistic theory, consciously or unconsciously. Lexicography is not only concerned with dictionary creation, that is, with the collection of lexical units and their proper description in dictionary entries, but also with the theoretical aspects concerning the lexicon. It is necessary for dictionaries to capture all lexical interrelationships of a phonetic, morphological, syntactic or semantic nature. Drawing examples from a few dictionaries on African languages, we try to show how dictionary compilers have benefited from specific theoretical investigations in general linguistics. We look at how the different linguistic theories have contributed to the improvement in the quality of the contents of some dictionaries of African languages. Our conclusion is that there is a stronger bond between linguistic theory and lexicographic practice than is generally assumed. Ways must therefore be found to understand the various links between the two disciplines. There should be a deliberate move from mutual neglect to collaboration between the two disciplines.

"New linguistic issues", by Pier Pasolini, is causing scandal among linguists, philologists, writers, critics and intellectuals

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Teodoro Negri

1993-12-01

Full Text Available Pasolini departs from the diagnosis of a problem: the critical quest stage in contemporary literature, centered on the 1950s; he points out the author´s inability to create the design for a national language. He goes on to analyze the deep mutation in Italian Society, which determineted a new socio-linguistic outlook; to wit, a language clearly marked by strong technicality and instrumentation. Drawing examples from newspapers, TV features, official political speeches and commercials, Pasolini demonstrates that factual communication takes precedence over formal expression. This is ascribed to one principle which sets both rules and approvals for all forms of national language. This fact, according to Pasolini, is the result of an industrial and technological transformation process, which would  permite advent of a new linguistic bourgeoisie. The linguistic unification caused by such approving  principle would, therefore, imply the social manifestation of the bourgeoisie.

Design Features for Linguistically-Mediated Meaning Construction: The Relative Roles of the Linguistic and Conceptual Systems in Subserving the Ideational Function of Language.

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Evans, Vyvyan

2016-01-01

Recent research in language and cognitive science proposes that the linguistic system evolved to provide an "executive" control system on the evolutionarily more ancient conceptual system (e.g., Barsalou et al., 2008; Evans, 2009, 2015a,b; Bergen, 2012). In short, the claim is that embodied representations in the linguistic system interface with non-linguistic representations in the conceptual system, facilitating rich meanings, or simulations, enabling linguistically mediated communication. In this paper I build on these proposals by examining the nature of what I identify as design features for this control system. In particular, I address how the ideational function of language-our ability to deploy linguistic symbols to convey meanings of great complexity-is facilitated. The central proposal of this paper is as follows. The linguistic system of any given language user, of any given linguistic system-spoken or signed-facilitates access to knowledge representation-concepts-in the conceptual system, which subserves this ideational function. In the most general terms, the human meaning-making capacity is underpinned by two distinct, although tightly coupled representational systems: the conceptual system and the linguistic system. Each system contributes to meaning construction in qualitatively distinct ways. This leads to the first design feature: given that the two systems are representational-they are populated by semantic representations-the nature and function of the representations are qualitatively different. This proposed design feature I term the bifurcation in semantic representation. After all, it stands to reason that if a linguistic system has a different function, vis-à-vis the conceptual system, which is of far greater evolutionary antiquity, then the semantic representations will be complementary, and as such, qualitatively different, reflecting the functional distinctions of the two systems, in collectively giving rise to meaning. I consider the

Porcupine : A visual pipeline tool for neuroimaging analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Mourik, Tim; Snoek, Lukas; Knapen, T; Norris, David G

The field of neuroimaging is rapidly adopting a more reproducible approach to data acquisition and analysis. Data structures and formats are being standardised and data analyses are getting more automated. However, as data analysis becomes more complicated, researchers often have to write longer

SHIWA workflow interoperability solutions for neuroimaging data analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Korkhov, Vladimir; Krefting, Dagmar; Montagnat, Johan; Truong Huu, Tram; Kukla, Tamas; Terstyanszky, Gabor; Manset, David; Caan, Matthan; Olabarriaga, Silvia

2012-01-01

Neuroimaging is a field that benefits from distributed computing infrastructures (DCIs) to perform data- and compute-intensive processing and analysis. Using grid workflow systems not only automates the processing pipelines, but also enables domain researchers to implement their expertise on how to

Genre Analysis in the Frame of Systemic Functional Linguistics

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Najih Imtihani

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Systemic Functional Linguistics is a linguistics approach which cop-siders not only the structure of the language but also its social context. In the Systemic Functional Linguistics the concept of genre is defined as a step-by-step activity to reach the goal. The concept of genre is used to describe the cultural context in a language. According to this view, text should be seen and observed in its interaction with the context and social background. For that, the genre analysis will constantly involve the linguistic social context in the forms of field, tenor, mode, schematic structure and its realization in the text.

Using the Linguistic Landscape to Bridge Languages

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Mari, Vanessa

2018-01-01

In this article Vanessa Mari describes how she uses the linguistic landscape to bridge two or more languages with students learning English. The linguistic landscape is defined by Landry and Bourhis (1997, 25) as "the language of public road signs, advertising billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on…

Early neuroimaging findings of glioblastoma mimicking non-neoplastic cerebral lesion.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Tae-Young; Jung, Shin

2007-09-01

A 54-year-old man and a 63-year-old woman presented with glioblastoma manifesting as seizure and headache, respectively. Magnetic resonance imaging of the two patients revealed hypointense area on T(1)-weighted imaging, and hyperintense area on T(2)-weighted and diffusion-weighted imaging, with no enhancement after gadolinium administration. Both patients underwent conservative therapy under diagnoses of non-neoplastic cerebral lesion. Six months later, they suffered aggravated symptoms and new neurological deficits. Follow-up magnetic resonance imaging revealed hypointense area on diffusion-weighted imaging and ring enhancement on T(1)-weighted imaging with gadolinium at the site of the previously detected lesions. The tumors showed growth pattern of superficial origin. The large enhanced masses were totally removed through craniotomy under neuronavigator guidance. The histological diagnoses were glioblastoma. Glioblastoma may mimic non-neoplastic conditions on neuroimaging in the early stages. Close follow up of such patients is essential.

Can delusions be understood linguistically?

Science.gov (United States)

Hinzen, Wolfram; Rosselló, Joana; McKenna, Peter

2016-07-01

Delusions are widely believed to reflect disturbed cognitive function, but the nature of this remains elusive. The "un-Cartesian" cognitive-linguistic hypothesis maintains (a) that there is no thought separate from language, that is, there is no distinct mental space removed from language where "thinking" takes place; and (b) that a somewhat broadened concept of grammar is responsible for bestowing meaning on propositions, and this among other things gives them their quality of being true or false. It is argued that a loss of propositional meaning explains why delusions are false, impossible and sometimes fantastic. A closely related abnormality, failure of linguistic embedding, can additionally account for why delusions are held with fixed conviction and are not adequately justified by the patient. The un-Cartesian linguistic approach to delusions has points of contact with Frith's theory that inability to form meta-representations underlies a range of schizophrenic symptoms. It may also be relevant to the nature of the "second factor" in monothematic delusions in neurological disease. Finally, it can inform the current debate about whether or not delusions really are beliefs.

Formal monkey linguistics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schlenker, Philippe; Chemla, Emmanuel; Schel, Anne M.; Fuller, James; Gautier, Jean Pierre; Kuhn, Jeremy; Veselinović, Dunja; Arnold, Kate; Cäsar, Cristiane; Keenan, Sumir; Lemasson, Alban; Ouattara, Karim; Ryder, Robin; Zuberbühler, Klaus

2016-01-01

We argue that rich data gathered in experimental primatology in the last 40 years can benefit from analytical methods used in contemporary linguistics. Focusing on the syntactic and especially semantic side, we suggest that these methods could help clarify five questions: (i) what morphology and

Linguistically deprived children: meta-analysis of published research underlines the importance of early syntactic language use for normal brain development

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Andrey Vyshedskiy

2017-08-01

Full Text Available We analyzed all published reports of individuals not exposed to syntactic language until puberty: two feral children, who grew up without hearing any language, and eight deaf linguistic isolates, who grew up communicating to their families using homesign or kitchensign, a system of gestures which allows them to communicate simple commands but lacks much in the way of syntax. A common observation in these individuals is the lifelong difficulty understanding syntax and spatial prepositions, even after many years of rehabilitation. This debilitating condition stands in stark contrast to linguistic isolates’ performance on memory as well as semantic tests: they could easily remember hundreds of newly learned words and identify previously seen objects by name. The lack of syntactic language comprehension in linguistic isolates may stem from inability to understand words and/or grammar or inability to mentally synthesize known objects into novel configurations. We have previously shown that purposeful construction of novel mental images is the function of the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC ability to dynamically control posterior cortex neurons (Vyshedskiy et al. 2017. Here we have ranked all tests performed on linguistic isolates by their reliance on the LPFC control of the posterior cortex: a the amount of posterior cortex territory that needs to be recruited by the LPFC and b the number of disparate objects that have to be combined together by the LPFC in order to answer the test question. According to our analysis, linguistic isolates performed well in all tests that did not involve the LPFC control of the posterior cortex, showed decreasing scores in tests that involved greater recruitment of the posterior cortex by the LPFC, and failed in tests that involved greatest recruitment of posterior cortex necessary for mental synthesis of multiple objects. This pattern is consistent with inadequate frontoposterior connections in linguistic isolates

Neuroimaging and advanced social living

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Torben

2012-01-01

Background: Snow stated in 1959 a modern conflict between classical hermeneutic humanism and natural science which recently has been renewed by Kensei Hiwaki [2011]. However, the last decade has brought a breakthrough in the study of the neural base of mental processes by neuroimaging which may...... patients. Further, this healing principle explains classical relaxation procedures as yoga and meditation as coping techniques. 2. Mental balance between L(x) and NC is not a continued but a discrete variable of general risk attitude differentiating 4 sub-groups corresponding to the classical tempers which...

Linguistic Variability and Intellectual Development. Miami Linguistics Series No. 9.

Science.gov (United States)

von Humboldt, Wilhelm

Although this edition of Wilhelm von Humboldt's "Linguistic Variability and Intellectual Development" is based entirely on the original German edition, the translators (George C. Buck and Frithjof A. Raven) and the publisher have attempted to clarify certain aspects of this work for the modern-day reader. These features include the addition of…

Mathematical Approaches to Cognitive Linguistics

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Chuluundorj Begz

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Cognitive linguistics, neuro-cognitive and psychological analysis of human verbal cognition present important area of multidisciplinary research. Mathematical methods and models have been introduced in number of publications with increasing attention to these theories. In this paper we have described some possible applications of mathematical methods to cognitive linguistics. Human verbal perception and verbal mapping deal with dissipative mental structures and symmetric/asymmetric relationships between objects of perception and deep (also surface structures of language. In that’s way methods of tensor analysis are ambitious candidate to be applied to analysis of human verbal thinking and mental space.

Linguistics, human communication and psychiatry.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, P; Fraser, W

1994-11-01

Psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics have extended our understanding of the abnormal communication seen in psychosis, as well as that of people with autism and Asperger's syndrome. Psycholinguistics has the potential to increase the explanatory power of cognitive and neuropsychological approaches to psychosis and new methods of assessment and therapy are now being developed, based on linguistic theory. A MEDLINE literature search was used. Of 205 relevant articles identified, 65 were selected for review. Greater familiarity with linguistic theory could improve psychiatrists' assessment skills and their understanding of the relevance of human communication to the new cognitive models of psychosis.

Untangling Linguistic Salience

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boswijk, Vincent; Coler, Matt; Loerts, Hanneke; Hilton, Nanna

2018-01-01

The concept of linguistic salience is broadly used within sociolinguistics to account for processes as diverse as language change (Kerswill & Williams, 2002) and language acquisition (Ellis, 2016) in that salient forms are e.g. more likely to undergo change, or are often acquired earlier than other

Linguistics and Literacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Kindell, Gloria

1983-01-01

Discusses four general areas of linguistics studies that are particularly relevant to literacy issues: (1) discourse analysis, including text analysis, spoken and written language, and home and school discourse; (2) relationships between speech and writing, the distance between dialects and written norms, and developmental writing; (3)…

Saussure and Linguistic Geography.

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Roy

1993-01-01

Discusses Saussures's "Cours de linguistique generale," which was published in 1916, and devotes specific attention to the significance of Part VI, which is devoted to linguistic geography. (16 references) (Author/VWL)

Human fear conditioning and extinction in neuroimaging: a systematic review.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christina Sehlmeyer

Full Text Available Fear conditioning and extinction are basic forms of associative learning that have gained considerable clinical relevance in enhancing our understanding of anxiety disorders and facilitating their treatment. Modern neuroimaging techniques have significantly aided the identification of anatomical structures and networks involved in fear conditioning. On closer inspection, there is considerable variation in methodology and results between studies. This systematic review provides an overview of the current neuroimaging literature on fear conditioning and extinction on healthy subjects, taking into account methodological issues such as the conditioning paradigm. A Pubmed search, as of December 2008, was performed and supplemented by manual searches of bibliographies of key articles. Two independent reviewers made the final study selection and data extraction. A total of 46 studies on cued fear conditioning and/or extinction on healthy volunteers using positron emission tomography or functional magnetic resonance imaging were reviewed. The influence of specific experimental factors, such as contingency and timing parameters, assessment of conditioned responses, and characteristics of conditioned and unconditioned stimuli, on cerebral activation patterns was examined. Results were summarized descriptively. A network consisting of fear-related brain areas, such as amygdala, insula, and anterior cingulate cortex, is activated independently of design parameters. However, some neuroimaging studies do not report these findings in the presence of methodological heterogeneities. Furthermore, other brain areas are differentially activated, depending on specific design parameters. These include stronger hippocampal activation in trace conditioning and tactile stimulation. Furthermore, tactile unconditioned stimuli enhance activation of pain related, motor, and somatosensory areas. Differences concerning experimental factors may partly explain the variance

From Shared Contexts to Syntactic Categories: The Role of Distributional Information in Learning Linguistic Form-Classes

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Reeder, Patricia A.; Newport, Elissa L.; Aslin, Richard N.

2013-01-01

A fundamental component of language acquisition involves organizing words into grammatical categories. Previous literature has suggested a number of ways in which this categorization task might be accomplished. Here we ask whether the patterning of the words in a corpus of linguistic input ("distributional information") is sufficient, along with a…

Cross-Linguistic Influence in Third Language Perception: L2 and L3 Perception of Japanese Contrasts

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Onishi, Hiromi

2013-01-01

This dissertation examines the possible influence of language learners' second language (L2) on their perception of phonological contrasts in their third language (L3). Previous studies on Third Language Acquisition (TLA) suggest various factors as possible sources of cross-linguistic influence in the acquisition of an L3. This dissertation…

New patterns in human biogeography revealed by networks of contacts between linguistic groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Capitán, José A; Bock Axelsen, Jacob; Manrubia, Susanna

2015-03-07

Human languages differ broadly in abundance and are distributed highly unevenly on the Earth. In many qualitative and quantitative aspects, they strongly resemble biodiversity distributions. An intriguing and previously unexplored issue is the architecture of the neighbouring relationships between human linguistic groups. Here we construct and characterize these networks of contacts and show that they represent a new kind of spatial network with uncommon structural properties. Remarkably, language networks share a meaningful property with food webs: both are quasi-interval graphs. In food webs, intervality is linked to the existence of a niche space of low dimensionality; in language networks, we show that the unique relevant variable is the area occupied by the speakers of a language. By means of a range model analogous to niche models in ecology, we show that a geometric restriction of perimeter covering by neighbouring linguistic domains explains the structural patterns observed. Our findings may be of interest in the development of models for language dynamics or regarding the propagation of cultural innovations. In relation to species distribution, they pose the question of whether the spatial features of species ranges share architecture, and eventually generating mechanism, with the distribution of human linguistic groups. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

EEG changes and neuroimaging abnormalities in relevance to ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Autism is currently viewed as a genetically determined neurodevelopmental disorder although its defi nite underlying etiology remains to be established. Aim of the Study: Our purpose was to assess autism related morphological neuroimaging changes of the brain and EEG abnormalities in correlation to the ...

What Does Corpus Linguistics Have to Offer to Language Assessment?

Science.gov (United States)

Xi, Xiaoming

2017-01-01

In recent years, continuing advances in technology have increased the capacity to automate the extraction of a range of linguistic features of texts and thus have provided the impetus for the substantial growth of corpus linguistics. While corpus linguistic tools and methods have been used extensively in second language learning research, they…

Pain perception and hypnosis: findings from recent functional neuroimaging studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Del Casale, Antonio; Ferracuti, Stefano; Rapinesi, Chiara; Serata, Daniele; Caltagirone, Saverio Simone; Savoja, Valeria; Piacentino, Daria; Callovini, Gemma; Manfredi, Giovanni; Sani, Gabriele; Kotzalidis, Georgios D; Girardi, Paolo

2015-01-01

Hypnosis modulates pain perception and tolerance by affecting cortical and subcortical activity in brain regions involved in these processes. By reviewing functional neuroimaging studies focusing on pain perception under hypnosis, the authors aimed to identify brain activation-deactivation patterns occurring in hypnosis-modulated pain conditions. Different changes in brain functionality occurred throughout all components of the pain network and other brain areas. The anterior cingulate cortex appears to be central in modulating pain circuitry activity under hypnosis. Most studies also showed that the neural functions of the prefrontal, insular, and somatosensory cortices are consistently modified during hypnosis-modulated pain conditions. Functional neuroimaging studies support the clinical use of hypnosis in the management of pain conditions.

Publication trends in neuroimaging of minimally conscious states

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alex Garnett

2013-09-01

Full Text Available We used existing and customized bibliometric and scientometric methods to analyze publication trends in neuroimaging research of minimally conscious states and describe the domain in terms of its geographic, contributor, and content features. We considered publication rates for the years 2002–2011, author interconnections, the rate at which new authors are added, and the domains that inform the work of author contributors. We also provided a content analysis of clinical and ethical themes within the relevant literature. We found a 27% growth in the number of papers over the period of study, professional diversity among a wide range of peripheral author contributors but only few authors who dominate the field, and few new technical paradigms and clinical themes that would fundamentally expand the landscape. The results inform both the science of consciousness as well as parallel ethics and policy studies of the potential for translational challenges of neuroimaging in research and health care of people with disordered states of consciousness.

Understanding the impact of TV commercials: electrical neuroimaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Vecchiato, Giovanni; Kong, Wanzeng; Maglione, Anton Giulio; Wei, Daming

2012-01-01

Today, there is a greater interest in the marketing world in using neuroimaging tools to evaluate the efficacy of TV commercials. This field of research is known as neuromarketing. In this article, we illustrate some applications of electrical neuroimaging, a discipline that uses electroencephalography (EEG) and intensive signal processing techniques for the evaluation of marketing stimuli. We also show how the proper usage of these methodologies can provide information related to memorization and attention while people are watching marketing-relevant stimuli. We note that temporal and frequency patterns of EEG signals are able to provide possible descriptors that convey information about the cognitive process in subjects observing commercial advertisements (ads). Such information could be unobtainable through common tools used in standard marketing research. Evidence of this research shows how EEG methodologies could be employed to better design new products that marketers are going to promote and to analyze the global impact of video commercials already broadcast on TV.

Neuroimaging of nonaccidental head trauma: pitfalls and controversies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fernando, Sujan [University of Missouri-Kansas School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Kansas City, MO (United States); Obaldo, Ruby E. [The University of Kansas Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Kansas City, MO (United States); Walsh, Irene R. [The University of Missouri-Kansas City, Children' s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, Department of Emergency Medicine, Kansas City, MO (United States); Lowe, Lisa H. [The University of Missouri-Kansas City, Children' s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, Department of Radiology, Kansas City, MO (United States)

2008-08-15

Although certain neuroimaging appearances are highly suggestive of abuse, radiological findings are often nonspecific. The objective of this review is to discuss pitfalls, controversies, and mimics occurring in neuroimaging of nonaccidental head trauma in order to allow the reader to establish an increased level of comfort in distinguishing between nonaccidental and accidental head trauma. Specific topics discussed include risk factors, general biomechanics and imaging strategies in nonaccidental head trauma, followed by the characteristics of skull fractures, normal prominent tentorium and falx versus subdural hematoma, birth trauma versus nonaccidental head trauma, hyperacute versus acute on chronic subdural hematomas, expanded subarachnoid space versus subdural hemorrhage, controversy regarding subdural hematomas associated with benign enlarged subarachnoid spaces, controversy regarding hypoxia as a cause of subdural hematoma and/or retinal hemorrhages without trauma, controversy regarding the significance of retinal hemorrhages related to nonaccidental head trauma, controversy regarding the significance of subdural hematomas in general, and pitfalls of glutaric aciduria type 1 and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis mimicking nonaccidental head trauma. (orig.)

Neuroimaging the Effectiveness of Substance Use Disorder Treatments.

Science.gov (United States)

Cabrera, Elizabeth A; Wiers, Corinde E; Lindgren, Elsa; Miller, Gregg; Volkow, Nora D; Wang, Gene-Jack

2016-09-01

Neuroimaging techniques to measure the function and biochemistry of the human brain such as positron emission tomography (PET), proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H MRS), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), are powerful tools for assessing neurobiological mechanisms underlying the response to treatments in substance use disorders. Here, we review the neuroimaging literature on pharmacological and behavioral treatment in substance use disorder. We focus on neural effects of medications that reduce craving (e.g., naltrexone, bupropion hydrochloride, baclofen, methadone, varenicline) and that improve cognitive control (e.g., modafinil, N-acetylcysteine), of behavioral treatments for substance use disorders (e.g., cognitive bias modification training, virtual reality, motivational interventions) and neuromodulatory interventions such as neurofeedback and transcranial magnetic stimulation. A consistent finding for the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions identifies the improvement of executive control networks and the dampening of limbic activation, highlighting their values as targets for therapeutic interventions in substance use disorders.

Multiple comparison procedures for neuroimaging genomewide association studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Hua, Wen-Yu; Nichols, Thomas E; Ghosh, Debashis

2015-01-01

Recent research in neuroimaging has focused on assessing associations between genetic variants that are measured on a genomewide scale and brain imaging phenotypes. A large number of works in the area apply massively univariate analyses on a genomewide basis to find single nucleotide polymorphisms that influence brain structure. In this paper, we propose using various dimensionality reduction methods on both brain structural MRI scans and genomic data, motivated by the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) study. We also consider a new multiple testing adjustment method and compare it with two existing false discovery rate (FDR) adjustment methods. The simulation results suggest an increase in power for the proposed method. The real-data analysis suggests that the proposed procedure is able to find associations between genetic variants and brain volume differences that offer potentially new biological insights. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Neuroimaging in the Diagnostic Evaluation of Eye Pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Szatmáry, Gabriella

2016-09-01

Ocular or eye pain is a frequent complaint encountered not only by eye care providers but neurologists. Isolated eye pain is non-specific and non-localizing; therefore, it poses significant differential diagnostic problems. A wide range of neurologic and ophthalmic disorders may cause pain in, around, or behind the eye. These include ocular and orbital diseases and primary and secondary headaches. In patients presenting with an isolated and chronic eye pain, neuroimaging is usually normal. However, at the beginning of a disease process or in low-grade disease, the eye may appear "quiet," misleading a provider lacking familiarity with underlying disorders and high index of clinical suspicion. Delayed diagnosis of some neuro-ophthalmic causes of eye pain could result in significant neurologic and ophthalmic morbidity, conceivably even mortality. This article reviews some recent advances in imaging of the eye, the orbit, and the brain, as well as research in which neuroimaging has advanced the discovery of the underlying pathophysiology and the complex differential diagnosis of eye pain.

[Neuropsychology of Tourette's disorder: cognition, neuroimaging and creativity].

Science.gov (United States)

Espert, R; Gadea, M; Alino, M; Oltra-Cucarella, J

2017-02-24

Tourette's disorder is the result of fronto-striatal brain dysfunction affecting people of all ages, with a debut in early childhood and continuing into adolescence and adulthood. This article reviews the main cognitive, functional neuroimaging and creativity-related studies in a disorder characterized by an excess of dopamine in the brain. Given the special cerebral configuration of these patients, neuropsychological alterations, especially in executive functions, should be expected. However, the findings are inconclusive and are conditioned by factors such as comorbidity with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder, age or methodological variables. On the other hand, the neuroimaging studies carried out over the last decade have been able to explain the clinical symptoms of Tourette's disorder patients, with special relevance for the supplementary motor area and the anterior cingulate gyrus. Finally, although there is no linear relationship between excess of dopamine and creativity, the scientific literature emphasizes an association between Tourette's disorder and musical creativity, which could be translated into intervention programs based on music.

Neuroimaging of nonaccidental head trauma: pitfalls and controversies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernando, Sujan; Obaldo, Ruby E.; Walsh, Irene R.; Lowe, Lisa H.

2008-01-01

Although certain neuroimaging appearances are highly suggestive of abuse, radiological findings are often nonspecific. The objective of this review is to discuss pitfalls, controversies, and mimics occurring in neuroimaging of nonaccidental head trauma in order to allow the reader to establish an increased level of comfort in distinguishing between nonaccidental and accidental head trauma. Specific topics discussed include risk factors, general biomechanics and imaging strategies in nonaccidental head trauma, followed by the characteristics of skull fractures, normal prominent tentorium and falx versus subdural hematoma, birth trauma versus nonaccidental head trauma, hyperacute versus acute on chronic subdural hematomas, expanded subarachnoid space versus subdural hemorrhage, controversy regarding subdural hematomas associated with benign enlarged subarachnoid spaces, controversy regarding hypoxia as a cause of subdural hematoma and/or retinal hemorrhages without trauma, controversy regarding the significance of retinal hemorrhages related to nonaccidental head trauma, controversy regarding the significance of subdural hematomas in general, and pitfalls of glutaric aciduria type 1 and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis mimicking nonaccidental head trauma. (orig.)

Preserved statistical learning of tonal and linguistic material in congenital amusia.

Science.gov (United States)

Omigie, Diana; Stewart, Lauren

2011-01-01

Congenital amusia is a lifelong disorder whereby individuals have pervasive difficulties in perceiving and producing music. In contrast, typical individuals display a sophisticated understanding of musical structure, even in the absence of musical training. Previous research has shown that they acquire this knowledge implicitly, through exposure to music's statistical regularities. The present study tested the hypothesis that congenital amusia may result from a failure to internalize statistical regularities - specifically, lower-order transitional probabilities. To explore the specificity of any potential deficits to the musical domain, learning was examined with both tonal and linguistic material. Participants were exposed to structured tonal and linguistic sequences and, in a subsequent test phase, were required to identify items which had been heard in the exposure phase, as distinct from foils comprising elements that had been present during exposure, but presented in a different temporal order. Amusic and control individuals showed comparable learning, for both tonal and linguistic material, even when the tonal stream included pitch intervals around one semitone. However analysis of binary confidence ratings revealed that amusic individuals have less confidence in their abilities and that their performance in learning tasks may not be contingent on explicit knowledge formation or level of awareness to the degree shown in typical individuals. The current findings suggest that the difficulties amusic individuals have with real-world music cannot be accounted for by an inability to internalize lower-order statistical regularities but may arise from other factors.

Preserved Statistical Learning of Tonal and Linguistic Material in Congenital Amusia

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Diana eOmigie

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Congenital amusia is a lifelong disorder whereby individuals have pervasive difficulties in perceiving and producing music. In contrast, typical individuals display a sophisticated understanding of musical structure, even in the absence of musical training. Previous research has shown that they acquire this knowledge implicitly, through exposure to music’s statistical regularities. The present study tested the hypothesis that congenital amusia may result from a failure to internalize statistical regularities - specifically, lower-order transitional probabilities. To explore the specificity of any potential deficits to the musical domain, learning was examined with both tonal and linguistic material. Participants were exposed to structured tonal and linguistic sequences and, in a subsequent test phase, were required to identify items which had been heard in the exposure phase, as distinct from foils comprising elements that had been present during exposure, but presented in a different temporal order. Amusic and control individuals showed comparable learning, for both tonal and linguistic material, even when the tonal stream included pitch intervals around one semitone. However analysis of binary confidence ratings revealed that amusic individuals have less confidence in their abilities and that their performance in learning tasks may not be contingent on explicit knowledge formation or level of awareness to the degree shown in typical individuals. The current findings suggest that the difficulties amusic individuals have with real-world music cannot be accounted for by an inability to internalize lower-order statistical regularities but may arise from other factors.

An Analysis of the Linguistic Deviation in Chapter X of Oliver Twist

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

刘聪

2013-01-01

Charles Dickens is one of the greatest critical realist writers of the Victorian Age. In language, he is often compared with William Shakespeare for his adeptness with the vernacular and large vocabulary. Charles Dickens achieved a recognizable place among English writers through the use of the stylistic features in his fictional language. Oliver Twist is the best representative of Charles Dickens’style, which makes it the most appropriate choice for the present stylistic study on Charles Dickens. No one who has ever read the dehumanizing workhouse scenes of Oliver Twist and the dark, criminal underworld life can forget them. This thesis attempts to investigate Oliver Twist through the approach of modern stylistics, particularly the theory of linguistic devia-tion. This thesis consists of an introduction, the main body and a conclusion. The introduction offers a brief summary of the com-ments on Charles Dickens and Chapter X of Oliver Twist, introduces the newly rising linguistic deviation theories, and brings about the theories on which this thesis settles. The main body explores the deviation effects produced from four aspects: lexical deviation, grammatical deviation, graphological deviation, and semantic deviation. It endeavors to show Dickens ’manipulating language and the effects achieved through this manipulation. The conclusion mainly sums up the previous analysis, and reveals the theme of the novel, positive effect of linguistic deviation and significance of deviation application.

Linguistic Policies, Linguistic Planning, and Brazilian Sign Language in Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

de Quadros, Ronice Muller

2012-01-01

This article explains the consolidation of Brazilian Sign Language in Brazil through a linguistic plan that arose from the Brazilian Sign Language Federal Law 10.436 of April 2002 and the subsequent Federal Decree 5695 of December 2005. Two concrete facts that emerged from this existing language plan are discussed: the implementation of bilingual…

Temporal Explorations in Cosmic Consciousness: Intra-Agential Entanglements and the Neuro-Image

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Patricia Pisters

2015-11-01

Full Text Available When Deleuze in the 1980s argued that ‘the brain is the screen’ he introduced the concepts of movement-image and time-image, two different modes of cinema with particular ontological and aesthetic characteristics. Contemporary cinema, however, has moved into yet another aesthetic mode, which I have proposed to call the neuro-image. One of the characteristics of the neuro-image is that we no longer follow the movements and actions of characters in a certain space (as in the movement-image, nor see the world coloured through their eyes (as in the time-image, but we (often quite literally experience brain worlds more directly, from within mental landscapes. In this essay I will investigate in which ways these brain worlds aesthetically express an embodied and embedded brain, addressing the new materialist dimensions of the neuro-image in a journey of cosmic cinema and, to speak with Barad, ‘meeting the universe halfway.’

Guatemalan Linguistics Project

Science.gov (United States)

Linguistic Reporter, 1974

1974-01-01

The general goals of the Guatemalan technical institution, the Proyecto Linguistico Francisco Marroquin, are to: create a national technical resource institution in linguistics and Mayan languages; enable Indians to influence programs for their communities; and stimulate the study of Mayan languages and their use as communication medium. (SW)

Cross-Linguistic Transfer among Iranian Learners of English as a Foreign Language

Science.gov (United States)

Talebi, Seyed Hassan

2014-01-01

Cross-linguistic transfer studies began from linguistic aspects of language learning and moved to non-linguistic aspects. The intriguing question is whether students are aware of the nature of these cross-linguistic interactions in their minds. For this purpose, a semi-structured interview was conducted with four Iranian university students. It…

Functional Grammar in the Context of Linguistic Applications in Turkish Language Teaching

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Epcacan, Cahit

2013-01-01

In the last century, language researches adopted the scientific method and linguistics became an autonomous discipline. Linguistics is a framework concept that analyzes all languages in the world in various contexts according to its own rules and draws conclusions using the systematic approach. Functional linguistics is a linguistic trend that…

A General Overview of Motivation in Linguistics

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

王航

2014-01-01

In recent years, the term of motivation in linguistics study has aroused the interests of scholars. Different studies of mo -tivation have been produced by different scholars. In this paper, the writer organizes the recent studies on motivation in linguistics. the paper is divided into three parts, the introduction of the term motivation, different types of motivation, and theories of moti -vation.

Linguistic Ethnography, Literacy Teaching and Teacher Training

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dolmer, Grete; Nielsen, Henrik Balle

in current attempts to research-base teacher education. Lefstein, A. & J. Snell. 2014. Better than best practice. Developing teaching and learning through dialogue. London: Routledge. Keywords: literacy teaching classroom dialogue teacher feedback linguistic ethnography research-based teacher education...... material consists of field notes and video observations from the literacy classroom combined with reflective interviews with the literacy teacher and analyses of pupils’ oral and written texts. Taking a linguistic ethnographic approach, the case study investigates the interplay between teacher, pupil...... eclecticism, openness and systematicity characteristic of a linguistic ethnographic analysis (Lefstein & Snell 2014, 185-86). In the poster, we will focus on emergent data analysis. Our main points of interest are 1) the classroom dialogue between teacher and pupils and 2) the literacy teacher’s assessment...

Linguistic Culture and Essentialism in South Africa

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Stephanie Rudwick

2008-10-01

Full Text Available This paper explores how language and culture are intertwined and often regarded as “invariable fixed properties” in contemporary South Africa by focusing on one particular indigenous African language group, i.e. isiZulu-speakers. Drawing from general theoretical sociolinguistic approaches to language and culture and considering South Africa’s socio-political history, the paper demonstrates the significance and saliency of Zulu linguistic culture to Zulu people in the post-apartheid state. It is examined, how Zulu linguistic culture is regarded a resource in the isiZulu-speaking community and as one of the most salient tools of in-group identification in the larger contemporary South African society. Zulu people’s culture is profoundly language-embedded and Zulu linguistic culture often based on essentialism.

A responsible agenda for applied linguistics: Confessions of a philosopher

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Albert Weideman

2011-08-01

Full Text Available When we undertake academic, disciplinary work, we rely on philosophical starting points. Several straightforward illustrations of this can be found in the history of applied linguistics. It is evident from the history of our field that various historically influential approaches to our discipline base themselves upon different academic confessions. This paper examines the effects of basing our applied linguistic work on the idea that applied linguistics is a discipline concerned with design. Such a characterisation does justice to both modernist and postmodernist emphases in applied linguistics. Conceptualisations of applied linguistics that came with the proposals for communicative language teaching (CLT some thirty to forty years ago propelled the discipline squarely into postmodern times. To account for this, we need to develop a theory of applied linguistics which shows what constitutive and regulative conditions exist for doing applied linguistic designs. A responsible agenda for applied linguistics today has as its first responsibility to free the users of its designs from toil and drudgery, as well as from becoming victims of fashion, ideology or theory. Secondly, it should design solutions to language problems in such a way that the technical imagination of the designer is not restricted but supported by theory and empirical investigation, and that the productive pedagogical fantasy of the implementers of such plans is set free. Thirdly, it must seek to become accountable by designing theoretically and socially defensible solutions to language problems, solutions that relieve some of the suffering, pain, poverty and injustice in our world.

Image schemas and mimetic schemas in cognitive linguistics and gesture studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cienki, A.J.

2013-01-01

Image schemas have been a fundamental construct in cognitive linguistics, providing grounds for psychological, philosophical, as well as linguistic research. Given the focus in cognitive linguistics on embodied experience as a fundamental basis for language structure and meaning, the employment of

Linguistic Barriers and Bridges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thuesen, Frederik

2016-01-01

The influence of language on social capital in low-skill and ethnically diverse workplaces has thus far received very limited attention within the sociology of work. As the ethnically diverse workplace is an important social space for the construction of social relations bridging different social...... groups, the sociology of work needs to develop a better understanding of the way in which linguistic diversity influences the formation of social capital, i.e. resources such as the trust and reciprocity inherent in social relations in such workplaces. Drawing on theories about intergroup contact...... and intercultural communication, this article analyses interviews with 31 employees from two highly ethnically diverse Danish workplaces. The article shows how linguistic barriers such as different levels of majority language competence and their consequent misunderstandings breed mistrust and hostility, whilst...

Can delusions be understood linguistically?

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Hinzen, Wolfram; Rosselló, Joana; McKenna, Peter

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Delusions are widely believed to reflect disturbed cognitive function, but the nature of this remains elusive. The “un-Cartesian” cognitive-linguistic hypothesis maintains (a) that there is no thought separate from language, that is, there is no distinct mental space removed from language where “thinking” takes place; and (b) that a somewhat broadened concept of grammar is responsible for bestowing meaning on propositions, and this among other things gives them their quality of being true or false. It is argued that a loss of propositional meaning explains why delusions are false, impossible and sometimes fantastic. A closely related abnormality, failure of linguistic embedding, can additionally account for why delusions are held with fixed conviction and are not adequately justified by the patient. The un-Cartesian linguistic approach to delusions has points of contact with Frith’s theory that inability to form meta-representations underlies a range of schizophrenic symptoms. It may also be relevant to the nature of the “second factor” in monothematic delusions in neurological disease. Finally, it can inform the current debate about whether or not delusions really are beliefs. PMID:27322493

Linguistic Features of Humor in Academic Writing

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Stephen Skalicky

2016-06-01

Full Text Available A corpus of 313 freshman college essays was analyzed in order to better understand the forms and functions of humor in academic writing. Human ratings of humor and wordplay were statistically aggregated using Factor Analysis to provide an overall Humor component score for each essay in the corpus. In addition, the essays were also scored for overall writing quality by human raters, which correlated (r = .195 with the humor component score. Correlations between the humor component scores and linguistic features were examined. To investigate the potential for linguistic features to predict the Humor component scores, regression analysis identified four linguistic indices that accounted for approximately 17.5% of the variance in humor scores. These indices were related to text descriptiveness (i.e., more adjective and adverb use, lower cohesion (i.e., less paragraph-to-paragraph similarity, and lexical sophistication (lower word frequency. The findings suggest that humor can be partially predicted by linguistic features in the text. Furthermore, there was a small but significant correlation between the humor and essay quality scores, suggesting a positive relation between humor and writing quality. Keywords: humor, academic writing, text analysis, essay score, human rating

Functional neuroimaging of conversion disorder: the role of ancillary activation.

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Burke, Matthew J; Ghaffar, Omar; Staines, W Richard; Downar, Jonathan; Feinstein, Anthony

2014-01-01

Previous functional neuroimaging studies investigating the neuroanatomy of conversion disorder have yielded inconsistent results that may be attributed to small sample sizes and disparate methodologies. The objective of this study was to better define the functional neuroanatomical correlates of conversion disorder. Ten subjects meeting clinical criteria for unilateral sensory conversion disorder underwent fMRI during which a vibrotactile stimulus was applied to anesthetic and sensate areas. A block design was used with 4 s of stimulation followed by 26 s of rest, the pattern repeated 10 times. Event-related group averages of the BOLD response were compared between conditions. All subjects were right-handed females, with a mean age of 41. Group analyses revealed 10 areas that had significantly greater activation (p conversion symptoms are associated with a pattern of abnormal cerebral activation comprising neural networks implicated in emotional processing and sensory integration. Further study of the roles and potential interplay of these networks may provide a basis for an underlying psychobiological mechanism of conversion disorder.

Preprocessing Greek Papyri for Linguistic Annotation

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Vierros, Marja

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Greek documentary papyri form an important direct source for Ancient Greek. It has been exploited surprisingly little in Greek linguistics due to a lack of good tools for searching linguistic structures. This article presents a new tool and digital platform, “Sematia”, which enables transforming the digital texts available in TEI EpiDoc XML format to a format which can be morphologically and syntactically annotated (treebanked, and where the user can add new metadata concerning the text type, writer and handwriting of each act of writing. An important aspect in this process is to take into account the original surviving writing vs. the standardization of language and supplements made by the editors. This is performed by creating two different layers of the same text. The platform is in its early development phase. Ongoing and future developments, such as tagging linguistic variation phenomena as well as queries performed within Sematia, are discussed at the end of the article.

Probabilistic Linguistic Power Aggregation Operators for Multi-Criteria Group Decision Making

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Agbodah Kobina

2017-12-01

Full Text Available As an effective aggregation tool, power average (PA allows the input arguments being aggregated to support and reinforce each other, which provides more versatility in the information aggregation process. Under the probabilistic linguistic term environment, we deeply investigate the new power aggregation (PA operators for fusing the probabilistic linguistic term sets (PLTSs. In this paper, we firstly develop the probabilistic linguistic power average (PLPA, the weighted probabilistic linguistic power average (WPLPA operators, the probabilistic linguistic power geometric (PLPG and the weighted probabilistic linguistic power geometric (WPLPG operators. At the same time, we carefully analyze the properties of these new aggregation operators. With the aid of the WPLPA and WPLPG operators, we further design the approaches for the application of multi-criteria group decision-making (MCGDM with PLTSs. Finally, we use an illustrated example to expound our proposed methods and verify their performances.

Book Review: Backhaus, Peter (2007: Linguistic Landscapes: A Comparative Study of Urban Multilingualism in Tokyo. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters; 158 Pages ISBN 9781853599460

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Omar Alomoush

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Backhaus examines urban multilingualism in the linguistic landscape of Tokyo, the capital city of Japan. In this monograph, the linguistic landscape is seen as a sub-discipline of sociolinguistics. The significance of this monograph to linguistic landscape research is that it represents the first comprehensive approach tackling multilingualism in the linguistic landscape and overcoming a range of methodological problems facing former studies. In this sense, Backhaus’s approach in data collection and analysis may help linguistic landscapers and researchers to undertake research in multilingualism in the linguistic landscape. The current work comprises acknowledgements, a foreword by Bernard Spolsky, six chapters, an appendix, references, and an index. While the first three chapters represent an introduction and theoretical background, the fourth chapter in turn paves the way for the application of an empirical study in Tokyo’s linguistic landscape, applied in chapter five. That chapter one discusses the examination of written language in the public space of metropolises is the bulk of Backhaus’s work.  In this respect, the author (p.1 refers to previous studies such as Halliday (1972, who considers the city not only a place of talk, but also a place of writing and reading.  At the same time, this work focuses on ‘urban language contact in the written medium: the languages of the signs’. Backhaus (p.1 holds: Every urban environment is a myriad of written messages on public display: office and shop signs, billboards, and neon advertisements, traffic signs, topographic information and area maps, emergency guidance and political poster campaigns, stone inscriptions, and enigmatic graffiti discourse. The author maintains that these messages contribute to the making of the linguistic landscape of any given place. In chapter two, Semiotic Background and Terminology, Backhaus gives an introduction to the main features of language use on signs

ABrIL - Advanced Brain Imaging Lab : a cloud based computation environment for cooperative neuroimaging projects.

Science.gov (United States)

Neves Tafula, Sérgio M; Moreira da Silva, Nádia; Rozanski, Verena E; Silva Cunha, João Paulo

2014-01-01

Neuroscience is an increasingly multidisciplinary and highly cooperative field where neuroimaging plays an important role. Neuroimaging rapid evolution is demanding for a growing number of computing resources and skills that need to be put in place at every lab. Typically each group tries to setup their own servers and workstations to support their neuroimaging needs, having to learn from Operating System management to specific neuroscience software tools details before any results can be obtained from each setup. This setup and learning process is replicated in every lab, even if a strong collaboration among several groups is going on. In this paper we present a new cloud service model - Brain Imaging Application as a Service (BiAaaS) - and one of its implementation - Advanced Brain Imaging Lab (ABrIL) - in the form of an ubiquitous virtual desktop remote infrastructure that offers a set of neuroimaging computational services in an interactive neuroscientist-friendly graphical user interface (GUI). This remote desktop has been used for several multi-institution cooperative projects with different neuroscience objectives that already achieved important results, such as the contribution to a high impact paper published in the January issue of the Neuroimage journal. The ABrIL system has shown its applicability in several neuroscience projects with a relatively low-cost, promoting truly collaborative actions and speeding up project results and their clinical applicability.

A Python Library for Historical Comparative Linguistics

OpenAIRE

Moran , Steven; List , Johann-Mattis

2012-01-01

Awarded best paper award; International audience; In this talk we will discuss a European Research Council funded collaborative effort to build a Python library for undertaking academic research in historical-comparative linguistics. Our aim of implementing quantitative methods, specifically in Python, is to transform historical-comparative linguistics from a primarily handcrafted scientific scholarly endeavor, performed by individual researchers, into a quantitative and collaborative field o...

Linguistic relativity.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolff, Phillip; Holmes, Kevin J

2011-05-01

The central question in research on linguistic relativity, or the Whorfian hypothesis, is whether people who speak different languages think differently. The recent resurgence of research on this question can be attributed, in part, to new insights about the ways in which language might impact thought. We identify seven categories of hypotheses about the possible effects of language on thought across a wide range of domains, including motion, color, spatial relations, number, and false belief understanding. While we do not find support for the idea that language determines the basic categories of thought or that it overwrites preexisting conceptual distinctions, we do find support for the proposal that language can make some distinctions difficult to avoid, as well as for the proposal that language can augment certain types of thinking. Further, we highlight recent evidence suggesting that language may induce a relatively schematic mode of thinking. Although the literature on linguistic relativity remains contentious, there is growing support for the view that language has a profound effect on thought. WIREs Cogni Sci 2011 2 253-265 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.104 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Linguistic and Embodied Nature of Conceptual Processing

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Louwerse, Max M.; Jeuniaux, Patrick

2010-01-01

Recent theories of cognition have argued that embodied experience is important for conceptual processing. Embodiment can be contrasted with linguistic factors such as the typical order in which words appear in language. Here, we report four experiments that investigated the conditions under which embodiment and linguistic factors determine…

Breaking Classroom Silences: A View from Linguistic Ethnography

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Rampton, Ben; Charalambous, Constadina

2016-01-01

This paper addresses potentially problematic classroom episodes in which someone foregrounds a social division that is normally taken for granted. It illustrates the way in which linguistic ethnography can unpack the layered processes that collide in the breaking of silence, showing how linguistic form and practice, individual positioning, local…

Gradual linguistic summaries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wilbik, A.M.; Kaymak, U.; Laurent, A.; Strauss, O.; Bouchon-Meunier, xx

2014-01-01

In this paper we propose a new type of protoform-based linguistic summary – the gradual summary. This new type of summaries aims in capturing the change over some time span. Such summaries can be useful in many domains, for instance in economics, e.g., "prices of X are getting smaller" in eldercare,

Perspectives in Linguistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Waterman, John T.

Intended for the student of linguistics or the structural grammarian, who must develop an awareness of their intellectual heritage, the present work surveys the study of language in ancient times, the medieval and early modern periods, the nineteenth century, and the twentieth century to 1950. (This second edition includes additional material on…

Cross-linguistic perspectives on speech assessment in cleft palate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Willadsen, Elisabeth; Henningsson, Gunilla

2012-01-01

. Finally, the influence of different languages on some aspects of language acquisition in young children with cleft palate is presented and discussed. Until recently, not much has been written about cross linguistic perspectives when dealing with cleft palate speech. Most literature about assessment......This chapter deals with cross linguistic perspectives that need to be taken into account when comparing speech assessment and speech outcome obtained from cleft palate speakers of different languages. Firstly, an overview of consonants and vowels vulnerable to the cleft condition is presented. Then......, consequences for assessment of cleft palate speech by native versus non-native speakers of a language are discussed, as well as the use of phonemic versus phonetic transcription in cross linguistic studies. Specific recommendations for the construction of speech samples in cross linguistic studies are given...

Guidelines for the ethical use of neuroimages in medical testimony: report of a multidisciplinary consensus conference.

Science.gov (United States)

Meltzer, C C; Sze, G; Rommelfanger, K S; Kinlaw, K; Banja, J D; Wolpe, P R

2014-04-01

With rapid advances in neuroimaging technology, there is growing concern over potential misuse of neuroradiologic imaging data in legal matters. On December 7 and 8, 2012, a multidisciplinary consensus conference, Use and Abuse of Neuroimaging in the Courtroom, was held at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Through this interactive forum, a highly select group of experts-including neuroradiologists, neurologists, forensic psychiatrists, neuropsychologists, neuroscientists, legal scholars, imaging statisticians, judges, practicing attorneys, and neuroethicists-discussed the complex issues involved in the use of neuroimaging data entered into legal evidence and for associated expert testimony. The specific contexts of criminal cases, child abuse, and head trauma were especially considered. The purpose of the conference was to inform the development of guidelines on expert testimony for the American Society of Neuroradiology and to provide principles for courts on the ethical use of neuroimaging data as evidence. This report summarizes the conference and resulting recommendations.

A kindergarten experiment in linguistic e-learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Valente, Andrea; Marchetti, Emanuela

2006-01-01

As part of the BlaSq project, we are developing a set of linguistic games to be used in kindergartens. The first of these games is Crazipes, that we are currently testing in a Danish kindergarten, with the support of the local teachers. Here we discuss the architecture of the game, its potentials...... as a linguistic e-learning tool, together with the design and methodology adopted for the study. Some early results are also discussed.......As part of the BlaSq project, we are developing a set of linguistic games to be used in kindergartens. The first of these games is Crazipes, that we are currently testing in a Danish kindergarten, with the support of the local teachers. Here we discuss the architecture of the game, its potentials...

A Brief History of the 19th-century Historical and Comparative Linguistics

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

郭丽娟

2016-01-01

In a broad sense Linguistics boasts a history as long as the history of writing. Knowledge of linguistics involves its history. And a history of linguistics is related to the origin of human language. Language is one of the most wonderful phenomena in human ’s social life. This paper introduce a brief history of historical and comparative linguistics in 19th–century.

Pain as a fact and heuristic: how pain neuroimaging illuminates moral dimensions of law.

Science.gov (United States)

Pustilnik, Amanda C

2012-05-01

In legal domains ranging from tort to torture, pain and its degree do important definitional work by delimiting boundaries of lawfulness and of entitlements. Yet, for all the work done by pain as a term in legal texts and practice, it has a confounding lack of external verifiability. Now, neuroimaging is rendering pain and myriad other subjective states at least partly ascertainable. This emerging ability to ascertain and quantify subjective states is prompting a "hedonic" or a "subjectivist" turn in legal scholarship, which has sparked a vigorous debate as to whether the quantification of subjective states might affect legal theory and practice. Subjectivists contend that much values-talk in law has been a necessary but poor substitute for quantitative determinations of subjective states--determinations that will be possible in the law's "experiential future." This Article argues the converse: that pain discourse in law frequently is a heuristic for values. Drawing on interviews and laboratory visits with neuroimaging researchers, this Article shows current and in-principle limitations of pain quantification through neuroimaging. It then presents case studies on torture-murder, torture, the death penalty, and abortion to show the largely heuristic role of pain discourse in law. Introducing the theory of "embodied morality," the Article describes how moral conceptions of rights and duties are informed by human physicality and constrained by the limits of empathic identification. Pain neuroimaging helps reveal this dual factual and heuristic nature of pain in the law, and thus itself points to the translational work required for neuroimaging to influence, much less transform, legal practice and doctrine.

An Analysis of Social Class Classification Based on Linguistic Variables

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

QU Xia-sha

2016-01-01

Since language is an influential tool in social interaction, the relationship of speech and social factors, such as social class, gender, even age is worth studying. People employ different linguistic variables to imply their social class, status and iden-tity in the social interaction. Thus the linguistic variation involves vocabulary, sounds, grammatical constructions, dialects and so on. As a result, a classification of social class draws people’s attention. Linguistic variable in speech interactions indicate the social relationship between people. This paper attempts to illustrate three main linguistic variables which influence the social class, and further sociolinguistic studies need to be more concerned about.

Neural correlates of fear: insights from neuroimaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Garfinkel SN

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Sarah N Garfinkel,1,2 Hugo D Critchley1,2 1Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, 2Department of Psychiatry, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK Abstract: Fear anticipates a challenge to one's well-being and is a reaction to the risk of harm. The expression of fear in the individual is a constellation of physiological, behavioral, cognitive, and experiential responses. Fear indicates risk and will guide adaptive behavior, yet fear is also fundamental to the symptomatology of most psychiatric disorders. Neuroimaging studies of normal and abnormal fear in humans extend knowledge gained from animal experiments. Neuroimaging permits the empirical evaluation of theory (emotions as response tendencies, mental states, and valence and arousal dimensions, and improves our understanding of the mechanisms of how fear is controlled by both cognitive processes and bodily states. Within the human brain, fear engages a set of regions that include insula and anterior cingulate cortices, the amygdala, and dorsal brain-stem centers, such as periaqueductal gray matter. This same fear matrix is also implicated in attentional orienting, mental planning, interoceptive mapping, bodily feelings, novelty and motivational learning, behavioral prioritization, and the control of autonomic arousal. The stereotyped expression of fear can thus be viewed as a special construction from combinations of these processes. An important motivator for understanding neural fear mechanisms is the debilitating clinical expression of anxiety. Neuroimaging studies of anxiety patients highlight the role of learning and memory in pathological fear. Posttraumatic stress disorder is further distinguished by impairment in cognitive control and contextual memory. These processes ultimately need to be targeted for symptomatic recovery. Neuroscientific knowledge of fear has broader relevance to understanding human and societal behavior. As yet, only some of

Building "Applied Linguistic Historiography": Rationale, Scope, and Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Richard

2016-01-01

In this article I argue for the establishment of "Applied Linguistic Historiography" (ALH), that is, a new domain of enquiry within applied linguistics involving a rigorous, scholarly, and self-reflexive approach to historical research. Considering issues of rationale, scope, and methods in turn, I provide reasons why ALH is needed and…

Backward Dependencies and in-Situ wh-Questions as Test Cases on How to Approach Experimental Linguistics Research That Pursues Theoretical Linguistics Questions

Science.gov (United States)

Pablos, Leticia; Doetjes, Jenny; Cheng, Lisa L.-S.

2018-01-01

The empirical study of language is a young field in contemporary linguistics. This being the case, and following a natural development process, the field is currently at a stage where different research methods and experimental approaches are being put into question in terms of their validity. Without pretending to provide an answer with respect to the best way to conduct linguistics related experimental research, in this article we aim at examining the process that researchers follow in the design and implementation of experimental linguistics research with a goal to validate specific theoretical linguistic analyses. First, we discuss the general challenges that experimental work faces in finding a compromise between addressing theoretically relevant questions and being able to implement these questions in a specific controlled experimental paradigm. We discuss the Granularity Mismatch Problem (Poeppel and Embick, 2005) which addresses the challenges that research that is trying to bridge the representations and computations of language and their psycholinguistic/neurolinguistic evidence faces, and the basic assumptions that interdisciplinary research needs to consider due to the different conceptual granularity of the objects under study. To illustrate the practical implications of the points addressed, we compare two approaches to perform linguistic experimental research by reviewing a number of our own studies strongly grounded on theoretically informed questions. First, we show how linguistic phenomena similar at a conceptual level can be tested within the same language using measurement of event-related potentials (ERP) by discussing results from two ERP experiments on the processing of long-distance backward dependencies that involve coreference and negative polarity items respectively in Dutch. Second, we examine how the same linguistic phenomenon can be tested in different languages using reading time measures by discussing the outcome of four self

Backward Dependencies and in-Situ wh-Questions as Test Cases on How to Approach Experimental Linguistics Research That Pursues Theoretical Linguistics Questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Pablos, Leticia; Doetjes, Jenny; Cheng, Lisa L-S

2017-01-01

The empirical study of language is a young field in contemporary linguistics. This being the case, and following a natural development process, the field is currently at a stage where different research methods and experimental approaches are being put into question in terms of their validity. Without pretending to provide an answer with respect to the best way to conduct linguistics related experimental research, in this article we aim at examining the process that researchers follow in the design and implementation of experimental linguistics research with a goal to validate specific theoretical linguistic analyses. First, we discuss the general challenges that experimental work faces in finding a compromise between addressing theoretically relevant questions and being able to implement these questions in a specific controlled experimental paradigm. We discuss the Granularity Mismatch Problem (Poeppel and Embick, 2005) which addresses the challenges that research that is trying to bridge the representations and computations of language and their psycholinguistic/neurolinguistic evidence faces, and the basic assumptions that interdisciplinary research needs to consider due to the different conceptual granularity of the objects under study. To illustrate the practical implications of the points addressed, we compare two approaches to perform linguistic experimental research by reviewing a number of our own studies strongly grounded on theoretically informed questions. First, we show how linguistic phenomena similar at a conceptual level can be tested within the same language using measurement of event-related potentials (ERP) by discussing results from two ERP experiments on the processing of long-distance backward dependencies that involve coreference and negative polarity items respectively in Dutch. Second, we examine how the same linguistic phenomenon can be tested in different languages using reading time measures by discussing the outcome of four self

Backward Dependencies and in-Situ wh-Questions as Test Cases on How to Approach Experimental Linguistics Research That Pursues Theoretical Linguistics Questions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leticia Pablos

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The empirical study of language is a young field in contemporary linguistics. This being the case, and following a natural development process, the field is currently at a stage where different research methods and experimental approaches are being put into question in terms of their validity. Without pretending to provide an answer with respect to the best way to conduct linguistics related experimental research, in this article we aim at examining the process that researchers follow in the design and implementation of experimental linguistics research with a goal to validate specific theoretical linguistic analyses. First, we discuss the general challenges that experimental work faces in finding a compromise between addressing theoretically relevant questions and being able to implement these questions in a specific controlled experimental paradigm. We discuss the Granularity Mismatch Problem (Poeppel and Embick, 2005 which addresses the challenges that research that is trying to bridge the representations and computations of language and their psycholinguistic/neurolinguistic evidence faces, and the basic assumptions that interdisciplinary research needs to consider due to the different conceptual granularity of the objects under study. To illustrate the practical implications of the points addressed, we compare two approaches to perform linguistic experimental research by reviewing a number of our own studies strongly grounded on theoretically informed questions. First, we show how linguistic phenomena similar at a conceptual level can be tested within the same language using measurement of event-related potentials (ERP by discussing results from two ERP experiments on the processing of long-distance backward dependencies that involve coreference and negative polarity items respectively in Dutch. Second, we examine how the same linguistic phenomenon can be tested in different languages using reading time measures by discussing the outcome of

Antecedents and neuroimaging patterns in cerebral palsy with epilepsy and cognitive impairment: a population-based study in children born at term.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahlin, Kristina; Jacobsson, Bo; Nilsson, Staffan; Himmelmann, Kate

2017-07-01

Antecedents of accompanying impairments in cerebral palsy and their relation to neuroimaging patterns need to be explored. A population-based study of 309 children with cerebral palsy born at term between 1983 and 1994. Prepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum variables previously studied as antecedents of cerebral palsy type and motor severity were analyzed in children with cerebral palsy and cognitive impairment and/or epilepsy, and in children with cerebral palsy without these accompanying impairments. Neuroimaging patterns and their relation to identified antecedents were analyzed. Data were retrieved from the cerebral palsy register of western Sweden, and from obstetric and neonatal records. Children with cerebral palsy and accompanying impairments more often had low birthweight (kg) (odds ratio 0.5, 95% confidence interval 0.3-0.8), brain maldevelopment known at birth (p = 0.007, odds ratio ∞) and neonatal infection (odds ratio 5.4, 95% confidence interval 1.04-28.4). Moreover, neuroimaging patterns of maldevelopment (odds ratio 7.2, 95% confidence interval 2.9-17.2), cortical/subcortical lesions (odds ratio 5.3, 95% confidence interval 2.3-12.2) and basal ganglia lesions (odds ratio 7.6, 95% confidence interval 1.4-41.3) were more common, wheras white matter injury was found significantly less often (odds ratio 0.2, 95% confidence interval 0.1-0.5). In most children with maldevelopment, the intrapartum and postpartum periods were uneventful (p Cerebral maldevelopment was associated with prepartum antecedents, whereas subcortical/cortical and basal ganglia lesions were associated with intrapartum and postpartum antecedents. No additional factor other than those related to motor impairment was associated with epilepsy and cognitive impairment in cerebral palsy. Timing of antecedents deemed important for the development of cerebral palsy with accompanying impairments were supported by neuroimaging patterns. © 2017 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics

Attention to spoken word planning: Chronometric and neuroimaging evidence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roelofs, A.P.A.

2008-01-01

This article reviews chronometric and neuroimaging evidence on attention to spoken word planning, using the WEAVER++ model as theoretical framework. First, chronometric studies on the time to initiate vocal responding and gaze shifting suggest that spoken word planning may require some attention,

Knowing linguistic conventions | Robinson | South African Journal of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

These are three standard accounts of the epistemic status of linguistic conventions, which all play into the first camp: (1) knowledge by intuition, (2) inferential a priori knowledge and (3) a posteriori knowledge. I give reasons why these accounts should be rejected. I then argue that linguistic conventions, if conceived of as ...

Resources on Quantitative/Statistical Research for Applied Linguists

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, James Dean

2004-01-01

The purpose of this review article is to survey and evaluate existing books on quantitative/statistical research in applied linguistics. The article begins by explaining the types of texts that will not be reviewed, then it briefly describes nine books that address how to do quantitative/statistical applied linguistics research. The review then…

Abnormal motor cortex excitability during linguistic tasks in adductor-type spasmodic dysphonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Suppa, A; Marsili, L; Giovannelli, F; Di Stasio, F; Rocchi, L; Upadhyay, N; Ruoppolo, G; Cincotta, M; Berardelli, A

2015-08-01

In healthy subjects (HS), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) applied during 'linguistic' tasks discloses excitability changes in the dominant hemisphere primary motor cortex (M1). We investigated 'linguistic' task-related cortical excitability modulation in patients with adductor-type spasmodic dysphonia (ASD), a speech-related focal dystonia. We studied 10 ASD patients and 10 HS. Speech examination included voice cepstral analysis. We investigated the dominant/non-dominant M1 excitability at baseline, during 'linguistic' (reading aloud/silent reading/producing simple phonation) and 'non-linguistic' tasks (looking at non-letter strings/producing oral movements). Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were recorded from the contralateral hand muscles. We measured the cortical silent period (CSP) length and tested MEPs in HS and patients performing the 'linguistic' tasks with different voice intensities. We also examined MEPs in HS and ASD during hand-related 'action-verb' observation. Patients were studied under and not-under botulinum neurotoxin-type A (BoNT-A). In HS, TMS over the dominant M1 elicited larger MEPs during 'reading aloud' than during the other 'linguistic'/'non-linguistic' tasks. Conversely, in ASD, TMS over the dominant M1 elicited increased-amplitude MEPs during 'reading aloud' and 'syllabic phonation' tasks. CSP length was shorter in ASD than in HS and remained unchanged in both groups performing 'linguistic'/'non-linguistic' tasks. In HS and ASD, 'linguistic' task-related excitability changes were present regardless of the different voice intensities. During hand-related 'action-verb' observation, MEPs decreased in HS, whereas in ASD they increased. In ASD, BoNT-A improved speech, as demonstrated by cepstral analysis and restored the TMS abnormalities. ASD reflects dominant hemisphere excitability changes related to 'linguistic' tasks; BoNT-A returns these excitability changes to normal. © 2015 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John

The iconography of mourning and its neural correlates: a functional neuroimaging study.

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Labek, Karin; Berger, Samantha; Buchheim, Anna; Bosch, Julia; Spohrs, Jennifer; Dommes, Lisa; Beschoner, Petra; Stingl, Julia C; Viviani, Roberto

2017-08-01

The present functional neuroimaging study focuses on the iconography of mourning. A culture-specific pattern of body postures of mourning individuals, mostly suggesting withdrawal, emerged from a survey of visual material. When used in different combinations in stylized drawings in our neuroimaging study, this material activated cortical areas commonly seen in studies of social cognition (temporo-parietal junction, superior temporal gyrus, and inferior temporal lobe), empathy for pain (somatosensory cortex), and loss (precuneus, middle/posterior cingular gyrus). This pattern of activation developed over time. While in the early phases of exposure lower association areas, such as the extrastriate body area, were active, in the late phases activation in parietal and temporal association areas and the prefrontal cortex was more prominent. These findings are consistent with the conventional and contextual character of iconographic material, and further differentiate it from emotionally negatively valenced and high-arousing stimuli. In future studies, this neuroimaging assay may be useful in characterizing interpretive appraisal of material of negative emotional valence. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press.

LINGUISTIC FEATURES ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH ELECTRONIC COMMERCE WEBSITES

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Siti Nurani

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This research aims at identifying linguistic features used in the English electronic commerce websites used in correlation with the field, tenor and mode of discourse as parts of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL approach. Findings have shown that in the field of discourse, the linguistic features are largely appeared in the experiential domain analysis which shows that all terms of registers function as technical terms, of which the two major forms of nouns and verbs were the most frequent categories among other kinds of technical terms. The goal orientation is considered to be as a long term and the social activity is exchange. In the tenor of discourse, the linguistic features are highly appeared in the social distance analysis which shows that the social distance between participants is considered minimal. The agentive role is said to be equal and the social role is considered as non-hierarchic. In the mode of discourse, the linguistic features are excessively occurred in the language role analysis which exists equally of both constitutive and ancillary. The channel is in graphic mode. The medium is in written with a visual contact as its device.

The Linguistic Landscape as a Learning Space for Contextual Language Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Aladjem, Ruthi; Jou, Bibiana

2016-01-01

One of the challenges of teaching and learning a foreign language is that students are not being sufficiently exposed to the target language. However, it is quite common to find linguistic and cultural exponents of different foreign languages in authentic contexts (termed the "Linguistic landscape"). Using the Linguistic landscape as a…

A primer in macromolecular linguistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Searls, David B

2013-03-01

Polymeric macromolecules, when viewed abstractly as strings of symbols, can be treated in terms of formal language theory, providing a mathematical foundation for characterizing such strings both as collections and in terms of their individual structures. In addition this approach offers a framework for analysis of macromolecules by tools and conventions widely used in computational linguistics. This article introduces the ways that linguistics can be and has been applied to molecular biology, covering the relevant formal language theory at a relatively nontechnical level. Analogies between macromolecules and human natural language are used to provide intuitive insights into the relevance of grammars, parsing, and analysis of language complexity to biology. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Self-development: integrating cognitive, socioemotional, and neuroimaging perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfeifer, Jennifer H; Peake, Shannon J

2012-01-01

This review integrates cognitive, socioemotional, and neuroimaging perspectives on self-development. Neural correlates of key processes implicated in personal and social identity are reported from studies of children, adolescents, and adults, including autobiographical memory, direct and reflected self-appraisals, and social exclusion. While cortical midline structures of medial prefrontal cortex and medial posterior parietal cortex are consistently identified in neuroimaging studies considering personal identity from a primarily cognitive perspective ("who am I?"), additional regions are implicated by studies considering personal and social identity from a more socioemotional perspective ("what do others think about me, where do I fit in?"), especially in child or adolescent samples. The involvement of these additional regions (including tempo-parietal junction and posterior superior temporal sulcus, temporal poles, anterior insula, ventral striatum, anterior cingulate cortex, middle cingulate cortex, and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex) suggests mentalizing, emotion, and emotion regulation are central to self-development. In addition, these regions appear to function atypically during personal and social identity tasks in autism and depression, exhibiting a broad pattern of hypoactivation and hyperactivation, respectively. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multiple brain atlas database and atlas-based neuroimaging system.

Science.gov (United States)

Nowinski, W L; Fang, A; Nguyen, B T; Raphel, J K; Jagannathan, L; Raghavan, R; Bryan, R N; Miller, G A

1997-01-01

For the purpose of developing multiple, complementary, fully labeled electronic brain atlases and an atlas-based neuroimaging system for analysis, quantification, and real-time manipulation of cerebral structures in two and three dimensions, we have digitized, enhanced, segmented, and labeled the following print brain atlases: Co-Planar Stereotaxic Atlas of the Human Brain by Talairach and Tournoux, Atlas for Stereotaxy of the Human Brain by Schaltenbrand and Wahren, Referentially Oriented Cerebral MRI Anatomy by Talairach and Tournoux, and Atlas of the Cerebral Sulci by Ono, Kubik, and Abernathey. Three-dimensional extensions of these atlases have been developed as well. All two- and three-dimensional atlases are mutually preregistered and may be interactively registered with an actual patient's data. An atlas-based neuroimaging system has been developed that provides support for reformatting, registration, visualization, navigation, image processing, and quantification of clinical data. The anatomical index contains about 1,000 structures and over 400 sulcal patterns. Several new applications of the brain atlas database also have been developed, supported by various technologies such as virtual reality, the Internet, and electronic publishing. Fusion of information from multiple atlases assists the user in comprehensively understanding brain structures and identifying and quantifying anatomical regions in clinical data. The multiple brain atlas database and atlas-based neuroimaging system have substantial potential impact in stereotactic neurosurgery and radiotherapy by assisting in visualization and real-time manipulation in three dimensions of anatomical structures, in quantitative neuroradiology by allowing interactive analysis of clinical data, in three-dimensional neuroeducation, and in brain function studies.

Reflections on Mixing Methods in Applied Linguistics Research

Science.gov (United States)

Hashemi, Mohammad R.

2012-01-01

This commentary advocates the use of mixed methods research--that is the integration of qualitative and quantitative methods in a single study--in applied linguistics. Based on preliminary findings from a research project in progress, some reflections on the current practice of mixing methods as a new trend in applied linguistics are put forward.…

Linguistic Error Analysis on Students' Thesis Proposals

Science.gov (United States)

Pescante-Malimas, Mary Ann; Samson, Sonrisa C.

2017-01-01

This study identified and analyzed the common linguistic errors encountered by Linguistics, Literature, and Advertising Arts majors in their Thesis Proposal classes in the First Semester 2016-2017. The data were the drafts of the thesis proposals of the students from the three different programs. A total of 32 manuscripts were analyzed which was…

Linguistic Legitimation of Political Events in Newspaper Discourse

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Marwah Kareem Ali

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the discursive structures employed in legitimizing the event of U.S. forces withdrawal from Iraq and identifies them in relation to linguistic features. It attempts to describe the relation between language use and legitimation discursive structures in depicting political events. The paper focuses on the political event of U.S. forces’ withdrawal from Iraq in the English newspaper issued in Iraq. The study shows the way in which journalists express their values and attitudes concerning this critical event. Consequently, this requires a critical discourse analysis (henceforth, CDA to analyse news articles in the Iraqi English newspaper: The Kurdish Globe (henceforth, KG newspaper. Accordingly, the study presents a qualitative content analysis of newspaper articles to identify the legitimation discursive structures and their linguistic features. It is found that the main discursive structures of legitimation employed in the KG newspaper are: authorization, rationalization, and moral evaluation. Besides, there were five verb processes used to represent this legitimation, including material, verbal, relational, mental, and existential. Keywords: Critical discourse analysis, legitimation discursive structures, linguistic features, newspaper discourse, systemic functional linguistics

OCCASIONAL ADNOMINAL IDIOM MODIFICATION - A COGNITIVE LINGUISTIC APPROACH

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Andreas Langlotz

2006-06-01

Full Text Available occasional Adnominal Idiom Modification - A Cognitive Linguistic Approach From a cognitive-linguistic perspective, this paper explores alternative types of adnoniinal modification in occasional variants of English verbal idioms. Being discussed against data extracted from the British National Corpiis (BNC, the model claims that in idioni-production idiomatic constructions are activated as complex linguistic schemas to code a context-specific target-conceptualisation. Adnominal pre- and postmodifications are one specific form of creative alteration to adapt the idiom for this purpose. Semantically, idiom-interna1 NPextension is not a uniforni process. It is necessary to distinguish two systematic types of adnominal modification: external and internal modification (Ernst 1981. While external NPmodification has adverbial function, ¡.e. it modifies the idiom as a unit, internal modification directly applies to the head-noun and thus depends on the degree of motivation and analysability of a given idiom. Following the cognitive-linguistic framework, these dimensions of idiom-transparency result from the language user's ability to remotivate the bipartite semantic structure by conceptual metaphors and metonymies.

The Effects of Linguistic Labels Related to Abstract Scenes on Memory

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Kentaro Inomata

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Boundary extension is the false memory beyond the actual boundary of a picture scene. Gagnier (2011 suggested that a linguistic label has no effect on the magnitude of boundary extension. Although she controlled the timing of the presentation or information of the linguistic label, the information of stimulus was not changed. In the present study, the depiction of the main object was controlled in order to change the contextual information of a scene. In experiment, the 68 participants were shown 12 pictures. The stimulus consisted pictures that depicted the main object or did not depict the main object, and half of them were presented with linguistic description. Participants rated the object-less pictures more closely than the original pictures, when the former were presented with linguistic labels. However, when they were presented without linguistic labels, boundary extension did not occur. There was no effect of labels on the pictures that depicted the main objects. On the basis of these results, the linguistic label enhances the representation of the abstract scene like a homogeneous field or a wall. This finding suggests that boundary extension may be affected by not only visual information but also by other sensory information mediated by linguistic representation.

Opening Minds or Changing Them? Some Observations on Teaching Introductory Linguistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Milambiling, Joyce

2001-01-01

Analyzes the teaching of linguistics and ethics of representing linguistic issues in a persuasive way, examining tensions between telling it like it is and telling it in a way that students will listen. The paper highlights persuasion, the introduction of linguistic concepts, the importance of understanding dialects and their role in education,…

Ling An: Linguistic analysis of NPP instructions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karlsson, F.; Salo, L. (Helsingfors Univ., Institutionen foer allmaen spraakvetenskap (Finland)); Wahlstroem, B. (VTT (Finland))

2008-07-15

The project consists of two sub-projects, 1) to find out whether the available linguistic method SWECG (Swedish Constraint Grammar) might be used for analyzing the safety manuals for Forsmark nuclear power plant, and 2) to find out whether it is possible to create a working system based on the SWECG method. The conclusion of the project is that an applicable linguistic analysis system may be realized by the company Lingsoft Inc., Aabo, Finland. (ln)

A kindergarten experiment in linguistic e-learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Valente, Andrea; Marchetti, Emanuela

2006-01-01

As part of the BlaSq project, we are developing a set of linguistic games to be used in kindergartens. The first of these games is Crazipes, that we are currently testing in a Danish kindergarten, with the support of the local teachers. Here we discuss the architecture of the game, its potentials...... as a linguistic e-learning tool, together with the design and methodology adopted for the study. Some early results are also discussed....

Ling An: LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF NPP INSTRUCTIONS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karlsson, F.; Salo, L.; Wahlstroem, B.

2008-07-01

The project consists of two sub-projects, 1) to find out whether the available linguistic method SWECG (Swedish Constraint Grammar) might be used for analyzing the safety manuals for Forsmark nuclear power plant, and 2) to find out whether it is possible to create a working system based on the SWECG method. The conclusion of the project is that an applicable linguistic analysis system may be realized by the company Lingsoft Inc., Aabo, Finland. (ln)

Neurological evidence linguistic processes precede perceptual simulation in conceptual processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Louwerse, Max; Hutchinson, Sterling

2012-01-01

There is increasing evidence from response time experiments that language statistics and perceptual simulations both play a role in conceptual processing. In an EEG experiment we compared neural activity in cortical regions commonly associated with linguistic processing and visual perceptual processing to determine to what extent symbolic and embodied accounts of cognition applied. Participants were asked to determine the semantic relationship of word pairs (e.g., sky - ground) or to determine their iconic relationship (i.e., if the presentation of the pair matched their expected physical relationship). A linguistic bias was found toward the semantic judgment task and a perceptual bias was found toward the iconicity judgment task. More importantly, conceptual processing involved activation in brain regions associated with both linguistic and perceptual processes. When comparing the relative activation of linguistic cortical regions with perceptual cortical regions, the effect sizes for linguistic cortical regions were larger than those for the perceptual cortical regions early in a trial with the reverse being true later in a trial. These results map upon findings from other experimental literature and provide further evidence that processing of concept words relies both on language statistics and on perceptual simulations, whereby linguistic processes precede perceptual simulation processes.

GEOLINGUISTICS: THE LINGUISTIC ATLAS OF PARANÁ

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Rosa Evangelina de Santana BELLI RODRIGUES

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of this work is to analyze the methodology adopted by the Linguistic Atlas of Paraná – APLR (AGUILERA, 1990 and to describe its results in relation to other Brazilian atlas. To meet this objective, we first present the modifications, mainly methodological, under gone by Geolinguistics towards a more complete and in depth description of linguistic variation. The Pluridimensional Geolinguistics and Contractual model of Harald Thun (1998 and the Linguistics Atlas of Brazil – ALiB (CARDOSO et all, 2014, published in October, 2014, are presented. It was also necessary to describe, although briefly, the most traditional Geolinguistics research method, characteristic of the ALPR, before referring the text back to Aguilera’s Atlas. After discussing the criteria on which the ALPR was constructed, from choice of informers to the Geolinguistics charts that compose it, as well as its complementation by the ALPR II (ALTINO, 2007, it was possible to analyze the results and relate them to the hypotheses posed by the thesis which gave origin to it.

Music playschool enhances children's linguistic skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Linnavalli, Tanja; Putkinen, Vesa; Lipsanen, Jari; Huotilainen, Minna; Tervaniemi, Mari

2018-06-08

Several studies have suggested that intensive musical training enhances children's linguistic skills. Such training, however, is not available to all children. We studied in a community setting whether a low-cost, weekly music playschool provided to 5-6-year-old children in kindergartens could already affect their linguistic abilities. Children (N = 66) were tested four times over two school-years with Phoneme processing and Vocabulary subtests, along with tests for Perceptual reasoning skills and Inhibitory control. We compared the development of music playschool children to their peers either attending to similarly organized dance lessons or not attending to either activity. Music playschool significantly improved the development of children's phoneme processing and vocabulary skills. No such improvements on children's scores for non-verbal reasoning and inhibition were obtained. Our data suggest that even playful group music activities - if attended to for several years - have a positive effect on pre-schoolers' linguistic skills. Therefore we promote the concept of implementing regular music playschool lessons given by professional teachers in early childhood education.

Grammatical Gender Trouble and Hungarian Gender[lessness]. Part I: Comparative Linguistic Gender

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Louise O. Vasvári

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to define linguistic gender[lessness], with particular reference in the latter part of the article to Hungarian, and to show why it is a feminist issue. I will discuss the [socio]linguistics of linguistic gender in three types of languages, those, like German and the Romance languages, among others, which possess grammatical gender, languages such as English, with only pronominal gender (sometimes misnamed ‘natural gender’, and languages such as Hungarian and other Finno-Ugric languages, as well as many other languages in the world, such as Turkish and Chinese, which have no linguistic or pronomial gender, but, like all languages, can make lexical gender distinctions. While in a narrow linguistic sense linguistic gender can be said to be afunctional, this does not take into account the ideological ramifications in gendered languages of the “leakage” between gender and sex[ism], while at the same time so-called genderless languages can express societal sexist assumptions linguistically through, for example, lexical gender, semantic derogation of women, and naming conventions. Thus, both languages with overt grammatical gender and those with gender-related asymmetries of a more covert nature show language to represent traditional cultural expectations, illustrating that linguistic gender is a feminist issue.

A responsible agenda for applied linguistics: Confessions of a philosopher

OpenAIRE

Albert Weideman

2011-01-01

When we undertake academic, disciplinary work, we rely on philosophical starting points. Several straightforward illustrations of this can be found in the history of applied linguistics. It is evident from the history of our field that various historically influential approaches to our discipline base themselves upon different academic confessions. This paper examines the effects of basing our applied linguistic work on the idea that applied linguistics is a discipline concerned with design. ...

Lexicography and Linguistic Creativity*

African Journals Online (AJOL)

rbr

It could be argued that lexicography has little business with linguistic creativ- ...... The forms in which traditional proverbs are found can also vary greatly: many ... BoE has examples of the proverb every cloud has a silver lining but many more ...

On possible linguistic correlates to brain lateralization

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Tania Kouteva/Kuteva

2014-04-01

The present paper compares the two modes of processing proposed by Van Lancker Sidtis (2009 in her dual process model and the two domains of discourse organization distinguished in the framework of Discourse Grammar (Heine et al. 2013; Kaltenböck et al. 2011. These two frameworks were developed on different kinds of data. In the dual process model it is observations on patients with left or right hemisphere damage that marked the starting point of analysis. Central to the dual process model is the distinction between novel speech (or novel language, or newly created language, or propositional speech and formulaic speech (or formulaic expressions or automatic speech. Easily identified instances of formulaic speech are swear words, interjections, pause fillers, discourse elements, non-literal lexical meanings for idioms, proverbs. Unlike the dual process model, in the Discourse Grammar model it is linguistic discontinuities that provided the basis of analysis. Discourse grammar in this model is understood as all the linguistic resources that are available for constructing spoken and written (and signed texts. We argue that Discourse Grammar can be divided into two distinct domains, namely Sentence Grammar and Thetical Grammar. Whereas Sentence Grammar has been at the centre of interest in mainstream linguistics, Thetical Grammar encompasses linguistic phenomena – such as formulae of social exchange, imperatives, vocatives, interjections, including hesitation markers and pause fillers and what is traditionally known as “parenthetical” constructions – that pose a problem to orthodox grammatical analysis. We show that the findings made within the two frameworks are largely compatible with one another: both models converge on claiming that there is a significant correlation between linguistic categorization and hemisphere-based brain activity. In the dual process model it is hypothesized that there is a significant correlation between certain kinds of speech

Translating extra-linguistic culture-bound concepts in Mofolo: a ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Academic work on translation issues abounds, carried out by linguists and trans- .... to linguistics as they are cultural, social, literary, etc. (615–6). In other ..... places the term in italics on page 95 and makes a brief translator's note, “council.

Text Linguistics in the Context of the Communication Sciences

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Silviu Serban

2011-05-01

Full Text Available This paper tries to analyse the conditions of emerging of text linguistics, taking into consideration the rootsof the preoccupations in its domain, originated in the framework of the communication studies. Thus, the change ofthe perspective on communication, from the mechanistic transmission to interactivity and the exchange of themeanings, led to the pragmatic orientation of the linguistic researches, not just to the message itself, but also to theelements of the communicative act and to the context where the exchange of the meanings takes place. As a result,text linguistics defines the text as communicational occurrence, involving both the members of the communicationand the conditions of the production and the reception of the message, unlike conventional linguistics which studiesthe text in abstracto, just the message itself, ignoring the world that the text refers to, or the users of the message, thetransmitter and the receiver.

Non-linguistic Conditions for Causativization as a Linguistic Attractor

OpenAIRE

Johanna Nichols; Johanna Nichols; Johanna Nichols

2018-01-01

An attractor, in complex systems theory, is any state that is more easily or more often entered or acquired than departed or lost; attractor states therefore accumulate more members than non-attractors, other things being equal. In the context of language evolution, linguistic attractors include sounds, forms, and grammatical structures that are prone to be selected when sociolinguistics and language contact make it possible for speakers to choose between competing forms. The reasons why an e...

Neuroimaging in pediatric traumatic head injury: diagnostic considerations and relationships to neurobehavioral outcome.

Science.gov (United States)

Bigler, E D

1999-08-01

Contemporary neuorimaging techniques in child traumatic brain injury are reviewed, with an emphasis on computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. A brief overview of MR spectroscopy (MRS), functional MR imaging (fMRI), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and magnetoencephalography (MEG) is also provided because these techniques will likely constitute important neuroimaging techniques of the future. Numerous figures are provided to illustrate the multifaceted manner in which traumatic deficits can be imaged and the role of neuroimaging information as it relates to TBI outcome.

Corpus methods and their reflection in linguistic theories of the 20th century

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Simon Krek

2013-05-01

Full Text Available In the 20th century structuralism established itself as the central linguistic theory, in the first half mainly through its originator Ferdinand de Saussure, and in the second half with the figure of Noam Chomsky. The latter consistently refused to acknowledge analysis of extensive quantity of texts as a valuable method, and favoured linguistic intuition of a native speaker instead. In parallel with structuralism other trends in linguistics emerged which pointed to the inadequateness of the prevailing linguistic paradigm and to theoretical insights which were only possible after the systematic analysis of large quantities of texts. The paper discusses some of the dilemmas stemming from this dichotomy and places corpus linguistics in a broader linguistic context.

Mood, definiteness and specificity: a linguistic and a philosophical account of their similarities and differences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rijkhoff, Jan; Seibt, Johanna

2006-01-01

In this article we give a linguistic and a philosophical account of the relationship between some grammatical categories of the clause (realis) and the noun phrase (definiteness, specificity) that relate to the occurrence of an entity (thing, event) in the world of discourse. Our treatment differs...... in three important ways from previous work in this area. Firstly, we offer an explanation for both the symmetrical and the anti-symmetrical relations that appear to hold between (ir)realis mood and (in)definiteness. Secondly, we argue that any attempt to explain these relationships must make crucial...... reference to the grammatical category of specificity. Last but not least, we consider whether the identified linguistic symmetries and anti-symmetries are ontologically relevant and show that they are apparently best accounted for within an ontological theory that allows for dynamic and indeterminately...

Is the statistic value all we should care about in neuroimaging?

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Gang; Taylor, Paul A; Cox, Robert W

2017-02-15

Here we address an important issue that has been embedded within the neuroimaging community for a long time: the absence of effect estimates in results reporting in the literature. The statistic value itself, as a dimensionless measure, does not provide information on the biophysical interpretation of a study, and it certainly does not represent the whole picture of a study. Unfortunately, in contrast to standard practice in most scientific fields, effect (or amplitude) estimates are usually not provided in most results reporting in the current neuroimaging publications and presentations. Possible reasons underlying this general trend include (1) lack of general awareness, (2) software limitations, (3) inaccurate estimation of the BOLD response, and (4) poor modeling due to our relatively limited understanding of FMRI signal components. However, as we discuss here, such reporting damages the reliability and interpretability of the scientific findings themselves, and there is in fact no overwhelming reason for such a practice to persist. In order to promote meaningful interpretation, cross validation, reproducibility, meta and power analyses in neuroimaging, we strongly suggest that, as part of good scientific practice, effect estimates should be reported together with their corresponding statistic values. We provide several easily adaptable recommendations for facilitating this process. Published by Elsevier Inc.

NeuroVault and the vision for data sharing in neuroimaging

OpenAIRE

Gorgolewski, Chris

2017-01-01

Talk from the 14 January 2014 "GlaxoSmithKline - Neurophysics Workshop on Skeptical Neuroimaging", an activity hosted at Imperial College and coordinated with the Neurophysics Marie Curie Initial Training Network of which GSK is a participant.

Neuroimaging and electroconvulsive therapy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bolwig, Tom G

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Since the 1970s, a number of neuroimaging studies of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) have been conducted to elucidate the working action of this highly efficacious treatment modality. The technologies used are single photon emission tomography, positron emission tomography, magnetic...... in localized cortical and subcortical areas of the brain and have revealed differences in neurophysiology and metabolism between the hyperactive ictal state and the restorative interictal/postictal periods. Recent magnetic resonance imaging studies seem to pave way for new insights into ECT's effects...... on increased connectivity in the brain during depression. CONCLUSION: The existing data reveal considerable variations among studies and therefore do not yet allow the formulation of a unified hypothesis for the mechanism of ECT. The rapid developments in imaging technology, however, hold promises for further...

The utility of neuroimaging in the management of dementia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Uduak E Williams

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Dementia is a syndrome of progressive dysfunction of two or more cognitive domains associated with impairment of activities of daily living. An understanding of the pathophysiology of dementia and its early diagnosis is important in the pursuit of possible disease modifying therapy for dementia. Neuroimaging has greatly transformed this field of research as its function has changed from a mere tool for diagnosing treatable causes of dementia to an instrument for pre-symptomatic diagnosis of dementia. This review focuses on the diagnostic utility of neuroimaging in the management of progressive dementias. Structural imaging techniques like computerized tomography scan and magnetic resonance imaging highlights the anatomical, structural and volumetric details of the brain; while functional imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography, arterial spin labeling, single photon emission computerized tomography and blood oxygen level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging focuses on chemistry, circulatory status and physiology of the different brain structures and regions.

Cognitive and emotional processes during dreaming: a neuroimaging view.

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Desseilles, Martin; Dang-Vu, Thien Thanh; Sterpenich, Virginie; Schwartz, Sophie

2011-12-01

Dream is a state of consciousness characterized by internally-generated sensory, cognitive and emotional experiences occurring during sleep. Dream reports tend to be particularly abundant, with complex, emotional, and perceptually vivid experiences after awakenings from rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. This is why our current knowledge of the cerebral correlates of dreaming, mainly derives from studies of REM sleep. Neuroimaging results show that REM sleep is characterized by a specific pattern of regional brain activity. We demonstrate that this heterogeneous distribution of brain activity during sleep explains many typical features in dreams. Reciprocally, specific dream characteristics suggest the activation of selective brain regions during sleep. Such an integration of neuroimaging data of human sleep, mental imagery, and the content of dreams is critical for current models of dreaming; it also provides neurobiological support for an implication of sleep and dreaming in some important functions such as emotional regulation. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Nervous System Injury and Neuroimaging of Zika Virus Infection

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Wu, Shanshan; Zeng, Yu; Lerner, Alexander; Gao, Bo; Law, Meng

2018-01-01

In 2016, World Health Organization announced Zika virus infection and its neurological sequalae are a public health emergency of global scope. Preliminary studies have confirmed a relationship between Zika virus infection and certain neurological disorders, including microcephaly and Guillain–Barre syndrome (GBS). The neuroimaging features of microcephaly secondary to Zika virus infection include calcifications at the junction of gray–white matter and subcortical white matter with associated cortical abnormalities, diminution of white matter, large ventricles with or without hydrocephalus, cortical malformations, hypoplasia of cerebellum and brainstem, and enlargement of cerebellomedullary cistern. Contrast enhancement of the cauda equine nerve roots is the typical neuroimaging finding of GBS associated with Zika virus. This review describes the nervous system disorders and associated imaging findings seen in Zika virus infection, with the aim to improve the understanding of this disease. Imaging plays a key role on accurate diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of this disease. PMID:29740383

Text genres and registers the computation of linguistic features

CERN Document Server

Fang, Chengyu Alex

2015-01-01

This book is a description of some of the most recent advances in text classification as part of a concerted effort to achieve computer understanding of human language. In particular, it addresses state-of-the-art developments in the computation of higher-level linguistic features, ranging from etymology to grammar and syntax for the practical task of text classification according to genres, registers and subject domains. Serving as a bridge between computational methods and sophisticated linguistic analysis, this book will be of particular interest to academics and students of computational linguistics as well as professionals in natural language engineering.

Paradigm Changes in Linguistics: From Reductionism to Holism

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Weigand, Edda

2011-01-01

Linguistics like any science has undergone a series of paradigm changes, one of the most important being the change from the view of language as a sign system to that of language-in-use. In the face of the progress made in the natural and social sciences in recent years, from biology to economics, the question has to be posed where linguistics and…

SCHOOL LINGUISTIC CREATIVITY BASED ON SCIENTIFIC GEOGRAPHICAL TEXTS

OpenAIRE

VIORICA BLÎNDĂ

2012-01-01

The analysis and observation of the natural environment and of the social and economic one, observing phenomena, objects, beings, and geographical events are at the basis of producing geographical scientific texts. The symbols of iconotexts and cartotexts are another source of inspiration for linguistic interpretation. The linguistic creations that we selected for our study are the scientific analysis, the commentary, the characteriz...

Resources on quantitative/statistical research for applied linguists

OpenAIRE

Brown , James Dean

2004-01-01

Abstract The purpose of this review article is to survey and evaluate existing books on quantitative/statistical research in applied linguistics. The article begins by explaining the types of texts that will not be reviewed, then it briefly describes nine books that address how to do quantitative/statistical applied linguistics research. The review then compares (in prose and tables) the general characteris...

Sustained effects of ecstasy on the human brain: a prospective neuroimaging study in novel users.

Science.gov (United States)

de Win, Maartje M L; Jager, Gerry; Booij, Jan; Reneman, Liesbeth; Schilt, Thelma; Lavini, Cristina; Olabarriaga, Sílvia D; den Heeten, Gerard J; van den Brink, Wim

2008-11-01

Previous studies have suggested toxic effects of recreational ecstasy use on the serotonin system of the brain. However, it cannot be excluded that observed differences between users and non-users are the cause rather than the consequence of ecstasy use. As part of the Netherlands XTC Toxicity (NeXT) study, we prospectively assessed sustained effects of ecstasy use on the brain in novel ecstasy users using repeated measurements with a combination of different neuroimaging parameters of neurotoxicity. At baseline, 188 ecstasy-naive volunteers with high probability of first ecstasy use were examined. After a mean period of 17 months follow-up, neuroimaging was repeated in 59 incident ecstasy users and 56 matched persistent ecstasy-naives and their outcomes were compared. Neuroimaging included [(123)I]beta-carbomethoxy-3beta-(4-iodophenyl)tropane (CIT) SPECT to measure serotonin transporter densities as indicators of serotonergic function; (1)H-MR spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) to measure brain metabolites as indicators of neuronal damage; diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to measure the apparent diffusion coefficient and fractional anisotropy (FA) of the diffusional motion of water molecules in the brain as indicators of axonal integrity; and perfusion weighted imaging (PWI) to measure regional relative cerebral blood volume (rrCBV) which indicates brain perfusion. With this approach, both structural ((1)H-MRS and DTI) and functional ([(123)I]beta-CIT SPECT and PWI) aspects of neurotoxicity were combined. Compared to persistent ecstasy-naives, novel low-dose ecstasy users (mean 6.0, median 2.0 tablets) showed decreased rrCBV in the globus pallidus and putamen; decreased FA in thalamus and frontoparietal white matter; increased FA in globus pallidus; and increased apparent diffusion coefficient in the thalamus. No changes in serotonin transporter densities and brain metabolites were observed. These findings suggest sustained effects of ecstasy on brain microvasculature, white

BEASTling: A software tool for linguistic phylogenetics using BEAST 2

Science.gov (United States)

Forkel, Robert; Kaiping, Gereon A.; Atkinson, Quentin D.

2017-01-01

We present a new open source software tool called BEASTling, designed to simplify the preparation of Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of linguistic data using the BEAST 2 platform. BEASTling transforms comparatively short and human-readable configuration files into the XML files used by BEAST to specify analyses. By taking advantage of Creative Commons-licensed data from the Glottolog language catalog, BEASTling allows the user to conveniently filter datasets using names for recognised language families, to impose monophyly constraints so that inferred language trees are backward compatible with Glottolog classifications, or to assign geographic location data to languages for phylogeographic analyses. Support for the emerging cross-linguistic linked data format (CLDF) permits easy incorporation of data published in cross-linguistic linked databases into analyses. BEASTling is intended to make the power of Bayesian analysis more accessible to historical linguists without strong programming backgrounds, in the hopes of encouraging communication and collaboration between those developing computational models of language evolution (who are typically not linguists) and relevant domain experts. PMID:28796784

BEASTling: A software tool for linguistic phylogenetics using BEAST 2.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luke Maurits

Full Text Available We present a new open source software tool called BEASTling, designed to simplify the preparation of Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of linguistic data using the BEAST 2 platform. BEASTling transforms comparatively short and human-readable configuration files into the XML files used by BEAST to specify analyses. By taking advantage of Creative Commons-licensed data from the Glottolog language catalog, BEASTling allows the user to conveniently filter datasets using names for recognised language families, to impose monophyly constraints so that inferred language trees are backward compatible with Glottolog classifications, or to assign geographic location data to languages for phylogeographic analyses. Support for the emerging cross-linguistic linked data format (CLDF permits easy incorporation of data published in cross-linguistic linked databases into analyses. BEASTling is intended to make the power of Bayesian analysis more accessible to historical linguists without strong programming backgrounds, in the hopes of encouraging communication and collaboration between those developing computational models of language evolution (who are typically not linguists and relevant domain experts.

Formation of new linguistic competences in education space: naming examination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Remchukova Elena

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The naming examination is a new kind of linguistic examination. The article deals with linguistic aspects of teaching this course in higher school for the special training of experts. In order to form professional competence on naming examination in the process of teaching special attention is paid to studies of theory of nomination and onomastics, to examination of language units from the point of view of component analysis, semantic-stylistic analysis and others, as well as the formation of the skills of work with different lexicographic sources and digital resources and database. In the laboratory course “Applied and mathematical linguistics,” the skills of lexico-semantic, morphological, etymological, morphemic, word-formation, phonetic analysis of concrete names are practiced. We focus on the studies of artificial naming patterns, including advertising names, which bring out the creative potential of the Russian language. Creative trends dominate in this area of nomination. Naming examination as a new kind of forensic linguistic examination is taught within the course ”Forensic linguistic examination” which accomplishes technical education of students

Linguistic adaptation between mothers and children in ASD

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fusaroli, Riccardo; Weed, Ethan; Fein, Deborah

We investigate mother-child linguistic adaptation in 33 ASD and 33 matched TD children at two time-scales: conversational match and longitudinal development. We employ a longitudinal corpus (6 visits over 2 years) consisting of controlled playful activities between mothers and their children...... (Goodwin et al. 2012). We quantified amount (number of words and utterances) and complexity (lexical repertoire and utterance length) of linguistic behavior in both mother and child. We used mixed-effects growth curve models to quantify i)match within-conversation and ii)longitudinal impact between visits....... Child and mother are strongly correlated in their linguistic behaviors (R2 between .07 and .62, pMother-child pairs in the ASD group, however, show a shallower increase in match. Amount and complexity...

Selective Attention to a Talker's Mouth in Infancy: Role of Audiovisual Temporal Synchrony and Linguistic Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Hillairet de Boisferon, Anne; Tift, Amy H.; Minar, Nicholas J.; Lewkowicz, David J.

2017-01-01

Previous studies have found that infants shift their attention from the eyes to the mouth of a talker when they enter the canonical babbling phase after 6 months of age. Here, we investigated whether this increased attentional focus on the mouth is mediated by audio-visual synchrony and linguistic experience. To do so, we tracked eye gaze in 4-,…

'Chicken’ in Somali class. Unbounded use of linguistic resources across a compartmentalised language curriculum

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Daugaard, Line Møller

impact on what counts as desirable language(s), apt linguistic norms and ideals, relevant activities and appropriate ways of managing linguistic diversity in the classroom. A linguistic ethnographic analysis of Abdullahi’s skilfully calibrated linguistic performances in the language classroom at the same...

Design and rationale for examining neuroimaging genetics in ischemic stroke

Science.gov (United States)

Giese, Anne-Katrin; Schirmer, Markus D.; Donahue, Kathleen L.; Cloonan, Lisa; Irie, Robert; Winzeck, Stefan; Bouts, Mark J.R.J.; McIntosh, Elissa C.; Mocking, Steven J.; Dalca, Adrian V.; Sridharan, Ramesh; Xu, Huichun; Frid, Petrea; Giralt-Steinhauer, Eva; Holmegaard, Lukas; Roquer, Jaume; Wasselius, Johan; Cole, John W.; McArdle, Patrick F.; Broderick, Joseph P.; Jimenez-Conde, Jordi; Jern, Christina; Kissela, Brett M.; Kleindorfer, Dawn O.; Lemmens, Robin; Lindgren, Arne; Meschia, James F.; Rundek, Tatjana; Sacco, Ralph L.; Schmidt, Reinhold; Sharma, Pankaj; Slowik, Agnieszka; Thijs, Vincent; Woo, Daniel; Worrall, Bradford B.; Kittner, Steven J.; Mitchell, Braxton D.; Rosand, Jonathan; Golland, Polina; Wu, Ona

2017-01-01

Objective: To describe the design and rationale for the genetic analysis of acute and chronic cerebrovascular neuroimaging phenotypes detected on clinical MRI in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) within the scope of the MRI–GENetics Interface Exploration (MRI-GENIE) study. Methods: MRI-GENIE capitalizes on the existing infrastructure of the Stroke Genetics Network (SiGN). In total, 12 international SiGN sites contributed MRIs of 3,301 patients with AIS. Detailed clinical phenotyping with the web-based Causative Classification of Stroke (CCS) system and genome-wide genotyping data were available for all participants. Neuroimaging analyses include the manual and automated assessments of established MRI markers. A high-throughput MRI analysis pipeline for the automated assessment of cerebrovascular lesions on clinical scans will be developed in a subset of scans for both acute and chronic lesions, validated against gold standard, and applied to all available scans. The extracted neuroimaging phenotypes will improve characterization of acute and chronic cerebrovascular lesions in ischemic stroke, including CCS subtypes, and their effect on functional outcomes after stroke. Moreover, genetic testing will uncover variants associated with acute and chronic MRI manifestations of cerebrovascular disease. Conclusions: The MRI-GENIE study aims to develop, validate, and distribute the MRI analysis platform for scans acquired as part of clinical care for patients with AIS, which will lead to (1) novel genetic discoveries in ischemic stroke, (2) strategies for personalized stroke risk assessment, and (3) personalized stroke outcome assessment. PMID:28852707

Statistical Techniques Used in Three Applied Linguistics Journals: "Language Learning,""Applied Linguistics" and "TESOL Quarterly," 1980-1986: Implications for Readers and Researchers.

Science.gov (United States)

Teleni, Vicki; Baldauf, Richard B., Jr.

A study investigated the statistical techniques used by applied linguists and reported in three journals, "Language Learning,""Applied Linguistics," and "TESOL Quarterly," between 1980 and 1986. It was found that 47% of the published articles used statistical procedures. In these articles, 63% of the techniques used could be called basic, 28%…

Sleepless in Seoul: Neoliberalism, English Fever, and Linguistic Insecurity among Korean Interpreters

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Jinhyun

2015-01-01

This article examines the socially constructed nature of significant linguistic insecurity with regard to the English language in Korean society as informed by neoliberalism. It specifically explores how linguistic insecurity leads to the pursuit of linguistic perfectionism under the popular discourse of neoliberal personhood. Participants are…

Unity and disunity in evolutionary sciences: process-based analogies open common research avenues for biology and linguistics.

Science.gov (United States)

List, Johann-Mattis; Pathmanathan, Jananan Sylvestre; Lopez, Philippe; Bapteste, Eric

2016-08-20

complement their studies, trying to identify cross-disciplinary and discipline-specific evolutionary processes. The fact that we found many process-based analogies favoring transfer from biology to linguistics further shows that certain biological methods and models have a broader scope than previously recognized. This opens fruitful paths for collaboration between the two disciplines. This article was reviewed by W. Ford Doolittle and Eugene V. Koonin.

The ENIGMA Consortium: large-scale collaborative analyses of neuroimaging and genetic data.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Paul M; Stein, Jason L; Medland, Sarah E; Hibar, Derrek P; Vasquez, Alejandro Arias; Renteria, Miguel E; Toro, Roberto; Jahanshad, Neda; Schumann, Gunter; Franke, Barbara; Wright, Margaret J; Martin, Nicholas G; Agartz, Ingrid; Alda, Martin; Alhusaini, Saud; Almasy, Laura; Almeida, Jorge; Alpert, Kathryn; Andreasen, Nancy C; Andreassen, Ole A; Apostolova, Liana G; Appel, Katja; Armstrong, Nicola J; Aribisala, Benjamin; Bastin, Mark E; Bauer, Michael; Bearden, Carrie E; Bergmann, Orjan; Binder, Elisabeth B; Blangero, John; Bockholt, Henry J; Bøen, Erlend; Bois, Catherine; Boomsma, Dorret I; Booth, Tom; Bowman, Ian J; Bralten, Janita; Brouwer, Rachel M; Brunner, Han G; Brohawn, David G; Buckner, Randy L; Buitelaar, Jan; Bulayeva, Kazima; Bustillo, Juan R; Calhoun, Vince D; Cannon, Dara M; Cantor, Rita M; Carless, Melanie A; Caseras, Xavier; Cavalleri, Gianpiero L; Chakravarty, M Mallar; Chang, Kiki D; Ching, Christopher R K; Christoforou, Andrea; Cichon, Sven; Clark, Vincent P; Conrod, Patricia; Coppola, Giovanni; Crespo-Facorro, Benedicto; Curran, Joanne E; Czisch, Michael; Deary, Ian J; de Geus, Eco J C; den Braber, Anouk; Delvecchio, Giuseppe; Depondt, Chantal; de Haan, Lieuwe; de Zubicaray, Greig I; Dima, Danai; Dimitrova, Rali; Djurovic, Srdjan; Dong, Hongwei; Donohoe, Gary; Duggirala, Ravindranath; Dyer, Thomas D; Ehrlich, Stefan; Ekman, Carl Johan; Elvsåshagen, Torbjørn; Emsell, Louise; Erk, Susanne; Espeseth, Thomas; Fagerness, Jesen; Fears, Scott; Fedko, Iryna; Fernández, Guillén; Fisher, Simon E; Foroud, Tatiana; Fox, Peter T; Francks, Clyde; Frangou, Sophia; Frey, Eva Maria; Frodl, Thomas; Frouin, Vincent; Garavan, Hugh; Giddaluru, Sudheer; Glahn, David C; Godlewska, Beata; Goldstein, Rita Z; Gollub, Randy L; Grabe, Hans J; Grimm, Oliver; Gruber, Oliver; Guadalupe, Tulio; Gur, Raquel E; Gur, Ruben C; Göring, Harald H H; Hagenaars, Saskia; Hajek, Tomas; Hall, Geoffrey B; Hall, Jeremy; Hardy, John; Hartman, Catharina A; Hass, Johanna; Hatton, Sean N; Haukvik, Unn K; Hegenscheid, Katrin; Heinz, Andreas; Hickie, Ian B; Ho, Beng-Choon; Hoehn, David; Hoekstra, Pieter J; Hollinshead, Marisa; Holmes, Avram J; Homuth, Georg; Hoogman, Martine; Hong, L Elliot; Hosten, Norbert; Hottenga, Jouke-Jan; Hulshoff Pol, Hilleke E; Hwang, Kristy S; Jack, Clifford R; Jenkinson, Mark; Johnston, Caroline; Jönsson, Erik G; Kahn, René S; Kasperaviciute, Dalia; Kelly, Sinead; Kim, Sungeun; Kochunov, Peter; Koenders, Laura; Krämer, Bernd; Kwok, John B J; Lagopoulos, Jim; Laje, Gonzalo; Landen, Mikael; Landman, Bennett A; Lauriello, John; Lawrie, Stephen M; Lee, Phil H; Le Hellard, Stephanie; Lemaître, Herve; Leonardo, Cassandra D; Li, Chiang-Shan; Liberg, Benny; Liewald, David C; Liu, Xinmin; Lopez, Lorna M; Loth, Eva; Lourdusamy, Anbarasu; Luciano, Michelle; Macciardi, Fabio; Machielsen, Marise W J; Macqueen, Glenda M; Malt, Ulrik F; Mandl, René; Manoach, Dara S; Martinot, Jean-Luc; Matarin, Mar; Mather, Karen A; Mattheisen, Manuel; Mattingsdal, Morten; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas; McDonald, Colm; McIntosh, Andrew M; McMahon, Francis J; McMahon, Katie L; Meisenzahl, Eva; Melle, Ingrid; Milaneschi, Yuri; Mohnke, Sebastian; Montgomery, Grant W; Morris, Derek W; Moses, Eric K; Mueller, Bryon A; Muñoz Maniega, Susana; Mühleisen, Thomas W; Müller-Myhsok, Bertram; Mwangi, Benson; Nauck, Matthias; Nho, Kwangsik; Nichols, Thomas E; Nilsson, Lars-Göran; Nugent, Allison C; Nyberg, Lars; Olvera, Rene L; Oosterlaan, Jaap; Ophoff, Roel A; Pandolfo, Massimo; Papalampropoulou-Tsiridou, Melina; Papmeyer, Martina; Paus, Tomas; Pausova, Zdenka; Pearlson, Godfrey D; Penninx, Brenda W; Peterson, Charles P; Pfennig, Andrea; Phillips, Mary; Pike, G Bruce; Poline, Jean-Baptiste; Potkin, Steven G; Pütz, Benno; Ramasamy, Adaikalavan; Rasmussen, Jerod; Rietschel, Marcella; Rijpkema, Mark; Risacher, Shannon L; Roffman, Joshua L; Roiz-Santiañez, Roberto; Romanczuk-Seiferth, Nina; Rose, Emma J; Royle, Natalie A; Rujescu, Dan; Ryten, Mina; Sachdev, Perminder S; Salami, Alireza; Satterthwaite, Theodore D; Savitz, Jonathan; Saykin, Andrew J; Scanlon, Cathy; Schmaal, Lianne; Schnack, Hugo G; Schork, Andrew J; Schulz, S Charles; Schür, Remmelt; Seidman, Larry; Shen, Li; Shoemaker, Jody M; Simmons, Andrew; Sisodiya, Sanjay M; Smith, Colin; Smoller, Jordan W; Soares, Jair C; Sponheim, Scott R; Sprooten, Emma; Starr, John M; Steen, Vidar M; Strakowski, Stephen; Strike, Lachlan; Sussmann, Jessika; Sämann, Philipp G; Teumer, Alexander; Toga, Arthur W; Tordesillas-Gutierrez, Diana; Trabzuni, Daniah; Trost, Sarah; Turner, Jessica; Van den Heuvel, Martijn; van der Wee, Nic J; van Eijk, Kristel; van Erp, Theo G M; van Haren, Neeltje E M; van 't Ent, Dennis; van Tol, Marie-Jose; Valdés Hernández, Maria C; Veltman, Dick J; Versace, Amelia; Völzke, Henry; Walker, Robert; Walter, Henrik; Wang, Lei; Wardlaw, Joanna M; Weale, Michael E; Weiner, Michael W; Wen, Wei; Westlye, Lars T; Whalley, Heather C; Whelan, Christopher D; White, Tonya; Winkler, Anderson M; Wittfeld, Katharina; Woldehawariat, Girma; Wolf, Christiane; Zilles, David; Zwiers, Marcel P; Thalamuthu, Anbupalam; Schofield, Peter R; Freimer, Nelson B; Lawrence, Natalia S; Drevets, Wayne

2014-06-01

The Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium is a collaborative network of researchers working together on a range of large-scale studies that integrate data from 70 institutions worldwide. Organized into Working Groups that tackle questions in neuroscience, genetics, and medicine, ENIGMA studies have analyzed neuroimaging data from over 12,826 subjects. In addition, data from 12,171 individuals were provided by the CHARGE consortium for replication of findings, in a total of 24,997 subjects. By meta-analyzing results from many sites, ENIGMA has detected factors that affect the brain that no individual site could detect on its own, and that require larger numbers of subjects than any individual neuroimaging study has currently collected. ENIGMA's first project was a genome-wide association study identifying common variants in the genome associated with hippocampal volume or intracranial volume. Continuing work is exploring genetic associations with subcortical volumes (ENIGMA2) and white matter microstructure (ENIGMA-DTI). Working groups also focus on understanding how schizophrenia, bipolar illness, major depression and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affect the brain. We review the current progress of the ENIGMA Consortium, along with challenges and unexpected discoveries made on the way.

Pairwise Comparison and Distance Measure of Hesitant Fuzzy Linguistic Term Sets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Han-Chen Huang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A hesitant fuzzy linguistic term set (HFLTS, allowing experts using several possible linguistic terms to assess a qualitative linguistic variable, is very useful to express people’s hesitancy in practical decision-making problems. Up to now, a little research has been done on the comparison and distance measure of HFLTSs. In this paper, we present a comparison method for HFLTSs based on pairwise comparisons of each linguistic term in the two HFLTSs. Then, a distance measure method based on the pairwise comparison matrix of HFLTSs is proposed, and we prove that this distance is equal to the distance of the average values of HFLTSs, which makes the distance measure much more simple. Finally, the pairwise comparison and distance measure methods are utilized to develop two multicriteria decision-making approaches under hesitant fuzzy linguistic environments. The results analysis shows that our methods in this paper are more reasonable.

On Research Methodology in Applied Linguistics in 2002-2008

Science.gov (United States)

Martynychev, Andrey

2010-01-01

This dissertation examined the status of data-based research in applied linguistics through an analysis of published research studies in nine peer-reviewed applied linguistics journals ("Applied Language Learning, The Canadian Modern Language Review / La Revue canadienne des langues vivantes, Current Issues in Language Planning, Dialog on Language…

Dizziness in a community hospital: central neurological causes, clinical predictors, and diagnostic yield and cost of neuroimaging studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Ammar, Hussam; Govindu, Rukma; Fouda, Ragai; Zohdy, Wael; Supsupin, Emilio

2017-03-01

Objectives : Neuroimaging is contributing to the rising costs of dizziness evaluation. This study examined the rate of central neurological causes of dizziness, relevant clinical predictors, and the costs and diagnostic yields of neuroimaging in dizziness assessment. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed the records of 521 adult patients who visited the hospital during a 12-month period with dizziness as the chief complaint. Clinical findings were analyzed using Fisher's exact test to determine how they correlated with central neurological causes of dizziness identified by neuroimaging. Costs and diagnostic yields of neuroimaging were calculated. Results : Of the 521 patients, 1.5% had dizziness produced by central neurological causes. Gait abnormalities, limb ataxia, diabetes mellitus, and the existence of multiple neurological findings predicted central causes. Cases were associated with gait abnormalities, limb ataxia, diabetes mellitus, and the existence of multiple neurological findings . Brain computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed in 42% and 9.5% of the examined cases, respectively, with diagnostic yields of 3.6% and 12%, respectively. Nine cases of dizziness were diagnosed from 269 brain scans, costing $607 914. Conclusion : Clinical evaluation can predict the presence of central neurological causes of dizziness, whereas neuroimaging is a costly and low-yield approach. Guidelines are needed for physicians, regarding the appropriateness of ordering neuroimaging studies. Abbreviations : OR: odds ratio; CI: confidence interval; ED: emergency department; CT: computed tomography; MRI: magnetic resonance imaging; HINTS: Head impulse, Nystagmus, Test of skew.

Semantics, contrastive linguistics and parallel corpora

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Violetta Koseska

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Semantics, contrastive linguistics and parallel corpora In view of the ambiguity of the term “semantics”, the author shows the differences between the traditional lexical semantics and the contemporary semantics in the light of various semantic schools. She examines semantics differently in connection with contrastive studies where the description must necessary go from the meaning towards the linguistic form, whereas in traditional contrastive studies the description proceeded from the form towards the meaning. This requirement regarding theoretical contrastive studies necessitates construction of a semantic interlanguage, rather than only singling out universal semantic categories expressed with various language means. Such studies can be strongly supported by parallel corpora. However, in order to make them useful for linguists in manual and computer translations, as well as in the development of dictionaries, including online ones, we need not only formal, often automatic, annotation of texts, but also semantic annotation - which is unfortunately manual. In the article we focus on semantic annotation concerning time, aspect and quantification of names and predicates in the whole semantic structure of the sentence on the example of the “Polish-Bulgarian-Russian parallel corpus”.

Variation and Linguistic Theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Bailey, Charles-James N.

This volume presents principles and models for describing language variation, and introduces a time-based, dynamic framework for linguistic description. The book first summarizes some of the problems of grammatical description encountered from Saussure through the present and then outlines possibilities for new descriptions of language which take…

Siblings as Mediators of Literacy in Linguistic Minority Communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Gregory, Eve

1998-01-01

Argues for need to move beyond model of "parental" involvement in reading, which presently informs home/school reading programmes for linguistic-minority children in UK. First examines literature informing current model showing marked absence of studies on role played by siblings as mediators of literacy in new linguistic and cultural…

Native-Speakerism, Stereotyping and the Collusion of Applied Linguistics

Science.gov (United States)

Kabel, Ahmed

2009-01-01

Although, in recent years there have been several advances in critical applied linguistics which have attempted to problematize the ideological underpinnings of language practices, there have in parallel been resistances mounted on the part of traditional applied linguistics that adamantly oppose any form of coming to terms with the political and…

Conversation Analysis in Applied Linguistics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kasper, Gabriele; Wagner, Johannes

2014-01-01

on applied CA, the application of basic CA's principles, methods, and findings to the study of social domains and practices that are interactionally constituted. We consider three strands—foundational, social problem oriented, and institutional applied CA—before turning to recent developments in CA research...... on learning and development. In conclusion, we address some emerging themes in the relationship of CA and applied linguistics, including the role of multilingualism, standard social science methods as research objects, CA's potential for direct social intervention, and increasing efforts to complement CA......For the last decade, conversation analysis (CA) has increasingly contributed to several established fields in applied linguistics. In this article, we will discuss its methodological contributions. The article distinguishes between basic and applied CA. Basic CA is a sociological endeavor concerned...

Hesitant Fuzzy Linguistic Preference Utility Set and Its Application in Selection of Fire Rescue Plans

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Si, Guangsen; Xu, Zeshui

2018-01-01

Hesitant fuzzy linguistic term set provides an effective tool to represent uncertain decision information. However, the semantics corresponding to the linguistic terms in it cannot accurately reflect the decision-makers’ subjective cognition. In general, different decision-makers’ sensitivities towards the semantics are different. Such sensitivities can be represented by the cumulative prospect theory value function. Inspired by this, we propose a linguistic scale function to transform the semantics corresponding to linguistic terms into the linguistic preference values. Furthermore, we propose the hesitant fuzzy linguistic preference utility set, based on which, the decision-makers can flexibly express their distinct semantics and obtain the decision results that are consistent with their cognition. For calculations and comparisons over the hesitant fuzzy linguistic preference utility sets, we introduce some distance measures and comparison laws. Afterwards, to apply the hesitant fuzzy linguistic preference utility sets in emergency management, we develop a method to obtain objective weights of attributes and then propose a hesitant fuzzy linguistic preference utility-TOPSIS method to select the best fire rescue plan. Finally, the validity of the proposed method is verified by some comparisons of the method with other two representative methods including the hesitant fuzzy linguistic-TOPSIS method and the hesitant fuzzy linguistic-VIKOR method. PMID:29614019

Language learning, language use and the evolution of linguistic variation

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Perfors, Amy; Fehér, Olga; Samara, Anna; Swoboda, Kate; Wonnacott, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

Linguistic universals arise from the interaction between the processes of language learning and language use. A test case for the relationship between these factors is linguistic variation, which tends to be conditioned on linguistic or sociolinguistic criteria. How can we explain the scarcity of unpredictable variation in natural language, and to what extent is this property of language a straightforward reflection of biases in statistical learning? We review three strands of experimental work exploring these questions, and introduce a Bayesian model of the learning and transmission of linguistic variation along with a closely matched artificial language learning experiment with adult participants. Our results show that while the biases of language learners can potentially play a role in shaping linguistic systems, the relationship between biases of learners and the structure of languages is not straightforward. Weak biases can have strong effects on language structure as they accumulate over repeated transmission. But the opposite can also be true: strong biases can have weak or no effects. Furthermore, the use of language during interaction can reshape linguistic systems. Combining data and insights from studies of learning, transmission and use is therefore essential if we are to understand how biases in statistical learning interact with language transmission and language use to shape the structural properties of language. This article is part of the themed issue ‘New frontiers for statistical learning in the cognitive sciences’. PMID:27872370

Language learning, language use and the evolution of linguistic variation.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Kenny; Perfors, Amy; Fehér, Olga; Samara, Anna; Swoboda, Kate; Wonnacott, Elizabeth

2017-01-05

Linguistic universals arise from the interaction between the processes of language learning and language use. A test case for the relationship between these factors is linguistic variation, which tends to be conditioned on linguistic or sociolinguistic criteria. How can we explain the scarcity of unpredictable variation in natural language, and to what extent is this property of language a straightforward reflection of biases in statistical learning? We review three strands of experimental work exploring these questions, and introduce a Bayesian model of the learning and transmission of linguistic variation along with a closely matched artificial language learning experiment with adult participants. Our results show that while the biases of language learners can potentially play a role in shaping linguistic systems, the relationship between biases of learners and the structure of languages is not straightforward. Weak biases can have strong effects on language structure as they accumulate over repeated transmission. But the opposite can also be true: strong biases can have weak or no effects. Furthermore, the use of language during interaction can reshape linguistic systems. Combining data and insights from studies of learning, transmission and use is therefore essential if we are to understand how biases in statistical learning interact with language transmission and language use to shape the structural properties of language.This article is part of the themed issue 'New frontiers for statistical learning in the cognitive sciences'. © 2016 The Authors.

Reconstructive Recall of Linguistic Style. Technical Report No. 286.

Science.gov (United States)

Brewer, William F.; Hay, Anne E.

A study investigated reconstructive recall for linguistic style. It was hypothesized that (1) features of linguistic style would be more difficult to recall than underlying content, (2) reconstructive errors would include stylistic forms recalled as standard forms when subjects lacked productive control of a particular feature of a style, and (3)…

Effective management of construction company in terms of linguistic communication

Science.gov (United States)

Shirina, Elena; Gaybarian, Olga; Myasischev, Georg

2017-10-01

The research presented here has been made over the years in the field of increasing the effectiveness of management in a construction company in terms of applied linguistics. The aim of this work is to share with the scientific community some practical findings of applying the technology of process management of the company, in particular the methods of linguistic efficiency considering the factors of the linguistic personality of the employee. The study deals with the description of applied linguistic and managerial models, views, practical results of their application in the applied field in order to assess production sustainability and minimize losses. The authors applied the developed technology to practical use, and the article presents the results of this application. The authors continue the research in this direction aiming at improving the production effectiveness of the proposed technologies and eliminating some identified drawback.

Linguistics in Language Education

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Rajesh; Yunus, Reva

2014-01-01

This article looks at the contribution of insights from theoretical linguistics to an understanding of language acquisition and the nature of language in terms of their potential benefit to language education. We examine the ideas of innateness and universal language faculty, as well as multilingualism and the language-society relationship. Modern…

Tinnitus Neural Mechanisms and Structural Changes in the Brain: The Contribution of Neuroimaging Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simonetti, Patricia

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction Tinnitus is an abnormal perception of sound in the absence of an external stimulus. Chronic tinnitus usually has a high impact in many aspects of patients' lives, such as emotional stress, sleep disturbance, concentration difficulties, and so on. These strong reactions are usually attributed to central nervous system involvement. Neuroimaging has revealed the implication of brain structures in the auditory system. Objective This systematic review points out neuroimaging studies that contribute to identifying the structures involved in the pathophysiological mechanism of generation and persistence of various forms of tinnitus. Data Synthesis Functional imaging research reveals that tinnitus perception is associated with the involvement of the nonauditory brain areas, including the front parietal area; the limbic system, which consists of the anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula, and amygdala; and the hippocampal and parahippocampal area. Conclusion The neuroimaging research confirms the involvement of the mechanisms of memory and cognition in the persistence of perception, anxiety, distress, and suffering associated with tinnitus.

Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus. Journal Home · ABOUT THIS JOURNAL · Advanced Search · Current Issue · Archives · Journal Home > Vol 42 (2013) >. Log in or Register to get access to full text downloads.

Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus. Journal Home · ABOUT THIS JOURNAL · Advanced Search · Current Issue · Archives · Journal Home > Vol 27 (1995) >. Log in or Register to get access to full text downloads.

Linguistics: evolution and language change.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowern, Claire

2015-01-05

Linguists have long identified sound changes that occur in parallel. Now novel research shows how Bayesian modeling can capture complex concerted changes, revealing how evolution of sounds proceeds. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Is Rorty a linguistic idealist?

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Marvan, Tomáš

2011-01-01

Roč. 21, č. 3 (2011), s. 272-279 ISSN 1210-3055 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z90090514 Keywords : Rorty * linguistic idealism * internal realism * intrinsic structure of reality * representation Subject RIV: AA - Philosophy ; Religion

Making MR Imaging Child's Play - Pediatric Neuroimaging Protocol, Guidelines and Procedure

Science.gov (United States)

Raschle, Nora M.; Lee, Michelle; Buechler, Roman; Christodoulou, Joanna A.; Chang, Maria; Vakil, Monica; Stering, Patrice L.; Gaab, Nadine

2009-01-01

Within the last decade there has been an increase in the use of structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neural basis of human perception, cognition and behavior 1, 2. Moreover, this non-invasive imaging method has grown into a tool for clinicians and researchers to explore typical and atypical brain development. Although advances in neuroimaging tools and techniques are apparent, (f)MRI in young pediatric populations remains relatively infrequent 2. Practical as well as technical challenges when imaging children present clinicians and research teams with a unique set of problems 3, 2. To name just a few, the child participants are challenged by a need for motivation, alertness and cooperation. Anxiety may be an additional factor to be addressed. Researchers or clinicians need to consider time constraints, movement restriction, scanner background noise and unfamiliarity with the MR scanner environment2,4-10. A progressive use of functional and structural neuroimaging in younger age groups, however, could further add to our understanding of brain development. As an example, several research groups are currently working towards early detection of developmental disorders, potentially even before children present associated behavioral characteristics e.g.11. Various strategies and techniques have been reported as a means to ensure comfort and cooperation of young children during neuroimaging sessions. Play therapy 12, behavioral approaches 13, 14,15, 16-18 and simulation 19, the use of mock scanner areas 20,21, basic relaxation 22 and a combination of these techniques 23 have all been shown to improve the participant's compliance and thus MRI data quality. Even more importantly, these strategies have proven to increase the comfort of families and children involved 12. One of the main advances of such techniques for the clinical practice is the possibility of avoiding sedation or general anesthesia (GA) as a way to manage children

Single Subject Prediction of Brain Disorders in Neuroimaging: Promises and Pitfalls

Science.gov (United States)

Arbabshirani, Mohammad R.; Plis, Sergey; Sui, Jing; Calhoun, Vince D.

2016-01-01

Neuroimaging-based single subject prediction of brain disorders has gained increasing attention in recent years. Using a variety of neuroimaging modalities such as structural, functional and diffusion MRI, along with machine learning techniques, hundreds of studies have been carried out for accurate classification of patients with heterogeneous mental and neurodegenerative disorders such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease. More than 500 studies have been published during the past quarter century on single subject prediction focused on a multiple brain disorders. In the first part of this study, we provide a survey of more than 200 reports in this field with a focus on schizophrenia, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Alzheimer's disease (AD), depressive disorders, autism spectrum disease (ASD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Detailed information about those studies such as sample size, type and number of extracted features and reported accuracy are summarized and discussed. To our knowledge, this is by far the most comprehensive review of neuroimaging-based single subject prediction of brain disorders. In the second part, we present our opinion on major pitfalls of those studies from a machine learning point of view. Common biases are discussed and suggestions are provided. Moreover, emerging trends such as decentralized data sharing, multimodal brain imaging, differential diagnosis, disease subtype classification and deep learning are also discussed. Based on this survey, there are extensive evidences showing the great potential of neuroimaging data for single subject prediction of various disorders. However, the main bottleneck of this exciting field is still the limited sample size, which could be potentially addressed by modern data sharing models such as the ones discussed in this paper. Emerging big data technologies and advanced data-intensive machine learning methodologies such as deep learning have coincided with an increasing need

Binding and Unfolding: Towards the Linguistic Construction of Narrative Discourse.

Science.gov (United States)

Bamberg, Michael; Marchman, Virginia

1991-01-01

Explores the relationship between linguistic and conceptual structuring of narratives, focusing on linguistic devices used by German and U.S. narrators to identify transitions in text structure. Identifies and outlines two types of narrative orientation: differentiating events and integrating events. (SR)

Can Emotional and Behavioral Dysregulation in Youth Be Decoded from Functional Neuroimaging?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liana C L Portugal

Full Text Available High comorbidity among pediatric disorders characterized by behavioral and emotional dysregulation poses problems for diagnosis and treatment, and suggests that these disorders may be better conceptualized as dimensions of abnormal behaviors. Furthermore, identifying neuroimaging biomarkers related to dimensional measures of behavior may provide targets to guide individualized treatment. We aimed to use functional neuroimaging and pattern regression techniques to determine whether patterns of brain activity could accurately decode individual-level severity on a dimensional scale measuring behavioural and emotional dysregulation at two different time points.A sample of fifty-seven youth (mean age: 14.5 years; 32 males was selected from a multi-site study of youth with parent-reported behavioral and emotional dysregulation. Participants performed a block-design reward paradigm during functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI. Pattern regression analyses consisted of Relevance Vector Regression (RVR and two cross-validation strategies implemented in the Pattern Recognition for Neuroimaging toolbox (PRoNTo. Medication was treated as a binary confounding variable. Decoded and actual clinical scores were compared using Pearson's correlation coefficient (r and mean squared error (MSE to evaluate the models. Permutation test was applied to estimate significance levels.Relevance Vector Regression identified patterns of neural activity associated with symptoms of behavioral and emotional dysregulation at the initial study screen and close to the fMRI scanning session. The correlation and the mean squared error between actual and decoded symptoms were significant at the initial study screen and close to the fMRI scanning session. However, after controlling for potential medication effects, results remained significant only for decoding symptoms at the initial study screen. Neural regions with the highest contribution to the pattern regression model

Rhetorical and Linguistic Analysis of Bush's Second Inaugural Speech

Science.gov (United States)

Sameer, Imad Hayif

2017-01-01

This study attempts to analyze Bush's second inaugural speech. It aims at investigating the use of linguistic strategies in it. It resorts to two models which are Aristotle's model while the second is that of Atkinson's (1984) to draw the attention towards linguistic strategies. The analysis shows that Bush's second inaugural speech is successful…

A MODEL OF THE CONFLICT LINGUISTIC PERSONALITY IN EVERYDAY CONFLICT DISCOURSE

OpenAIRE

Belova E. V.

2015-01-01

The aim of the study is to describe the concept of conflict linguistic personality and construct a model of linguistic identity. By summing up common features of the individual personalities we have created the model of conflict linguistic personality, based on three levels: verbal-semantic, cognitive and pragmatic. 1. Verbal - semantic level. Unlike other subtypes of conflict discourse, everyday conflict discourse is characterized by slang, invective, obscene vocabulary. Another feature of e...

Linguistic Corpora and Lexicography.

Science.gov (United States)

Meijs, Willem

1996-01-01

Overviews the development of corpus linguistics, reviews the use of corpora in modern lexicography, and presents central issues in ongoing work aimed at broadening the scope of lexicographical use of corpus data. Focuses on how the field has developed in relation to the production of new monolingual English dictionaries by major British…

Applied Linguistics in Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Bot, Kees

2004-01-01

In this contribution developments in Applied Linguistics in Europe are linked to major social changes that have taken place over the last decades. These include: The decline of the USSR and the end of the cold war; The development of the EEC and the EU and fading of borders; The economic growth of

Linguistic aspects of eponymic professional endocrinologic terminology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N.I. Bytsko

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Background. Special linguistic researches of terminological units of different branches of medicine allow analyzing in details the ways of creating the systems of clinical terminology from different aspects: historical, scientific, cultural, linguistic and semantic. There is a wide area of terminology related to the clinical and experimental endocrino­logy within general medical terminological system. The purpose of the study: to demonstrate the structure of endocrine medical terms — eponyms through the prism of systematization of methodological researches on eponymic vocabulary. Materials and methods. The actual material received as a result of a total choice of eponyms (there were 296 terms from the “Reference dictionary for endocrinologist”, which was composed by the scientists of V. Danilevsky Institute of Endocrine Pathology Problems and Kharkiv Medical Academy of Postgraduate education — A.V. Kozakov, N.A. Kravchun, I.M. Ilyina, M.I. Zubko, O.A. Goncharova, I.V. Cherniavska has 10,000 endocrine terms, the authors successfully streamlined medical terms of the clinical and experimental endocrinology into the vocabulary. The method of total choice of terms from professional literature, the descriptive method and distributive method were used in the study that allowed distinguishing lexical and semantic features of eponymic terms in the branch of endocrinology. Results. The obtained results point out to the modernity of studies in the field of clinical and experimental endocrinology, which is due to the fact that this is the oldest terminology, by the example of which it is possible to trace the ways of formation, development and improvement of terms, the realization of semantic processes, certain trends, ways and means of word formation. Conclusions. The results of the research on the above mentioned sublanguage of clinical medicine at the level of linguistic observations of the functio­ning in dictionaries and scientific works will

The search for neuroimaging biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease with advanced MRI techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Tie-Qiang; Wahlund, Lars-Olof

2011-01-01

The aim of this review is to examine the recent literature on using advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques for finding neuroimaging biomarkers that are sensitive to the detection of risks for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Since structural MRI techniques, such as brain structural volumetry and voxel based morphometry (VBM), have been widely used for AD studies and extensively reviewed, we will only briefly touch on the topics of volumetry and morphometry. The focus of the current review is about the more recent developments in the search for AD neuroimaging biomarkers with functional MRI (fMRI), resting-state functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), arterial spin-labeling (ASL), and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS)

Why metaphor and other tropes? Linguistic approaches to analysing policies and the political

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yanow, D.; Cienki, A.

2013-01-01

The articles in this special issue on linguistic approaches to analysing policies and the political share the goal of taking language seriously, achieved through detailed attention to linguistic usage in its respective contexts. They reflect a stance common to both cognitive linguistic and

Neonatal Cerebral Sinovenous Thrombosis : Neuroimaging and Long-term Follow-up

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kersbergen, Karina J.; Groenendaal, Floris; Benders, Manon J. N. L.; de Vries, Linda S.

Neonates are known to have a higher risk of cerebral sinovenous thrombosis than children of other age groups. The exact incidence in neonates remains unknown and is likely to be underestimated, as clinical presentation is nonspecific and diagnosis can only be made when dedicated neuroimaging

Visualization of nonlinear kernel models in neuroimaging by sensitivity maps

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Peter Mondrup; Madsen, Kristoffer Hougaard; Lund, Torben Ellegaard

2011-01-01

There is significant current interest in decoding mental states from neuroimages. In this context kernel methods, e.g., support vector machines (SVM) are frequently adopted to learn statistical relations between patterns of brain activation and experimental conditions. In this paper we focus on v...

Gesture Modelling for Linguistic Purposes

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Olivrin, GJ

2007-05-01

Full Text Available The study of sign languages attempts to create a coherent model that binds the expressive nature of signs conveyed in gestures to a linguistic framework. Gesture modelling offers an alternative that provides device independence, scalability...

Linguistic and Cultural Barriers to Intercultural Communication in Foreign Subsidiaries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peltokorpi, Vesa; Clausen, Lisbeth

2011-01-01

This study examines the causes and consequences of linguistic and cultural barriers to inter-cultural communication in Nordic subsidiaries in Japan. Interviews with 30 Nordic (Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden) expatriates and 29 Japanese employees show that the main linguistic barriers to inte...

The relation of linguistic awareness and vocabulary to word reading and spelling for first-grade students participating in response to intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Young-Suk; Apel, Kenn; Al Otaiba, Stephanie

2013-10-01

The relations of phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness and vocabulary to word reading and spelling were examined for 304 first-grade children who were receiving differentiated instruction in a Response to Intervention (RtI) model of instruction. First-grade children were assessed on their phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness; expressive vocabulary; word reading; and spelling. Year-end word reading and spelling were outcome variables, and phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness; expressive vocabulary; and RtI status (Tiers 1, 2, & 3) were predictor variables. The 3 linguistic awareness skills were unique predictors of word reading, and phonological and orthographic awareness were unique predictors of spelling. The contributions that these linguistic awareness skills and vocabulary made to word reading and spelling did not differ by children's RtI tier status. These results, in conjunction with previous studies, suggest that even beginning readers and spellers draw on multiple linguistic awareness skills for their word reading and spelling regardless of their level of literacy abilities. Educational implications are discussed.

Identifying Predictors, Moderators, and Mediators of Antidepressant Response in Major Depressive Disorder: Neuroimaging Approaches

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Mary L.; Chase, Henry W.; Sheline, Yvette I.; Etkin, Amit; Almeida, Jorge R.C.; Deckersbach, Thilo; Trivedi, Madhukar H.

2015-01-01

Objective Despite significant advances in neuroscience and treatment development, no widely accepted biomarkers are available to inform diagnostics or identify preferred treatments for individuals with major depressive disorder. Method In this critical review, the authors examine the extent to which multimodal neuroimaging techniques can identify biomarkers reflecting key pathophysiologic processes in depression and whether such biomarkers may act as predictors, moderators, and mediators of treatment response that might facilitate development of personalized treatments based on a better understanding of these processes. Results The authors first highlight the most consistent findings from neuroimaging studies using different techniques in depression, including structural and functional abnormalities in two parallel neural circuits: serotonergically modulated implicit emotion regulation circuitry, centered on the amygdala and different regions in the medial prefrontal cortex; and dopaminergically modulated reward neural circuitry, centered on the ventral striatum and medial prefrontal cortex. They then describe key findings from the relatively small number of studies indicating that specific measures of regional function and, to a lesser extent, structure in these neural circuits predict treatment response in depression. Conclusions Limitations of existing studies include small sample sizes, use of only one neuroimaging modality, and a focus on identifying predictors rather than moderators and mediators of differential treatment response. By addressing these limitations and, most importantly, capitalizing on the benefits of multimodal neuroimaging, future studies can yield moderators and mediators of treatment response in depression to facilitate significant improvements in shorter- and longer-term clinical and functional outcomes. PMID:25640931

Identifying predictors, moderators, and mediators of antidepressant response in major depressive disorder: neuroimaging approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Mary L; Chase, Henry W; Sheline, Yvette I; Etkin, Amit; Almeida, Jorge R C; Deckersbach, Thilo; Trivedi, Madhukar H

2015-02-01

Despite significant advances in neuroscience and treatment development, no widely accepted biomarkers are available to inform diagnostics or identify preferred treatments for individuals with major depressive disorder. In this critical review, the authors examine the extent to which multimodal neuroimaging techniques can identify biomarkers reflecting key pathophysiologic processes in depression and whether such biomarkers may act as predictors, moderators, and mediators of treatment response that might facilitate development of personalized treatments based on a better understanding of these processes. The authors first highlight the most consistent findings from neuroimaging studies using different techniques in depression, including structural and functional abnormalities in two parallel neural circuits: serotonergically modulated implicit emotion regulation circuitry, centered on the amygdala and different regions in the medial prefrontal cortex; and dopaminergically modulated reward neural circuitry, centered on the ventral striatum and medial prefrontal cortex. They then describe key findings from the relatively small number of studies indicating that specific measures of regional function and, to a lesser extent, structure in these neural circuits predict treatment response in depression. Limitations of existing studies include small sample sizes, use of only one neuroimaging modality, and a focus on identifying predictors rather than moderators and mediators of differential treatment response. By addressing these limitations and, most importantly, capitalizing on the benefits of multimodal neuroimaging, future studies can yield moderators and mediators of treatment response in depression to facilitate significant improvements in shorter- and longer-term clinical and functional outcomes.

Neuroimaging of neurotic disorders

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okubo, Yoshiro; Yahata, Noriaki

2006-01-01

Neuroimaging has been involved in recent biological approaches with evidence for neurotic disorders in place of diagnostic criteria on Freud theory hitherto. This review describes the present states of brain imaging in those disorders. Emotion has such three bases for environmental stimuli as recognition/evaluation of causable factors, manifestation, and its control, each of which occurs in various different regions connected by neuro-net work in the brain. The disorders are regarded as abnormality of the circuit that can be imaged. Documented and discussed are the actual regions imaged by MRI and PET in panic disorder, social phobia, phobias to specified things, posttraumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The approach is thought important for elucidating not only the pathogenesis of the disorders but also the human emotional functions and mechanism of the mind, which may lead to a better treatment of the disorders in future. (T.I)

The politics and semiotics of sounds--Mayan linguistics and nation-building in Guatemala.

Science.gov (United States)

French, Brigittine M

2004-01-01

This paper discusses the development Mayan linguistics as an authoritative field of knowledge in Guatemala. In particular, it links missionary linguists' and Maya linguists' activities with shifting nationalist agendas from the 1920s in to the late 1980s. It is argued that during the historical and intellectual moment that linguistics becomes an authoritative epistemology, phonetic analysis functions as a creative index that constitutes "expert" knowledge for particular semiotic and ideological reasons tied to competing versions of the Guatemalan imagined community.

Functional neuroimaging of sleep disorders

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qiu Chun; Zhao Jun; Guan Yihui

2013-01-01

Sleep disorders may affect the health and normal life of human badly. However, the pathophysiology underlying adult sleep disorders is still unclear. Functional neuroimaging can be used to investigate whether sleep disorders are associated with specific changes in brain structure or regional activity. This paper reviews functional brain imaging findings in major intrinsic sleep disorders (i.e., idiopathic insomnia, narcolepsy, and obstructive sleep apnea) and in abnormal motor behavior during sleep (i.e., periodic limb movement disorder and REM sleep behavior disorder). Metabolic/functional investigations (positron emission tomography, single photon emission computed tomography, functional magnetic resonance imaging) are mainly reviewed, as well as neuroanatomical assessments (voxel-based morphometry, magnetic resonance spectroscopy). Meanwhile, here are some brief introduction of different kinds of sleep disorders. (authors)

A systematic review of temporal discounting in eating disorders and obesity:behavioural and neuroimaging findings

OpenAIRE

McClelland, Jessica; Dalton, Bethan; Kekic, Maria; Bartholdy, Savani; Campbell, Iain C; Schmidt, Ulrike

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Eating Disorders (ED) and obesity are suggested to involve a spectrum of self-regulatory control difficulties. Temporal discounting (TD) tasks have been used to explore this idea. This systematic review examines behavioural and neuroimaging TD data in ED and obesity.METHOD: Using PRISMA guidelines, we reviewed relevant articles in MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Embase from inception until 17th August 2016. Studies that reported behavioural differences in TD and/or TD neuroimaging data in ED...

Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus

African Journals Online (AJOL)

). The SPiL Plus series has two main aims. Firstly, it serves as a vehicle for the distribution of new and relatively inaccessible information in the field of modern linguistics. Secondly, it aims to stimulate critical discussion in Southern African ...

Computational Linguistics in the Netherlands 2004 : Selected papers from the fifteenth CLIN meeting

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wouden, Ton van der; Poß, Michaela; Reckman, Hilke; Cremers, Crit

2005-01-01

This volume contains a selection of the papers presented at the fifteenth installment of Computational Linguistics in the Netherlands, held at Leiden University on Friday, December 17th, 2004. Organized by the computational linguists of what was at that time called the Leiden Centre for Linguistics

Fuzzy-valued linguistic soft set theory and multi-attribute decision-making application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aiwu, Zhao; Hongjun, Guan

2016-01-01

In this work, we propose the theory of fuzzy linguistic soft set (FLSS) to represent the uncertainty and multi-angle of view when decision makers evaluate an object during decision-making. FLSS integrates fuzzy set theory, linguistic variable and soft set theory. It allows decision makers to utilize linguistic variables to evaluate an object and utilize fuzzy values to describe the corresponding grade of their support of their decisions. Meanwhile, because of the flexibility of soft set, decision makers can use more than one pair of fuzzy-linguistic evaluations to express their opinions from multiple perspectives directly, if necessary. Therefore, it is more flexible and practical than traditional fuzzy set or 2-dimension uncertainty linguistic variable. We also develop a generalized weighted aggregation operator for FLSSs to solve corresponding decision-making issues. Finally, we give a numerical example to verify the practicality and effectiveness of the proposed method.

Voicing Solidarity: Linguistic Hospitality and Poststructuralism in the Real World

Science.gov (United States)

Phipps, Alison

2012-01-01

Structuralism has dominated the field of applied linguistics, which has consequences for the positioning of applied linguistics "vis-a-vis" policy makers, educational practice, and also theoretical and methodological innovations. These consequences pertain to how the field advocates, takes sides, balances its descriptive modes with its discursive…

Representation of linguistic form and function in recurrent neural networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kadar, Akos; Chrupala, Grzegorz; Alishahi, Afra

2017-01-01

We present novel methods for analyzing the activation patterns of recurrent neural networks from a linguistic point of view and explore the types of linguistic structure they learn. As a case study, we use a standard standalone language model, and a multi-task gated recurrent network architecture

Perceptions of Linguistically Responsive Teaching in Teacher Candidates/Novice Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Tandon, Madhavi; Viesca, Kara Mitchell; Hueston, Colin; Milbourn, Tamara

2017-01-01

This qualitative study examined data from 36 teacher candidates and novice teachers to explore their perceptions and understandings of linguistic responsiveness. The findings illustrate the challenge of demonstrating linguistically responsive teaching practices in the early and initial stages of entering the teaching profession, and more research…

Musical structure is processed in "language" areas of the brain: a possible role for Brodmann Area 47 in temporal coherence.

Science.gov (United States)

Levitin, Daniel J; Menon, Vinod

2003-12-01

The neuroanatomical correlates of musical structure were investigated using functional magnetic neuroimaging (fMRI) and a unique stimulus manipulation involving scrambled music. The experiment compared brain responses while participants listened to classical music and scrambled versions of that same music. Specifically, the scrambled versions disrupted musical structure while holding low-level musical attributes constant, including the psychoacoustic features of the music such as pitch, loudness, and timbre. Comparing music to its scrambled counterpart, we found focal activation in the pars orbitalis region (Brodmann Area 47) of the left inferior frontal cortex, a region that has been previously closely associated with the processing of linguistic structure in spoken and signed language, and its right hemisphere homologue. We speculate that this particular region of inferior frontal cortex may be more generally responsible for processing fine-structured stimuli that evolve over time, not merely those that are linguistic.

Cognitive, cultural, and linguistic sources of a handshape distinction expressing agentivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Brentari, Diane; Di Renzo, Alessio; Keane, Jonathan; Volterra, Virginia

2015-01-01

In this paper the cognitive, cultural, and linguistic bases for a pattern of conventionalization of two types of iconic handshapes are described. Work on sign languages has shown that handling handshapes (H-HSs: those that represent how objects are handled or manipulated) and object handshapes (O-HSs: those that represent the class, size, or shape of objects) express an agentive/non-agentive semantic distinction in many sign languages. H-HSs are used in agentive event descriptions and O-HSs are used in non-agentive event descriptions. In this work, American Sign Language (ASL) and Italian Sign Language (LIS) productions are compared (adults and children) as well as the corresponding groups of gesturers in each country using "silent gesture." While the gesture groups, in general, did not employ an H-HS/O-HS distinction, all participants (signers and gesturers) used iconic handshapes (H-HSs and O-HSs together) more often in agentive than in no-agent event descriptions; moreover, none of the subjects produced an opposite pattern than the expected one (i.e., H-HSs associated with no-agent descriptions and O-HSs associated with agentive ones). These effects are argued to be grounded in cognition. In addition, some individual gesturers were observed to produce the H-HS/O-HS opposition for agentive and non-agentive event descriptions-that is, more Italian than American adult gesturers. This effect is argued to be grounded in culture. Finally, the agentive/non-agentive handshape opposition is confirmed for signers of ASL and LIS, but previously unreported cross-linguistic differences were also found across both adult and child sign groups. It is, therefore, concluded that cognitive, cultural, and linguistic factors contribute to the conventionalization of this distinction of handshape type. Copyright © 2014 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Potential neuroimaging biomarkers of pathologic brain changes in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's disease: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruan, Qingwei; D'Onofrio, Grazia; Sancarlo, Daniele; Bao, Zhijun; Greco, Antonio; Yu, Zhuowei

2016-05-16

Neuroimaging-biomarkers of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) allow an early diagnosis in preclinical stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The goal in this paper was to review of biomarkers for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD), with emphasis on neuroimaging biomarkers. A systematic review was conducted from existing literature that draws on markers and evidence for new measurement techniques of neuroimaging in AD, MCI and non-demented subjects. Selection criteria included: 1) age ≥ 60 years; 2) diagnosis of AD according to NIAAA criteria, 3) diagnosis of MCI according to NIAAA criteria with a confirmed progression to AD assessed by clinical follow-up, and 4) acceptable clinical measures of cognitive impairment, disability, quality of life, and global clinical assessments. Seventy-two articles were included in the review. With the development of new radioligands of neuroimaging, today it is possible to measure different aspects of AD neuropathology, early diagnosis of MCI and AD become probable from preclinical stage of AD to AD dementia and non-AD dementia. The panel of noninvasive neuroimaging-biomarkers reviewed provides a set methods to measure brain structural and functional pathophysiological changes in vivo, which are closely associated with preclinical AD, MCI and non-AD dementia. The dynamic measures of these imaging biomarkers are used to predict the disease progression in the early stages and improve the assessment of therapeutic efficacy in these diseases in future clinical trials.

Neuroimaging of amblyopia and binocular vision: a review.

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Joly, Olivier; Frankó, Edit

2014-01-01

Amblyopia is a cerebral visual impairment considered to derive from abnormal visual experience (e.g., strabismus, anisometropia). Amblyopia, first considered as a monocular disorder, is now often seen as a primarily binocular disorder resulting in more and more studies examining the binocular deficits in the patients. The neural mechanisms of amblyopia are not completely understood even though they have been investigated with electrophysiological recordings in animal models and more recently with neuroimaging techniques in humans. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge about the brain regions that underlie the visual deficits associated with amblyopia with a focus on binocular vision using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The first studies focused on abnormal responses in the primary and secondary visual areas whereas recent evidence shows that there are also deficits at higher levels of the visual pathways within the parieto-occipital and temporal cortices. These higher level areas are part of the cortical network involved in 3D vision from binocular cues. Therefore, reduced responses in these areas could be related to the impaired binocular vision in amblyopic patients. Promising new binocular treatments might at least partially correct the activation in these areas. Future neuroimaging experiments could help to characterize the brain response changes associated with these treatments and help devise them.

Saussurean structuralism and cognitive linguistics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Elffers, E.

2012-01-01

Cognitive linguistics (CL) is often regarded as a continuation of Saussurean structuralism. This paper explores the relationship between the two paradigms, focussing on the connection between semantics and views on the language-thought relationship. As it turns out, the similarity in this respect

Does linguistic input play the same role in language learning for children with and without early brain injury?

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Rowe, Meredith L; Levine, Susan C; Fisher, Joan A; Goldin-Meadow, Susan

2009-01-01

Children with unilateral pre- or perinatal brain injury (BI) show remarkable plasticity for language learning. Previous work highlights the important role that lesion characteristics play in explaining individual variation in plasticity in the language development of children with BI. The current study examines whether the linguistic input that children with BI receive from their caregivers also contributes to this early plasticity, and whether linguistic input plays a similar role in children with BI as it does in typically developing (TD) children. Growth in vocabulary and syntactic production is modeled for 80 children (53 TD, 27 BI) between 14 and 46 months. Findings indicate that caregiver input is an equally potent predictor of vocabulary growth in children with BI and in TD children. In contrast, input is a more potent predictor of syntactic growth for children with BI than for TD children. Controlling for input, lesion characteristics (lesion size, type, seizure history) also affect the language trajectories of children with BI. Thus, findings illustrate how both variability in the environment (linguistic input) and variability in the organism (lesion characteristics) work together to contribute to plasticity in language learning.

In Few Words: Linguistic Gap but Adequate Narrative Structure in Preschool Bilingual Children

Science.gov (United States)

Bonifacci, Paola; Barbieri, Margherita; Tomassini, Marta; Roch, Maja

2018-01-01

The aim of this study was to compare linguistic and narrative skills of monolingual and bilingual preschoolers and to estimate linguistic predictors of the macro-structural level of narratives. A battery of linguistic measures in Italian was administered to sixty-four Monolinguals and sixty-four Early Bilinguals; it included Vocabulary,…

Applied Linguistics Research in Australia as Represented through ARAL: Changing Diet or Smorgasbord?

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Curnow, Timothy Jowan; Kohler, Michelle

2017-01-01

From its inception in 1977 until its last year of publication by an Australian publisher in 2015, the "Australian Review of Applied Linguistics" featured over 700 articles related to applied linguistics. This publication history provides a unique resource for tracing the scope and change of the applied linguistics landscape in Australia…

Ethnocultural features of a linguistic persona: the specifics of the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Ethnocultural features of a linguistic persona: the specifics of the representation of universal emotional concepts. ... The paper pays special attention to the ethnocultural content of emotional and lexical units, which indicate the ethnic identity of a linguistic persona and reflect typical, historically developed signs of the ethnic ...

Statistical Literacy among Applied Linguists and Second Language Acquisition Researchers

Science.gov (United States)

Loewen, Shawn; Lavolette, Elizabeth; Spino, Le Anne; Papi, Mostafa; Schmidtke, Jens; Sterling, Scott; Wolff, Dominik

2014-01-01

The importance of statistical knowledge in applied linguistics and second language acquisition (SLA) research has been emphasized in recent publications. However, the last investigation of the statistical literacy of applied linguists occurred more than 25 years ago (Lazaraton, Riggenbach, & Ediger, 1987). The current study undertook a partial…

Fuzzy Linguistic Optimization on Surface Roughness for CNC Turning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tian-Syung Lan

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Surface roughness is often considered the main purpose in contemporary computer numerical controlled (CNC machining industry. Most existing optimization researches for CNC finish turning were either accomplished within certain manufacturing circumstances or achieved through numerous equipment operations. Therefore, a general deduction optimization scheme is deemed to be necessary for the industry. In this paper, the cutting depth, feed rate, speed, and tool nose runoff with low, medium, and high level are considered to optimize the surface roughness for finish turning based on L9(34 orthogonal array. Additionally, nine fuzzy control rules using triangle membership function with respective to five linguistic grades for surface roughness are constructed. Considering four input and twenty output intervals, the defuzzification using center of gravity is then completed. Thus, the optimum general fuzzy linguistic parameters can then be received. The confirmation experiment result showed that the surface roughness from the fuzzy linguistic optimization parameters is significantly advanced compared to that from the benchmark. This paper certainly proposes a general optimization scheme using orthogonal array fuzzy linguistic approach to the surface roughness for CNC turning with profound insight.

Reproducibility of neuroimaging analyses across operating systems.

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Glatard, Tristan; Lewis, Lindsay B; Ferreira da Silva, Rafael; Adalat, Reza; Beck, Natacha; Lepage, Claude; Rioux, Pierre; Rousseau, Marc-Etienne; Sherif, Tarek; Deelman, Ewa; Khalili-Mahani, Najmeh; Evans, Alan C

2015-01-01

Neuroimaging pipelines are known to generate different results depending on the computing platform where they are compiled and executed. We quantify these differences for brain tissue classification, fMRI analysis, and cortical thickness (CT) extraction, using three of the main neuroimaging packages (FSL, Freesurfer and CIVET) and different versions of GNU/Linux. We also identify some causes of these differences using library and system call interception. We find that these packages use mathematical functions based on single-precision floating-point arithmetic whose implementations in operating systems continue to evolve. While these differences have little or no impact on simple analysis pipelines such as brain extraction and cortical tissue classification, their accumulation creates important differences in longer pipelines such as subcortical tissue classification, fMRI analysis, and cortical thickness extraction. With FSL, most Dice coefficients between subcortical classifications obtained on different operating systems remain above 0.9, but values as low as 0.59 are observed. Independent component analyses (ICA) of fMRI data differ between operating systems in one third of the tested subjects, due to differences in motion correction. With Freesurfer and CIVET, in some brain regions we find an effect of build or operating system on cortical thickness. A first step to correct these reproducibility issues would be to use more precise representations of floating-point numbers in the critical sections of the pipelines. The numerical stability of pipelines should also be reviewed.

A new linguistic aggregation operator and its application to multiple attribute decision making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jibin Lan

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a new linguistic aggregation operator in linguistic environment is established and the desirable properties: monotonic, focus effect, idempotent, commutative and bounded are studied. Then, a new restricted ordering relation on the n-dimensional linguistic scales is proposed which satisfies strict pareto-dominance and is restricted by a weighting vector. A practical multiple attribute decision making methodology for an uncertain linguistic environment is proposed based on the proposed operator. An example is given to illustrate the rationality and validity of the new approach to decision making application.

Genre analysis of linguistics research introductions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anthony Porras

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The emergence of exploring genre analysis has been a trend in Applied Linguistics, not only for its interesting factor, but also because of its pedagogical implications. This study aimed to determine the overall structure, specifically the presence and conformity of moves and steps of the research introductions in the field of Linguistics. Twelve (12 available research introductions were analyzed using Create-A-Research-Space (CARS model. The findings revealed that moves and steps across the research introductions are present. Majority of the research introductions conformed to the CARS model, but did not necessarily follow the suggested sequence. Results imply that teachers of research writing should acknowledge and introduce the CARS model as a basis for teaching the method of writing research introductions effectively.

A New Bi-Directional Projection Model Based on Pythagorean Uncertain Linguistic Variable

OpenAIRE

Huidong Wang; Shifan He; Xiaohong Pan

2018-01-01

To solve the multi-attribute decision making (MADM) problems with Pythagorean uncertain linguistic variable, an extended bi-directional projection method is proposed. First, we utilize the linguistic scale function to convert uncertain linguistic variable and provide a new projection model, subsequently. Then, to depict the bi-directional projection method, the formative vectors of alternatives and ideal alternatives are defined. Furthermore, a comparative analysis with projection model is co...

Cross-linguistic Influence in Bilingualism : In honor of Aafke Hulk

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blom, E.; Cornips, L.; Schaeffer, J.

2017-01-01

This book presents a current state-of-affairs regarding the study of cross-linguistic influence in bilingualism. Taking Hulk and Müller’s (2000) and Müller and Hulk’s (2001) hypotheses on cross-linguistic influence as a starting point, the book exemplifies the shift from the original focus on syntax

140 CIRCULAR INTERACTION BETWEEN LINGUISTIC ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

economy. Although a country or administrative district should have one or more official languages for obvious reasons, Nelde (1991) proposes that the ... circular interaction between linguistic departments and language departments. Finding an answer to' Plato's abovementioned problem entails that as many languages as ...

Evoking and Measuring Identification with Narrative Characters - A Linguistic Cues Framework.

Science.gov (United States)

van Krieken, Kobie; Hoeken, Hans; Sanders, José

2017-01-01

Current research on identification with narrative characters poses two problems. First, although identification is seen as a dynamic process of which the intensity varies during reading, it is usually measured by means of post-reading questionnaires containing self-report items. Second, it is not clear which linguistic characteristics evoke identification. The present paper proposes that an interdisciplinary framework allows for more precise manipulations and measurements of identification, which will ultimately advance our understanding of the antecedents and nature of this process. The central hypothesis of our Linguistic Cues Framework is that identification with a narrative character is a multidimensional experience for which different dimensions are evoked by different linguistic cues. The first part of the paper presents a literature review on identification, resulting in a renewed conceptualization of identification which distinguishes six dimensions: a spatiotemporal, a perceptual, a cognitive, a moral, an emotional, and an embodied dimension. The second part argues that each of these dimensions is influenced by specific linguistic cues which represent various aspects of the narrative character's perspective. The proposed relations between linguistic cues and identification dimensions are specified in six propositions. The third part discusses what psychological and neurocognitive methods enable the measurement of the various identification dimensions in order to test the propositions. By establishing explicit connections between the linguistic characteristics of narratives and readers' physical, psychological, and neurocognitive responses to narratives, this paper develops a research agenda for future empirical research on identification with narrative characters.