Intrinsic Connectivity of Anterior Temporal Lobe Relates to Individual Differences in in Semantic Retrieval for Landmarks

TY - JOUR

T1 - Intrinsic Connectivity of Anterior Temporal Lobe Relates to Individual Differences in in Semantic Retrieval for Landmarks

AU - Gonzalez Alam, Tirso

AU - Krieger-Redwood, Katya Melanie

AU - Evans, Megan

AU - Rice, Grace E

AU - Smallwood, Jonathan

AU - Jefferies, Beth

N1 - © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy.

PY - 2021/1/1

Y1 - 2021/1/1

N2 - Contemporary neuroscientific accounts suggest that ventral anterior temporal lobe (ATL) acts as a bilateral heteromodal semantic hub, which is particularly critical for the specific-level knowledge needed to recognise unique entities, such as familiar landmarks and faces. There may also be graded functional differences between left and right ATL, relating to effects of modality (linguistic versus non-linguistic) and category (e.g., knowledge of people and places). Individual differences in intrinsic connectivity from left and right ATL might be associated with variation in semantic categorisation performance across these categories and modalities. We recorded resting-state fMRI in 74 individuals and, in a separate session, examined semantic categorisation. People with greater connectivity between left and right ATL were more efficient at categorising landmarks (e.g. Eiffel Tower), especially when these were presented visually. In addition, participants who showed stronger connectivity from right than left ATL to medial occipital cortex showed more efficient semantic categorisation of landmarks regardless of modality of presentation. These results can be interpreted in terms of graded differences in the patterns of connectivity across left and right ATL, which give rise to a bilateral yet partially segregated semantic ‘hub’. More specifically, right ATL connectivity supports the efficient semantic categorisation of landmarks.

AB - Contemporary neuroscientific accounts suggest that ventral anterior temporal lobe (ATL) acts as a bilateral heteromodal semantic hub, which is particularly critical for the specific-level knowledge needed to recognise unique entities, such as familiar landmarks and faces. There may also be graded functional differences between left and right ATL, relating to effects of modality (linguistic versus non-linguistic) and category (e.g., knowledge of people and places). Individual differences in intrinsic connectivity from left and right ATL might be associated with variation in semantic categorisation performance across these categories and modalities. We recorded resting-state fMRI in 74 individuals and, in a separate session, examined semantic categorisation. People with greater connectivity between left and right ATL were more efficient at categorising landmarks (e.g. Eiffel Tower), especially when these were presented visually. In addition, participants who showed stronger connectivity from right than left ATL to medial occipital cortex showed more efficient semantic categorisation of landmarks regardless of modality of presentation. These results can be interpreted in terms of graded differences in the patterns of connectivity across left and right ATL, which give rise to a bilateral yet partially segregated semantic ‘hub’. More specifically, right ATL connectivity supports the efficient semantic categorisation of landmarks.

KW - Hemispheric Differences

KW - Modality

KW - Anterior Temporal Lobe

KW - fMRI

KW - Intrinsic Connectivity

U2 - 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.10.007

DO - 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.10.007

M3 - Article

SN - 0010-9452

VL - 134

SP - 76

EP - 91

JO - Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior

JF - Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior

ER -