Decomposing metaphor processing at the cognitive and neural level through functional magnetic resonance imaging

Brain Research Bulletin

Volumn 86, Issue 3-4, 2011, Pages 203-216

  Bambini, Valentina ^a   Gentili, Claudio ^b   Ricciardi, Emiliano ^b   Bertinetto, Pier Marco ^a   Pietrini, Pietro ^b  

^a SCUOLA NORMALE SUPERIORE   (Italy)

^b UNIVERSITY OF PISA   (Italy)

Author keywords

FMRI; Metaphor; Neuropragmatics; Pragmatics; Right hemisphere

Indexed keywords

ADULT; ANGULAR GYRUS; ANTERIOR CINGULATE; ARTICLE; BRAIN FUNCTION; COGNITION; COMPREHENSION; DECOMPOSING METAPHOR PROCESSING; FEMALE; FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING; HUMAN; HUMAN EXPERIMENT; IMAGE ANALYSIS; INFERIOR FRONTAL GYRUS; INFORMATION PROCESSING; LANGUAGE PROCESSING; LINGUISTICS; MALE; MENTAL TASK; NERVE CELL NETWORK; NORMAL HUMAN; PREFRONTAL CORTEX; PRIORITY JOURNAL; SUPERIOR TEMPORAL GYRUS; SUPERIOR TEMPORAL SULCUS; TASK PERFORMANCE;

ADULT; BRAIN; COGNITION; COMPREHENSION; DATA INTERPRETATION, STATISTICAL; FEMALE; FUNCTIONAL LATERALITY; HUMANS; IMAGE PROCESSING, COMPUTER-ASSISTED; MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING; MALE; METAPHOR; NERVE NET; NERVOUS SYSTEM PHYSIOLOGICAL PHENOMENA; PHOTIC STIMULATION; PSYCHOLINGUISTICS; PSYCHOMOTOR PERFORMANCE; REACTION TIME; READING; RECOGNITION (PSYCHOLOGY); THEORY OF MIND; YOUNG ADULT;

EID: 80053278342     PISSN: 03619230     EISSN: 18732747     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2011.07.015     Document Type: Article

References (113)

1. Ahrens K., Liu H., Lee C., Gong S., Fang S., Hsu Y. Functional MRI of conventional and anomalous metaphors in Mandarin Chinese. Brain Lang. 2007, 100:163-171.
2. Amanzio M., Geminiani G., Leotta D., Cappa S. Metaphor comprehension in Alzheimer's disease: novelty matters. Brain Lang. 2008, 107:1-10.
3. Annaz D., Van Herwegen J., Thomas M., Fishman R., Karmiloff-Smith A., Rundblad G. Comprehension of metaphor and metonymy in children with Williams syndrome. Int. J. Lang. Commun. Disord. 2009, 44:962-978.
4. Aziz-Zadeh L., Kaplan J.T., Iacoboni M. " Aha!": the neural correlates of verbal insight solutions. Hum. Brain Mapp. 2009, 30:908-916.
5. Bambini V. Neuropragmatics: a foreword. Ital. J. Linguist. 2010, 22:1-20.
6. Bambini V., Bertini C. Tracking metaphor through eye-movements: from words to meanings. Poster presented at the ESF Workshop " Words In Action: Interdisciplinary Approaches To Understanding Word Processing And Storage" 2010, available in Quaderni del Laboratorio di Linguistica della Scuola Normale Superiore 9.
7. Bara B. Cognitive Pragmatics 2010, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
8. Bara B., Ciaramidaro A. Intentions in the brain. Ital. J. Linguist. 2010, 22:89-106.
9. P.M. Bertinetto, C. Burani, A. Laudanna, L. Marconi, D. Ratti, C. Rolando, A.M. Thornton, Corpus e Lessico di Frequenza dell'Italiano Scritto (CoLFIS), 2005, http://linguistica.sns.it/CoLFIS/Home.htm.
10. Binder J.R., Desai R.H., Graves W.W., Conant L.L. Where is the semantic system? A critical review and meta-analysis of 120 functional neuroimaging studies. Cereb. Cortex 2009, 19:2767-2796.
11. Bookheimer S.Y. Functional MRI of language: new approaches to understanding the cortical organization of semantic processing. Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 2002, 25:151-188.
12. Bottini G., Corcoran R., Sterzi R., Schenone P., Scarpa P., Frackowiak R.S.J., Frith C.D. The role of the right hemisphere in the interpretation of figurative aspects of language: a positron emission tomography activation study. Brain 1994, 117:1241-1253.
13. Boulenger V., Hauk O., Pulvermüller F. Grasping ideas with the motor system: semantic somatotopy in idiom comprehension. Cereb. Cortex 2009, 19:1905-1914.
14. Bowdle B.F., Gentner D. The career of metaphor. Psychol. Rev. 2005, 112:193-216.
15. Bressler S.L., Menon V. Large-scale brain networks in cognition: emerging methods and principles. Trends Cogn. Sci. 2010, 14:277-290.
16. Brownell H.H., Potter H.H., Michelow D., Gardner H. Sensitivity to lexical denotation and connotation in brain-damaged patients: a double dissociation?. Brain Lang. 1984, 22:253-265.
17. Bush G., Luu P., Posner M.I. Cognitive and emotional influences in anterior cingulate cortex. Trends Cogn. Sci. 2000, 4:215-222.
18. Cacioppo J.T., Berntson G.G., Lorig T.S., Norris C.J., Rickett E., Nusbaum H. Just because you're imaging the brain doesn't mean you can stop using your head: a primer and set of first principles. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 2003, 85:650-661.
19. Carrington S.J., Bailey A.J. Are there theory of mind regions in the brain? A review of the neuroimaging literature. Hum. Brain Mapp. 2008, 30:2313-2335.
20. Carston R. Lexical pragmatics, ad hoc concepts and metaphor: from a relevance theory perspective. Ital. J. Linguist. 2010, 22:153-180.
21. Chan A.H.D, Liu H.L., Yip V., Fox P.T., Gao J.H., Tan L.H. Neural systems for word meaning modulated by semantic ambiguity. Neuroimage 2004, 22:1128-1133.
22. Chen E., Widick P., Chatterjee A. Functional-anatomical organization of predicate metaphor processing. Brain Lang. 2008, 107:194-202.
23. Ciaramidaro A., Adenzato M., Enrici I., Erk S., Pia L., Bara B., Walte H. The intentional network: how the brain reads varieties of intentions. Neuropsychologia 2007, 45:3105-3113.
24. Collette F., Van der Linden M. Brain imaging of the central executive component of working memory. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 2002, 26:105-125.
25. Coulson S., Oakley T. Blending and coded meaning: literal and figurative meanings in cognitive semantics. J. Pragmatics 2005, 37:1510-1536.
26. Coulson S., Van Petten C. A special role for the right hemisphere in metaphor comprehension? ERP evidence from hemifield presentation. Brain Res. 2007, 1146:128-145.
27. Cox R.W. AFNI: software for analysis and visualization of functional magnetic resonance neuroimages. Comput. Biomed. Res. 1996, 29:162-173.
28. Davies S. Truth-values and metaphors. J. Aesthet. Art Crit. 1984, 42:291-302.
29. Démonet J.S., Thierry G., Cardebat D. Renewal of the neurophysiology of language: functional neuroimaging. Physiol. Rev. 2005, 85:49-95.
30. Desai R.H., Binder J.R., Conant L.L., Mano Q.R., Seidenberg M.S. The neural career of sensorimotor metaphors. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 2011, 23:2376-2386.
31. den Dikken M. Relators and Linkers: the Syntax of Predication, Predicate Inversion, and Copulas 2006, MIT Press, Cambridge MA.
32. Etkin A., Egner T., Kalisch R. Emotional processing in anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortex. Trends Cogn. Sci. 2011, 15:85-93.
33. Eviatar Z., Just M.A. Brain correlates of discourse processing: an fMRI investigation of irony and conventional metaphor comprehension. Neuropsychologia 2006, 44:2348-2359.
34. Federmeier K.D., Wlotko E.W., Meyer A.M. What's 'right' in language comprehension: event-related potentials reveal right hemisphere language capabilities. Lang. Linguist. Compass 2008, 2:1-17.
35. Ferstl E.C. Neuroimaging of text comprehension: where are we now?. Ital. J. Linguist. 2010, 22:61-88.
36. Frisson S., Pickering M.J. The processing of metonymy: evidence from the eye movements. J. Exp. Psychol. Learn. Mem. Cogn. 1999, 25:1366-1383.
37. Frith U., Frith C.D. Development and neurophysiology of mentalizing. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. 2003, 358:459-473.
38. Frith U., Frith C. The social brain: allowing humans to boldly go where no other species has been. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B. Biol. Sci. 2010, 365:165-176.
39. Gagnon L., Goulet P., Giroux F., Joanette Y. Processing of metaphoric and non-metaphoric alternative meaning of words after right- and left-hemispheric lesions. Brain Lang. 2003, 87:217-226.
40. Gallagher H.L., Happé F., Brunswick N., Fletcher P.C., Frith U., Frith C.D. Reading the mind in cartoons and stories: an fMRI study of 'theory of mind' in verbal and nonverbal tasks. Neuropsychologia 2000, 38:11-21.
41. Gallese V., Lakoff G. The brain's concepts: the role of the sensory-motor system in conceptual knowledge. Cogn. Neuropsychol. 2005, 22:455-479.
42. Gernsbacher M.A., Robertson R.R.W. The role of suppression in figurative language comprehension. J. Pragmatics 1999, 31:1616-1630.
43. Gibbs R.W., Costa Lima P.L., Francozo E. Metaphor is grounded in embodied experience. J. Pragmatics 2004, 36:1189-1210.
44. Giora R. On Our Mind: Salience, Context, and Figurative Language 2003, Oxford University Press, New York.
45. Glucksberg S. The psycholinguistics of metaphor. Trends Cogn. Sci. 2003, 7:92-96.
46. Grice H.P. Logic and conversation. Syntax and Semantics: Speech Acts 1975, 41-58. Academic Press, New York. P. Cole, J.L. Morgan (Eds.).
47. Hagoort P. On broca, brain, and binding: a new framework. Trends Cogn. Sci. 2005, 9:416-423.
48. Hagoort P., Baggio G., Willems R.M. Semantic unification. The Cognitive Neurosciences 2009, 819-836. Mass. MIT Press, Cambridge. 4th ed. M.S. Gazzaniga (Ed.).
49. Hagoort P., Hald L., Bastiaansen M., Petersson K.M. Integration of word meaning and word knowledge in language comprehension. Science 2004, 304:438-441.
50. Happé F.G. Communicative competence and the theory of mind in autism: a test of relevance theory. Cognition 1993, 48:101-119.
51. Haxby J.V., Hoffman E.A., Gobbini M.I. The distributed human neural system for face perception. Trends Cogn. Sci. 2000, 4:223-233.
52. Humphries C., Binder J.R., Medler D.A., Liebenthal E. Time course of semantic processes during sentence comprehension: an fMRI study. Neuroimage 2007, 36:924-932.
53. Iakimova G., Passerieux C., Hardy-Bayle M.C. The understanding of metaphors in schizophrenia and depression. An experimental approach. Encephale 2006, 32:995-1002.
54. Joanette Y., Goulet P., Hannequin D. Right Hemisphere and Verbal Communication 1990, Springer-Verlag, New York.
55. Jung-Beeman M. Bilateral brain processes for comprehending natural language. Trends Cogn. Sci. 2005, 9:512-518.
56. Kirchner T.T., Brammer M., Tous-Andreu N., Williams S.C., McGuire P.K. Engagement of the right temporal cortex during processing of linguistic context. Neuropsychologia 2001, 39:798-809.
57. Kircher T.T., Leube D.T., Erb M., Grodd W., Rapp A.M. Neural correlates of metaphor processing in schizophrenia. Neuroimage 2007, 34:281-289.
58. Kövecses Z. Metaphor and emotion. The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought 2008, 380-396. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. R. Gibbs (Ed.).
59. Kuperberg G.R., Holcomb P.J., Sitnikova T., Greve D., Dale A.M., Caplan D. Distinct patterns of neural modulation during the processing of conceptual and syntactic anomalies. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 2003, 15:272-293.
60. Kuperberg G.R., Maguire P.K., Bullmore E.T., Brammer M.J., Rabe-Hesketh S., Wright I.C., Lythgoe D.J., Williams S.C.R., David A.S. Common and distinct neural substrates for pragmatic, semantic and syntactic processing of spoken sentences: an fMRI study. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 2001, 12:321-341.
61. Kuperberg G.R., West W.C., Lakshmanan B.M., Goff D. Functional magnetic resonance imaging reveals neuroanatomical dissociations during semantic integration in schizophrenia. Biol. Psychiatry 2008, 64:407-418.
62. Kutas M. One lesson learned: frame language processing - literal and figurative - as a human brain function. Metaphor Symbol 2006, 21:285-325.
63. Lakoff G., Johnson M. Metaphors We Live by 1980, University of Chicago Press.
64. Lee S.S., Dapretto M. Metaphorical vs. literal word meanings: fMRI evidence against a selective role of the right hemisphere. Neuroimage 2006, 29:536-544.
65. Lindell A.K. In your right mind: right hemisphere contributions to human language processing and production. Neuropsychol. Rev. 2006, 16:131-148.
66. Martin I., McDonald S. Weak coherence, no theory of mind, or executive dysfunction? Solving the puzzle of pragmatic language disorders. Brain Lang. 2003, 85:451-466.
67. Mashal N., Faust M. Conventionalisation of novel metaphors: a shift in hemispheric asymmetry. Laterality 2009, 14:573-589.
68. Mashal N., Faust M., Hendler T. The role of the right hemisphere in processing nonsalient metaphorical meanings: application of principal components analysis to fMRI data. Neuropsychologia 2005, 43:2084-2100.
69. Mashal N., Faust M., Hendler T., Jung-Beeman M. An fMRI investigation of the neural correlates underlying the processing of novel metaphoric expressions. Brain Lang. 2007, 100:115-126.
70. Mason R.A., Just M.A. Neuroimaging contributions to the understanding of discourse processes. Handbook of Psycholinguistics 2006, 765-799. Elsevier, Amsterdam. 2nd ed. M. Traxler, M.A. Gernsbacher (Eds.).
71. Mason R.A., Just M.A. Lexical ambiguity in sentence comprehension. Brain Res. 2007, 1146:115-127.
72. Mason R.A., Just M.A. Differentiable cortical networks for inferences concerning people's intentions versus physical causality. Hum. Brain Mapp. 2011, 32:313-329.
73. Mejía-Constaín B., Monchi O., Walter N., Arsenault M., Senhadji N., Joanette Y. When metaphors go literally beyond their territories: the impact of age on figurative language. Ital. J. Linguist. 2010, 22:41-60.
74. Menenti L., Petersson K.M., Scheeringa R., Hagoort P. When elephants fly: differential sensitivity of right and left inferior frontal gyri to discourse and world knowledge. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 2009, 21:2358-2368.
75. Mesulam M.M. Large-scale neurocognitive networks and distributed processing for attention, language, and memory. Ann. Neurol. 1990, 28:597-613.
76. Milivojevic B., Hamm J.P., Corballis M.C. Hemispheric dominance for mental rotation: it is a matter of time. Neuroreport 2009, 20:1507-1512.
77. Miller E.K., Wallis J.D. Executive control: definitions and neural substrates. The New Encyclopedia of Neuroscience 2009, Oxford University Press, Oxford. L. Squire, T. Albright, F. Bloom, F. Gage, N. Spitzer (Eds.).
78. Monetta L., Pell M.D. Effects of verbal working memory deficits on metaphor comprehension in patients with Parkinson's disease. Brain Lang. 2007, 101:80-89.
79. Moro A., Tettamanti M., Perani D., Donati C., Cappa S.F., Fazio F. Syntax and the brain: disentangling grammar by selective anomalies. Neuroimage 2001, 13:110-118.
80. Ni W., Constable R.T., Mencl W.E., Pugh K.R., Fulbright R.K., Shaywitz S.E., Shaywitz B.A., Gore J.C., Shankweiler D. An event-related neuroimaging study distinguishing form and content in sentence processing. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 2000, 12:120-133.
81. Norbury C.F. The relationship between Theory of Mind and metaphor: evidence from children with language impairment and autistic spectrum disorder. Br. J. Dev. Psychol. 2005, 23:383-399.
82. Noveck I., Bianco M., Castry A. The costs and benefits of metaphor. Metaphor and Symbol 2001, 16:109-121.
83. Papagno C. Comprehension of metaphors and idioms in patients with Alzheimer disease. A longitudinal study. Brain 2001, 124:1450-1460.
84. Papagno C., Cacciari C. The role of ambiguity in idiom comprehension: the case of a patient with a reversed concreteness effect. J. Neurolinguist. 2010, 23:631-643.
85. Pickering M., Frisson S. Processing ambiguous verbs: evidence from the eye movements. J. Exp. Psychol. Learn. Mem. Cogn. 2001, 27:556-573.
86. Pietrini P., Alexander G.E., Furey M.L., Hampel H., Guazzelli M. The neurometabolic landscape of cognitive decline: in vivo studies with positron emission tomography in Alzheimer's disease. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 2000, 37:87-98.
87. Pietrini P., Furey M.L., Alexander G.E., Mentis M.J., Dani A., Guazzelli M., Rapoport S.I., Schapiro M.B. Association between brain functional failure and dementia severity in Alzheimer's disease: resting versus stimulation PET study. Am. J. Psychiatry 1999, 156:470-473.
88. Pilkington A. Poetics Effects: a Relevance Theory Perspective 2000, John Benjamins Publishing Company.
89. Pobric G., Mashal N., Faust M., Lavidor M. The role of the right cerebral hemisphere in processing novel metaphoric expressions: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 2008, 20:170-181.
90. Pollio H.R., Smith M.K., Pollio M.R. Figurative language and cognitive psychology. Lang. Cogn. Process. 1990, 5:141-167.
91. Rapp A.M, Leube D.T., Erb M., Grodd W., Kircher T.T.J. Neural correlates of metaphor processing. Cogn. Brain Res. 2004, 20:395-402.
92. Rapp A.M., Leube D.T., Erb M., Grodd W., Kircher T.T.J. Laterality in metaphor processing: lack of evidence from functional magnetic resonance imaging for the right hemisphere theory. Brain Lang. 2007, 100:142-149.
93. Rinaldi M.C., Marangolo P., Baldassarri F. Metaphor comprehension in right brain-damaged subjects with visuo-verbal and verbal material: a dissociation (re)considered. Cortex 2004, 40:479-490.
94. Romero Lauro L.J., Tettamanti M., Cappa S.F., Papagno C. Idiom comprehension: a prefrontal task?. Cereb. Cortex 2008, 18:162-170.
95. Schapiro M.B., Pietrini P., Grady C.L., Ball M.J., DeCarli C., Kumar A., Kaye J.A., Haxby J.V. Reductions in parietal and temporal cerebral metabolic rates for glucose are not specific for Alzheimer's disease. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. 1993, 56:859-864.
96. Schmidt G.L., Kranjec A., Cardillo E.R., Chatterjee A. Beyond laterality: a critical assessment of research on the neural basis of metaphor. J. Int. Neuropsychol. Soc. 2010, 16:1-5.
97. Schmidt G.L., Seger C.A. Neural correlates of metaphor processing: the roles of figurativeness, familiarity and difficulty. Brain Cogn. 2009, 71:375-386.
98. Shibata M., Abe J., Terao A., Miyamoto T. Neural mechanisms involved in the comprehension of metaphoric and literal sentences: an fMRI study. Brain Res. 2007, 1166:92-102.
99. Sperber D., Wilson D. Relevance: Communication and Cognition 1995, Basil Blackwell, Oxford. 2nd ed.
100. Sperber D., Wilson D. Pragmatics, modularity and mind-reading. Mind Lang. 2002, 17:3-23.
101. Sperber D., Wilson D. A deflationary account of metaphors. The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought 2008, 84-105. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. R. Gibbs (Ed.).
102. Stemmer B. Neuropragmatics: disorders and neural systems. Handbook of Neuroscience of Language 2008, 175-187. Academic Press, San Diego. B. Stemmer, H.A. Whitaker (Eds.).
103. Stowe L.A., Haverkort M., Zwarts F. Rethinking the neurological basis of language. Lingua 2005, 115:997-1042.
104. Stringaris A.K., Medford N., Giora R., Giampietro V.C., Brammer M.J., David A.S. How metaphors influence semantic relatedness judgments: the role of the right frontal cortex. Neuroimage 2006, 33:784-793.
105. Stringaris A.K., Medford N.C., Giampietro V., Brammer M.J., David A.S. Deriving meaning: distinct neural mechanisms for metaphoric, literal, and nonmeaningful sentences. Brain Lang. 2007, 100:150-162.
106. Tendahl M., Gibbs R. Complementary perspectives on metaphor: cognitive linguistics and relevance theory. J. Pragmatics 2008, 40:1823-1864.
107. Thoma P., Daum I. Neurocognitive mechanisms of figurative language processing-evidence from clinical dysfunctions. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 2006, 30:1182-1205.
108. Van Overwalle F., Baetens K. Understanding others' actions and goals by mirror and mentalizing systems: a meta-analysis. Neuroimage 2009, 48:564-584.
109. Vega Moreno R.E. Creativity and Convention: the Pragmatics of Everyday Figurative Speech 2007, John Benjamins Publishing Company.
110. Wilson D., Carston R. A unitary approach to lexical pragmatics: relevance, inference and ad hoc concepts. Advances in Pragmatics 2007, 230-260. Palgrave. N. Burton-Roberts (Ed.).
111. Wilson D., Carston R. Metaphor and the 'emergent property' problem: a relevance-theoretic treatment. The Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication, vol. 3, A Figure of Speech 2008, New Prairie Press.
112. Winner E., Gardner H. The comprehension of metaphor in brain damaged patients. Brain 1977, 100:717-729.
113. Yang F.G., Edens J., Simpson C., Krawczyk D.C. Differences in task demands influence the hemispheric lateralization and neural correlates of metaphor. Brain Lang. 2009, 111:114-124.