Spatiotemporal dynamics of modality-specific and supramodal word processing
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 26, 2026

Examining Online Syntactic Processing of Spoken Complex Sentences in Chinese Using Dual-Modal Interference Tasks
Published on: September 5, 2019
Ksenija Marinkovic1, Rupali P Dhond, Anders M Dale
1Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.
Abstract:
The ability of written and spoken words to access the same semantic meaning provides a test case for the multimodal convergence of information from sensory to associative areas. Using anatomically constrained magnetoencephalography (aMEG), the present study investigated the stages of word comprehension in real time in the auditory and visual modalities, as subjects participated in a semantic judgment task. Activity spread from the primary sensory areas along the respective ventral processing streams and converged in anterior temporal and inferior prefrontal regions, primarily on the left at around 400 ms. Comparison of response patterns during repetition priming between the two modalities suggest that they are initiated by modality-specific memory systems, but that they are eventually elaborated mainly in supramodal areas.
Related Concept Videos
Lateralization
Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...
Language and Cognition
Components of Language
Sensory Modalities
General senses refer to the broad category of sensory information detected by receptors in the body and can be further grouped into somatic and visceral senses. Somatic sensations include touch, pressure, temperature, and pain and are essential for navigating our environment and...
Language Development
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...

