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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 29, 2026

Interaction between Phonological and Semantic Processes in Visual Word Recognition using Electrophysiology

Interaction between Phonological and Semantic Processes in Visual Word Recognition using Electrophysiology

Published on: June 29, 2021

Right hemispheric participation in semantic decision improves performance.

Kiely M Donnelly¹, Jane B Allendorfer, Jerzy P Szaflarski

¹Department of Psychology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA. donnelky@mail.uc.edu

|September 23, 2011

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Improved semantic processing accuracy in adults is linked to greater activation in the right parietal lobe. Better performance on semantic tests also correlates with increased recruitment of right frontal and widespread bilateral brain regions.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience
Neuroimaging

Background:

Functional neuroimaging studies reveal a left-lateralized brain network for semantic processing in healthy adults.
It remains unclear if task performance correlates with differential recruitment of these or other brain regions.

Purpose of the Study:

To identify brain structures associated with improved accuracy in a semantic decision task.
To investigate correlations between extra-scanner semantic retrieval tests (Boston Naming Test and Semantic Fluency Test) and brain activation during a semantic decision/tone decision task.

Main Methods:

Fifty-two healthy, right-handed individuals completed a block-design semantic decision/tone decision functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task.
Regression analyses were used to correlate task performance and neuropsychological test scores with brain activation patterns.

Main Results:

Increased accuracy on the semantic decision task was associated with activation in the right inferior parietal lobule.
Higher Semantic Fluency Test performance correlated with greater recruitment of right frontal regions.
Improved Boston Naming Test performance was linked to more widespread bilateral activation in prefrontal, temporal, and parietal cortex, notably stronger in the right hemisphere.

Conclusions:

Enhanced performance on both the intra-scanner semantic decision task and extra-scanner semantic retrieval tests is associated with increased recruitment of right hemispheric brain regions.
These findings suggest a significant role for the right hemisphere in optimized semantic processing and retrieval.