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Broca's area and inflectional morphology: evidence from Broca's aphasia and computer modeling

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Broca's area and inflectional morphology: evidence from Broca's aphasia and computer modeling. / Penke, Martina; Westermann, Gert.
In: Cortex, Vol. 42, No. 4, 05.2006, p. 563-576.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

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Penke M, Westermann G. Broca's area and inflectional morphology: evidence from Broca's aphasia and computer modeling. Cortex. 2006 May;42(4):563-576. doi: 10.1016/S0010-9452(08)70395-2

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@article{620b5490f2734ee6a7a302b1a33d3baa,
title = "Broca's area and inflectional morphology: evidence from Broca's aphasia and computer modeling",
abstract = "In a series of articles Ullman (2001, 2004; Ullman et al., 1997) has proposed that regular inflection is critically subserved by Broca's area. This suggestion is motivated by the finding that English speaking Broca's aphasics show selective deficits with regular inflection. Here we argue that this proposal does not hold cross-linguistically but is based on a confound between inflectional suffix and regularity that is specific to the English language. We present data from two experimental studies of participle inflection with 13 German and 12 Dutch Broca's aphasics. None of these aphasic speakers are selectively impaired for regular inflection but instead most of them show selective deficits with irregular inflection. These data suggest that a selective regular deficit is not a characteristic of Broca's aphasia across languages, and that Broca's area is not critically involved in regular inflection. To investigate the nature and localization of the processes underlying inflection we present a connectionist neural network model that accounts for the deficits of the German aphasic speakers. The model implements the view that the inflection of all verb types is based on a single mechanism with multiple representations that emerge from experience-dependent brain development. We show that global damage to this model results in a selective deficit for irregular inflection that is comparable to that of the German aphasic speakers. This finding suggests that a selective impairment of irregular participles as observed by German and Dutch aphasic speakers does not presuppose two distinctly localized mechanisms or processes that can be selectively affected by brain damage.",
keywords = "Broca's area, Broca's aphasia, verb inflection, connectionist modelling, PAST-TENSE MORPHOLOGY, DECLARATIVE/PROCEDURAL MODEL, GRAMMATICAL MORPHOLOGY, AGRAMMATIC PRODUCTION, VERB INFLECTIONS, IRREGULAR FORMS, LANGUAGE, GERMAN, DEFICITS, ENGLISH",
author = "Martina Penke and Gert Westermann",
note = "The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Cortex 42 (4), 2006, {\textcopyright} ELSEVIER.",
year = "2006",
month = may,
doi = "10.1016/S0010-9452(08)70395-2",
language = "English",
volume = "42",
pages = "563--576",
journal = "Cortex",
issn = "0010-9452",
publisher = "Masson SpA",
number = "4",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Broca's area and inflectional morphology

T2 - evidence from Broca's aphasia and computer modeling

AU - Penke, Martina

AU - Westermann, Gert

N1 - The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Cortex 42 (4), 2006, © ELSEVIER.

PY - 2006/5

Y1 - 2006/5

N2 - In a series of articles Ullman (2001, 2004; Ullman et al., 1997) has proposed that regular inflection is critically subserved by Broca's area. This suggestion is motivated by the finding that English speaking Broca's aphasics show selective deficits with regular inflection. Here we argue that this proposal does not hold cross-linguistically but is based on a confound between inflectional suffix and regularity that is specific to the English language. We present data from two experimental studies of participle inflection with 13 German and 12 Dutch Broca's aphasics. None of these aphasic speakers are selectively impaired for regular inflection but instead most of them show selective deficits with irregular inflection. These data suggest that a selective regular deficit is not a characteristic of Broca's aphasia across languages, and that Broca's area is not critically involved in regular inflection. To investigate the nature and localization of the processes underlying inflection we present a connectionist neural network model that accounts for the deficits of the German aphasic speakers. The model implements the view that the inflection of all verb types is based on a single mechanism with multiple representations that emerge from experience-dependent brain development. We show that global damage to this model results in a selective deficit for irregular inflection that is comparable to that of the German aphasic speakers. This finding suggests that a selective impairment of irregular participles as observed by German and Dutch aphasic speakers does not presuppose two distinctly localized mechanisms or processes that can be selectively affected by brain damage.

AB - In a series of articles Ullman (2001, 2004; Ullman et al., 1997) has proposed that regular inflection is critically subserved by Broca's area. This suggestion is motivated by the finding that English speaking Broca's aphasics show selective deficits with regular inflection. Here we argue that this proposal does not hold cross-linguistically but is based on a confound between inflectional suffix and regularity that is specific to the English language. We present data from two experimental studies of participle inflection with 13 German and 12 Dutch Broca's aphasics. None of these aphasic speakers are selectively impaired for regular inflection but instead most of them show selective deficits with irregular inflection. These data suggest that a selective regular deficit is not a characteristic of Broca's aphasia across languages, and that Broca's area is not critically involved in regular inflection. To investigate the nature and localization of the processes underlying inflection we present a connectionist neural network model that accounts for the deficits of the German aphasic speakers. The model implements the view that the inflection of all verb types is based on a single mechanism with multiple representations that emerge from experience-dependent brain development. We show that global damage to this model results in a selective deficit for irregular inflection that is comparable to that of the German aphasic speakers. This finding suggests that a selective impairment of irregular participles as observed by German and Dutch aphasic speakers does not presuppose two distinctly localized mechanisms or processes that can be selectively affected by brain damage.

KW - Broca's area

KW - Broca's aphasia

KW - verb inflection

KW - connectionist modelling

KW - PAST-TENSE MORPHOLOGY

KW - DECLARATIVE/PROCEDURAL MODEL

KW - GRAMMATICAL MORPHOLOGY

KW - AGRAMMATIC PRODUCTION

KW - VERB INFLECTIONS

KW - IRREGULAR FORMS

KW - LANGUAGE

KW - GERMAN

KW - DEFICITS

KW - ENGLISH

U2 - 10.1016/S0010-9452(08)70395-2

DO - 10.1016/S0010-9452(08)70395-2

M3 - Journal article

VL - 42

SP - 563

EP - 576

JO - Cortex

JF - Cortex

SN - 0010-9452

IS - 4

ER -