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Connecting concepts in the brain by mapping cortical representations of semantic relations

Author

Listed:
  • Yizhen Zhang

    (University of Michigan)

  • Kuan Han

    (University of Michigan)

  • Robert Worth

    (Indiana University–Purdue University)

  • Zhongming Liu

    (University of Michigan
    University of Michigan
    Purdue University
    Purdue University)

Abstract

In the brain, the semantic system is thought to store concepts. However, little is known about how it connects different concepts and infers semantic relations. To address this question, we collected hours of functional magnetic resonance imaging data from human subjects listening to natural stories. We developed a predictive model of the voxel-wise response and further applied it to thousands of new words. Our results suggest that both semantic categories and relations are represented by spatially overlapping cortical patterns, instead of anatomically segregated regions. Semantic relations that reflect conceptual progression from concreteness to abstractness are represented by cortical patterns of activation in the default mode network and deactivation in the frontoparietal attention network. We conclude that the human brain uses distributed networks to encode not only concepts but also relationships between concepts. In particular, the default mode network plays a central role in semantic processing for abstraction of concepts.

Suggested Citation

  • Yizhen Zhang & Kuan Han & Robert Worth & Zhongming Liu, 2020. "Connecting concepts in the brain by mapping cortical representations of semantic relations," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-15804-w
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15804-w
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