Conversational content is organized across multiple timescales in the brain
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4696406 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Masahiro Yamashita (0000-0001-8184-4587, Ube Frontier University), Rieko Kubo (Tokyo Medical and Dental University), Shinji Nishimoto (0000-0001-8015-340X, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 10 |
| Pages | 2066-2078 |
| Publication date | 2025-06-11 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Nature Human Behaviour (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2397-3374 • E-ISSN: 2397-3374 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1038/s41562-025-02231-4 |
| PMID | 40500377 |
| OpenAlex | W4411216949 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 70 |
The evolution of conversation facilitates the exchange of intricate thoughts and emotions. The meaning is progressively constructed by integrating both produced and perceived speech into hierarchical linguistic structures across multiple timescales, including words, sentences and discourse. However, the neural mechanisms underlying these interactive sense-making processes remain largely unknown. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure brain activity during hours of spontaneous conversations, modelling neural representations of conversational content using contextual embeddings derived from a large language model (GPT) at varying timescales. Our results reveal that linguistic representations are both shared and distinct between production and comprehension, distributed across various functional networks. Shared representations, predominantly localized within language-selective regions, were consistently observed at shorter timescales, corresponding to words and single sentences. By contrast, modality-specific representations exhibited opposing timescale selectivity: shorter for production and longer for comprehension, suggesting that distinct mechanisms are involved in contextual integration. These findings suggest that conversational meaning emerges from the interplay between shared linguistic codes and modality-specific temporal integration, facilitating context-dependent comprehension and adaptive speech production
Cognitive psychology · Natural language processing · Action Observation and Synchronization · Child and Animal Learning Development · Computer Science · Mathematics · Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism · Neuroscience · Psychology
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| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |