Spatial and Frequency Differences of Neuromagnetic Activities Between the Perception of Open- and Closed-class Words

The present study investigated the spatial and frequency differences of neuromagnetic activities between the perception of open- and closed-class words by using a 275-channel whole head magnetoencephalography (MEG) system. Two groups of words, 110 open-class and 110 closed-class, were presented visually and auditorily simultaneously. The data of 12 healthy subjects were analyzed with synthetic aperture magnetometry (SAM) which can identify the frequency-dependent volumetric distribution of evoked magnetic fields (EMFs). Both vocabulary classes elicited spectral power changes in the left inferior frontal gyrus (Broca’s area) and left posterior-superior temporal gyrus (Wernicke’s area) within 70–120 Hz. However, the open-class words elicited event-related desynchronization (ERD) while the closed-class words elicited event-related synchronization (ERS) in the two areas within 70–120 Hz. In addition, the open-class words also elicited ERS in the right inferior frontal gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus and right inferior parietal lobe within 1–8 Hz, but the closed-class words only elicited ERD in the right inferior frontal gyrus within 1–8 Hz. Furthermore, there were ERD in the right posterior-superior temporal gyrus within 120–200 Hz for the open-class words, but not for the closed-class words. These results indicate that open- and closed-class words are processed differently in the brain, not only in the anatomical substrates, but also in the frequency range of neuromagnetic activity.     

Neuromagnetic Changes of Brain Rhythm Evoked by Intravenous Olfactory Stimulation in Humans

Summary: To identify the changes in the respective frequency band and brain areas related to olfactory perception, we measured magnetoencephalographic (MEG) signals before and after instilling intravenously thiamine propyl disulfide (TPD) and thiamine tetrahydrofurfuryl disulfide monohydrochloride (TTFD), which evoked a strong and weak sensation of odor, respectively. For the frequency analysis of MEG, a beamformer program, synthetic aperture magnetometry (SAM), was employed and event-related desynchronization (ERD) or synchronization (ERS) was statistically determined. Both strong and weak odors induced ERD in (1) beta band (13–30 Hz) in the right precentral gyrus, and the superior and middle frontal gyri in both hemispheres, (2) low gamma band (30–60 Hz) in the left superior frontal gyrus and superior parietal lobule, and the middle frontal gyrus in both hemispheres, and (3) high gamma band 2 (100–200 Hz) in the right inferior frontal gyrus. TPD induced ERD in the left temporal, parietal and occipital lobes, while TTFD induced ERD in the right temporal, parietal and occipital lobes. The results indicate that physiological functions in several regions in the frontal lobe may change and the strength of the odor may play a different role in each hemisphere during olfactory perception in humans. This study was supported by Japan Space Forum, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas -Higher-Order Brain Functions-from The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.     

Investigating the functional neuroanatomy of concrete and abstract word processing through direct electric stimulation (DES) during awake surgery

ABSTRACT

Neuropsychological, neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies demonstrate that abstract and concrete word processing relies not only on the activity of a common bilateral network but also on dedicated networks. The neuropsychological literature has shown that a selective sparing of abstract relative to concrete words can be documented in lesions of the left anterior temporal regions. We investigated concrete and abstract word processing in 10 patients undergoing direct electrical stimulation (DES) for brain mapping during awake surgery in the left hemisphere. A lexical decision and a concreteness judgment task were added to the neuropsychological assessment during intra-operative monitoring. On the concreteness judgment, DES delivered over the inferior frontal gyrus significantly decreased abstract word accuracy while accuracy for concrete words decreased when the anterior temporal cortex was stimulated. These results are consistent with a lexical–semantic model that distinguishes between concrete and abstract words related to different neural substrates in the left hemisphere.     

Two semantic systems in the brain for rapid and slow differentiation of abstract and concrete words

Most studies of semantic processing address changes in the late (300–800 msec) components of evoked potentials. However, recent years have seen the appearance of data showing that humans can perceive the sense of stimuli presented to them in significantly shorter periods of time. We report here studies of the mechanism of semantic analysis of written abstract and concrete words in four series of experiments: 1) reading of words on a monitor screen; 2) simple classification of all presented words into the categories “abstract” and “concrete;” 3) complex, i.e., selective classification of words written only in a specified color with a prompt as to which color would be used for the word; 4) complex classification of words of only a specified color without a prior prompt. Early (40–100 msec) differences in evoked brain potentials were seen on comparison of responses to abstract and concrete words, predominantly in the frontal areas in the case of simple reading of words and in the more dorsal areas in the case of tasks with simple classification. All cases of explicit classification of words were characterized by differences in late (450–700 msec) components in the left frontal zone. The results indicate the existence of two semantic systems: a rapid, implicit system associated with activation of the right frontal area, and a slow, explicit system of word classification which is predominantly associated with activity in the left frontal area. The relationship between the two systems is to a certain extent reciprocal: the rapid system can by inhibited by introduction of a word classification task. __________ Translated from Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel'nosti imeni I. P. Pavlova, Vol. 57, No. 5, pp. 566–575, September–October, 2007.     

Analysis of Evoked EEG Synchronization and Desynchronization During Perception of Emotiogenic Stimuli: Association with Autonomic Activation Processes

The cortical apparatus involved in performing autonomic responses in conditions of emotional activation has received little study. The aim of the present work was to assess the dynamics of evoked EEG synchronization and desynchronization at different frequency ranges during the perception of emotiogenic visual stimuli depending on the extent of accompanying autonomic activation as measured by skin galvanic responses. Studies were performed on 33 students (all right-handed) aged 18–28 years. Difference between subjects with weak (SGR^-) and strong (SGR⁺) skin galvanic responses were seen only in the θ1 range (4–6 Hz). At the stage at which emotiogenic information was perceived (the first second after the start of stimulus presentation), both groups showed similar dynamics of increases in evoked synchronization in the parietal-temporal-occipital areas of the cortex, with greater involvement of the right hemisphere. From the second second to the end of presentation (2–6 sec), emotiogenic signals gave significantly greater levels of evoked synchronization in these cortical areas as compared with neutral stimuli, and only in the SGR⁺ group. These data provide evidence for the involvement of the posterior areas of the cortex of the right hemisphere in the mechanisms of motivational attention and sympathetic activation. __________ Translated from Rossiiskii Fiziologicheskii Zhurnal imeni I. M. Sechenova, Vol. 90, No. 11, pp. 1314–1323, November, 2004.     

Diurnal Alterations of Brain Electrical Activity in Healthy Adults: A LORETA Study

EEG background activity was investigated by low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) to test the diurnal alterations of brain electrical activity in healthy adults. Fourteen right-handed healthy male postgraduate medical students were examined four times (8 a.m., 2 p.m., 8 p.m. and next day 2 p.m.). LORETA was computed to localize generators of EEG frequency components. Comparing the EEG activity between 2 p.m. and 8 a.m., increased activity was seen (1) in theta band (6.5–8 Hz) in the left prefrontal, bilateral mesial frontal and anterior cingulate cortex; (2) in alpha2 band (10.5–12 Hz) in the bilateral precuneus and posterior parietal cortex as well as in the right temporo-occipital cortex; (3) in beta1-2-3 band (12.5–30 Hz) in the right hippocampus and parieto-occipital cortex, left frontal and bilateral cingulate cortex. Comparing the brain activity between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., (1) midline theta activity disappeared; (2) increased alpha2 band activity was seen in the left hemisphere (including the left hippocampus); and (3) increased beta bands activity was found over almost the whole cortex (including both of hippocampi) with the exception of left temporo-occipital region. There were no significant changes between the background activities of 2 p.m. and next day 2 p.m. Characteristic distribution of increased activity of cortex (no change in delta band, and massive changes in the upper frequency bands) may mirror increasing activation of reticular formation and thus evoked thalamocortical feedback mechanisms as a sign of maintenance of arousal.     

Prestimulus EEG gamma frequencies during formation of a cognitive set to facial expressions

The power spectra of baseline (prestimulus) EEG recordings from various parts of the cortex in the band 1–60 Hz were studied in adult subjects during the stage of formation of a cognitive set to facial expressions. Individual variability in the power spectra of the baseline EEG, particularly in the gamma range (41–60 Hz) made it impossible to average spectra from different subjects. This is the first study demonstrating that the EEG at 41–60 Hz was more informative during the prestimulus period than recordings at 1–20 Hz and 21–40 Hz. High levels of gamma-frequency power were found to be dominant in the frontal areas of the right hemisphere in groups of subjects with plastic sets; the group of subjects with a rigid set showed dominance of gamma-frequency power in the posterior temporal and occipital areas of the left hemisphere. Translated from Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel'nosti imeni I. P. Pavlova, Vol. 58, No. 1, pp. 5–11, January–February, 2008.     

Long-range synchronization and local desynchronization of alpha oscillations during visual short-term memory retention in children

Local alpha-band synchronization has been associated with both cortical idling and active inhibition. Recent evidence, however, suggests that long-range alpha synchronization increases functional coupling between cortical regions. We demonstrate increased long-range alpha and beta band phase synchronization during short-term memory retention in children 6–10 years of age. Furthermore, whereas alpha-band synchronization between posterior cortex and other regions is increased during retention, local alpha-band synchronization over posterior cortex is reduced. This constitutes a functional dissociation for alpha synchronization across local and long-range cortical scales. We interpret long-range synchronization as reflecting functional integration within a network of frontal and visual cortical regions. Local desynchronization of alpha rhythms over posterior cortex, conversely, likely arises because of increased engagement of visual cortex during retention.     

Spatiotemporal patterns of oscillatory brain activity during auditory word recognition in children: a synthetic aperture magnetometry study.

OBJECTIVE: We studied the task-induced spatiotemporal evolution and characteristics of cortical neural oscillations in children during an auditory word recognition task. METHODS: We presented abstract nouns binaurally and recorded the MEG response in eight healthy right-handed children (6-12 years). We calculated the event-related changes in cortical oscillations using a beamformer spatial filter analysis technique (SAM), then transformed each subject's statistical maps into standard space and used these to make group statistical inferences. RESULTS: Across subjects, the cortical response to words could be divided into at least two phases: an initial event-related synchronization in both the right temporal (100-300 ms, 15-25 Hz; 200-400 ms, 5-15 Hz) and left frontal regions (200-400 ms; 15-25 Hz); followed by a strong left-lateralized event-related desynchronization in the left temporal region (500-700 ms; 5-15 Hz). CONCLUSIONS: We found bilateral event-related synchronization followed by later left lateralized event-related desynchronization in language-related cortical areas. These data demonstrate the spatiotemporal time course of neural activation during an auditory word recognition task in a group of children. As well, this demonstrates the utility of SAM analyses to detect subtle sequential task-related neural activations.     

Dynamics of the spatial organization of cortical electrical activity during the formation and actualization of a cognitive set to facial expression

The coherence functions of cortical electrical potentials were studied in 35 healthy adults in the alpha (8–13 Hz) and beta (14–25 Hz) ranges, recorded at the stages of formation and testing of a visual set to images of faces bearing different emotional expressions. At the set actualization stage, the frontal area showed significant increases in intra-and interhemisphere coherence of potentials in the alpha range and coherence of potentials between the frontal and temporal areas of the cortex in the right hemisphere. These analytical results support the suggestion that the formation and actualization of a set to emotional facial expression are predominantly associated with activity in the frontal areas of the cortex. This conclusion is based on the view that the extent of spatial synchronization of electrical potentials is a measure of the functional relationships between corresponding cortical areas and their cooperativity, and thus reflects the state of their activity. __________ Translated from Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel’nosti imeni I. P. Pavlova, Vol. 57, No. 1, pp. 33–42, January–February, 2007.     

Synchronization of EEG Theta and Alpha Rhythms in an Unconscious Set to the Perception of an Emotional Facial Expression

Coherence functions in cortical electrical potentials in the theta (4–7 Hz) and alpha ranges (8–13 Hz) recorded during the formation and testing stages of a visual set to facial images bearing an emotional expression (an angry face) were studied in healthy adult subjects (n = 35). Differences in the spatial synchronization between theta and alpha potentials were seen, especially in rigid forms of the set, in which cases of erroneous perception of facial expressions were seen with contrast and assimilative illusions. This group of subjects (n = 23) showed increases in theta potentials between the dorsolateral areas of the frontal cortex (the orbitofrontal cortex) and the temporal area in the right hemisphere. A mechanism is proposed for the development of visual illusions. Analysis of the coherence functions of cortical potentials in the theta and alpha ranges generates a “window” which can be used to study the operation of the two functional systems integrating brain activity, i.e., the corticohippocampal and frontothalamic, in the perception of a facial expression. The frontothalamic system is associated with more diffuse types of cortical activation, especially in its anterior areas. The theta rhythm system evidently facilitates integration of the frontal cortex with the temporal area in the right hemisphere and the connections of the latter with the parietal and central zones in both hemispheres.     

Effect of unconscious interoceptive afferentation on the spatial organization of electrical activity in the human cerebral cortex

Toposcopic studies consisting of EEG recording from 24 cortical points was carried out to characterize the spatial organization of the electrical activity of the human cerebral cortex during the action of unconscious interoceptive stimuli arising from biologically active points associated with different internal organs — the heart, lungs, liver, and intestine. When acupuncture had positive effects, reductions in global synchronization of cortical potentials were noted, which were combined with foci of weakening of the linear and nonlinear correlations in the anterior parts of the right hemisphere, as well as in the posterior and temporal parts of the left hemisphere, with increases in coherence in one of the high-frequency subranges of the EEG (21.5-23.0 Hz). Negative effects and absence of effect correlated with significantly less pronounced weakening of global synchronization of potentials, and increases in their coherence in one of the subranges of alpha activity. Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow. Translated from Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel'nosti, Vol. 45, No. 5, pp. 867–875, September–October, 1995.     

Cortico-cortical phase synchrony in auditory mismatch processing

Previous studies have shown a reduced MMN in patients with lesions in the temporal or frontal lobes, suggesting a temporal-frontal involvement in change detection. However, how the temporal lobe interacts with other brain areas in responding to unexpected deviant stimuli remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the functional connectivity between cerebral regions by measuring the phase synchrony of magnetoencephalographic (MEG) signals elicited by regular simple tones and their duration-deviants in an oddball paradigm. We measured MEG responses to deviant (1000-Hz frequency, 50-ms duration, probability of 15%) and standard (1000-Hz frequency, 100-ms duration) sounds in 10 healthy adults. By using the Morlet wavelet-based analysis, relative phase synchronization values of 4-40 Hz MEG responses at 150-300 ms after stimulus onset were calculated with respect to a reference channel from the temporal region. Phase synchronization was clearly identified between the temporal and ipsilateral frontal region in the auditory evoked responses. This temporal-frontal synchronization was significantly larger in deviants-elicited than standards-elicited activation at 4-25 Hz in the left hemisphere (p < 0.05), and at 4-8 Hz in the right hemisphere (p < 0.01). Also, temporal-temporal and temporal-parietal phase synchronies were found in deviants-evoked 4-8 Hz responses.The present results suggest an involvement of temporal-temporal, temporal-frontal, and temporal-parietal neuronal network in detecting auditory change. Phase synchronization analysis may provide a useful window to further understanding of the cerebral reactivity during the processing of auditory deviants.     

High Gamma Oscillations of Sensorimotor Cortex During Unilateral Movement in the Developing Brain: a MEG Study

Recent studies in adults have found consistent contralateral high gamma activities in the sensorimotor cortex during unilateral finger movement. However, no study has reported on this same phenomenon in children. We hypothesized that contralateral high gamma activities also exist in children during unilateral finger movement. Sixty normal children (6–17 years old) were studied with a 275-channel MEG system combined with synthetic aperture magnetometry (SAM). Sixty participants displayed consistently contralateral event-related synchronization (C-ERS) within high gamma band (65–150 Hz) in the primary motor cortices (M1) of both hemispheres. Interestingly, nineteen younger children displayed ipsilateral event-related synchronization (I-ERS) within the high gamma band (65–150 Hz) just during their left finger movement. Both I-ERS and C-ERS were localized in M1. The incidence of I-ERS showed a significant decrease with age. Males had significantly higher odds of having ipsilateral activity compared to females. Noteworthy, high gamma C-ERS appeared consistently, while high gamma I-ERS changed with age. The asymmetrical patterns of neuromagnetic activities in the children’s brain might represent the maturational lateralization and/or specialization of motor function. In conclusion, the present results have demonstrated that contralateral high-gamma neuromagnetic activities are potential biomarkers for the accurate localization of the primary motor cortex in children. In addition, the interesting finding of the ipsilateral high-gamma neuromagnetic activities opens a new window for us to understand the developmental changes of the hemispherical functional lateralization in the motor system.     

Neurophysiological Correlates of Induced Discrete Emotions in Humans: An Individually Oriented Analysis

Studies on 30 right-handed subjects addressed EEG characteristics (62 channels) in conditions of laboratory simulation of induced emotions of happiness, joy, anger, disgust, fear/anxiety, and sadness. Induced emotions were found to produce, along with common features, individual patterns in the distribution of amplitude-frequency EEG characteristics. Induced positive and negative discrete emotions were characterized by interhemisphere activatory asymmetry in the theta-2 (4–6 Hz), alpha-2 (10–12 Hz), and beta-1 (12–18 Hz) ranges. Experience of the emotions of joy, anger, and disgust occurred on the background of asymmetrical increases in activity in the anterior cortex of the left hemisphere in the theta-2 range, suggesting a leading role for the activity of these areas in realizing the cognitive components of emotional reacting. In addition, some high-ergicity negative emotions evoked combined alpha-2 and beta-1 desynchronization (disgust) or beta-1 desynchronization (fear/anxiety) in the right parietal-temporal cortex, suggesting its involvement in the mechanisms of non-specific emotional activation. These data provide evidence that each of these emotions is characterized by its own individual pattern in the distribution of the amplitude-frequency characteristics of the EEG and, on the other hand, that series of ranges and cortical areas show similar but different (in terms of intensity) effects in response to emotional activation for emotions of different flavor. __________ Translated from Rossiiskii Fiziologicheskii Zhurnal imeni I. M. Sechenova, Vol. 90, No. 12, pp. 1457–1471, December, 2004.     

The Role of the Context of Cognitive Activity in the Recognition of Facial Emotional Expressions

The effects of the types of additional cognitive tasks (visuospatial or semantic) added to the context of experiments with a set to recognition of an emotionally negative facial expression were studied in healthy human subjects. Loading on working memory decreased the plasticity of the set: changes in the situation increased the number of erroneous recognitions of the facial expression. Differences were seen in the nature of erroneous recognitions (assimilative and contrast illusions) depending on the additional task. Analysis of coherence functions of cortical electrical potentials in the low-frequency alpha (8–10 Hz) and beta (14–20 Hz) ranges supported the hypothesis that increases in the loading on working memory lead to decreases in the involvement of the frontal mechanisms of selective attention in the formation and actualization of the set. This leads to slowing of the process of set shifting. Loading on working memory induced hemisphere asymmetry in prestimulus electrical activity: spatial synchronization of theta potentials significantly decreased in the right hemisphere and increased in the left. The functional significance of coherence connections in the theta range between the dorsolateral part of the prefrontal cortex and the temporal area in the right hemisphere for the process of set substitution is discussed.     

Visual evoked potentials in humans during recognition of emotional facial expressions

Visual evoked potentials were recorded from the occipital, parietal, central, frontal, and posterior temporal areas of the cortex during recognition of emotionally positive, negative and neutral facial expressions and during passive observation in 22 right-handed healthy subjects. These studies showed that in the posterior temporal areas, the latencies of the N90, P150, and N180 waves of potentials evoked by faces with emotionally negative expressions were significantly shorter than those evoked by other types of facial stimuli. Differences were seen both on recognition and during passive observation. Correct recognition involved both hemispheres and was characterized by high levels of interhemisphere temporal correlation of the processes occurring during the development of the P150 wave in the posterior temporal and the N180 wave in the frontal parts of the cortex. The possible relationship of these data to primary subthreshold recognition of facial expressions in the posterior temporal fields of the cortex is discussed, as is the role of the frontal cortex in completing this process and in taking the correct decision about the nature of the image. Translated from Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel'nosti imeni I. P. Pavlova, Vol. 48, No. 5, pp. 797–806, September–October, 1998.     

Dissociating cortical regions activated by semantic and phonological tasks: a FMRI study in blind and sighted people

Previous neuroimaging studies of language processing in blind individuals described cortical activation of primary (V1) and higher tier visual areas, irrespective of the age of blindness onset. Specifically, participants were given nouns and asked to generate an associated verb. These results confirmed the presence of adaptations in the visual cortex of blind people and suggested that these responses represented linguistic operations. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging study attempted to further characterize these responses as being preferential for semantic or phonological processing. Three groups of participants (sighted, early onset, and late-onset blind) heard lists of related words and attended to either a common meaning (semantic task) or common rhyme (phonological task) that linked the words. In all three groups, the semantic task elicited stronger activity in the left anterior inferior frontal gyrus and the phonological task evoked stronger activity bilaterally in the inferior parietal cortex and posterior aspects of the left inferior frontal gyrus. Only blind individuals showed activity in occipital, temporal, and parietal components of visual cortex. The spatial extent of visual cortex activity was greatest in early blind, who exhibited activation in all ventral and dorsal visual cortex subdivisions (V1 through MT) for both tasks. Preferential activation appeared for the semantic task. Late blind individuals exhibited responses in ventral and dorsal V1, ventral V2, VP and V8, but only for the semantic task. Our findings support prior evidence of visual cortex activity in blind people engaged in auditory language processing and suggest that this activity may be related to semantic processing.     

Spectral analysis of event-related EEG responses during short-term memory performance

Summary Averaged event-related EEG frequency response profiles were generated from normalized spectral analysis data obtained in 2 studies of short-term memory. A continuous performance task was used requiring a keyboard response to targeted letter sequences presented on a video screen at 2 sec. intervals. Seven 2 Hz frequency bands between 5–15 Hz were evaluated. In the first study (n=14) response profiles from control and target stimuli were compared. This analysis disclosed 1) a short latency increase at 5–7 and 7–9 Hz in posterior cortex that was identical in both conditions and was attributed to frequency manifestations of the extrinsic visual evoked response (VEP), 2) a separate long-latency increase of uncertain origin at 5–7 Hz in anterior cortex only in the task condition, and 3) a generalized mid-latency alpha frequency suppression and recovery pattern (event-related desynchronization, or ERD) in all bands during both conditions. The ERD in bands between 9–13 Hz was significantly increased at left central and bilateral parietal cortex during target recall. The second study (n=26) compared good vs. poor performance in the target recall task. Findings disclosed significant differences at 7–9 Hz localized to posterior temporal cortex bilaterally. These differences included reduced magnitude in the VEP component and increased suppression in the ERD component among good performers.This work was supported by the Veterans Administration, the Northrop-Grumman Corporation, and the United States Air Force.     

Neural Representations of Visual Words and Objects: A Functional MRI Study on the Modularity of Reading and Object Processing

There have been several studies supporting the notion of a ventral-dorsal distinction in the primate cortex for visual object processing, whereby the ventral stream specializes in object identification, and the dorsal stream is engaged during object localization and interaction. There is also a growing body of evidence supporting a ventral stream that specializes in lexical (i.e., whole-word) reading, and a dorsal stream that is engaged during sub-lexical reading (i.e., phonetic decoding). Here, we consider the extent to which word-reading processes are located in regions either intersecting with, or unique from, regions that sub-serve object processing along these streams. Object identification was contrasted with lexical-based reading, and object interaction processing (i.e., deciding how to interact with an object) was contrasted with sub-lexical reading. Our results suggest that object identification and lexical-based reading are largely ventral and modular, showing mainly unique regions of activation (parahippocampal and occipital-temporal gyri function associated with object identification, and lingual, lateral occipital, and posterior inferior temporal gyri function associated with lexical-based reading) and very little shared activation (posterior inferior frontal gyrus). Object interaction processing and phonetic decoding are largely dorsal, and show both modular regions of activation (more lateralized to the dorsal-frontal right hemisphere for pseudohomophone naming, and more to the dorsal-frontal left hemisphere for the object interaction task) as well as significant shared regions of processing (precentral gyri, left inferior frontal cortex, left postcentral gyrus, left lateral occipital cortex, and superior posterior temporal gyri). Given that the perceptual experimental conditions show primarily modular and very little shared processing, whereas the analytical conditions show both substantial modular and shared processing, we discuss a reconsideration of “modularity of mind” which involves a continuum between strictly modular processing and varying degrees of shared processing, and which also depends on the nature of the tasks compared (i.e., perceptual versus analytical).