A Syntax-lexicon Trade-off in Language Production

Overview

Journal Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Specialty Science

Date 2022 Jun 16

PMID 35709321

Authors

Neguine Rezaii

Kyle Mahowald

Rachel Ryskin

Bradford Dickerson

Edward Gibson

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Spoken language production involves selecting and assembling words and syntactic structures to convey one's message. Here we probe this process by analyzing natural language productions of individuals with primary progressive aphasia (PPA) and healthy individuals. Based on prior neuropsychological observations, we hypothesize that patients who have difficulty producing complex syntax might choose semantically richer words to make their meaning clear, whereas patients with lexicosemantic deficits may choose more complex syntax. To evaluate this hypothesis, we first introduce a frequency-based method for characterizing the syntactic complexity of naturally produced utterances. We then show that lexical and syntactic complexity, as measured by their frequencies, are negatively correlated in a large ( = 79) PPA population. We then show that this syntax-lexicon trade-off is also present in the utterances of healthy speakers ( = 99) taking part in a picture description task, suggesting that it may be a general property of the process by which humans turn thoughts into speech.

Citing Articles

Language abnormalities in Alzheimer's disease indicate reduced informativeness.

Bayat S, Sanati M, Mohammad-Panahi M, Khodadadi A, Ghasimi M, Rezaee S Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2024; 11(11):2946-2957.

PMID: 39291771 PMC: 11572728. DOI: 10.1002/acn3.52205.

A reconceptualization of sentence production in post-stroke agrammatic aphasia: the synergistic processing bottleneck model.

Faroqi-Shah Y Front Lang Sci. 2024; 2.

PMID: 39175803 PMC: 11340809. DOI: 10.3389/flang.2023.1118739.

Clinical efficacy of pre-trained large language models through the lens of aphasia.

Cong Y, LaCroix A, Lee J Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):15573.

PMID: 38971898 PMC: 11227580. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-66576-y.

Artificial intelligence classifies primary progressive aphasia from connected speech.

Rezaii N, Hochberg D, Quimby M, Wong B, Brickhouse M, Touroutoglou A Brain. 2024; 147(9):3070-3082.

PMID: 38912855 PMC: 11370793. DOI: 10.1093/brain/awae196.

Rational adaptation in word production: Strong conceptual ability reduces the effect of lexical impairments on verb retrieval in aphasia.

Dresang H, Warren T, Hula W, Dickey M Neuropsychologia. 2024; 201:108938.

PMID: 38880385 PMC: 11236503. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2024.108938.

References

Lewis R, Vasishth S . An activation-based model of sentence processing as skilled memory retrieval. Cogn Sci. 2011; 29(3):375-419. DOI: 10.1207/s15516709cog0000_25. View

Berndt R, Haendiges A, Mitchum C, SANDSON J . Verb retrieval in aphasia. 2. Relationship to sentence processing. Brain Lang. 1997; 56(1):107-37. DOI: 10.1006/brln.1997.1728. View

Ash S, Moore P, Vesely L, Gunawardena D, McMillan C, Anderson C . Non-Fluent Speech in Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration. J Neurolinguistics. 2011; 22(4):370-383. PMC: 3238501. DOI: 10.1016/j.jneuroling.2008.12.001. View

Staffaroni A, Weintraub S, Rascovsky K, Rankin K, Taylor J, Fields J . Uniform data set language measures for bvFTD and PPA diagnosis and monitoring. Alzheimers Dement (Amst). 2021; 13(1):e12148. PMC: 7896637. DOI: 10.1002/dad2.12148. View

Gibson E . Linguistic complexity: locality of syntactic dependencies. Cognition. 1998; 68(1):1-76. DOI: 10.1016/s0010-0277(98)00034-1. View

Jaeger T . Redundancy and reduction: speakers manage syntactic information density. Cogn Psychol. 2010; 61(1):23-62. PMC: 2896231. DOI: 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2010.02.002. View

Kittredge A, Dell G, Verkuilen J, Schwartz M . Where is the effect of frequency in word production? Insights from aphasic picture-naming errors. Cogn Neuropsychol. 2008; 25(4):463-92. PMC: 2963561. DOI: 10.1080/02643290701674851. View

Cho S, Nevler N, Ash S, Shellikeri S, Irwin D, Massimo L . Automated analysis of lexical features in frontotemporal degeneration. Cortex. 2021; 137:215-231. PMC: 8044033. DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.01.012. View

Knopman D, Weintraub S, Pankratz V . Language and behavior domains enhance the value of the clinical dementia rating scale. Alzheimers Dement. 2011; 7(3):293-9. PMC: 3096831. DOI: 10.1016/j.jalz.2010.12.006. View

10.

Weintraub S, Mesulam M, Wieneke C, Rademaker A, Rogalski E, Thompson C . The northwestern anagram test: measuring sentence production in primary progressive aphasia. Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen. 2009; 24(5):408-16. PMC: 2836907. DOI: 10.1177/1533317509343104. View

11.

Pakhomov S, Chacon D, Wicklund M, Gundel J . Computerized assessment of syntactic complexity in Alzheimer's disease: a case study of Iris Murdoch's writing. Behav Res Methods. 2011; 43(1):136-44. DOI: 10.3758/s13428-010-0037-9. View

12.

Fraser K, Meltzer J, Graham N, Leonard C, Hirst G, Black S . Automated classification of primary progressive aphasia subtypes from narrative speech transcripts. Cortex. 2013; 55:43-60. DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2012.12.006. View

13.

Konopka A, Bock K . Lexical or syntactic control of sentence formulation? Structural generalizations from idiom production. Cogn Psychol. 2008; 58(1):68-101. DOI: 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2008.05.002. View

14.

Ash S, Evans E, OShea J, Powers J, Boller A, Weinberg D . Differentiating primary progressive aphasias in a brief sample of connected speech. Neurology. 2013; 81(4):329-36. PMC: 3772830. DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e31829c5d0e. View

15.

Levelt W, Roelofs A, Meyer A . A theory of lexical access in speech production. Behav Brain Sci. 2001; 22(1):1-38; discussion 38-75. DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x99001776. View

16.

Thompson C, Cho S, Hsu C, Wieneke C, Rademaker A, Weitner B . Dissociations Between Fluency And Agrammatism In Primary Progressive Aphasia. Aphasiology. 2011; 26(1):20-43. PMC: 3244141. DOI: 10.1080/02687038.2011.584691. View

17.

Wilson S, Henry M, Besbris M, Ogar J, Dronkers N, Jarrold W . Connected speech production in three variants of primary progressive aphasia. Brain. 2010; 133(Pt 7):2069-88. PMC: 2892940. DOI: 10.1093/brain/awq129. View

18.

Farias S, Mungas D, Harvey D, Simmons A, Reed B, DeCarli C . The measurement of everyday cognition: development and validation of a short form of the Everyday Cognition scales. Alzheimers Dement. 2011; 7(6):593-601. PMC: 3211103. DOI: 10.1016/j.jalz.2011.02.007. View

19.

Ash S, Ternes K, Bisbing T, Min N, Moran E, York C . Dissociation of quantifiers and object nouns in speech in focal neurodegenerative disease. Neuropsychologia. 2016; 89:141-152. PMC: 4996733. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.06.013. View

20.

Marcotte K, Graham N, Fraser K, Meltzer J, Tang-Wai D, Chow T . White Matter Disruption and Connected Speech in Non-Fluent and Semantic Variants of Primary Progressive Aphasia. Dement Geriatr Cogn Dis Extra. 2017; 7(1):52-73. PMC: 5465709. DOI: 10.1159/000456710. View