WELCOME TO THIS TALK HOSTED BY
NIH LANGUAGE PROCESSING
GROUP.
THIS WILL BE THE LAST TALK OF
THE YEAR.
WE'VE HAD SEVERAL WONDERFUL
SPEAKERS AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST,
OUR SPEAKER TODAY IS DR. NADIA
BIASSOU.
SHE IS GOING TO TALK ABOUT A
FAST
FASCINATING TOPIC ABOUT LANGUAGE
AND THE NEUROSCIENCE OF
LANGUAGE.
LET ME INTRODUCE OUR SPEAKER.
SHE IS A HOLDS A JOINT APPOINTMENT IN
THE IMAGING SCIENCES DEPARTMENT
AT THE NIH CLINICAL CENTER.
SHE'S CHIEF OF THE INTEGRATED
NEUROSCIENCE -- UNIT AT NIDCD.
SHE OBTAINED HER TRAINING IN
CLINICAL DIAGNOSTIC RADIOLOGY
FROM GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
HOSPITAL WITH SUBSPECIALTY
FELLOWSHIP TRAINING IN
NEURORADIOLOGY FROM THE HOSPITAL
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF
PENNSYLVANIA.
SHE ALSO HOLDS A BACHELOR OF
ARTS DEGREE IN ENGLISH
LITERATURE FROM AMHERST COLLEGE,
A MASTER'S OF ARTS AND PH.D. IN
APPLIED LINGUISTICS AND
COGNITIVE SCIENCE FROM THE
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, AND
A MEDICAL DEGREE FROM THE
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO-PRITZKER
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE.
THE SCOPE OF HER RESEARCH SPANS
FROM THE APPLIED COMPUTATIONAL
NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS.
IT'S MY PLEASURE TO INTRODUCE
DR. NADIA BIASSOU.
WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, NADIA,
PLEASE.
>> THANK YOU SO MUCH, I'M REALLY
VERY HAPPY YOU ASKED ME TO COME
AND TALK TO YOUR GROUP TODAY.
I'M ACTUALLY
VERY HAPPY TO COME AND TALK TO
YOU GUYS, AND I FIND THAT WHAT
YOU'RE WORKING ON IN YOUR GROUP
AS BEING SOMETHING THAT'S
ENORMOUSLY IMPORTANT, AND
ACTUALLY HAS RELEVANCE TO WHAT
I'M TRYING TO DO, ALTHOUGH I
DON'T WORK NECESSARILY ON THAT
BUT IT'S AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF
THIS KIND OF WORK.
SO THE FIELD THAT DOES THIS KIND
OF WORK IS REALLY BY ITS NATURE
INTERDISCIPLINARY.
IT REALLY DOES INVOLVE COGNITIVE
SCIENCE, WHICH YOU KNOW IS MADE
UP OF LINGUISTICS, PSYCHOLOGY,
NEUROPSYCHOLOGY,
PSYCHOLINGUISTICS, COMPUTER
SCIENCE AND INCREASINGLY, PEOPLE
ARE USING ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE AND NEURAL NETWORKS
TO TRY TO EXTRACT EVEN MORE
INFORMATION FROM THESE DATA, BUT
IT ALSO INVOLVES NEUROLOGY AND
IN PARTICULAR, NEUROSCIENCE AND
NEUROIMAGING.
AND IN MY TRAINING, I TRIED TO
COVER AS MUCH OF THESE FIELDS AS
I COULD, BUT I HAVE TO STOP AT
SOME POINT.
SO IT'S REALLY A TOPIC THAT
ACTUALLY I BECAME VERY
INTERESTED IN AT A VERY EARLY
AGE.
I THINK I WAS STILL IN COLLEGE.
I THINK WE HAD SPOKEN BRIEFLY
ABOUT THAT IN WHICH I HAD TAKEN
A CLASS IN THE NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
OF LANGUAGE, IN THE PSYCHOLOGY
DEPARTMENT AT AMHERST COLLEGE
AND I WAS UTTERLY FASCINATED BY
THE FACT THAT WHEN YOU THINK
ABOUT IT, THESE ARE JUST CELLS
THAT ARE EXCHANGING POTASSIUM
AND SODIUM IONS, AND THAT CAN
GENERATE AN INCREDIBLE WEALTH OF
RICH IDEAS AND THOUGHTS AND HOW
THOSE THOUGHTS GET EXPRESSED IN
A WAY THAT WE DON'T EVEN THINK
ABOUT IT.
BUT IT'S INSTANTANEOUS IN TERMS
OF WHAT WE THINK AND IT COMES
OUT OF OUR MOUTHS AND WHAT WE
HEAR AND WE COMPREHEND.
BUT IT'S SOMETHING THAT ACTUALLY
SPANS THE ENTIRE LIFESPAN, FROM
CHILDHOOD IN TERMS OF ACQUIRING
LANGUAGE ACCESSION DEFICITS,
AUTISM AND STUTTERING, EPILEPSY,
STROKE, ALL OF THESE DISORDERS
ALL TOUCH ON LANGUAGE IN SOME
WAY, SHAPE OR FORM.
BUT YOU COULD TALK ABOUT MANY
DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE.
WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT A
SPECIFIC ASPECT OF LANGUAGE
BECAUSE THE FIELD IS JUST TOO
BROAD.
WE COULD TALK ABOUT SEMANTICS
AND SEMANTIC MEMORY ISSUES AND
SEMANTIC DEFICIT AND SIN TACTIC
DEFICIT ISSUES, BUT I THINK I'M
ONLY GOING TO TALK ABOUT ONE
SPECIFIC THING.
AND THE REASON WHY I WAS
ACTUALLY VERY INTERESTED IN THAT
IS BECAUSE I DO HAVE MORE OF A
KIND OF A BIOLOGICAL BENT, AND
IT WAS VERY ORGANIC FOR ME TO
UNDERSTAND SOUND, BECAUSE IT'S
ESSENTIALLY PHYSICS.
IT'S JUST A SINUSOIDAL WAVEFORM
MOVING IN SPACE, AND CAN BE
DISTORTED BY THE ACOUSTICS OF A
ROOM, IT CAN BE DISTORTED BY THE
ARTICULATION OF THE AURAL TRACT,
AND FOR ME, THAT WAS JUST
SOMETHING THAT I COULD REALLY
UNDERSTAND IN A WAY THAT MY OWN
MIND WORKS FAIRLY WELL.
SO JUST TO GO OVER THIS A LITTLE
BIT, AND I KNOW THAT THERE ARE
NOT PEOPLE WHO ARE NECESSARILY
LINGUISTS WHO ARE IN THIS GROUP,
BUT WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, AS
I MENTIONED, IS THE SINUSOIDAL
WAVEFORMS OF SOUND.
NOW, LANGUAGE IS DIFFERENT IN
THE SENSE THAT IT HAS -- THAT
SOUND HAS SOME MEANING THAT'S
ASSOCIATED WITH IT, AND THAT'S
WHAT THE BRAIN BASICALLY USES TO
UNDERSTAND WHAT PEOPLE ARE
SAYING, AND THAT'S WHAT IT USES
TO INTERACT WITH THE
ENVIRONMENT, BUT IT'S ACTUALLY
DONE IN A VERY SPECIFIC WAY.
AND IF YOU HAVE CONSONANTS AND
VOWELS, THERE ARE VERY
PARTICULAR POINTS AT WHICH YOU
CAN MEASURE THE ACOUSTICS
ASSOCIATED WITH THOSE SOUNDS,
AND THOSE ACOUSTICS ARE VERY
PARTICULAR TO THE SOUND THAT'S
BEING GENERATED AT ANY GIVEN
MOMENT IN TIME.
BUT FOR EXAMPLE, IF I WERE TO
LOOK AT THE ACOUSTICS OF KA OR
TA PA OR
TA OR KA, EACH IS SLIGHTLY
DIFFERENT.
BECAUSE OF THE ACOUSTICS OF A,
YOU'D THINK IT WOULD BE THE SAME
NO MATTER WHAT, BUT IT DOESN'T
BECAUSE IT'S ACTUALLY BLENDED
AND INFLUENCED BY THE
SURROUNDING ENVIRONMENT.
SO THE ACOUSTICS OF THE A, IF
IT'S PRECEDED BY A P OR IT'S
FOLLOWED BY A T, IS A LITTLE
DIFFERENT THAN IF IT'S PRECEDED
BY A T AND FOLLOWED BY A D AND
SO ON AND SO FORTH.
SO THERE ARE VERY SPECIFIC
ASPECTS OF ACOUSTIC SIGNATURE
THAT YOU CAN MEASURE AND YOU CAN
ALTER IT, YOU CAN STRETCH IT AND
CHANGE THE WAVE FORM AND
WAVELENGTHS AND HAVE VERY
PARTICULAR CHANGES THAT OCCUR TO
THE SOUNDS THAT YOU PERCEIVE.
AND I'VE FOUND THAT TO BE VERY,
VERY EXCITING AND VERY
INTERESTING.
NOW PART OF THE REASON WHY THIS
HAPPENS IS BECAUSE OF THE AURAL
TRACT, AND THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO
HAVE DONE STUDIES ON THIS IN
TERMS OF LOOKING AT THE
FREQUENCY THAT'S GENERATED BY
THE VOCAL CORDS, AND WHAT THE
FREQUENCIES WILL BE IF YOUR
TONGUE TOUCHES THE TOP OF THE
RIDGE OF YOUR MOUTH AT THIS
POINT VERSUS THIS POINT VERSUS
THIS POINT VERSUS THAT POINT.
AND THOSE ARE RESONATING
CALFITIES
CAVITIES THAT CAN BE MEASURED IN
A SPECTROGRAM OF SPEECH, AND
THIS IS A SPECTROGRAM OF SPEECH
AND YOU CAN SEE THE RESONATING
FREQUENCIES THAT WILL RESONATE
AT 1, 3, 5, 7 AND SO ON AND SO
FORTH OF THE FUNDAMENTAL
FREQUENCY.
SO THESE, YOU CAN SEE ON A
SPECTROGRAM, AND IT HAS -- YOU
CAN ACTUALLY LOOK AT IT AND
GUESS TO KNOW WHAT SOUND IS
COMING AND WHAT SOUND HAD JUST
RECENTLY BEEN ARTICULATED.
AND I FOUND THAT TO BE A REALLY,
REALLY FASCINATING KIND OF --
IT'S ALMOST A THUMBPRINT, YOU
COULD SAY, BUT THE BRAIN
ACTIVELY USES THIS KIND OF
INFORMATION TO LISTEN AND
PREDICT WHAT SOUND IS GOING TO
COME AND WHAT THE WORD IS MOST
LIKELY THAT WAS SAID, AND IT
USES A WHOLE HOST OF OTHER
STRATEGIES TO TRY TO PREDICT
THOSE THINGS.
BUT IF YOU JUST WERE TO SAY A
WORD IN ISOLATION OR EVEN A
SOUND IN ISOLATION, IT DOES USE
THESE KINDS OF FREQUENCIES TO
TRY TO MAKE SENSE OF THE WORLD
AND THE STRINGS OF SOUNDS THAT
IT'S LISTENING TO.
AGAIN, THIS IS A SCHEMATIC
RENDITION OF WHAT I'VE JUST
MENTIONED, AND AGAIN, YOU CAN
SEE DIFFERENCES IN THE
TRANSITION OF THE FORMANTS WHERE
THE TONGUE IS GOING AT ANY
PARTICULAR MOMENT OF TIME TO
PREDICT WHAT SOUND IS GOING TO
OCCUR NEXT.
BUT WHEN THE BRAIN HAS A DEFICIT
OR HAS DAMAGE TO IT, EITHER
BECAUSE OF SOME SORT OF STROKE
OR BECAUSE THERE'S A
NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE,
THAT'S KIND OF UNDERMINING THE
NEURAL BASIS BY WHICH THE BRAIN
IS ABLE TO DECODE ITS
ENVIRONMENT.
INTERESTINGLY, IT'S VERY --
THERE'S A VERY PARTICULAR
PATTERN THAT EMERGES DEPENDING
ON WHERE THE DEFICIT IS.
MANY INVESTIGATORS OVER THE LAST
50 OR 60 YEARS HAVE REALLY BEEN
LOOKING AT THESE KINDS OF LESION
DEFICIT, ACTUALLY I SHOULD EVEN
SAY LONGER THAN THAT, CARL
WERNICKE AND PAUL BROCA WERE
NEUROSCIENTISTS AND NEUROLOGISTS
LOOKING AT THESE KINDS OF ISSUES
OVER A CENTURY AGO, AND WE ARE
STILL LOOKING AT THOSE THINGS
BUT NOW USING MORE AND MORE
SOPHISTICATED TECHNIQUES TO TRY
TO UNDERSTAND THE NEURAL BASIS
OF LANGUAGE IN AN INTEGRATED
FASHION.
FROM THE LESION SPHU STUDIES, ONE OF
THE WAYS IN WHICH YOU CAN LOOK
AT THE NEURAL BASIS OF LANGUAGE
IS IN LESION STUDIES.
PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DOING THAT FOR
OVER A CENTURY.
ALTHOUGH IN MEDICAL SCHOOL, WE
TEND TO STILL SPEAK IN RATHER
SIMPLISTIC TERMS ABOUT APHASIA,
WE KEND TO TEND TO TALK ABOUT BROCA'S
AREA, WHICH IS AN ANTERIOR KIND
OF LOCATION, AND WE HAVE OFTEN
ASSOCIATED THAT WITH EFFORTFUL
TYPE OF SPEECH, THE PATIENT
KNOWS WHAT THEY WANT TO SAY BUT
THEY HAVE DIFFICULTY
ARTICULATING THAT, AND VERSUS A
MORE POSTERIOR TYPE OF APHASIA,
WHICH WE CALL THE WERNICKE'S
APHASIA, WHERE THE SPEECH IS
ACTUALLY QUITE FLUENT BUT JUST
DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE, KIND OF
LIKE A WORD SALAD.
THOSE ARE TWO VERY SIMPLE AND
BROADWAYS WE CAN TALK ABOUT
APHASIA, NON-FLUENT VERSUS
FLUENT, BUT THERE'S A WHOLE
RANGE OF THINGS, A WHOLE RANGE
OF APHASIAS THAT CAN OCCUR, SUCH
AS A GLOBAL APHASIA, MIXED TRANS
CORTICAL APHASIA, TRANS CORTICAL
MOTOR APHASIA, CONDUCTION
APHASIA, AND THAT CAN HAPPEN
ALONG THE ENTIRE SPECTRUM OF THE
BRAIN CONNECTING THESE TWO
AREAS, AND WE'RE FINDING OUT
MORE AND MORE WITH STUDIES THAT
ARE BEING DONE NOT ONLY IN
COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICS BUT
ALSO LOOKING AT NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
IN TERMS OF MEASURING THE
ELECTRICAL CORTICAL ACTIVITY
WITHIN THE BRAIN IN THE
OPERATING ROOM OR ONCE THEY HAVE
PUT AN ELECTRICAL CORTICAL GRID
OVER IT, THEY CAN MEASURE MANY
DIFFERENT THINGS.
WE'RE REALLY BEGINNING TO
UNDERSTAND THE NEUROSCIENCE OF
HOW LANGUAGE IS MANIFESTED IN
THE BRAIN, AND MAKING MORE SENSE
OF THE KINDS OF APHASIAS THAT
WERE DESCRIBED MAYBE 50 YEARS
AGO USING PURELY LESION
ANALYSIS.
PEOPLE USED TO LOOK AT THEIR
PAIBILITY TO REPETITION AND
FLUENCY AND COMPREHENSION AND
WHETHER THEY COULD READ OR
WRITE, AND SO THERE IS AN
EXTENSIVE BODY OF PHASIOLOGY
THAT DESCRIBES THE TYPES OF
LANGUAGE OUTPUTS THAT HAPPEN AS
THE BRAIN BREAKS DOWN.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WAS
ASSUMED WAS THAT WE HAD A
NETWORK, IT WAS DISTRIBUTED
ACROSS THE HEMISPHERE, BUT IF WE
HAD A LESION, IT WAS THAT
NETWORK MINUS THE LESION BUT
THAT THE NETWORK CONTINUES TO
OPERATE AS IT DID BEFORE, BUT
MINUS THAT.
AND NOW WE'RE BEGINNING TO
UNDERSTAND THAT THAT'S ACTUALLY
NOT WHAT MAY BE GOING ON, AND
THERE MAY BE AN ENTIRE
REORGANIZATION OF THE ENTIRE
NETWORK, INCLUDING NETWORKS THAT
ARE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE
BRAIN.
HOW DID WE LEARN MANY OF THESE
THINGS?
AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, THERE ARE
SOME PERIOPERATIVE MAPPING OF
LANGUAGE THAT HAS BEEN
HAPPENING, THAT PRETTY MUCH
BEGAN WITH A NEUROSURGEON BY THE
NAME OF PENFIELD BACK IN THE
1940s AND 50s, AND THERE WAS
EVEN MORE WORK THAT WAS DONE BY
GEORGE OGEMANN WHERE HE
BASICALLY LAID ELECTRICAL
CORTICAL GRIDS OVER THE SURFACE
OF THE BRAIN, THEY HAD
ELECTRICAL CORTICAL WIRES THAT
WERE ATTACHED TO THESE
ELECTRICAL GRIDS, AND THEY COULD
PASS A VERY LOW CURRENT.
PATIENTS WERE ACTUALLY AWAKE
WHEN THEY DID THESE THINGS, AND
THEY WOULD ASK THE PATIENTS TO
DO A CERTAIN TASK AND THEY WOULD
PASS THE SMALL CURRENT AND OFTEN
THE PATIENT WOULD STOP WHAT IT
WAS THAT THEY WERE DOING.
SO IF THEY WERE SAYING, I WANT
YOU TO SAY AHHH AND THEN THEY
PASS THE CURRENT, THE PERSON
WOULD SAY AHH -- AHH SO THEY
WOULD KNOW THERE WAS THIS AREA,
AT LEAST THE AREA DIRECTLY UNDER
THE ELECTRODES THAT THEY WERE
TESTING WERE INVOLVED IN
ARTICULATION OF SPEECH, AND THEY
WOULD DO THAT FOR ALL ASPECTS OF
LANGUAGE.
NOW OF COURSE YOU CAN'T LEAVE
THE BRAIN EXPOSED TO AIR FOR AN
EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME BECAUSE
THAT IN AND OF ITSELF CAN CAUSE
DAMAGE TO THE BRAIN.
SO THERE HAVE BEEN NEWER
TECHNIQUES WHERE THE
NEUROSURGEON WILL LAY THE
CORTICAL GRIDS OVER THE SURFACE
OF THE BRAIN, THEY WILL CLOSE
THE BRAIN UP AND DO EXTENSIVE
AMOUNTS OF TESTING OVER A PERIOD
OF TIME.
SINCE I AM A RADIOLOGIST, I'M
NOT A NEUROSURGEON, OF COURSE
I'M VERY EXCITED BY ALL OF THE
WORK THAT HAS BEEN DONE IN
TRYING TO CAPTURE THE SAME KINDS
OF DATA BUT USING NONINVASIVE
TECHNIQUES, AND THAT WAS REALLY
ONLY SOMETHING THAT WAS ABLE --
THAT REALLY DEVELOPED SINCE THE
1980s WITH DEVELOPMENT OF
FMRI, AND ALL OF THE
COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS THAT WENT
INTO DEVELOPING ALL OF THESE
TECHNIQUES, AND SOME OF THE
PEOPLE WHO WERE QUITE
INSTRUMENTAL AND SEMINAL IN
DOING A LOT OF THAT WORK ARE
HERE AT NIH.
AND SO WE HAVE A RICH, RICH BODY
OF PEOPLE WHO ARE HIGHLY
KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT DOING THIS
KIND OF -- DOING THESE KINDS OF
COMPUTATIONS, NOT ONLY FOR
SPEECH BUT FOR MOTOR AND SENSORY
CORTEX AS WELL.
AND WHAT WE'VE LEARNED IN
LOOKING AT A LOT OF THESE KINDS
OF DATA IS THAT IT REALLY IS A
DISTRIBUTED NETWORK THAT
INVOLVES A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT
PARTS OF THE BRAIN THAT ARE
COLLABORATING TOGETHER, BUT WE
HAD ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT IT WAS
MORE KIND OF LEFT DOMINANT,
NON-RIGHT BRAIN DOMINANT
DISTRIBUTION FOR LANGUAGE, AND
WE'RE KIND OF FINDING OUT THAT
THAT MIGHT NOT NECESSARILY BE
TRUE.
THAT THERE MAY BE FOR CERTAIN
ROBUST BILATERAL NETWORK, AND
WE'VE FOUND THIS EVEN IN OUR OWN
DATA, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'RE
STARTING TO LOOK AT
COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES TO
THAT, YOU REALLY ARE NOT JUST
INTERESTED IN LOOKING AT ONE
AREA, BUT YOU'RE INTERESTED IN
LOOKING AT THE CORRELATIONS
BETWEEN AREAS.
HOW ARE THESE AREAS OF THE BRAIN
TALKING TO EACH OTHER, NOT ONLY
ON THE SAME SIDE OF THE BRAIN,
BUT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE
BRAIN, AND WHAT IS THE TIME
COURSE OVER WHICH THAT
COMMUNICATION TAKES PLACE.
AND THAT'S THE WORK THAT WE'RE
DOING IN THIS NEWLY ESTABLISHED
LAB THAT WE HAVE OVER AT NIDCD.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS I WANT TO
TALK ABOUT IN PARTICULAR IS
BROCA'S AREA.
AS I MENTIONED TO YOU BEFORE, WE
TYPICALLY TEND TO TALK ABOUT
BROCA'S AREA AS SOMETHING THAT
IS INVOLVED IN THE ARTICULATION
OF SPEECH, PLANNING OF SPEECH,
BECAUSE PATIENTS WHO HAD A
DEFICIT OR A LESION IN THAT AREA
TEND TO SPEAK WITH VERY -- A
GREAT DEAL OF EFFORT AND THE
SPEECH IS QUITE DISFLUENT, AND
SOMETIMES IT'S CONSIDERED TO BE
AGRA
AGRAMATIC, ALMOST TELEGRAPHIC IN
A WAY.
THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO
HAVE BEEN WORKING ON AGR
AMMATISM, EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE
THESE KIND OF MAPS OF THE BRAIN
THAT WE HAVE NUMBERED IN A
NUMBER OF DIFFERENT WAYS,
BROCA'S AREA TENDS TO FALL IN
BROADMAN AREA 44 AND 45, BUT
WHEN YOU REALLY LOOK AT THE
CYTOARCHITECT TONGUES OF TONICS.
BRAIN, YOU CAN'T REALLY TELL
WHERE IS THE BEGINNING OF AREA
45, WHERE DOES IT END, WHERE
DOES 45 BEGIN AND SO FORTH?
SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE
WANTED TO DO WAS TO TRY TO USE
LANGUAGE TASKS, BEHAVIORAL TASKS
TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND, IS BROCA'S
AREA REALLY JUST SOMETHING THAT
IS ABOUT ARTICULATION OF SPEECH
AND EFFORT, AS WE HAVE BEEN
TAUGHT TO THINK ABOUT?
AND THIS IS AN EXPERIMENT THAT I
HAD DONE ON USING PATIENTS WHO
SPOKE FRENCH, AND THERE'S A
REASON FOR THAT, BECAUSE THE
FRENCH LANGUAGE HAS LOTS OF
WORDS THAT ARE VERY SIMILAR IN
PHONOLOGICAL MAKEUP SO THE
SOUNDS OF THE WORDS ARE VERY
SIMILAR, BUT THEY SERVE
DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS IN THE
GRAMMAR.
VERY DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS.
AND ONE IS KIND OF A CONTENT
WORD, CONCRETE CONTENT WORD,
NOUNS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
ANOTHER CLASSIFICATION IS A VERY
GRAMMATICAL TYPE OF FUNCTION BUT
THEY SOUND VERY, VERY SIMILAR.
SO YOU COULD THINK OF WORDS LIKE
SYRUP AND CITO, WHICH IS AS SOON
AS, AND WE ASK THESE PATIENTS TO
SIMPLY REPEAT THE WORDS AND/OR
READ THEM, AND READ THEM IN
ISOLATION AND READ THEM IN A
SENTENCE.
NOW, IF BROCA'S AREA WAS REALLY
JUST ABOUT ARTICULATION, WE
SHOULD SEE THE SAME KIND OF
LABORED SPEECH OUTPUT FOR EITHER
KIND OF WORD.
BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT WE FOUND.
WE FOUND THAT EVEN THOUGH THE
WORDS ARE REALLY CONTROLLED FOR
THE STRUCTURE, THAT'S CONSONANT
VOWEL -- SO ON, SO FORTH,
THEY'RE VERY CONTROLLED, THESE
PATIENTS HAD A -- THE WORDS THAT
WERE GRA GRAMMATICAL, NOT THE WORDS
THAT WERE OF NOUN OR A CONTENT
WORD, FOR EXAMPLE.
SO WE ARE BEGINNING TO REALIZE,
OKAY, WELL, MAYBE THE LEXICON OR
THE KIND OF A DICTIONARY POS TRI
WHERE WE
REPOSITORY WHERE WE HAVE ALL
THESE WORDS WE KNOW IS MAYBE NOT
ORGANIZED AS JUST AN INPUT WHERE
WORDS GO IN AND YOU HAVE TO JUST
ARTICULATE THEM, AND THEN
BECAUSE YOU HAVE A DEFICIT IN
THAT PARTICULAR AREA OF
ARTICULATION, ALL THE WORDS ARE
IMPACTED EQUALLY.
THEY ARE NOT.
AND SO WE HAVE TO KIND OF THINK
ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON, AND WHY
WOULD BROCA'S AREA EVEN BE SET
UP THIS WAY?
IF YOU LOOK AT THE WORDS, YOU
ASK THEM TO ARTICULATE THESE
WORDS NOT ONLY IN ISOLATION BULL
IN A SENTENCE, BUT
IN A SENTENCE, THE ARTICULATION
IS EVEN MORE LABORED.
SO THERE'S SOMETHING GOING ON
THAT WE DON'T QUITE UNDERSTAND,
úSO BROCA'S AREA CAN'T REALLY
JUST BE DOING SPEECH PLANNING.
IT MUST BE DOING SOMETHING ELSE.
AS WE GO THROUGH THIS TALK, I
HAVE SOME IDEAS ON WHAT I THINK
IS GOING ON AND WE ARE TRYING TO
USE COMPUTATIONAL PURCHASE TO
TRY TOEST TEST THOSE HYPOTHESES.
SO THIS IS AGAIN LOOKING AT OPEN
VERSUS CLOSED, CLASS WORDS.
THERE'S TWO BROAD
CLASSIFICATIONS OF LEXICAL
ITEMS.
SO AS I MENTIONED HERE, AS I
MENTIONED BEFORE, BROCA'S AREA,
AGAIN, IS IN THESE TWO AREAS
THAT ARE CONSIDERED BROADMAN 44
AND BROADMAN 45 BUT AS I
MENTIONED, YOU REALLY DON'T
KNOW, THERE ARE SIX-LAYER
CORTICAL LAYERS AND YOU CAN'T
REALLY TELL WHERE YOU ARE.
IS THIS 45 OR 44, WHERE ARE WE?
SO WE LOOK FROM THE CYTOT
CYTOTITONIC -- WE COULDN'T
REALLY TELL WHAT WAS GOING ON
FROM A CORTICAL LAYER
PERSPECTIVE, BUT COULD WE TELL
DIFFERENCES IN THESE AREAS AS A
FUNCTION OF POPULATION OF
NEURORECEPTORS.
SO THEY DID A NEURORECEPTOR
DISTRIBUTION STUDY AND DID FIND
THAT THERE WERE VERY SPECIFIC
DISTRIBUTION OF NEURORECEPTORS
IN THESE SPECIFIC AREAS, AND
THAT BROCA'S AREA WAS MADE UP OF
RECEPTOR DISTRIBUTIONS THAT WERE
A COMBINATION OF WHAT YOU WOULD
SEE IN THE SUPPLEMENTAL MOTOR
CORTEX AND TRANSITIONS OUT TO
WHAT YOU WOULD SEE IN THE DORSO
LATERAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX, WHICH
MOST PEOPLE HAVE CONSIDERED TO
BE INVOLVED WITH WORKING MEMORY
AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO IF THAT'S TRUE, YOU WOULD
EXPECT THAT CERTAIN TYPES OF
TASKS MIGHT BRING OUT, MIGHT
ACTIVATE THAT AREA MORE SO THAN
OTHER TYPES OF TASKS.
AND THIS WAS JUST THE SAME PAPER
WHERE THEY PUBLISHED THIS AND
THEY WERE REALLY LOOKING AT KIND
OF TRANSITION ZONES OF
MUSCARINIC RECEPTORS VERSUS GABA
NEURORECEPTORS AND IT'S A VERY
CLEAR DISTRIBUTION.
I LOVE THIS EXPERIMENT.
AND AGAIN, THEY ARE LOOKING
AT -- THIS WAS LOOKING AT
BROADMAN AREA 45, VERY
PARTICULAR CONCENTRATION OF
NEURORECEPTORS IN KEY AREAS OF
THE BRAIN.
SO FROM WHAT THEY HAVE
DESCRIBED, IT SEEMS THAT BROCA'S
AREA REALLY IS KIND OF A
TRANSITION AREA, NOT JUST AN
AREA THAT WOULD BE DOING SPEECH
PLANNING, WHICH IS WHAT -- IN A
SUPPLEMENTAL MOTOR CORTEX TYPE
OF AREA, BUT IT ALSO HAS
NEURORECEPTORS THAT MAKE IT LOOK
MORE LIKE FRONTAL LOBE AND DORSO
LATERAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX WHICH
WE KNOW IS REALLY INVOLVED IN
DOING MANIPULATION OF TASKS
INVOLVED IN ATTENTION AND ALSO
WORKING MEMORY TYPE OF ROLES, SO
IT SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO THOSE
TWO TYPES OF TASKS.
SO WHAT WE DID WAS THAT WE
LOOKED AT -- WE CONDUCTED AN
EXPERIMENT WHERE WE WERE ASKING
PATIENTS TO MANIPULATE CERTAIN
THINGS ABOUT A SENTENCE, AND WE
DID FIND THAT BROADMAN'S AREA
DID BECOME ACTIVE IN THAT
PARTICULAR TYPE OF AREA.
OF COURSE WE FOUND THE BILATERAL
AREAS OF ACTIVATION AS WE HAD
SEEN IN THE SCHEMATICS FROM WAY
BEFORE, BUT WE DID FIND AREAS OF
ACTIVATION INVOLVING BROCA'S
AREA IF THE BRAIN HAD TO
MANIPULATE THE STIMULUS IN A
PARTICULAR WAY, BUT IF IT DID
NOT HAVE TO, WE DID NOT SEE THAT
KIND OF ACTIVATION.
THIS WAS THEN ALSO CONFIRMED IN
A NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING
TASKING IN WHICH SUBJECTS WERE
ASKED TO LISTEN TO SENTENCES OR
A STORY WHICH DID NOT REQUIRE A
GREAT DEAL OF MANIPULATION OF
THE TASK, AND YOU DID NOT FIND
BROAD MAN'S AREA BECOMING
ACTIVE, BUT YOU DID FIND
BILATERAL PRIMARY AUDITORY
CORTEX BEING ACTIVATED, SO ON
AND SO FORTH, BUT NOT BROCA'S
AREA.
HOWEVER, WHEN THEY CONDENSED AND
THEY CHANGED THE BANDWIDTH OF
THE SPEECH THAT WAS BEING HEARD,
AND NOW THE BRAIN HAS TO
ACTUALLY WORK A LITTLE BIT
HARDER TO TRY TO PROCESS THE
SAME KINDS OF SPEECH, WELL, NOW
WE FIND THESE AREAS OF
ACTIVATION BECOMING ACTIVE.
SO I THINK WE MAY NOW BEGIN TO
UNDERSTAND WHY IT WAS THE FRENCH
WERE HAVING MORE DIFFICULTY FOR
THE PRODUCTION OF SENTENCES --
PRODUCTION OF THESE WORDS WHEN
THEY WERE IN A SENTENCE, BECAUSE
WE WERE ASKING THEM TO ACTUALLY
DO SOMETHING THAT THEY WERE NOT
ABLE TO DO BECAUSE THERE WAS
DAMAGE TO THAT AREA, BUT WE CAN
ACTUALLY SEE WHY WE WOULD HAVE
EXPECTED FOR THERE TO BE WORSE
SPEECH PRODUCTION IN THE
SENTENCE AS OPPOSED TO IN
ISOLATION.
SO WE TYPICALLY THINK OF BROCA'S
AREA AS BEING INVOLVED IN SPEECH
PRODUCTION, BUT IT'S ALSO
INVOLVED IN SPEECH PERCEPTION
AND COMPREHENSION, LIKE I'VE
TOLD YOU IN THESE LAST TWO SETS
OF EXPERIMENTS, BUT THAT THE
NEURORECEPTOR DISTRIBUTION
ANALYSIS MAKES US REALIZE THAT
THIS IS A TRANSITIONAL CORTEX
BETWEEN PREMOTOR CORTEX AND
ANTEROLATERAL FRONTAL CORTICES,
AND FOR THAT REASON, IT'S
INVOLVED IN THE PROCESSING OF
SPEECH AND LANGUAGE WHEN THAT
REQUIRES ADDITIONAL COGNITIVE
RESOURCES IN ORDER FOR YOU TO
PROCESS THAT KIND OF SPEECH.
AND THE ONE THING I ALSO WANT TO
TELL YOU IS THAT THIS FOR ME
BRINGS UP AN IMPORTANT POINT IN
TERMS OF -- IT'S NOT NECESSARILY
THE SPEECH ITSELF, IT'S THE
CONTEXT IN WHICH THAT SPEECH IS
BEING PROCESSED THAT IS
REQUIRING THE ACTIVATION OF
CERTAIN AREAS OF THE BRAIN.
IT'S NOT JUST THE LANGUAGE IN
AND OF ITSELF.
IT'S THE CONTEXT IN WHICH THAT
LANGUAGE IS BEING PROCESSED.
AND SO I THINK THAT THESE ARE
VERY INTERESTING POINTS THAT YOU
HAVE TO THINK ABOUT, ESPECIALLY
WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO DEVELOP
COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES THAT
WILL ENABLE YOU TO MAYBE PREDICT
WHAT WILL BE A PATIENT'S OUTPUT
AFTER WE HAVE DONE A CERTAIN
INTERVENTION.
FOR EXAMPLE, IN PATIENTS WITH
EPILEPSY, WHERE WE'RE GOING TO
REMOVE A PART OF THE BRAIN, CAN
WE PREDICT WHAT WILL BE THE
PATIENT'S OUTPUT, BUT IN ORDER
FOR US TO DO THAT, WE WILL HAVE
TO KNOW WHAT IS THE BRAIN'S
ABILITY TO PROCESS THINGS IN A
NUMBER OF DIFFERENT CONTEXTS,
NOT JUST USING META LINGUISTIC
TASKS, BUT ALSO USING NATURAL
LANGUAGE TASK, BECAUSE THOSE
AREAS OF THE BRAIN BECOME ACTIVE
UNDER DIFFERENT CONDITIONS FOR
THE SAME STIMULI.
AND WE ALSO -- I THINK I'VE
SHOWN YOU A COUPLE OF SLIDES NOW
THAT HAVE SHOWN THERE IS
ACTUALLY BILATERAL LANGUAGE
ACTIVATION IN PARTS OF THE
BRAIN, AND WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN
THINKING OF LEFT BRAIN DOMINANT
VERSUS NON-DOMINANT ASPECTS OF
THE BRAIN, AND MANY PARTS OF OUR
WORKUP OF PATIENTS WHO ARE GOING
TO UNDERGO SURGERY, WE ARE
TRYING TO IDENTIFY THE DOMINANT
PART OF THE BRAIN FOR LANGUAGE,
BUT ACTUALLY IT'S A MOSAIC, AND
IT MAY BE DOMINANT FOR CERTAIN
ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE UNDER
CERTAIN CONDITIONS OF LANGUAGE
PROCESSING BUT MAY ALSO BE
BILATERAL FOR OTHER ASPECTS OF
LANGUAGE.
SO WE HAVE TO BEGIN TO THINK A
LITTLE DIFFERENTLY ABOUT WHAT WE
MEAN WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE
DOMINANCE OF LANGUAGE BECAUSE WE
REALLY SHOULD BE THINKING ABOUT
IT MORE AS A MOSAIC THAT'S A
KIND OF DYNAMIC PROCESS, AND
THAT MAY BE BILATERAL FOR SOME
ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE UNDER
CERTAIN CONDITIONS AND NOT UNDER
OTHERS AND FOR OTHER ASPECTS OF
LANGUAGE AS WELL.
SO WHAT OUR LAB IS TRYING TO DO
IS TAKING ALL OF THESE ASPECTS
AND LOOKING AT ALL OF THESE
VARIOUS SCENARIOS, INCLUDING
BEHAVIORAL TASKS, INCLUDING
ELECTRICAL NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL
TASKS, USING META LINGUISTIC AND
NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSES TO
TRY TO COME UP WITH
COMPUTATIONAL MODELS THAT ENABLE
US TO UNDERSTAND THE STRENGTH OF
THESE AREAS BETWEEN IN ACTIVATION, HOW
STRONGLY ARE THEY TALKING TO
EACH OTHER, AND CAN WE PREDICT
WHAT THAT STRENGTH WOULD BE IF
WE SYSTEMATICALLY CHANGED
SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE AND
WE CAN GO BACK AND LOOK TO SEE
HOW THOSE COMBINATIONS, THOSE
STRENGTHS HAVE CHANGED, AND DO
THEY CHANGE ONLY ON THE SAME
SIDE OF THE BRAIN, DO THEY
CHANGE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE
BRAIN, AND WE ARE LOOKING AT
THESE KINDS OF QUESTIONS, AND
THEN TRYING TO SET UP MODELS
THAT WILL PREDICT WHAT WE WOULD
EXPECT FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL
SUBJECT OF THEIR OWN BASED ON
WHAT WE WOULD EXPECT THEIR OUT
OUTPUT MIGHT BE OR THE CHANGE IN
CORRELATION MIGHT BE AS A
FUNCTION OF WHATEVER
INTERVENTION IS GOING TO HAPPEN,
AND THEN GOING BACK AND LOOKING
AT WHAT WAS, IN FACT, THE
CORRELATION POSTOPERATIVELY ONE,
TWO OR EVEN THREE YEARS OUT.
AGAIN, WE LOOK AT A NUMBER OF
DIFFERENT STRENGTHS IN
TEE% CORRELATION STRENGTH, AND
WHAT WE FIND IS THAT AT LEAST
FOR AUDITORY SPEECH PERCEPTION,
THAT THIS IS REALLY A BILATERAL
AUDITORY NETWORK.
AND NOT ONE THAT IS DOMINATED
WITHIN ONE SIDE OF THE BRAIN.
THE REASON THAT WE WANT TO DO
THIS IS BECAUSE WE REALLY WANT
TO BE ABLE TO SEE IF WE CAN HAVE
A KIND OF MECHANISTIC APPROACH
AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE NEURAL
BASIS OF SPEECH AND LANGE WANL
DISORDERS.
LANGUAGE
DISORDERS.
WE ARE TRYING TO DO THIS LOOK
BEING AT IT IN NORMAL, HEALTHY
INDIVIDUALS, THEN DEVELOPING OUR
MODELS TO SEE HOW THAT CAN
EXPLAIN -- HOW CHANGES IN THE
NORMAL MODELS CAN EXPLAIN WHAT'S
HAPPENING IN A PARTICULAR
PATIENTS, AND THEN USING THAT
SAME PATIENT'S PERFORMANCE AND
THE CONTROL FOR THEIR
PERFORMANCE POST INTERVENTION.
BUT YOU CAN USE IT, WE'RE JUST
USING THAT FOR AUDITORY
PROCESSING, BUT YOU CAN USE THAT
FOR ANY KIND OF MODALITY,
WHETHER IT'S SEMANTICS, SYNTAX
AND SO ON, SO FORTH, AND ALSO
FOR LOOKING AT OTHER RESOURCES,
NON-LINGUISTIC RESOURCES THAT
SUBSERVE A LANGUAGE.
SO THIS IS AN APPROACH, A
METHODOLOGY APPROACH THAT YOU
CAN USE TO ASSESS ANY ASPECT OF
COGNITION, AND THEN TRY TO
EXPLAIN AND COME UP WITH NEW
DIAGNOSTICS THAT ENABLE YOU TO
IDENTIFY REALLY SUBTLE ASPECTS
IN THE CHANGES THAT SUBSERVE
THESE NETWORKS.
AND AGAIN, WE WILL BE USING THAT
FOR OUR LAB TO TRY TO PREDICT
WHAT WOULD REALLY BE THE TRUE
SURGICAL RISK IF WE WERE TO DO
NEUROSURGERY, IF WE WERE TO DO
GAMMA KNIFE, IF WE WERE -- IN
PATIENTS WHO HAVE TUMORS, AND
ALSO FOR HIGH INTENSITY FOCUSED
ULTRASOUND, WHICH IS A NEWER
TECHNIQUE THAT PEOPLE ARE USING,
TO DO INTERVENTIONS IN THE
BRAIN.
IT'S REALLY A DEVELOPING FIELD
KNOWN AS NEURAL ENGINEERING.
AS I MENTIONED AT THE BEGINNING
OF THE TALK, THIS IS AN
EXTREMELY INTERDISCIPLINARY
APPROACH, AND IT REALLY DOES
COMBINE ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT
NETWORKS.
NOW I MEAN, WE HAVE PEOPLE -- I
FORGOT TO MENTION THIS THIS IN THIS LIST
DATA SCIENTISTS AS WELL, BUT I
KIND OF INCLUDED THAT IN
COMPUTER SCIENCE REALLY.
BUT BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING IS
INVOLVED IN THAT, AUDIOLOGY,
SPEECH PATHOLOGISTS ARE INVOLVED
IN THIS AND THE USUAL CAST OF
CHARACTERS SUCH AS THE
LINGUISTS, PSYCHOLOGISTS AND
NEUROSCIENTISTS WHO REALLY HAVE
A VESTED INTEREST IN TRYING TO
UNDERSTAND HOW THIS HAPPENS
BECAUSE LANGUAGE IS REALLY WHAT
ARGUABLY MAKES US UNIQUELY
HUMAN.
AND KEEPING OUR ABILITY TO
COMMUNICATE WITH OUR ENVIRONMENT
IS REALLY THE BASIS OF ALL OF
THIS WORK.
AGAIN IT REQUIRES BIG TEAM OF
PEOPLE WHO ARE HIGHLY TALENTED,
AND I WAS VERY, VERY FORTUNATE
TO HAVE BEEN TRAINED BY PEOPLE
WHO WERE REALLY EXCEPTIONAL.
ALL OF THESE PEOPLE, MY MENTOR
WHEN I WAS IN FRANCE, AND OF
COURSE YOU NEED TO HAVE A
WONDERFUL GROUP OF COLLABORATORS
AND I WAS VERY FORTUNATE TO HAVE
A GREAT DEAL OF COLLABORATORS
WHO ARE AT THE NINDS WHO ARE
WILLING TO WORK WITH ME AND TO
SHARE SOME OF THE DATA THAT THEY
HAVE BEEN ACQUIRING SO THAT WE
CAN DO THE KINDS OF ANALYSIS
WE'RE DOING IN THE LAB.
SARA AND BILL ARE THE ONES I
THINK OF, ORIT LAVI, WONDERFUL
MATHEMATICIAN THAT JUST RETURNED
TO ISRAEL.
OUR CURRENT STAFF SCIENTIST,
WONDERFUL BIOSTATISTICIAN, BUT
YOU NEED ALL OF THESE PEOPLE TO
BE ABLE TO DO THIS KIND OF WORK,
AND I'M ACTUALLY QUITE FORTUNATE
THAT I HAVE HAD THE KIND OF
TRAINING AND MENTORING WITH THE
EXCEPTIONAL FOLKS, AND I'VE HAD
THE WONDERFUL ENVIRONMENT HERE
AT NIH THAT IS PERMITTING ME TO
DO THIS KIND OF WORK.
IT'S EXCITING, AND WE HAVE JUST
A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF WORK TO
DO, AND I KNOW THAT MANY PEOPLE
IN THE COMMUNITY ARE ALSO
INTERESTED IN THIS TOPIC, AND I
LOOK FORWARD TO INTERACTING WITH
ALL OF THEM.
AND THAT'S PRETTY MUCH WHAT WE
HAVE -- WHAT I HAVE TO SHARE
WITH YOU TODAY.
>> NADIA, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
THIS TALK WAS FASCINATING.
IT WAS SO INTERESTING AND SO
MANY QUESTIONS IN MY MIND.
I DON'T KNOW WHICH ONE TO START
WITH.
BUT BEFORE WE START WITH
QUESTIONS, CAN I PLEASE ASK OUR
TEAM TO BRING UP THE INTRO
SLIDE.
I WANT TO SHARE THE EMAIL WHERE
OUR AUDIENCE CAN SEND QUESTIONS
BY EMAIL.
SO -- YES, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
SO YOU CAN EITHER SEND ME YOUR
EMAIL QUESTIONS, YEGANO
YEGANOVA@MAIL.NIH.GOV, OR YOU
CAN SEND EMAILS TO HER AND WE'RE
OPEN FOR QUESTIONS.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, NADIA.
WE HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU.
>> OKAY.
TERRIFIC.
>> THANK YOU SO MUCH, NADIA, FOR
THE GREAT TALK.
SO WE HAVE TWO QUESTIONS COMING
FROM THE AUDIENCE FROM -- SMITH.
HE'S ASKING, WHAT IS YOUR
DEFINITION OF NATURAL LANGUAGE
PROCESSING IN THIS CONTEXT, AND
TO WHAT EXTENT IS NATURAL
LANGUAGE PROCESSING IN THE
COMPUTER SCIENCE DEFINITION USED
IN THE EXPERIMENTS?
>> WELL, WE USED A LOT OF META
LINGUISTIC TASKS.
WE DO NOT USE NATURAL LANGUAGE
PROCESSING.
BUT I DO THINK THAT WHEN YOU ARE
LOOKING AT WHRAJ THAT'S JUST A
NATURAL CONTEXT OF LANGUAGE,
THAT DATA IN AND OF ITSELF HAS A
VERY IMPORTANT ELEMENT TO THE
KINDS OF WORK YOU ARE GOING TO
DO, BECAUSE AS I MENTIONED, THE
CONTEXT IN WHICH THE LANGUAGE IS
BEING PROCESSED ALSO INFLUENCES
SO YOU CAN'T JUST USE
EXPERIMENTS THAT YOU'VE
CONCOCTED IN A LAB BECAUSE I
OFTEN SAY TO MY STUDENTS THAT
YOU WILL GET AN ANSWER, IT MAY
NOT BE THE ANSWER THAT THE BRAIN
WOULD TYPICALLY USE IN EVERYDAY
ENVIRONENT, SO IT'S IMPORTANT
TO TRY TO SIMULATE AS MUCH AS
YOU CAN A NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
BECAUSE THE ACTIVATION WILL BE
VERY DIFFERENT, AND IF YOUR GOAL
IS ULTIMATELY TO BE ABLE TO
PREDICT WHAT A PATIENT MIGHT OR
MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO DO
NATURALLY AFTER AN INTERVENTION,
IT'S IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO USE A
KIND OF NATURAL TYPE OF
ENVIRONMENT TO TRY TO TRAIN SOME
OF YOUR ALGORITHMS.
OTHERWISE YOU MAY END UP WITH AN
ARTIFICIAL OUTPUT.
THAT WILL NOT BE GENERALIZABLE
AND IT WILL NOT HELP YOU WITH
YOUR CLINICAL OUTCOMES.
>> THANK YOU.
I HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION FROM THE
SAME PERSON.
SO HE'S ASKING DO CONCEPT WORDS,
NOUNS AND VERBS, HAVE LINKS TO
VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS THAT MAKE
THEM DIFFERENT TO STORE AND
ACCESS FROM FUNCTION WORDS?
>> WELL, THERE IS -- THERE ARE
WORDS THAT ARE MORE IMAGEABLE,
FOR EXAMPLE, A DOG IS MORE
IMAGEABLE THAN THE WORD "THE."
RIGHT?
BUT YOU CAN FIND WORDS THAT ARE
NOT AS IMAGEABLE AND TRY TO LOOK
AT THOSE -- USE THOSE KINDS OF
WORDS, AND SO PEOPLE ARE STILL
TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IS IT
THAT MAKES CONTENT WORDS REALLY
CONTENT.
AND IMAGABILITY IS ONLY ONE
TOPIC, BECAUSE YOU CAN STILL
HAVE WORDS THAT ARE CONTENT
WORDS SUCH AS JUSTICE THAT IS
NOT NECESSARILY IMAGEABLE, YOU
KNOW, AND A BELIEF, YOU KNOW,
THAT IS -- THOSE ARE ALSO
CONTENT WORDS BUT THEY'RE NOT
IMAGEABLE.
SO WHERE PEOPLE ARE STILL
LOOKING AT THAT, IT'S NOT CLEAR
WHAT DIFFERENTIATES THOSE TWO
THINGS, EXCEPT THAT ONE IS KIND
OF A FINITE GROUP OF WORDS THAT
SERVE IN A GRAMMATICAL CONTENT
AND THE OTHER WORDS ARE NOT.
BUT AT LEAST WHAT WE'RE ABLE TO
SHOW, AT LEAST FOR THE
FRENCH-SPEAKING IGRAMATICS, IT
JUST FILTERS THROUGH THE SAME
ARTICULATORY MECHANISM.
>> THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
IF I MAY FOLLOW WITH MY OWN
QUESTION, YOU SPOKE ABOUT THE
TRAUMA AND INJURY TO A BRAIN
THAT CAUSES LANGUAGE
DISTORTIONS.
>> YES.
>> OR NEUROSURGERY, RIGHT, WHERE
YOU SAID HOW YOU'RE TRYING TO
PREDICT WHAT WILL HAPPEN WITH
PATIENT IN CASE OF A PARTICULAR
NEUROSURGERY.
CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT
WHAT HAPPENS DURING THE AGING,
SO THE NATURAL PROCESS OF AGING
AND WHY WE TEND TO LOSE MEMORY
AS WE AGE AND WHY WE DEVELOP
THOSE SPEECH DELAYS AND MEMORY
DELAYS AS WE AGE, AND WHAT WOULD
BE THE BEST WAY TO PREVENT IT?
>> WELL, IT'S ACTUALLY A VERY
INTERESTING TOPIC, AND MANY
PEOPLE HAVE SPENT A GREAT DEAL
OF TIME LOOKING AT THAT.
NOW THERE ARE DIFFERENT THINGS
THAT HAVE BEEN SAID IN THE
LITERATURE.
SOME PEOPLE HAVE SAID, WELL, THE
LANGUAGE DEFICITS THAT HAPPEN IN
NORMAL AGING MAY BE PERIPHERAL.
IT MAY BE A PERIPHERAL HEARING
LOSS, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT WE
HAVE SOME PATIENTS WHO AGE DO
HAVE DEFICITS IN PERIPHERAL
HEARING LOSS.
BUT OTHER INVESTIGATORS HAVE
SHOWN THAT, NO, THERE IS A
ACCEPT TRAL AUDITORY
CENTRAL AUDITORY PROCESSING.
PEOPLE CAN SAY NO, I CAN LEAR
YOU, I JUST CAN'T UNDERSTAND
WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.
OR THE LANGUAGE PROCESSING
DEFICITS BECOME MORE PRONOUNCED
IF THEY'RE IN A -- WITH A GROUP
OF A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE,
SO THEY CAN HEAR WHAT YOU'RE
SAYING, BUT TO BE ABLE TO KEEP
TRACK OF WHAT IS BEING SAID IS
MORE DIFFICULT.
SO WE ACTUALLY HAVE A STUDY THAT
WE'RE DOING WHICH I DON'T WANT
TO SAY WHAT THE RESULTS WERE
BECAUSE WE'RE STILL ANALYZING A
LARGER DATASET, BUT THE
PRELIMINARY DATA SUGGESTS THAT
THERE'S SOME SORT OF FLUIDITY IN
TERMS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THE
AGING EFFECTS ON THE NETWORKS
THAT SUBSERVE LANGUAGE, AND IF
YOU'RE YOUNGER, THE AGING
EFFECTS ARE NOT AS PRONOUNCED.
GENDER IS MORE -- GENDER
DIFFERENCES ARE MORE PRONOUNCED.
WHEN YOU'RE YOUNGER.
BUT AS YOU GET OLDER, THE AGING
DEFICITS KIND OF OUTWEIGH THEM.
SO WE'RE STILL LOOKING AT A
LARGER DATASET TO SEE IF THAT
REALLY HOLDS TRUE, BUT SO I
THINK IT'S PROBABLY
MULTIFACTORIAL WHY PEOPLE WILL
HAVE THAT, AND UNDERSTANDING
EACH
EVEN THE INTERACTION BETWEEN
WHEN YOU HAVE A PERIPHERAL
DEFICIT, WHAT IS THE IMPACT ON
THE CENTRAL AUDITORY PROCESSING
HAS NOT YET BEEN FIGURED OUT.
SO THAT'S ACTUALLY ONE OF THE
THINGS THAT WE WILL BE LOOKING
AT IN OUR WORK, AND I'M HOPING
WE CAN COLLABORATE WITH MANY
WONDERFUL INVESTIGATORS WHO ARE
AT NIDCD WHO KNOW A TREMENDOUS
AMOUNT ABOUT THE PERIPHERAL
ASPECTS APPEARING IN AGING, AND
WE STILL HAVE A LOT TO LEARN.
BUT I THINK WE CAN USE SOME OF
THAT INFORMATION TO BE ABLE TO
MAYBE PREDICT THOSE WHO MIGHT
END UP WITH NOT JUST NORMAL
LANGUAGE DEFICITS WITH NORMAL
AGING, BUT ALSO WITH
PATHOLOGICALLY DETERMINED
LANGUAGE PROCESSING DEFICITS.
THERE ARE PEOPLE AT HOPKINS WHO
HAVE WRITTEN PAPERS THAT HAVE
TALKED ABOUT PERIPHERAL HEARING
LOSS AND DEMENTIA.
SO THERE IS A GREAT DEAL OF
INTEREST IN THAT TOPIC.
BUT I THINK -- LIKE I SAID, I
THINK IT'S MULTIFACTORIAL.
>> THAT'S FASCINATING.
I DON'T HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS.
DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION?
>> SO WE DON'T HAVE ANY FROM THE
AUDIENCE, THAT I RECEIVED, BUT
MAYBE I WILL FOLLOW UP.
I COME FROM A COMPUTER SCIENCE
NLP IN OUR TERMINOLOGY, SO I WAS
WONDERING, BECAUSE YOU TALKED
DURING YOUR PRESENTATION ABOUT
THE COMPUTATION MODELS TO
UNDERSTAND THE -- BETWEEN
ACTIVATION AND ALSO HOW TO
PREDICT THE PATIENT'S OUTPUT.
I'M WONDERING IF YOU AND YOUR
TEAM EXPLORED THE ABILITY TO
KIND OF USE MACHINE LEARNING
MODELS IN SUCH A SCENARIO?
>> THAT'S WHAT WE WANT TO DO.
WE'RE TRYING TO SEE IF WE CAN
IMPLEMENT OR TRY TO UNDERSTAND
THE CHANGES IN STRENGTH USING
GRAPH THEORY, AND THEN BE ABLE
TO APPLY MACHINE LEARNING
ALGORITHMS.
TO TRY TO PREDICT WHAT'S GOING
TO BE THE OUTCOME.
BUT THAT'S SO FAR DOWN THE ROAD,
WE HAVE SO MANY THINGS TO DO,
MAYBE I'LL COME TO YOU GUYS,
YOU'LL HAVE TO WORK WITH ME TO
DO THAT.
BUT I DO THINK THAT THERE'S A
LOT OF REALLY FASCINATING WORK
THAT HAS YET TO BE DONE, BUT
THAT'S, IN FACT, WHY THIS LAB
WAS CREATED AND WHAT WE PLAN TO
DO.
>> I'M TRYING TO TIE WHAT I
REMEMBER FROM THE WORKSHOP ON
MENTAL HEALTH, AND I REMEMBER
THAT ONE OF THE OBSERVATIONS WAS
THAT PEOPLE WERE TRACKING --
ACTUALLY THE EXPERIMENT WAS DONE
ON TWEETS, AND FROM THE TWEETS,
THEY COULD PREDICT WHETHER THE
PERSON IS LIKELY TO DEVELOP OR
HAS ALREADY DEVELOPED A MENTAL
HEALTH ISSUE.
AND IF SO, IF SOMEBODY IS SAYING
THAT PERSON HAS DEVELOPED A
MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE, SOME
REACTION COULD HAVE PROVIDED TO
THAT PERSON.
AND THE WAY THAT WE'RE AN ANALYZES,
YOU IMAGINE TWEETS WHY SHORT,
BUT THEY WERE LOOKING AT
FREQUENCY OF WORDS AND OTHER
PARAMETERS, AND IT IS SO AMAZING
THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO FIND
CERTAIN FEATURES AND PREDICT
WITH SIGNIFICANT ACCURACY THAT
THIS PERSON MAY NEED MENTAL
HEALTH INTERVENTION.
>> WOW.
I MEAN, THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE AT
THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
WHO I KNOW PERSONALLY ARE
LOOKING AT THESE KINDS OF THINGS
BUT NOT FOR PSYCHIATRIC ANSWERS
BUT LOOKING AT DEMENTIAS AND
TRYING TO USE THAT -- THESE SAME
KIND OF ALGORITHMS THAT THEY'RE
TRYING TO DEVELOP TO
DIFFERENTIATE THE DIFFERENT
TYPES OF DEMENTIAS, LIKE
FRONTOTEMPORO DMEN SHALL,
ALZHEIMER'S DEMENTIA, SO ON AND
SO FORTH.
I MEAN, THEY HAVE A LARGE
WHEN I WAS AT AT PENN, WE WERE
DOING PAPER AND PENCIL TASKS
LOOKING AT LANGUAGE PROFILES FOR
THESE DIFFERENT TYPES OF
DEMENTIAS, BUT NOW THEY HAVE
EVEN MORE DATA AND THEY HAVE
CONVERSATIONS THAT THEY HAVE
RECORDED WITH THESE PATIENTS AND
THEY'RE LOOKING AT THE
PROBABILITIES OF WORD
ASSOCIATIONS AND WHAT PEOPLE
SAY.
SOME OF THE THINGS THAT -- WELL,
WHAT I HAD DONE IN THE PAST WAS
TO LOOK AT READING COMPREHENSION
IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, AND ONE
OF THE THINGS THAT I FELT WAS
VERY INTERESTING, WE WERE KIND
OF LOOKING AT ASSOCIATIONS WHEN
YOU'RE READING A PARAGRAPH, YOU
CAN -- THE PARAGRAPH CAN MAKE
SENSE TO YOU ON A NUMBER OF
DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS.
ONE OVER TIME, A TIME DIMENSION,
SO YOU KNOW THAT THIS HAPPENED
FIRST, THEN THIS, THEN THAT.
OR YOU ARE ABLE TO TIE PRONOUNCE
TOGETHER SO I'M MENTIONING JOE,
I'M SAYING HE.
SO THAT PROBABLY -- HE PROBABLY
HAPPENED AFTER THE SENTENCE THAT
MENTIONED HIM, HIS NAME.
AND SO WE DID THIS EXPERIMENT
WHERE WE HAD NORMAL HEALTHY
AGING ADULTS, WE HAD THEM
REORGANIZE A SERIES OF 16 SENTENCES
THAT WERE PRESENTED TO THEM IN
RANDOM ORDER BASED ON TIME,
BASED ON PRONOUNS, AND THEN JUST
RANDOM SENTENCES THAT DON'T MAKE
UP ANY STORY WHATSOEVER AND THE
NORMAL HEALTHY INDIVIDUAL WOULD
SAY, ARE YOU SURE THAT THESE
SENTENCES BELONG TOGETHER?
BECAUSE WHATEVER THEY DID, THEY
COULDN'T MAKE SENSE OF IT.
BUT THE INTERESTING THING WAS,
THE PERSON WHO WAS REALLY AT THE
VERY EARLY STAGES OF ALZHEIMER'S
WAS ALWAYS ABLE TO MAKE A STORY,
THEY CREATED AN INCREDIBLY
ELABORATE STORY THAT DIDN'T MAKE
ANY SENSE AT ALL, BUT THEY
ALWAYS PUT SOME STORY TOGETHER.
THEY DID NOT -- THEY WERE NOT
ABLE TO TRACK THOSE THINGS TO
REALIZE THAT THESE SENTENCES ARE
RANDOM.
AND SO THEY ARE ABLE TO -- WHEN
THEY SAW THAT, THEY THEN WENT
BACK AND LOOKED AT THEIR
CONVERSATIONAL SPEECH TO LOOK
AT, ARE THEY ABLE TO KIND OF
KEEP TRACK OF TIME WHEN THEY'RE
TALKING.
WHEN THEY'RE MAKING REFERENCE OF
SOMETHING, DO THEY LOSE TRACK OF
THE PRONOUNCE.
AND THESE ARE ALSO THINGS THAT
THEY HAD TROUBLE WITH IN THEIR
SPONTANEOUS SPEECH.
SO THEY'RE NOW USING A LOT OF
THESE SPEECH CORPRA TO
IDENTIFIED PATIENT EVEN EARLIER,
AFTER THEY ARE PRESENTING AT THE
NEUROLOGIST'S OFFICE, BECAUSE AT
THAT POINT, IT'S PROBABLY
ALREADY TOO LATE, THE PATIENT
ALREADY KNOWS THEY HAVE A
PROBLEM, OR FAMILY MEMBERS KNOW
THAT.
BUT IF YOU COULD COME UP WITH AN
ALGORITHM THAT COULD DETECT THAT
EVEN EARLIER, JUST AS A
ROUTINE -- ON A ROUTINE
PHYSICAL, THAT WOULD BE
EXTREMELY HELPFUL.
OF COURSE WE HAVE TO HAVE DRUGS
THAT MIGHT BE ABLE TO SLOW DOWN
THE RATE AT WHICH THE NEURONS
ARE DEGENERATING, BUT AS WE
DEVELOP THOSE KINDS OF THINGS,
THOSE KINDS OF TESTS WILL BECOME
MORE AND MORE RELEVANT AND MORE
IMPORTANT.
BECAUSE IDENTIFYING IT AT THE
PRE-CLINICAL STAGE IS REALLY
GOING TO BE THE GAME CHANGER.
>> THIS IS FASCINATING, AND THIS
IS WHERE NLP ALGORITHMS ARE IN A
CERTAIN DEGREE SHOULD BE ABLE TO
HELP WITH THAT, AND THIS JUST
OPENS SO MANY AVENUES FOR
COLLABORATION.
>> THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT.
WE'RE HOPING WE'RE GOING TO DO
THOSE COLLABORATIONS WITH
PEOPLE.
SO IT'S A REALLY -- IT'S A BROAD
FIELD, IT'S EXCITING, IT JUST
HAD SO MUCH GOING FOR IT.
I LOVE THE FACT THAT WE HAVE ALL
THESE REALLY SMART PEOPLE WHO
GET TO WORK TOGETHER, TO PUT
SOMETHING TOGETHER TO HELP
PEOPLE CONTINUE TO COMMUNICATE
IN A WAY THAT'S MEANINGFUL.
I THINK THAT'S JUST FASCINATING.
INTO
>> WELL, NADIA, THANK YOU SO
VERY MUCH.
THIS WAS VERY EXCITING AND VERY
INFORMATIVE, ACTUALLY VERY
INFORMATIVE.
IT'S AMAZING HOW WE DON'T TEND
TO THINK ABOUT THINGS AS WE
SPEAK, AS WE COMPREHEND, BUT SO
MANY THINGS ARE HAPPENING IN OUR
BRAIN AS WE DO SO.
>> YES.
>> THIS WAS VERY INTERESTING.
WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
>> THANK YOU.
>> I THINK WE ARE CLOSING --
WE'RE NEARING THE END OF OUR
VIDEOCAST HOUR AND WE HAVE TO
SAY GOODBYE.
THANK YOU AGAIN, NADIA, AND
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL OUR
AUDIENCE, AND WE'LL SEE YOU NEXT
YEAR.
>> OKAY, GREAT.
THANK YOU.
BYE.