Effect Of Learning On Verb Generation Task: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Image Study

Learning is an important function of the human brain. In the present study, using function magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated the neural mechanism on learning the verb generation task.Main results and conclusions are summarized as follows:1. Behavioral data have shown that consistent practice of a verb generation task can increase the speed of performance and reduce variability of response and errors rate, reflecting a shift from controlled to automatic processing. This was accompamed specifically by a decrease in activation in some regions(left inferior frontal cortex, left middle frontal cortex, left superior temporal cortex, right cerebellum) and a increase in activation in others (left insula, left superior parietal cortex).2. A functional connectivity analysis was computed using within-condition interregional covariance analysis. In parallel to the adaptation, the effective connectivity increased between the Broca's area and the Wernicke's area, suggesting that interactions between brain areas underlie associative learning.3. A lateralization 1 was analyzed. With learning, the degree of left-lateralization was increased, suggesting that might be more efficient to transfer language information between a collection of focal areas in a single hemisphere.