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When an important area of the human brain involved in language processing is temporarily disrupted, other areas of the brain take over much of its work. Researchers at Leipzig University and the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) in Leipzig have shown how flexibly the brain can maintain performance even in the face of acute disruption, and how different brain networks work together in real time to achieve this. The researchers have just published their new study, which forms part of an ERC Consolidator Grant awarded to Professor Gesa Hartwigsen at Leipzig University and MPI CBS, in Nature Communications.
“When semantic processing is disrupted, the brain flexibly recruits additional control regions that normally perform more general functions to support language processing. This allows it to maintain performance,” explains Hartwigsen. The study thus provides new insights into the brain’s ability to adapt rapidly and dynamically. Until now, research has primarily established which areas of the brain are involved in language processing and how the brain adapts over the longer term.
What the researchers found particularly interesting was that they observed two opposing processes at the same time: while the language region directly affected by the disruption showed increased activity that was associated with poorer performance – reflected in slower response times – more distant control regions showed increased activity associated with better performance. This was associated with less impairment of language performance. “This suggests that disruption and compensation in the brain do not occur one after the other, but at the same time,” says Hartwigsen.
In their study, the researchers combined two techniques that are typically used separately: transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a method for stimulating the intact brain, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a method for measuring brain activity. “Put simply, transcranial magnetic stimulation allowed us to temporarily and selectively interfere with processing in a small area of the brain. At the same time, functional magnetic resonance imaging allowed us to observe what was happening across the entire brain,” explains Dr Anna-Lisa Schuler of MPI CBS, first author of the study.
These new findings could help scientists understand how we maintain cognitive performance, particularly in demanding everyday situations such as noisy environments. The study also provides initial indications of the processes that may be involved in the brain following sudden damage to regions involved in language – for example, after a stroke. In the long term, these findings could help inform new therapies aimed at restoring language and other cognitive functions following brain injury.
The findings are based on studies of healthy young adults under laboratory conditions. Further research will be needed to determine the extent to which the findings apply to complex everyday situations, older people or people with neurological conditions.
Prof. Dr. Gesa Hartwigsen
Professorin für kognitive einschließlich Biologische Psychologie
Wilhelm-Wundt-Institut für Psychologie
Telefon: +49 341 97-39576
gesa.hartwigsen@uni-leipzig.de
Dr. Anna-Lisa Schuler
Telefon: +49 341 9940-2010
schuler@cbs.mpg.de
doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-79266-2
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-79266-2
The directly disrupted language region (marked by a pink circle showed activity associated with slow ...
Quelle: Dr Anna-Lisa Schuler
Copyright: Leipzig University/MPI CBS
In the study, participants were asked whether pairs of words were related in meaning (e.g. “obelisk” ...
Quelle: Dr Anna-Lisa Schuler
Copyright: Leipzig University/MPI CBS
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The directly disrupted language region (marked by a pink circle showed activity associated with slow ...
Quelle: Dr Anna-Lisa Schuler
Copyright: Leipzig University/MPI CBS
In the study, participants were asked whether pairs of words were related in meaning (e.g. “obelisk” ...
Quelle: Dr Anna-Lisa Schuler
Copyright: Leipzig University/MPI CBS
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