Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32992002›Full record

ArticleNeuroImage2021

Knowing what you need to know in advance: The neural processes underpinning flexible semantic retrieval of thematic and taxonomic relations.

Meichao Zhang, Dominika Varga, Xiuyi Wang, Katya Krieger-Redwood, Andre Gouws, Jonathan Smallwood, Elizabeth Jefferies

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in NeuroImage, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. The Dimensionality of Neural Coding for Cognitive Control Is Gradually Transformed within the Lateral Prefrontal Cortex.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025
    Article
  9. Diverse Frontoparietal Connectivity Supports Semantic Prediction and Integration in Sentence Comprehension.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Meichao ZhangDepartment of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York, UK, YO10 5DD. Electronic address: mz1180@york.ac.uk.
Dominika VargaDepartment of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York, UK, YO10 5DD.
Xiuyi WangDepartment of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York, UK, YO10 5DD.
Katya Krieger-RedwoodDepartment of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York, UK, YO10 5DD.
Andre GouwsDepartment of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York, UK, YO10 5DD.
Jonathan SmallwoodDepartment of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York, UK, YO10 5DD.
Elizabeth JefferiesDepartment of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York, UK, YO10 5DD. Electronic address: beth.jefferies@york.ac.uk.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Semantic retrieval is flexible, allowing us to focus on subsets of features and associations that are relevant to the current task or context: for example, we use taxonomic relations to locate items in the supermarket (carrots are a vegetable), but thematic associations to decide which tools we need when cooking (carrot goes with peeler). We used fMRI to investigate the neural basis of this form of semantic flexibility; in particular, we asked how retrieval unfolds differently when participants have advanced knowledge of the type of link to retrieve between concepts (taxonomic or thematic). Participants performed a semantic relatedness judgement task: on half the trials, they were cued to search for a taxonomic or thematic link, while on the remaining trials, they judged relatedness without knowing which type of semantic relationship would be relevant. Left inferior frontal gyrus showed greater activation when participants knew the trial type in advance. An overlapping region showed a stronger response when the semantic relationship between the items was weaker, suggesting this structure supports both top-down and bottom-up forms of semantic control. Multivariate pattern analysis further revealed that the neural response in left inferior frontal gyrus reflects goal information related to different conceptual relationships. Top-down control specifically modulated the response in visual cortex: when the goal was unknown, there was greater deactivation to the first word, and greater activation to the second word. We conclude that top-down control of semantic retrieval is primarily achieved through the gating of task-relevant 'spoke' regions.

Indexed as

AssociationGoalsJudgmentAdolescentAdultBrainClassificationCognitionFemaleFunctional NeuroimagingHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMalePrefrontal CortexSemanticsVisual CortexControlExecutiveHub and spoke modelLeft inferior frontal gyrusSemantic cognitionTop-down

Identifiers

PMID32992002
PMCPMC7779371

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.