Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35295820›Full record

ArticleCurrent directions in psychological science2021

Similarity of computations across domains does not imply shared implementation: The case of language comprehension.

Evelina Fedorenko, Cory Shain

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Current directions in psychological science, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
32citing papers in PubMed, 2 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

32 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  11. Neurology of social graces in patients with language deficits.Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry · 2026
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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

2 authors.

Evelina FedorenkoBrain & Cognitive Sciences Department and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT.
Cory ShainBrain & Cognitive Sciences Department and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT.

Funding

Functional reorganization of the language and domain-general multiple demand systems in aphasiaR01DC016950 · NIDCD · BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS) · PI FEDORENKO, EVELINA, KIRAN, SWATHI · 2019 to 2023
$3.2M
The neural architecture of pragmatic processingR01DC016607 · NIDCD · MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · PI FEDORENKO, EVELINA · 2018 to 2022
$2.4M
fMRI investigations of the functional architecture of the language systemR00HD057522 · NICHD · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI FEDORENKO, EVELINA · 2014 to 2016
$738k
fMRI investigations of the functional architecture of the language systemK99HD057522 · NICHD · MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · PI FEDORENKO, EVELINA · 2009 to 2010
$160k
NICHD NIH HHS K99 HD057522NICHD NIH HHS R00 HD057522NIDCD NIH HHS R01 DC016607NIDCD NIH HHS R01 DC016950
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Understanding language requires applying cognitive operations (e.g., memory retrieval, prediction, structure building)-relevant across many cognitive domains-to specialized knowledge structures (a particular language's phonology, lexicon, and syntax). Are these computations carried out by domain-general circuits or by circuits that store domain-specific representations? Recent work has characterized the roles in language comprehension of the language-selective network and the multiple demand (MD) network, which has been implicated in executive functions and linked to fluid intelligence, making it a prime candidate for implementing computations that support information processing across domains. The language network responds robustly to diverse aspects of comprehension, but the MD network shows no sensitivity to linguistic variables. We therefore argue that the MD network does not play a core role in language comprehension, and that past claims to the contrary are likely due to methodological artifacts. Although future studies may discover some aspects of language that require the MD network, evidence to date suggests that those will not be related to core linguistic processes like lexical access or composition. The finding that the circuits that store linguistic knowledge carry out computations on those representations aligns with general arguments against the separation between memory and computation in the mind and brain.

Indexed as

cognitive controldomain specificityexecutive functionslanguagepredictionworking memory

Identifiers

PMID35295820
PMCPMC8923525

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Registered trials

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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.