Pronouns reactivate conceptual representations in human hippocampal neurons

D. E. Dijksterhuis; M. W. Self; J. K. Possel; J. C. Peters; E. C.W. van Straaten; S. Idema; J. C. Baaijen; S. M.A. van der Salm; E. J. Aarnoutse; N. C.E. van Klink; P. van Eijsden; S. Hanslmayr; R. Chelvarajah; F. Roux; L. D. Kolibius; V. Sawlani; D. T. Rollings; S. Dehaene; P. R. Roelfsema

doi:10.1126/science.adr2813

Pronouns reactivate conceptual representations in human hippocampal neurons

D. E. Dijksterhuis
, M. W. Self
, J. K. Possel
, J. C. Peters
, E. C.W. van Straaten
, S. Idema
, J. C. Baaijen
, S. M.A. van der Salm
, E. J. Aarnoutse
, N. C.E. van Klink
, P. van Eijsden
, S. Hanslmayr
, R. Chelvarajah
, F. Roux
, L. D. Kolibius
, V. Sawlani
, D. T. Rollings
, S. Dehaene
, P. R. Roelfsema

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

During discourse comprehension, every new word adds to an evolving representation of meaning that accumulates over consecutive sentences and constrains the next words. To minimize repetition and utterance length, languages use pronouns, like the word "she," to refer to nouns and phrases that were previously introduced. It has been suggested that language comprehension requires that pronouns activate the same neuronal representations as the nouns themselves. We recorded from individual neurons in the human hippocampus during a reading task. Cells that were selective to a particular noun were later reactivated by pronouns that refer to the cells' preferred noun. These results imply that concept cells contribute to a rapid and dynamic semantic memory network that is recruited during language comprehension.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1478-1484
Number of pages	7
Journal	Science (New York, N.Y.)
Volume	385
Issue number	6716
Early online date	26 Sept 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adr2813
Publication status	Published - 27 Sept 2024

Funding

We are grateful to the staff of the Epilepsy Monitor Unit of the VU University Medical Center Amsterdam (VUmc) and University Medical Centre Utrecht for their help during these recordings. We thank P. Ris and N. Sijsma (VUmc) and L. Rizzi, N. Friedmann, H. Koopman, and K. von Heusinger for discussions at various stages of this project. We thank P. Hagoort for valuable feedback on the manuscript. Funding: KNAW 240-846401 NWA-StartImpuls 2017; NWO Crossover grant no. 17619 “INTENSE”; DBI2 (a Gravitation program of the Dutch Ministry of Science); ERC grant 101052963 “NUMEROUS” and 647954 “Code4Memory”; H2020 Research and Innovation program grant no. 899287 “NeuraViper”; and the Human Brain Project grant no. 650003. Author contributions: Conceptualization: M.W.S., P.R.R., S.D.; We are grateful to the staff of the Epilepsy Monitor Unit of the VU University Medical Center Amsterdam (VUmc) and University Medical Centre Utrecht for their help during these recordings. We thank P. Ris and N. Sijsma (VUmc) and L. Rizzi, N. Friedmann, H. Koopman, and K. von Heusinger for discussions at various stages of this project. We thank P. Hagoort for valuable feedback on the manuscript. KNAW 240-846401 NWA-StartImpuls 2017; NWO Crossover grant no. 17619 “INTENSE”; DBI2 (a Gravitation program of the Dutch Ministry of Science); ERC grant 101052963 “NUMEROUS” and 647954 “Code4Memory”; H2020 Research and Innovation program grant no. 899287 “NeuraViper”; and the Human Brain Project grant no. 650003.

Funders	Funder number
Dutch Ministry of Science
University Medical Centre Utrecht
Amsterdam University Medical Centers
H2020 Research and Innovation	899287
NWO	17619
ERC	647954, 101052963
Human Brain Project	650003

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Dijksterhuis, D. E., Self, M. W., Possel, J. K., Peters, J. C., van Straaten, E. C. W., Idema, S., Baaijen, J. C., van der Salm, S. M. A., Aarnoutse, E. J., van Klink, N. C. E., van Eijsden, P., Hanslmayr, S., Chelvarajah, R., Roux, F., Kolibius, L. D., Sawlani, V., Rollings, D. T., Dehaene, S., & Roelfsema, P. R. (2024). Pronouns reactivate conceptual representations in human hippocampal neurons. Science (New York, N.Y.), 385(6716), 1478-1484. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adr2813

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title = "Pronouns reactivate conceptual representations in human hippocampal neurons",

abstract = "During discourse comprehension, every new word adds to an evolving representation of meaning that accumulates over consecutive sentences and constrains the next words. To minimize repetition and utterance length, languages use pronouns, like the word {"}she,{"} to refer to nouns and phrases that were previously introduced. It has been suggested that language comprehension requires that pronouns activate the same neuronal representations as the nouns themselves. We recorded from individual neurons in the human hippocampus during a reading task. Cells that were selective to a particular noun were later reactivated by pronouns that refer to the cells' preferred noun. These results imply that concept cells contribute to a rapid and dynamic semantic memory network that is recruited during language comprehension.",

author = "Dijksterhuis, \{D. E.\} and Self, \{M. W.\} and Possel, \{J. K.\} and Peters, \{J. C.\} and \{van Straaten\}, \{E. C.W.\} and S. Idema and Baaijen, \{J. C.\} and \{van der Salm\}, \{S. M.A.\} and Aarnoutse, \{E. J.\} and \{van Klink\}, \{N. C.E.\} and \{van Eijsden\}, P. and S. Hanslmayr and R. Chelvarajah and F. Roux and Kolibius, \{L. D.\} and V. Sawlani and Rollings, \{D. T.\} and S. Dehaene and Roelfsema, \{P. R.\}",

year = "2024",

month = sep,

day = "27",

doi = "10.1126/science.adr2813",

language = "English",

volume = "385",

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Dijksterhuis, DE, Self, MW, Possel, JK, Peters, JC, van Straaten, ECW, Idema, S, Baaijen, JC, van der Salm, SMA, Aarnoutse, EJ, van Klink, NCE, van Eijsden, P, Hanslmayr, S, Chelvarajah, R, Roux, F, Kolibius, LD, Sawlani, V, Rollings, DT, Dehaene, S & Roelfsema, PR 2024, 'Pronouns reactivate conceptual representations in human hippocampal neurons', Science (New York, N.Y.), vol. 385, no. 6716, pp. 1478-1484. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adr2813

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T1 - Pronouns reactivate conceptual representations in human hippocampal neurons

AU - Dijksterhuis, D. E.

AU - Self, M. W.

AU - Possel, J. K.

AU - Peters, J. C.

AU - van Straaten, E. C.W.

AU - Idema, S.

AU - Baaijen, J. C.

AU - van der Salm, S. M.A.

AU - Aarnoutse, E. J.

AU - van Klink, N. C.E.

AU - van Eijsden, P.

AU - Hanslmayr, S.

AU - Chelvarajah, R.

AU - Roux, F.

AU - Kolibius, L. D.

AU - Sawlani, V.

AU - Rollings, D. T.

AU - Dehaene, S.

AU - Roelfsema, P. R.

PY - 2024/9/27

Y1 - 2024/9/27

N2 - During discourse comprehension, every new word adds to an evolving representation of meaning that accumulates over consecutive sentences and constrains the next words. To minimize repetition and utterance length, languages use pronouns, like the word "she," to refer to nouns and phrases that were previously introduced. It has been suggested that language comprehension requires that pronouns activate the same neuronal representations as the nouns themselves. We recorded from individual neurons in the human hippocampus during a reading task. Cells that were selective to a particular noun were later reactivated by pronouns that refer to the cells' preferred noun. These results imply that concept cells contribute to a rapid and dynamic semantic memory network that is recruited during language comprehension.

AB - During discourse comprehension, every new word adds to an evolving representation of meaning that accumulates over consecutive sentences and constrains the next words. To minimize repetition and utterance length, languages use pronouns, like the word "she," to refer to nouns and phrases that were previously introduced. It has been suggested that language comprehension requires that pronouns activate the same neuronal representations as the nouns themselves. We recorded from individual neurons in the human hippocampus during a reading task. Cells that were selective to a particular noun were later reactivated by pronouns that refer to the cells' preferred noun. These results imply that concept cells contribute to a rapid and dynamic semantic memory network that is recruited during language comprehension.

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JO - Science (New York, N.Y.)

JF - Science (New York, N.Y.)

IS - 6716

ER -

Pronouns reactivate conceptual representations in human hippocampal neurons

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