This study investigated the neural basis of compound word processing by using fMRI and Chinese two-character compounds for lexical decision. Semantic transparency and morphemic neighborhood size were manipulated to augment the processing profile for measurement. The behavioral results disclosed a semantic transparency effect and its interaction with the neighborhood size, which supported existence of a mechanism for compound processing. The fMRI results located a neural substrate in the left inferior prefrontal cortex (BA 45) which reacted in an interactive manner to the two variables. While its activities were lower when their neighborhood size was larger for processing transparent compounds, its activities became higher when their neighborhood size was larger for processing opaque compounds. When scaling to a larger scope, the function of this mechanism fitted well with the theoretical account of unification function of the left inferior frontal cortex for language processing.

本研究通过使用 fMRI 和中文双字复合词进行词汇决策，研究了复合词处理的神经基础。操纵语义透明度和语素邻域大小以增强测量的处理配置文件。行为结果揭示了语义透明效应及其与邻域大小的相互作用，支持复合处理机制的存在。fMRI 结果位于左下前额叶皮层 (BA 45) 中的神经基质，它以交互方式对两个变量做出反应。当它们的邻域大小越大处理透明化合物时，其活性越低，而当它们的邻域大小越大处理不透明化合物时，其活性越高。当扩展到更大的范围时，