Idan Blank
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View article: A Point Process Model of Skin Conductance Responses in a Stroop Task for Predicting Depression and Suicidal Ideation
A Point Process Model of Skin Conductance Responses in a Stroop Task for Predicting Depression and Suicidal Ideation Open
Accurate identification of mental health biomarkers can enable earlier detection and objective assessment of compromised mental well-being. In this study, we analyze electrodermal activity recorded during an Emotional Stroop task to captur…
View article: Decoding Neural Signatures of Semantic Evaluation in Depression and Suicidality.
Decoding Neural Signatures of Semantic Evaluation in Depression and Suicidality. Open
Depression and suicidality profoundly impact cognition and emotion, yet objective neurophysiological biomarkers remain elusive. We investigated the spatiotemporal neural dynamics underlying affective semantic processing in individuals with…
View article: Neural Responses to Affective Sentences Reveal Signatures of Depression
Neural Responses to Affective Sentences Reveal Signatures of Depression Open
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a highly prevalent mental health condition, and a deeper understanding of its neurocognitive foundations is essential for identifying how core functions such as emotional and self-referential processing a…
View article: Do Large Language Models know who did what to whom?
Do Large Language Models know who did what to whom? Open
Large Language Models (LLMs) are commonly criticized for not understanding language. However, many critiques focus on cognitive abilities that, in humans, are distinct from language processing. Here, we instead study a kind of understandin…
View article: Illusions of Alignment Between Large Language Models and Brains Emerge From Fragile Methods and Overlooked Confounds
Illusions of Alignment Between Large Language Models and Brains Emerge From Fragile Methods and Overlooked Confounds Open
Emerging research seeks to draw neuroscientific insights from the neural predictivity of large language models (LLMs). However, as results continue to be generated at a rapid pace, there is a growing need for large-scale assessments of the…
View article: The language network ages well: Preserved topography, lateralization, selectivity, and within-network functional connectivity in older brains
The language network ages well: Preserved topography, lateralization, selectivity, and within-network functional connectivity in older brains Open
Healthy aging is associated with structural and functional brain changes. However, cognitive abilities vary in how they change with age: whereas executive functions, like working memory, show age-related decline, aspects of linguistic proc…
View article: Do Large Language Models know who did what to whom?
Do Large Language Models know who did what to whom? Open
Large Language Models (LLMs) are commonly criticized for not “understanding” language. However, many critiques target cognitive abilities that, in humans, are distinct from language processing. Here, we instead study a kind of understandin…
View article: Functional characterization of the language network of polyglots and hyperpolyglots with precision fMRI
Functional characterization of the language network of polyglots and hyperpolyglots with precision fMRI Open
How do polyglots—individuals who speak five or more languages—process their languages, and what can this population tell us about the language system? Using fMRI, we identified the language network in each of 34 polyglots (including 16 hyp…
View article: The Language Network Reliably “Tracks” Naturalistic Meaningful Nonverbal Stimuli
The Language Network Reliably “Tracks” Naturalistic Meaningful Nonverbal Stimuli Open
The language network, comprised of brain regions in the left frontal and temporal cortex, responds robustly and reliably during language comprehension but shows little or no response during many nonlinguistic cognitive tasks (e.g., Fedoren…
View article: Functional Identification of Language-Responsive Channels in Individual Participants in MEG Investigations
Functional Identification of Language-Responsive Channels in Individual Participants in MEG Investigations Open
Making meaningful inferences about the functional architecture of the language system requires the ability to refer to the same neural units across individuals and studies. Traditional brain imaging approaches align and average brains toge…
View article: Functional characterization of the language network of polyglots and hyperpolyglots with precision fMRI
Functional characterization of the language network of polyglots and hyperpolyglots with precision fMRI Open
How do polyglots—individuals who speak five or more languages—process their languages, and what can this population tell us about the language system? Using fMRI, we identified the language network in each of 34 polyglots (including 16 hyp…
View article: Dissociating language and thought in large language models
Dissociating language and thought in large language models Open
Large Language Models (LLMs) have come closest among all models to date to mastering human language, yet opinions about their linguistic and cognitive capabilities remain split. Here, we evaluate LLMs using a distinction between formal lin…
View article: Lipkin et al. (2022) Online Supplement: Probabilistic atlases for the multiple demand (MD) and theory of mind (ToM) networks based on large-scale precision localizers.
Lipkin et al. (2022) Online Supplement: Probabilistic atlases for the multiple demand (MD) and theory of mind (ToM) networks based on large-scale precision localizers. Open
This repository contains an online supplement to Lipkin et al. (2022): [Probabilistic atlas for the language network based on precision fMRI data from >800 individuals]. In this supplement, we follow the methods of the original work to dev…
View article: Lipkin et al. (2022) Online Supplement: Probabilistic atlases for the multiple demand (MD) and theory of mind (ToM) networks based on large-scale precision localizers.
Lipkin et al. (2022) Online Supplement: Probabilistic atlases for the multiple demand (MD) and theory of mind (ToM) networks based on large-scale precision localizers. Open
This repository contains an online supplement to Lipkin et al. (2022): [Probabilistic atlas for the language network based on precision fMRI data from >800 individuals]. In this supplement, we follow the methods of the original work to dev…
View article: Probabilistic atlas for the language network based on precision fMRI data from >800 individuals
Probabilistic atlas for the language network based on precision fMRI data from >800 individuals Open
Two analytic traditions characterize fMRI language research. One relies on averaging activations across individuals. This approach has limitations: because of inter-individual variability in the locations of language areas, any given voxel…
View article: Robust Effects of Working Memory Demand during Naturalistic Language Comprehension in Language-Selective Cortex
Robust Effects of Working Memory Demand during Naturalistic Language Comprehension in Language-Selective Cortex Open
To understand language, we must infer structured meanings from real-time auditory or visual signals. Researchers have long focused on word-by-word structure building in working memory as a mechanism that might enable this feat. However, so…
View article: The language network reliably ‘tracks’ naturalistic meaningful non-verbal stimuli
The language network reliably ‘tracks’ naturalistic meaningful non-verbal stimuli Open
The language network, comprised of brain regions in the left frontal and temporal cortex, responds robustly and reliably during language comprehension but shows little or no response during many non-linguistic cognitive tasks (e.g., Fedore…
View article: Non-literal language processing is jointly supported by the language and Theory of Mind networks: Evidence from a novel meta-analytic fMRI approach
Non-literal language processing is jointly supported by the language and Theory of Mind networks: Evidence from a novel meta-analytic fMRI approach Open
Going beyond the literal meaning of utterances is key to communicative success. However, the mechanisms that support non-literal inferences remain debated. Using a novel meta-analytic approach, we evaluate the contribution of linguistic, s…
View article: LanA (Language Atlas): A probabilistic atlas for the language network based on fMRI data from >800 individuals
LanA (Language Atlas): A probabilistic atlas for the language network based on fMRI data from >800 individuals Open
Two analytic traditions characterize fMRI language research. One relies on averaging activations voxel-wise across individuals. This approach has limitations: because of inter-individual variability in the locations of language areas, a lo…
View article: Differential Tracking of Linguistic vs. Mental State Content in Naturalistic Stimuli by Language and Theory of Mind (ToM) Brain Networks
Differential Tracking of Linguistic vs. Mental State Content in Naturalistic Stimuli by Language and Theory of Mind (ToM) Brain Networks Open
Language and social cognition, especially the ability to reason about mental states, known as theory of mind (ToM), are deeply related in development and everyday use. However, whether these cognitive faculties rely on distinct, overlappin…
View article: The neural architecture of language: Integrative modeling converges on predictive processing
The neural architecture of language: Integrative modeling converges on predictive processing Open
Significance Language is a quintessentially human ability. Research has long probed the functional architecture of language in the mind and brain using diverse neuroimaging, behavioral, and computational modeling approaches. However, adequ…
View article: Robust effects of working memory demand during naturalistic language comprehension in language-selective cortex
Robust effects of working memory demand during naturalistic language comprehension in language-selective cortex Open
A standard view of human language processing is that comprehenders build richly structured mental representations of natural language utterances, word by word, using computationally costly memory operations supported by domain-general work…
View article: Frontal language areas do not emerge in the absence of temporal language areas: A case study of an individual born without a left temporal lobe
Frontal language areas do not emerge in the absence of temporal language areas: A case study of an individual born without a left temporal lobe Open
Language relies on a left-lateralized fronto-temporal brain network. How this network emerges ontogenetically remains debated. We asked whether frontal language areas emerge in the absence of temporal language areas through a ‘deep-data’ i…
View article: Differential tracking of linguistic vs. mental state content in naturalistic stimuli by language and Theory of Mind (ToM) brain networks
Differential tracking of linguistic vs. mental state content in naturalistic stimuli by language and Theory of Mind (ToM) brain networks Open
Language and social cognition, especially the ability to reason about mental states, known as Theory of Mind (ToM), are deeply related in development and everyday use. However, whether these cognitive faculties rely on distinct, overlappin…
View article: Incremental Language Comprehension Difficulty Predicts Activity in the Language Network but Not the Multiple Demand Network
Incremental Language Comprehension Difficulty Predicts Activity in the Language Network but Not the Multiple Demand Network Open
What role do domain-general executive functions play in human language comprehension? To address this question, we examine the relationship between behavioral measures of comprehension and neural activity in the domain-general “multiple de…