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Discourse Formulation and Neurovascular Activation in Four Genres

Michael S. Cannizzaro1* and Shaun Stephens1
  • 1 University of Vermont, Clinical and Translational Sciences , United States

Objective: Formulation of discourse is central to human communication and is frequently disrupted in individuals with traumatic brain injury, even when basic linguistic functioning is otherwise intact. Most research on discourse formulation has focused on fictional or picture-description discourse, but these genres are infrequent in normal daily communication. This study examined selected aspects of microstructure and macrostructure and cerebrovascular activation patterns during formulation of four common genres of discourse in healthy adults. Methods: Eleven neurologically healthy adults formulated procedural discourse, personal narrative (recount), fictional narrative, and conversation. One microstructural behavioral measure (efficiency) and one macrostructural measure (informativeness) were measured from each genre using established clinically relevant protocols, and prefrontal neurovascular activation was measured using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Behavioral performance was compared between the four genres, and correlations were explored between behavioral performance and prefrontal hemodynamic activation patterns for the four genres. Results: Efficiency was similar between the four genres. There were significant differences in informativeness between high and low complexity procedural discourse, and between fictional narrative and conversation. Informativeness was highest in conversation and lowest in complex procedural discourse. Neurovascular activity was highest for the high emotional intensity personal narrative. There was significant negative correlation between fictional narrative informativeness and neurovascular activation. Conclusion: The findings suggest that measurement of efficiency enables meaningful comparison of discourse in individuals across genres, and that procedural, personal, and conversation discourse forms are formulated with lower efficiency than fictional narratives. Neurovascular activation was highest in personal injury narratives, even though the narratives produced were of the same efficiency and informativeness as the other genres. There was a trend for increases in discourse efficiency to be associated with decreases in neurovascular activation in personal and fictional narratives. Exploration of ecologically relevant genres of discourse is feasible and relevant for individuals with cognitive-communication impairments.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Alan Howard for statistical assistance, and Ani Harlan for assistance with analyzing the data.

References

Selected References

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Keywords: discourse genre, narrative language, functional near infrared spectroscopy, macrostructure, microstructure, Prefrontal Cortex

Conference: 2nd International Neuroergonomics Conference, Philadelphia, PA, United States, 27 Jun - 29 Jun, 2018.

Presentation Type: Poster Presentation

Topic: Neuroergonomics

Citation: Cannizzaro MS and Stephens S (2019). Discourse Formulation and Neurovascular Activation in Four Genres. Conference Abstract: 2nd International Neuroergonomics Conference. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2018.227.00130

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Received: 25 Apr 2018; Published Online: 27 Sep 2019.

* Correspondence: Dr. Michael S Cannizzaro, University of Vermont, Clinical and Translational Sciences, Burlington, Vermont, 05405, United States, michael.cannizzaro@med.uvm.edu