| Shinri OHTA | Last modified date：2024.02.05 |
Associate Professor /
Department of Language and Literature /
Faculty of Humanities
Papers
| 1. | Koki Yamaguchi, Shinri Ohta, Dissociating the processing of empty categories in raising and control sentences: A self-paced reading study in Japanese, Frontiers in Language Sciences, 10.3389/flang.2023.1138749, 2, 1138749-1138749, 2023.06, [URL], Introduction: Theoretical linguistics has proposed different types of empty categories (ECs), i.e., unpronounced words with syntactic characteristics. ECs are a key to elucidating the computational system of syntax, algorithms of language processing, and their neural implementation. Here we examined the distinction between raising and control sentences in Japanese and whether ECs are psychologically real. Methods: We recruited 254 native speakers of Japanese in the present internet-based experiment. We used a self-paced reading and a probe recognition priming technique. To investigate whether raising and control sentences have different ECs (i.e., Copy and PRO) and whether these ECs cause a reactivation effect, behavioral data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models. Results: We found two striking results. First, we demonstrate that the reading times of raising and control sentences in Japanese were better explained by the linear mixed-effects model considering the differences of ECs, i.e., Copy and PRO. Secondly, we found a significant reactivation effect for raising and control sentences, which have ECs, and reflexive sentences without ECs. These results indicate that ECs are processed similarly to reflexive pronouns (e.g., himself ). Discussion: Based on these results, we conclude that raising and control sentences in Japanese have different ECs, i.e., Copy and PRO, and that ECs have psychological reality. Our results demonstrate that behavioral experiment based on theoretical linguistics, which is the first step for developing linking hypotheses connecting theoretical linguistics and experimental neuroscience, is indeed necessary for testing hypotheses proposed in theoretical linguistics.. |
| 2. | Ohta, Shinri & Chisaki Iwashita, The effects of phonological features of consonants on sound symbolism in onomatopoeia: A study using semantic differential and factor analysis, Oninkenkyu (Phonological Studies), The Phonological Society of Japan, 26, 43–50, 2023.. |
| 3. | Kyohei Tanaka, Isso Nakamura, Shinri Ohta, Naoki Fukui, Mihoko Zushi, Hiroki Narita, Kuniyoshi L. Sakai, Merge-generability as the key concept of human language: Evidence from neuroscience, Frontiers in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02673, 10, 2673, 2019.11, [URL]. |
| 4. | Takahiro Osada, Shinri Ohta, Akitoshi Ogawa, Masaki Tanaka, Akimitsu Suda, Koji Kamagata, Masaaki Hori, Shigeki Aoki, Yasushi Shimo, Nobutaka Hattori, Takahiro Shimizu, Hiroyuki Enomoto, Ritsuko Hanajima, Yoshikazu Ugawa, Seiki Konishi, An essential role of the intraparietal sulcus in response inhibition predicted by parcellation-based network, Journal of Neuroscience, 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2244-18.2019, 39, 13, 2509-2521, 2019.01, [URL], The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) features close anatomical and functional relationships with the prefrontal cortex. However, the necessity of the PPC in executive functions has been questioned. The present study used the stop-signal task to examine response inhibition, an executive function that inhibits prepotent response tendency. The brain activity and resting-state functional connectivity were measured to analyze a parcellation-based network that was aimed at identifying a candidate PPC region essential for response inhibition in humans. The intraparietal sulcus (IPS) was activated during response inhibition and connected with the inferior frontal cortex and the presupplementary motor area, the two frontal regions known to be necessary for response inhibition. Next, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used to test the essential role of the IPS region for response inhibition. TMS over the IPS region prolonged the stop-signal reaction time (SSRT), the standard behavioral index used to evaluate stopping performance, when stimulation was applied 30–0 ms before stopping. On the contrary, stimulation over the temporoparietal junction region, an area activated during response inhibition but lacking connectivity with the two frontal regions, did not show changes in SSRT. These results indicate that the IPS identified using the parcellation-based network plays an essential role in executive functions.. |
| 5. | Kyohei Tanaka, Shinri Ohta, Ryuta Kinno, Kuniyoshi L. Sakai, Activation changes of the left inferior frontal gyrus for the factors of construction and scrambling in a sentence, Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B, 10.2183/pjab.93.031, 93, 7, 511-522, 2017.07, [URL]. |
| 6. | Shinri Ohta, Masatoshi Koizumi, Kuniyoshi L. Sakai, Dissociating Effects of Scrambling and Topicalization within the Left Frontal and Temporal Language Areas: An fMRI Study in Kaqchikel Maya, Frontiers in Psychology, 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00748, 8, 748, 1-14, 2017.05, [URL]. |
| 7. | Verification of phonological theories using neuroscience experiments and multivariate analyses. |
| 8. | Classification of Japanese compounds based on the frequency of rendaku: A study using the Rendaku Database. |
| 9. | Ryuta Kinno, Shinri Ohta, Yoshihiro Muragaki, Takashi Maruyama, Kuniyoshi L. Sakai, Left frontal glioma induces functional connectivity changes in syntax-related networks, SPRINGERPLUS, 10.1186/s40064-015-1104-6, 4, 317, 1-6, 2015.07, [URL]. |
| 10. | 21pBL-7 Estimating effective connectivity between brain areas with DCM. |
| 11. | Effects of phonological and semantic factors on rendaku: A study using the rendaku database and logistic regression analyses. |
| 12. | Ryuta Kinno, Shinri Ohta, Yoshihiro Muragaki, Takashi Maruyama, Kuniyoshi L. Sakai, Differential reorganization of three syntax-related networks induced by a left frontal glioma, BRAIN, 10.1093/brain/awu013, 137, 4, 1193-1212, 2014.04, [URL]. |
| 13. | Shinri Ohta, Naoki Fukui, Kuniyoshi L. Sakai, Syntactic Computation in the Human Brain: The Degree of Merger as a Key Factor, PLOS ONE, 10.1371/journal.pone.0056230, 8, e５６２３０, 1-16, 2013.02, [URL]. |
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