Language is the most amazing skill that humans possess. It allows social interaction, and through that, can make us cry, laugh and communicate our most complex thoughts. Comprehending the cognitive processes involved in language learning is of critical importance to understanding why under certain conditions language learning is impaired. Language learning research has often offered explanations bounded within the language domain, ignoring the importance of other cognitive functions. Our group uses an integrative approach at the edge of different research fields combining information from patients with brain-damage, as well as imaging in healthy individuals to understand the neural and cognitive mechanisms engaged since the earliest stages of contact with a new language. We are particularly interested in (1) the role of the attentional system in the acquisition of different aspects of language; (2) the role of the striatum as a brain structure that could make the interface between language and other cognitive functions necessary in the learning process; (3) how is the acquired information consolidated and modified by additional new information.

1. Attentional tuning during language learning

ERC Starting Grant (313841 TuningLang)

Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (PID2021-127146NB-I00)

Because speech is a sequence of sounds that unfold over time, the goal of this project is to understand the involvement of temporal orienting brain networks in language learning. Specifically, we are interested in knowing how the attentional system may be temporally tuned to the acquisition of words and rules from speech. This project has three specific objectives: (i) identifying the temporal attention mechanisms and brain networks involved in language learning, (ii) uncovering the developmental relationship in infants between these specific attentional mechanisms and word and rule learning, and (iii) understanding how deficits in temporal orienting and the lesions in its brain networks may lead to specific deficits in language acquisition. This project uses a combination of novel methods that allow for the linking of structural and functional measures (analysis of oscillatory activity following EEG variations during learning, fMRI – structural MRI white matter tractography and TMS) in different populations (brain-damaged patients, infants and healthy adults).

Researchers working in topics relevant to the project are invited regularly. For a list of scheduled talks please visit our Seminars webpage.

Postdoctoral Researchers

Brian Quintero
Bianca Franzoia

Technicians

Joan Rodríguez
David Cucurell

 

Related publications

Martinez-Alvarez, A., Gervain, J., Koulaguina, E., Pons, F., de Diego-Balaguer, R. (2023). Prosodic cues enhance infants’ sensitivity to non-adjacent regularities. Science advances. 9(15):eade4083

Orpella, J., Assaneo, M.F., Ripollés, P., Noejovich, L., López-Barroso, D., de Diego-Balaguer, R., Poeppel, D. (2022). Differential activation of a frontoparietal network explains population-level differences in statistical learning from speech. PLOS BIOLOGY. 20(7):e3001712

Orpella, J., Mas-Herrero, E., Ripollés, P., Marco-Pallarés, J., de Diego-Balaguer, R. (2021). Language statistical learning responds to reinforcement learning principles rooted in the striatum. PLOS BIOLOGY. 19(9):e3001119

Martinez-Alvarez, A., Sanz-Torrent, M., Pons, F., de Diego-Balaguer, R. (2021). Rethinking attention in time: expectancy violations reconcile contradictory developmental evidence. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 206:105070

Assaneo, M.F.*, Orpella, J.*, Ripollés, P., Noejovich, L., López-Barroso, D., de Diego-Balaguer, R., Poeppel, D. (2020). Population-level differences in the neural substrates supporting Statistical Learning (*equally contributed; ⁺joint supervision). bioRxiv

Orpella, J., Ripollés, P., Ruzzoli, M., Amengual, J.L., Callejas, A., Martinez-Alvarez, A., Soto-Faraco, S., de Diego-Balaguer, R. (2020). Integrating When and What Information in the Left Parietal Lobe Allows Language Rule Generalization. PLoS Biology. 18: e3000895. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3000895

Assaneo, M.F., Rimmele, J.M., Orpella, J., Ripollés, P., de Diego-Balaguer, R., Poeppel, D. (2019) The Lateralization of Speech-Brain Coupling Is Differentially Modulated by Intrinsic Auditory and Top-Down Mechanisms. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience. 13:28. doi: 10.3389/fnint.2019.00028. eCollection 2019

Assaneo, M.F.*, Ripollés, P.*, Orpella, J.*, Ming Lin, W., de Diego-Balaguer, R.⁺, Poeppel, D.⁺ (2019). Spontaneous synchronization to speech reveals neural mechanisms facilitating language learning. Nature Neuroscience. 22(4):627-632. (*equally contributed; ⁺joint supervision)

Martinez-Alvarez, A., Pons, F., de Diego-Balaguer, R. (2017). Endogenous temporal attention in the absence of stimulus-driven cues emerges in the second year of life. PLOS ONE. 12(9):e0184698

de Diego-Balaguer, R., Martinez-Alvarez, A., Pons, F. (2016). Temporal Attention as a Scaffold for Language Development. Frontiers in Psychology. 7:44

Biau, E., Torralba, M., Fuentemilla, Ll., de Diego-Balaguer, R., Soto-Faraco, S. (2015). Speaker’s hand gestures modulate speech perception through phase resetting of ongoing neural oscillations. Cortex. 68:76–85

de Diego-Balaguer, R., Rodríguez-Fornells, A., Bachoud-Lévi, A.C. (2015). Prosodic cues enhance rule learning by changing speech segmentation mechanisms. Frontiers in Psychology, 6:1478. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01478

López-Barroso, D., Catani, M., Ripollés, P., Dell’Acqua, F., Rodríguez-Fornells, A., de Diego-Balaguer, R. (2013).Word learning is mediated by the left arcuate fasciculus. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 110(32):13168-73

de Diego-Balaguer, R., Fuentemilla, Ll., Rodríguez-Fornells, A. (2011). Brain dynamics sustaining rapid rule extraction from speech. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 23(10):3105-20

 

2. Striatal function and Huntington’s disease

Although traditionally neglected in the study of cognition, an increasing number of investigations have provided evidence for an important role of subcortical regions in various different cognitive functions. The striatum, in particular, appears to be critical to various tasks involving attention, sequential processing, learning, categorization, and more. All of these functions are of particular relevance to language learning, and accordingly, the striatum appears to be engaged in certain aspects of language processing and language learning. However, the underlying source of engagement for these tasks is still unclear. In order to define the role of the striatum in language learning, it is first necessary to understand its functional heterogeneity. Our current investigation aims to delineate this functional heterogeneity, adopting a multi-modal neuroimaging approach that combines the usage of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on participants.  The information related to the functional heterogeneity of the striatum is not only useful for achieving a deeper understanding of cognitive function in general, but also better understanding the effects of lesions in specific cortico-subcortical pathways. We are therefore interested in the study of Huntington’s disease (HD), a rare inherited neurodegenerative disorder that provokes progressive degeneration of the striatum and leads to a mixture of motor, cognitive and psychiatric disorders. Although phenotypic individual differences in the prominence of each symptom are a leitmotiv in these patients, up to now, the reasons for these individual differences are largely unknown. Unravelling the source of these differences is of utmost importance to better understand the heterogeneity of the disease and better adapt upcoming and current treatments.

This line of research is developed in collaboration with the Diffusion MRI and Brain Connectivity group.

Related publications

De Paepe, A.E., García-Gorro, C., Martínez-Horta, S., Pérez-Pérez, J., Kulisevsky, J., Rodríguez-Dechichá, N., Vaquer, I., Subirà, S., Calopa, M., Santacruz, P., Muñoz, E., Mareca, C., Ruiz-Idiago, J., de Diego-Balaguer, R., Càmara, E. (2022). Delineating apathy profiles in Huntington’s disease with the short-Lille Apathy Rating Scale. Parkinsonism & Related Disorders. 105:83-89

De Paepe, A.E., Ara, A., García-Gorro, C., Martínez-Horta, S., Pérez-Pérez, J., Kulisevsky, J., Rodríguez-Dechichá, N., Vaquer, I., Subirà, S., Calopa, M., Muñoz, E., Santacruz, P., Ruiz-Idiago, J., Mareca, C., de Diego-Balaguer, R., Càmara, E. (2021). Gray Matter Vulnerabilities Predict Longitudinal Development of Apathy in Huntington’s Disease. Movement Disorders. 36(9):2162-2172

Garcia-Gorro, C., Llera, A., Martinez-Horta, S., Perez-Perez, J., Kulisevsky, J., Rodriguez-Dechicha, N., Vaquer, I., Subira, S., Calopa, M., Muñoz, E., Santacruz, P., Ruiz-Idiago, J., Mareca, C., Beckmann, C.F., de Diego-Balaguer, R.⁺, Càmara, E.⁺ (2019) Specific patterns of brain alterations underlie distinct clinical profiles in Huntington’s disease. Neuroimage Clinical. 23:101900. (⁺joint supervision)

De Paepe, A.E.; Sierpowska, J.; Garcia-Gorro, C.; Martinez-Horta, S.; Pérez, J.; Kulisevsky, J.; Rodriguez-Dechicha, N.; Vaquer, N.; Subira, S.; Calopa, M.; Muñoz, E.; Santacruz, P.; Ruiz-Idiago, J.; Mareca, C.; de Diego-Balaguer, R.; Càmara, E. (2019). White matter cortico-striatal tracts predict apathy subtypes in Huntington’s disease. Neuroimage Clinical. 24:101965

Garcia-Gorro, C., Garau-Rolandi, M., Escrichs, A., Rodríguez-Dechicha, N., Vaquer, I., Subira, S., Calopa, M., Martínez-Horta, S., Pérez-Pérez, J., Kulisevsky, J., Muñoz E., Santacruz, P., Ruiz-Idiago, J., Mareca, C, de Diego-Balaguer, R., Càmara, E. (2019). An active cognitive lifestyle as a potential neuroprotective factor in Huntington’s disease. Neuropsychologia. 122:116-124

Garcia-Gorro, C., de Diego-Balaguer, R., Martínez-Horta, S., Pérez-Pérez, J., Kulisevsky, J., Rodríguez-Dechicha, N., Vaquer, I., Subira, S., Calopa, M., Muñoz, E., et al. (2018). Reduced striato-cortical and inhibitory transcallosal connectivity in the motor circuit of Huntington’s disease patients. Hum. Brain Mapp. 39(1):54-71

de Diego-Balaguer, R., Schramm C., Rebeix, I., Dupoux, E., Dürr, A., Brice, A., Charles, P., Cleret de Langavant, L., Youssov, K., Verny, C., Damotte, V., Azulay, J.P., Goize, C., Tranchant, C., Maison, P., Rialland, A., Schmitz, D., Jacquemot, C., Fontaine, B., Bachoud-Lévi, A.C. (2016). COMT Val158Met Polymorphism Modulates Huntington’s Disease Progression. PLOS ONE. 11(9):e0161106

Sambin, S., Teichmann, M., de Diego-Balaguer, R., Giavazzi, M., Sportiche, D., Schlenker, P., Bachoud-Lévi, A.C.(2012). The role of the striatum in sentence processing: Disentangling syntax from working memory in Huntington’s disease. Neuropsychologia. 50(11):2625–2635

de Gelder, B., Van den Stock, J., de Diego-Balaguer, R., Bachoud-Lévi, A.C. (2007). Huntington’s disease impairs recognition of angry and instrumental body language. Neuropsychologia. 46:369-373

de Diego-Balaguer, R., Couette, M., Dolbeau, G., Dürr, A., Youssov, K., Bachoud-Lévi, A.C. (2008). Striatal degeneration impairs language learning: evidence from Huntington’s disease. Brain. 131(Pt 11):2870-81

 

3. Mechanisms of Consolidation and reconsolidation

When new information is acquired, it is consolidated and then integrated with previous knowledge. The type of information (declarative, procedural, with overlapping information), and way in which it is learned, affects how the information is consolidated. Memory is not static, and retrieving and incorporating new information constantly updates previous memories. This line of research is therefore interested in studying the mechanisms that affect how memories are consolidated and modified (i.e. reconsolidated) by new learning.  Although we are interested in understanding exactly how words and language rules are consolidated, this line of research is developed with a wider interest in the consolidation of emotional and declarative non-emotional memories as well as the effects of generalization through consolidation.

This line of research is developed in collaboration with the Dynamics of Memory Formation group

Related publications

O’Rourke T and de Diego-Balaguer, R. (2020) Names and their meanings: A dual-process account of proper-name encoding and retrieval. Neuroscience and Biobehavioural Reviews. 108, 341-357

Oyarzún, J., Càmara, E. , Kouider S, Fuentemilla, Ll., de Diego-Balaguer, R., (2019) Implicit but not explicit exposure to threat conditioned stimulus prevents spontaneous recovery of threat potentiated startle responses in humans. Brain and Behaviour. 9(1):e01157

Havas, V., Taylor, J., Vaquero, L., de Diego-Balaguer, R., Rodríguez-Fornells, A., Davis, M.H. (2017). Semantic and phonological schema influence spoken word learning and overnight consolidation. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 71(6):1469-1481

Packard, P., Rodríguez-Fornells, A., Bunzeck, N., Nicolás, B., de Diego-Balaguer, R., Fuentemilla, Ll. (2017). Semantic congruence accelerates the onset of the neural signals of successful memory encoding. Journal of Neuroscience. 37(2):291-301

Oyarzún, J.P., Packard, P., de Diego-Balaguer, R., Fuentemilla, Ll. (2016). Motivated encoding selectively promotes memory for future inconsequential semantically-related events. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. 133:1–6

Oyarzún, J.P., López-Barroso, D., Fuentemilla, Ll., Cucurell, D., Pedraza, C., Rodríguez-Fornells, A., de Diego-Balaguer, R. (2012). Updating Fearful Memories with Extinction Training during Reconsolidation: A Human Study Using Auditory Aversive Stimuli. PLOS ONE. 7(6):e38849