条件性运动学习的神经基础

人和动物形成多样的、快速可变的刺激－反应联合关系的过程被称为条件性运动学习。条件性运动学习使得人和动物具有很强的适应优势。损毁或行为电生理研究表明：运动前区背外侧部、基底神经节以及前额叶皮层腹侧部在条件性运动学习中起至关重要的作用;海马在条件性运动学习中也起着一定的作用;而杏仁核等一些结构在条件性运动学习中不起作用。     

Neurophysiological mechanisms involved in language learning in adults

Little is known about the brain mechanisms involved in word learning during infancy and in second language acquisition and about the way these new words become stable representations that sustain language processing. In several studies we have adopted the human simulation perspective, studying the effects of brain-lesions and combining different neuroimaging techniques such as event-related potentials and functional magnetic resonance imaging in order to examine the language learning (LL) process. In the present article, we review this evidence focusing on how different brain signatures relate to (i) the extraction of words from speech, (ii) the discovery of their embedded grammatical structure, and (iii) how meaning derived from verbal contexts can inform us about the cognitive mechanisms underlying the learning process. We compile these findings and frame them into an integrative neurophysiological model that tries to delineate the major neural networks that might be involved in the initial stages of LL. Finally, we propose that LL simulations can help us to understand natural language processing and how the recovery from language disorders in infants and adults can be accomplished.