A consistent finding across head-initial languages, such as English, is that subject relative clauses (SRCs) are easier to comprehend than object relative clauses (ORCs). However, several studies in Mandarin Chinese, a head-final language, revealed the opposite pattern, which might be modulated by working memory (WM) as suggested by recent results from self-paced reading performance. In the present study, event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded when participants with high and low WM spans (measured by forward digit span and operation span tests) read Chinese ORCs and SRCs. The results revealed an N400-P600 complex elicited by ORCs on the relativizer, whose magnitude was modulated by the WM span. On the other hand, a P600 effect was elicited by SRCs on the head noun, whose magnitude was not affected by the WM span. These findings paint a complex picture of relative clause processing in Chinese such that opposing factors involving structural ambiguities and integration of filler-gap dependencies influence processing dynamics in Chinese relative clauses.

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Background: Neurocognitive models of language processing highlight the role of the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in the functional network underlying language. Furthermore, neuroscience research has shown that IFG is not a uniform region anatomically, cytoarchitectonically or functionally. However, no previous study explored the language-related functional connectivity patterns of different IFG subdivisions using a meta-analytic connectivity approach. Purpose: The present meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) study aimed to identify language-related coactivation patterns of the left and right IFG subdivisions. Method: Six regions of interest (ROIs) were defined using a probabilistic brain atlas corresponding to pars opercularis (BA44), pars triangularis (BA45) and pars orbitalis (Fo6&7) of IFG in both hemispheres. The ROIs were used to search the BrainMap functional database to identify neuroimaging experiments with healthy, right-handed participants reporting language-related activations in each ROI. Activation likelihood estimation analyses were then performed on the foci extracted from the identified studies to compute functional convergence for each ROI, which was also contrasted with the other ROIs within the same hemisphere. In addition, a behavioral analysis was conducted to determine functional specificity for language subdomains within each ROI. Results: A primarily left-lateralized functional network was revealed for the left and right IFG subdivisions. The left IFG ROIs exhibited a more robust coactivation pattern than the right IFG ROIs. In particular, the left posterior-dorsal IFG (BA44) was associated with the most extensive coactivation pattern involving bilateral frontal, bilateral parietal, left temporal, left subcortical (thalamus and putamen), and right cerebellar regions, while the left anterior-ventral IFG (BA45 and Fo6&7) revealed a predominantly left-lateralized involvement of frontotemporal regions. Conclusion: The findings align with the neurocognitive models of language processing that propose a division of labor among the left IFG subdivisions and their respective functional networks. Also, the opercular part of left IFG (BA44) stands out as a major hub in the language network with connections to diverse cortical, subcortical and cerebellar structures.