Cognitive and Neural State Dynamics of Narrative Comprehension
- Hayoung Song1,2,3,
- Bo-yong Park1,4,5,6,
- Hyunjin Park1,7, and
- Won Mok Shim1,2,8
- 1Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research, IBS, Suwon, Korea, 16419
- 2Department of Biomedical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea, 16419
- 3Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 60637
- 4Department of Electronic, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea, 16419
- 5McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec Canada, H3A 2B4
- 6Department of Data Science, Inha University, Incheon, Korea, 22201
- 7School of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea, 16419
- 8Department of Intelligent Precision Healthcare Convergence, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea, 16419
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Author contributions: H.S. and W.M.S. designed research; H.S. and W.M.S. performed research; H.S., B.-y.P., H.P., and W.M.S. contributed unpublished reagents/analytic tools; H.S. analyzed data; H.S. wrote the first draft of the paper; H.S., B.-y.P., H.P., and W.M.S. edited the paper; H.S., and W.M.S. wrote the paper.
Abstract
Narrative comprehension involves a constant interplay of the accumulation of incoming events and their integration into a coherent structure. This study characterizes cognitive states during narrative comprehension and the network-level reconfiguration occurring dynamically in the functional brain. We presented movie clips of temporally scrambled sequences to human participants (male and female), eliciting fluctuations in the subjective feeling of comprehension. Comprehension occurred when processing events that were highly causally related to the previous events, suggesting that comprehension entails the integration of narratives into a causally coherent structure. The functional neuroimaging results demonstrated that the integrated and efficient brain state emerged during the moments of narrative integration with the increased level of activation and across-modular connections in the default mode network. Underlying brain states were synchronized across individuals when comprehending novel narratives, with increased occurrences of the default mode network state, integrated with sensory processing network, during narrative integration. A model based on time-resolved functional brain connectivity predicted changing cognitive states related to comprehension that are general across narratives. Together, these results support adaptive reconfiguration and interaction of the functional brain networks on causal integration of the narratives.
SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The human brain can integrate temporally disconnected pieces of information into coherent narratives. However, the underlying cognitive and neural mechanisms of how the brain builds a narrative representation remain largely unknown. We showed that comprehension occurs as the causally related events are integrated to form a coherent situational model. Using fMRI, we revealed that the large-scale brain states and interaction between brain regions dynamically reconfigure as comprehension evolves, with the default mode network playing a central role during moments of narrative integration. Overall, the study demonstrates that narrative comprehension occurs through a dynamic process of information accumulation and causal integration, supported by the time-varying reconfiguration and brain network interaction.
- causality
- cognitive neuroscience
- default mode network
- fMRI
- functional connectivity
- narrative comprehension
- Received January 7, 2021.
- Revision received September 3, 2021.
- Accepted September 7, 2021.
- Copyright © 2021 the authors
