A 10-hour within-participant magnetoencephalography narrative dataset to test models of language comprehension. 2022

Kristijan Armeni, and Umut Güçlü, and Marcel van Gerven, and Jan-Mathijs Schoffelen
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Recently, cognitive neuroscientists have increasingly studied the brain responses to narratives. At the same time, we are witnessing exciting developments in natural language processing where large-scale neural network models can be used to instantiate cognitive hypotheses in narrative processing. Yet, they learn from text alone and we lack ways of incorporating biological constraints during training. To mitigate this gap, we provide a narrative comprehension magnetoencephalography (MEG) data resource that can be used to train neural network models directly on brain data. We recorded from 3 participants, 10 separate recording hour-long sessions each, while they listened to audiobooks in English. After story listening, participants answered short questions about their experience. To minimize head movement, the participants wore MEG-compatible head casts, which immobilized their head position during recording. We report a basic evoked-response analysis showing that the responses accurately localize to primary auditory areas. The responses are robust and conserved across 10 sessions for every participant. We also provide usage notes and briefly outline possible future uses of the resource.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007802 Language A verbal or nonverbal means of communicating ideas or feelings. Dialect,Dialects,Languages
D001921 Brain The part of CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM that is contained within the skull (CRANIUM). Arising from the NEURAL TUBE, the embryonic brain is comprised of three major parts including PROSENCEPHALON (the forebrain); MESENCEPHALON (the midbrain); and RHOMBENCEPHALON (the hindbrain). The developed brain consists of CEREBRUM; CEREBELLUM; and other structures in the BRAIN STEM. Encephalon
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D015225 Magnetoencephalography The measurement of magnetic fields over the head generated by electric currents in the brain. As in any electrical conductor, electric fields in the brain are accompanied by orthogonal magnetic fields. The measurement of these fields provides information about the localization of brain activity which is complementary to that provided by ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY. Magnetoencephalography may be used alone or together with electroencephalography, for measurement of spontaneous or evoked activity, and for research or clinical purposes. Magnetoencephalogram,Magnetoencephalograms
D032882 Comprehension The act or fact of grasping the meaning, nature, or importance of; understanding. (American Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed) Includes understanding by a patient or research subject of information disclosed orally or in writing. Readability,Understanding

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