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Sketchpad Series

Detection of language network during free speech using Optically Pumped Magnetometers (OPMs)

Poster Session D - Monday, March 31, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom
Also presenting in Data Blitz Session 4 - Saturday, March 29, 2025, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm EDT, Constitution B.

Josefina Weinerova¹, Ryan Hill², Roni Tibon¹; ¹School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, ²Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre (SPMIC), University of Nottingham, United Kingdom

Our memories of events represent a key aspect of our identity. Recently, there has been a shift to using more naturalistic approaches to studying memory, especially memory encoding. Natural retrieval on the other hand is currently poorly understood. This is partly due to methodological challenges. In natural settings memories are often retrieved within a conversation. However, with the sensitivity of most imaging methods to movement artifacts, recording brain activity while participants engage in a conversation can be challenging. This study aims to develop and validate a method to analyse brain signals during continuous speech, using the Optically Pumped Magnetometers (OPMs). OPMs can be used to characterise brain activity on a millisecond timescale and are more resilient to movement artifacts. We will utilise these advantages to investigate whether we can accurately detect brain activity during continuous speech. We will use a rapid visual presentation (RSVP) task where participants will be exposed to 4 conditions: sentences and nonword sequences read overtly or covertly. We expect to detect the well-established language network using the contrast between sentences and nonword sequences. The key addition is the contrast between the overt and covert reading condition which will allow us to develop a specialized pipeline to detect comparable language network for each condition and participant, despite increased movement and muscle artefacts in the overt reading condition. This study has the potential to create a way to study brain function during continuous speech, therefore enabling further research that would significantly improve our understanding of natural memory retrieval.

Topic Area: METHODS: Neuroimaging