Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.08.17.254482v1?rss=1 Authors: Li, J., pylkkanen, L. Abstract: Although composing two words into a complex representation is conceptually different from forming associations between a pair of words, the brain regions supporting semantic composition have also been implicated for associative encoding. Prior work has never directly compared the neural substrates of composition and association. Here, we adopted a two-word magnetoencephalography (MEG) paradigm which varies compositionality ("French/Korean cheese" vs. "France/Korea cheese") and strength of association ("France/French cheese" vs. "Korea/Korean cheese") between the words. We applied both univariate regression analyses and multivariate pattern classification to the source-localized MEG data in a bilateral language network. We show that the left anterior and middle temporal lobe are distinctly modulated by semantic composition and semantic association. Pattern-based directed connectivity analysis further revealed a continuous information flow from the anterior to the middle temporal region. These findings shed light into a functional dissociation within the left temporal lobe for compositional and distributional semantic processing. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info