# Encoding and consolidation of semantic meaning into the mental lexicon

> **NIH NIH F32** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2020 · $71,430

## Abstract

Project Summary
The overall goal of the proposed research is to observe the process of word learning, and track a new word as it is first
learned and then stored into semantic memory. In order to accomplish that, the project will record electrophysiological
activity from neurosurgical patients while they engage in a verbal learning task. Neurosurgical patients are well suited to
participate in this study because, for clinical reasons, they have electrodes implanted beneath their skull for a period of
time ranging from 1-3 weeks. During this time, these electrodes will record electrocorticography (ECoG) while patients
engage in a learning task, offering a high spatiotemporal resolution glimpse into brain activity during normal verbal word
learning functioning. In this study, the task is a verbal word learning task in which patients are presented with pseudo
words with no meaning, and gradually learn to associate specific meaning to each word. After words are presented,
the patient is then given four options and asked to identify the correct semantic meaning. The main innovative concept
of this project is that we will use a classifier to decode whether a word is known or unknown, and then use that classifier
to determine the point at which the unknown words become known during the learning process. We hypothesize that
word learning goes through two stages: an episodic stage and a semantic stage. The former is characterized by
hippocampal activation and the latter is characterized by increased network connectivity in the lateral temporal cortex.
If successful, this proposal will not only provide experimental evidence supporting the complementary learning system
view of word learning, but it would also represent a first step toward understanding how words enter the mental lexicon.
This knowledge could potentially help rebuild the mental lexicon in cases where it is pathologically altered, such as
aphasias.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10008971
- **Project number:** 5F32HD098917-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** John Frederick Burke
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $71,430
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2021-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10008971

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10008971, Encoding and consolidation of semantic meaning into the mental lexicon (5F32HD098917-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10008971. Licensed CC0.

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