A domain-general basal ganglia mechanism for inhibitory control during language comprehension
- 1University of Iowa
Abstract
Whether controlled language processing involves domain-general or language-specific neural circuits is subject of controversial debate. We tested whether the inhibitory control of linguistic activity shares a common neural process with motor inhibition in twenty humans undergoing intra- and extracranial neural field potential recordings and deep-brain stimulation. Engaging motor and linguistic inhibition simultaneously resulted in a significant behavioral cost, suggesting a shared underlying neural process. Indeed, neural decoders trained during motor inhibition were able to decode linguistic inhibition and vice versa. Depth-electrode recordings from the subthalamic nucleus (STN), a key basal ganglia area for inhibitory control, showed increased {beta}-band (13-30 Hz) activity during both linguistic and motor inhibition. Finally, disrupting the STN via deep-brain stimulation impaired behavioral and neural signatures of both linguistic and motor inhibition. Together, these findings show that the inhibitory control of language and movement share a domain-general mechanism implemented via the subthalamic nucleus of the basal ganglia.
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BibTeX
@misc{wessel2026domaingeneral,
title = {{A domain-general basal ganglia mechanism for inhibitory control during language comprehension}},
author = {J. R. Wessel and Y. Choo and F. Tabasi and C. Soh and H. Sanchez-Melendez and Q. Zhang and E. R. Uc and N. Chalkley and J. Greenlee and K. Hendrickson},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.64898/2026.11.02.763720},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.02.763720v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - A domain-general basal ganglia mechanism for inhibitory control during language comprehension
AU - J. R. Wessel
AU - Y. Choo
AU - F. Tabasi
AU - C. Soh
AU - H. Sanchez-Melendez
AU - Q. Zhang
AU - E. R. Uc
AU - N. Chalkley
AU - J. Greenlee
AU - K. Hendrickson
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/02
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.11.02.763720
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.02.763720v1
AB - Whether controlled language processing involves domain-general or language-specific neural circuits is subject of controversial debate. We tested whether the inhibitory control of linguistic activity shares a common neural process with motor inhibition in twenty humans undergoing intra- and extracranial neural field potential recordings and deep-brain stimulation. Engaging motor and linguistic inhibition simultaneously resulted in a significant behavioral cost, suggesting a shared underlying neural process. Indeed, neural decoders trained during motor inhibition were able to decode linguistic inhibition and vice versa. Depth-electrode recordings from the subthalamic nucleus (STN), a key basal ganglia area for inhibitory control, showed increased {beta}-band (13-30 Hz) activity during both linguistic and motor inhibition. Finally, disrupting the STN via deep-brain stimulation impaired behavioral and neural signatures of both linguistic and motor inhibition. Together, these findings show that the inhibitory control of language and movement share a domain-general mechanism implemented via the subthalamic nucleus of the basal ganglia.
ER -