Expertise modifies neural responses to causal inference during language comprehension

Physicians (n=16) show more robust, self-similar fMRI responses than matched controls (n=16) in the animacy semantic network when reading illness causal inferences.

• Why it matters: Shared common ground may be shaped by specialized knowledge, but it was unclear whether causal expertise changes the neural representations used during everyday language comprehension.
• What they did: In fMRI, physicians and age- and education-matched controls read linguistically matched two-sentence vignettes that elicited implicit causal inferences about illness or object mechanics versus control vignettes.
• The result: Illness causal vignettes engaged a temporoparietal animacy network (precuneus, left temporoparietal junction), and expertise strengthened these responses specifically for biological inferences, not mechanical or mental state inferences.

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