Correctly identifying the meaning of a stimulus requires activating the appropriate semantic representation among many alternatives. One way to reduce this uncertainty is to differentiate semantic... Show moreCorrectly identifying the meaning of a stimulus requires activating the appropriate semantic representation among many alternatives. One way to reduce this uncertainty is to differentiate semantic representations from each other, thereby expanding the semantic space. Here, in four experiments, we test this semantic-expansion hypothesis, finding that uncertainty-averse individuals exhibit increasingly differentiated and separated semantic representations. This effect is mirrored at the neural level, where uncertainty aversion predicts greater distances between activity patterns in the left inferior frontal gyrus when reading words, and enhanced sensitivity to the semantic ambiguity of these words in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Two direct tests of the behavioural consequences of semantic expansion further reveal that uncertainty-averse individuals exhibit reduced semantic interference and poorer generalization. Together, these findings show that the internal structure of our semantic representations acts as an organizing principle to make the world more identifiable. Show less
Miao, Q.; Zurlo, E.; Bruin, D. de; Wondergem, J.A.J.; Skinner, S.P.; Timmer, M.; ... ; Huber, M.I. 2021
CORRIGENDUM Q. Miao, E. Zurlo, D. de Bruin, J. A. J. Wondergem, S. P. Skinner, M. Timmer, A. Blok, D. Heinrich, M. Overhand, M. Huber,* M. Ubbink* 17128–17133 A Two-Armed Probe for In-Cell DEER... Show moreCORRIGENDUM Q. Miao, E. Zurlo, D. de Bruin, J. A. J. Wondergem, S. P. Skinner, M. Timmer, A. Blok, D. Heinrich, M. Overhand, M. Huber,* M. Ubbink* 17128–17133 A Two-Armed Probe for In-Cell DEER Measurements on Proteins Chem. Eur. J., 2020, 26 DOI: 10.1002/chem.202002743 All authors have agreed that Dr. Simon P. Skinner has made a significant contribution to this work by performing experiments and analyzing data and that his name should have been included in the list of authors. The corrected list of authors therefore reads: Dr. Qing Miao, Dr. Enrico Zurlo, Donny de Bruin, Joeri A. J. Wondergem, Dr. Simon P. Skinner, Monika Timmer, Anneloes Blok, Prof. Dr. Doris Heinrich, Dr. Mark Overhand, Dr. Martina Huber, Prof. Dr. Marcellus Ubbink The relevant affiliations for Dr. Skinner are (1) Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Gorlaeus Laboratories, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 55, 2333, CC Leiden, The Netherlands and (2) School of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Astbury Centre, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. The Acknowledgement section should not contain the sentence “and Dr. Simon Skinner for CLaNP5 labeled T4lys NMR data. Show less
Miao, Q.; Zurlo, E.; Bruin, D. de; Wondergem, A.J.; Timmer, M.; Blok, A.J.; ... ; Ubbink, M. 2020
