Research report Neural correlates and network connectivity underlying narrative production and comprehension: A combined fMRI and PET study Nuria Y. AbdulSabur a,b, *, Yisheng Xu a , Siyuan Liu a , Ho Ming Chow a , Miranda Baxter a , Jessica Carson a and Allen R. Braun a a Language Section, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States b Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States article info Article history: Received 15 March 2013 Reviewed 2 May 2013 Revised 14 May 2013 Accepted 27 January 2014 Action editor Stefano Cappa Published online 4 February 2014 Keywords: Discourse Language Theory of mind fMRI Functional connectivity abstract The neural correlates of narrative production and comprehension remain poorly under- stood. Here, using positron emission tomography (PET), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), contrast and functional network connectivity analyses we comprehen- sively characterize the neural mechanisms underlying these complex behaviors. Eighteen healthy subjects told and listened to fictional stories during scanning. In addition to traditional language areas (e.g., left inferior frontal and posterior middle temporal gyri), both narrative production and comprehension engaged regions associated with mental- izing and situation model construction (e.g., dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, precuneus and inferior parietal lobules) as well as neocortical premotor areas, such as the pre- supplementary motor area and left dorsal premotor cortex. Narrative comprehension alone showed marked bilaterality, activating right hemisphere homologs of perisylvian language areas. Narrative production remained predominantly left lateralized, uniquely activating executive and motor-related regions essential to language formulation and articulation. Connectivity analyses revealed strong associations between language areas and the superior and middle temporal gyri during both tasks. However, only during sto- rytelling were these same language-related regions connected to cortical and subcortical motor regions. In contrast, during story comprehension alone, they were strongly linked to regions supporting mentalizing. Thus, when employed in a more complex, ecologically- valid context, language production and comprehension show both overlapping and idio- syncratic patterns of activation and functional connectivity. Importantly, in each case the language system is integrated with regions that support other cognitive and sensorimotor domains. ª 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd. * Corresponding author. Language Section, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bldg 10, Rm 5D45, Bethesda, MD 20982, United States. E-mail address: nuria.abdulsabur@nih.gov (N.Y. AbdulSabur). Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cortex cortex 57 (2014) 107 e127 0010-9452/$ e see front matter ª 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2014.01.017