Electrophysiological evidence of a semantic system commonly accessed by animals and tools categories

Some theoretical perspectives propose a semantic system in which categories are represented in different brain regions. Others assume that distinctions are based rather on differences in the demands placed by different categories on shared processing systems. In this study semantic categorization processes were investigated using the recognition potential (RP), an event-related brain response that reflects semantic processing, peaks at around 250 ms after stimulus onset and originates in areas subserving perceptual-semantic analyses. Results indicate that the RP shows some degree of sensitivity to categorization processes, but that categories assumed to differ markedly in their processing demands share, to a large extent, a common neural generator. This provides support for the non-categorical view on the organization of the semantic system, though introducing subtle variations, and suggesting the existence of a semantic subsystem specializing in the processing of perceptual-semantic features regardless of the semantic category involved.