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Understanding metaphors: Is the right hemisphere uniquely involved?
Natalie A Kacinik1, Christine Chiarello
1Center for Neuroscience, University of California, 1544 Newton Crt., Davis, CA 95616-8768, USA. nakacinik@ucdavis.edu
Brain and Language
|December 6, 2005
Summary
This study on metaphor comprehension found that both brain hemispheres contribute, but differently. The left hemisphere uses sentence context, while the right may retain alternative meanings for potential reinterpretation.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psycholinguistics
- Cerebral Asymmetries
Background:
- Metaphor comprehension is a complex cognitive process involving language understanding.
- Previous research suggests potential hemispheric specializations for figurative language.
- The role of sentence constraint in metaphor processing remains an area of investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate cerebral asymmetries in metaphor comprehension using divided visual field priming.
- To examine how sentence constraint influences the processing of literal and metaphorical meanings.
- To determine if specific brain hemispheres are preferentially involved in metaphor understanding.
Main Methods:
- Two divided visual field priming experiments were conducted.
- Experiment 1 used ambiguous words with literal and metaphoric meanings in varied sentence contexts.
- Experiment 2 employed standard metaphors with sententially consistent and inconsistent targets.
Main Results:
- Similar literal and metaphor priming effects were observed in both visual fields across most conditions.
- The right hemisphere (RH) maintained activation of contextually inconsistent literal meanings after metaphoric expressions.
- The left hemisphere (LH) appeared to use sentence constraint for selecting relevant meanings.
Conclusions:
- Findings do not strongly support a specific right hemisphere (RH) preference for metaphor comprehension.
- Both hemispheres contribute to metaphor processing, but through distinct mechanisms.
- The LH may prioritize contextually relevant meanings, while the RH might retain alternative interpretations, aiding in potential meaning revision.
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