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Text type attribution modulates pre-stimulus alpha power in sentence reading
Stefan Blohm1, Matthias Schlesewsky2, Winfried Menninghaus3
1Department of Language and Literature, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, Germany; Department of English and Linguistics, University of Mainz, Germany.
Brain and Language
|January 21, 2021
Summary
Reading poetry versus neutral sentences alters brain activity before stimulus presentation. This suggests genre-specific attentional biases in the brain
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
Background:
- Prior knowledge and expectations shape sensory perception and cognitive tasks like reading.
- Brain oscillations, particularly in the alpha frequency range (8-12 Hz), are functionally relevant for cognitive processes.
- Attentional biases can occur in anticipation of stimuli, influencing perception and comprehension.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate genre-specific attentional biases during sentence reading.
- To examine pre-stimulus neural activity, specifically alpha oscillations, in anticipation of different text types.
- To explore how cognitive adjustments differ between reading neutral sentences and poetry.
Main Methods:
- Electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded from participants reading identical sentences.
- Participants were divided into two groups: one reading neutral sentences, the other reading poetry.
- Relative alpha power was analyzed in pre-stimulus time windows before cue presentation.
Main Results:
- A significant increase in relative alpha power was observed in the poetry condition compared to the genre-neutral condition.
- This difference in alpha power occurred in pre-stimulus time windows, indicating anticipatory cognitive adjustments.
- The findings suggest a genre-dependent modulation of neural activity preceding text processing.
Conclusions:
- The study provides initial evidence for genre-specific cognitive adjustments in anticipation of written stimuli.
- These findings link theories of discourse comprehension with theories of brain function, particularly regarding neural oscillations.
- Anticipatory brain activity, reflected in alpha power, differs based on the expected genre of the text.
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