Wrong or right? Brain potentials reveal hemispheric asymmetries to semantic relations during word-by-word sentence
Melissa Troyer1, Ken McRae2, Marta Kutas3
1Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 405 N Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA; Department of Psychology and Brain & Mind Institute, Western Interdisciplinary Research, Building Room 3190, Western University, London, ON, N6A 5B7, Canada; Department of Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
Abstract:
How does individual-level variation in experience and knowledge influence neural mechanisms important for real-time language comprehension? We used event-related brain potentials (ERPs) combined with lateralized visual field (VF) presentation of sentence-final words to examine asymmetries in hemispheric processing as individuals who varied in their knowledge of the fictional world of Harry Potter (HP) read sentences about general topics and HP. HP sentence endings were either contextually supported, unrelated anomalies, or semantically related anomalies. Amongst HP experts, we observed contextual support effects with presentation to both left and right VFs, but related anomaly effects only with presentation to the left VF (right hemisphere). Our findings are in line with accounts in which the left hemisphere (LH) activates relatively narrow/specific semantic information and the RH activates a broader range of semantic relations, including those relating to the construction of mental/situation models, as individuals attempt to comprehend sentences, one word at a time. We suggest that RH-biased hemispheric asymmetries in processing related (but linguistically inappropriate) words in written sentences may emerge as a function of each individual's degree of relevant knowledge. We tentatively hypothesize that content experts may optimize hemispheric differences in scope of semantic activation to maximize both precision (in the LH) and flexibility (in the RH) during language comprehension.
More Related Videos
05:38Interaction between Phonological and Semantic Processes in Visual Word Recognition using Electrophysiology
Published on: June 29, 2021
08:17A Semantic Priming Event-related Potential ERP Task to Study Lexico-semantic and Visuo-semantic Processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Published on: April 12, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Lateralization
Cerebral Hemispheres
Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...
Language and Cognition
Functional Brain Systems: Limbic System
