EXPRESS: Selective adaptation in sentence comprehension: Evidence from event-related brain potentials

2020 ◽  
pp. 174702182098462
Author(s):  
Masataka Yano ◽  
Shugo Suwazono ◽  
Hiroshi Arao ◽  
Daichi Yasunaga ◽  
Hiroaki Oishi
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Processing System ◽  
Selective Adaptation ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Equal Probability ◽  
N400 Effect ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Processing Cost ◽  
Low Probability

The present study conducted two event-related potential experiments to investigate whether readers adapt their expectations to morphosyntactically (Experiment 1) or semantically (Experiment 2) anomalous sentences when they are repeatedly exposed to them. To address this issue, we manipulated the probability of morphosyntactically/semantically grammatical and anomalous sentence occurrence through experiments. For the low probability block, anomalous sentences were presented less frequently than grammatical sentences (with a ratio of 1 to 4), while they were presented as frequently as grammatical sentences in the equal probability block. Experiment 1 revealed a smaller P600 effect for morphosyntactic violations in the equal probability block than in the low probability block. Linear mixed-effect models were used to examine how the size of the P600 effect changed as the experiment went along. The results showed that the smaller P600 effect of the equal probability block resulted from an amplitude’s decline in morphosyntactically violated sentences over the course of the experiment, suggesting an adaptation to morphosyntactic violations. In Experiment 2, semantically anomalous sentences elicited a larger N400 effect than their semantically natural counterparts regardless of probability manipulation. No evidence was found in favor of adaptation to semantic violations in that the processing cost of semantic violations did not decrease over the course of the experiment. Therefore, the present study demonstrated a dynamic aspect of language-processing system. We will discuss why the language-processing system shows a selective adaptation to morphosyntactic violations.

scholarly journals Spoken Sentence Comprehension in Aphasia: Event-related Potential Evidence for a Lexical Integration Deficit

1997 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Swaab ◽  
Colin Brown ◽  
Peter Hagoort
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Sentence Context ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Oddball Paradigm ◽  
Final Word ◽  
N400 Effect ◽  
Lexical Information ◽  
Preceding Sentence ◽  
Comprehension Deficit

In this study the N400 component of the event-related potential was used to investigate spoken sentence understanding in Broca's and Wernicke's aphasics. The aim of the study was to determine whether spoken sentence comprehension problems in these patients might result from a deficit in the on-line integration of lexical information. Subjects listened to sentences spoken at a normal rate. In half of these sentences, the meaning of the final word of the sentence matched the semantic specifications of the preceding sentence context. In the other half of the sentences, the sentence-final word was anomalous with respect to the preceding sentence context. The N400 was measured to the sentence-final words in both conditions. The results for the aphasic patients (n = 14) were analyzed according to the severity of their comprehension deficit and compared to a group of 12 neurologically unimpaired age-matched controls, as well as a group of 6 nonaphasic patients with a lesion in the right hemisphere. The nonaphasic brain damaged patients and the aphasic patients with a light comprehension deficit (high comprehenders, n = 7) showed an N400 effect that was comparable to that of the neurologically unimpaired subjects. In the aphasic patients with a moderate to severe comprehension deficit (low comprehenders, n = 7), a reduction and delay of the N400 effect was obtained. In addition, the P300 component was measured in a classical oddball paradigm, in which subjects were asked to count infrequent low tones in a random series of high and low tones. No correlation was found between the occurrence of N400 and P300 effects, indicating that changes in the N400 results were related to the patients' language deficit. Overall, the pattern of results was compatible with the idea that aphasic patients with moderate to severe comprehension problems are impaired in the integration of lexical information into a higher order representation of the preceding sentence context.

scholarly journals Effects of Dispositional Affect on the N400: Language Processing and Socially Situated Context

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veena D. Dwivedi ◽  
Janahan Selvanayagam
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Direct Object ◽  
Positive And Negative Affect ◽  
Object Type ◽  
Socially Situated

We examined whether the N400 Event-Related Potential (ERP) component would be modulated by dispositional affect during sentence processing. In this study, 33 participants read sentences manipulated by direct object type (congruent vs. incongruent) and object determiner type (definite vs. demonstrative). We were particularly interested in sentences of the form: (i) The connoisseur tasted thewineon the tour vs. (ii) The connoisseur tasted the #roof… We expected that processing incongruent direct objects (#roof) vs. congruent objects (wine) would elicit N400 effects. Previous ERP language experiments have shown that participants in (induced) positive and negative moods were differentially sensitive to semantic anomaly, resulting in different N400 effects. Presently, we ask whether individual dispositional affect scores (as measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule; PANAS) would modulate N400 effects as shown previously. Namely, previous results showed larger N400 effects associated with happy moods and attenuated amplitudes associated with sad moods. Results revealed significant N400 effects, driven by the #roof vs. the wine, where larger amplitude differences were found for individuals showing smaller negative affect (NA) scores, thus partially replicating previous findings. We discuss our results in terms of theories of local (lexical) inhibition, such that low NA promotes stronger lexico-semantic links in sentences. Finally, our results support accounts of language processing that include social and biological characteristics of individuals during real-time sentence comprehension.

scholarly journals Influence of Prosodic Information on the Processing of Split Particles: ERP Evidence from Spoken German

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 154-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédéric Isel ◽  
Kai Alter ◽  
Angela D. Friederici
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Processing System ◽  
Sentence Structure ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
N400 Effect ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Lexical Information ◽  
Linguistic Convention ◽  
On Line

Spoken language comprehension involves the use of different sources of linguistic information such as prosodic, syntactic, lexical, and semantic information. The question, however, of “when” and “how” these sources of information are exploited by the language processing system still remains unanswered. In the present study, we used event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to investigate the interaction between prosodic, syntactic, and lexical information during the processing of spoken German sentences. The sentence structure was manipulated by positioning a split particle at the end of the sentences after the occurrence of inflected verb whose lexical entry does not contain a split particle (e.g., *Sie alarmierte den Detektiv an [*She alerted at the detective]) [According to linguistic convention, incorrect sentences are marked by an asterisk.]. The prosodic contour of the verb stems was manipulated such that it marked either the presence of a split particle at a later position in the sentence or not. Participants performed an off-line probe-detection task. ERP data indicate that prosodic information of German-inflected verb stems is consulted on-line by the language processing system (“parser”) in order to “predict” the presence of a split particle at a later position in the sentence. An N400 effect was observed for the processing of split particles following verb stems which do not take a particle. However, this effect was only observed when the prosody of the verb stem did signal the presence of a split particle. We argue that the N400 component reflects the high costs associated with the lexical search that the language processing system has to perform when confronted with nonexisting words such as these resulting from the combination of the split particle and the verb stem in the present study. Furthermore, as a general reflection of prosodic processes, a Closure Positive Shift (CPS) was found at intonational phrase boundaries. In sum, the present findings provide strong evidence that prosodic information is a good “predictor” of upcoming information during the auditory processing of German sentences.

Processing a second language: late learners' comprehension mechanisms as revealed by event-related brain potentials

2001 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anja Hahne ◽  
Angela D. Friederici
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
N400 Effect ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Native Japanese Speakers ◽  
Brain Responses ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Overall Performance ◽  
Anterior Negativity

Sentence comprehension in second language (L2) learners was examined using event-related brain potentials (ERPs). Native Japanese speakers who had learned German as a second language after puberty listened to German sentences which were either correct, semantically incorrect, syntactically incorrect or both semantically and syntactically incorrect. Brain responses were registered while participants listened to these sentences. Grammaticality judgments required after each sentence revealed that their overall performance was not perfect but clearly above chance. When comparing the L2-learners' brain responses to those of native listeners, a variety of differences were observed. Whereas semantically incorrect sentences showed an ERP pattern similar to that of native listeners (a centro-parietal N400-effect), correct sentences elicited a greater positivity in L2-learners than in native listeners, possibly in reflection of greater difficulties in syntactic integration. For sentences containing a phrase structure violation, L2-learners did not show significant modulations of the syntax-related ERP components usually seen in native listeners (i.e. the early anterior negativity and the P600). Furthermore, sentences containing a pure semantic or a combined syntactic and semantic violation elicited a late right anterior-central negativity, an effect which has not been observed for native language processing. The topography of the effect may suggest that these additional processes are based on conceptual-semantic rather than on lexical-semantic aspects.

In Search of a Human Language Processing System

1985 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 529-531
Author(s):  
Patrick Carroll
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Processing System ◽  
Human Language

scholarly journals Implicit Semantic Processing of Linguistic and Non-linguistic Stimuli in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emme O’Rourke ◽  
Emily L. Coderre
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Adults With Autism ◽  
Priming Task ◽  
Adults With Asd

AbstractWhile many individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience difficulties with language processing, non-linguistic semantic processing may be intact. We examined neural responses to an implicit semantic priming task by comparing N400 responses—an event-related potential related to semantic processing—in response to semantically related or unrelated pairs of words or pictures. Adults with ASD showed larger N400 responses than typically developing adults for pictures, but no group differences occurred for words. However, we also observed complex modulations of N400 amplitude by age and by level of autistic traits. These results offer important implications for how groups are delineated and compared in autism research.

scholarly journals When Heuristics Clash with Parsing Routines: ERP Evidence for Conflict Monitoring in Sentence Perception

2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 1181-1197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marieke van Herten ◽  
Dorothee J. Chwilla ◽  
Herman H. J. Kolk
Keyword(s):  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Syntactic Analysis ◽  
Conflict Monitoring ◽  
N400 Effect ◽  
Word Meanings ◽  
Late Positivity ◽  
Error Related Negativity ◽  
Monitoring Process ◽  
Outcome Monitoring

Monitoring refers to a process of quality control designed to optimize behavioral outcome. Monitoring for action errors manifests itself in an error-related negativity in event-related potential (ERP) studies and in an increase in activity of the anterior cingulate in functional magnetic resonance imaging studies. Here we report evidence for a monitoring process in perception, in particular, language perception, manifesting itself in a late positivity in the ERP. This late positivity, the P600, appears to be triggered by a conflict between two interpretations, one delivered by the standard syntactic algorithm and one by a plausibility heuristic which combines individual word meanings in the most plausible way. To resolve this conflict, we propose that the brain reanalyzes the memory trace of the perceptual input to check for the possibility of a processing error. Thus, as in Experiment 1, when the reader is presented with semantically anomalous sentences such as, “The fox that shot the poacher…,” full syntactic analysis indicates a semantic anomaly, whereas the word-based heuristic leads to a plausible interpretation, that of a poacher shooting a fox. That readers actually pursue such a word-based analysis is indicated by the fact that the usual ERP index of semantic anomaly, the so-called N400 effect, was absent in this case. A P600 effect appeared instead. In Experiment 2, we found that even when the word-based heuristic indicated that only part of the sentence was plausible (e.g., “…that the elephants pruned the trees”), a P600 effect was observed and the N400 effect of semantic anomaly was absent. It thus seems that the plausibility of part of the sentence (e.g., that of pruning trees) was sufficient to create a conflict with the implausible meaning of the sentence as a whole, giving rise to a monitoring response.

scholarly journals Some Regions within Broca's Area Do Respond More Strongly to Sentences than to Linguistically Degraded Stimuli: A Comment on Rogalsky and Hickok ()

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 2632-2635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelina Fedorenko ◽  
Nancy Kanwisher
Keyword(s):  
Random Effects ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Broca’S Area ◽  
Broca's Area ◽  
Review Of The Literature

On the basis of their review of the literature, Rogalsky and Hickok [Rogalsky, C., & Hickok, G. The role of Broca's area in sentence comprehension. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 23, 1664–1680, 2011] conclude that there is currently no strong evidence for the existence of “sentence-specific processing regions within Broca's area” (p. 1664). Their argument is based, in part, on the observation that many previous studies have failed to detect an effect in the left inferior frontal regions for contrasts between sentences and linguistically degraded control conditions (e.g., lists of unconnected words, lists of nonwords, or acoustically degraded sentence stimuli). Our data largely replicate this lack of activation in inferior frontal regions when traditional random-effects group analyses are conducted but crucially show robust activations in the same data for the same contrasts in almost every subject individually. Thus, it is the use of group analyses in studies of language processing, not the idea that sentences robustly activate frontal regions, that needs to be reconsidered. This reconsideration has important methodological and theoretical implications.

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