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      Getting real about semantic illusions: rethinking the functional role of the P600 in language comprehension.

      1 , ,
      Brain research
      Elsevier BV

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          Abstract

          In traditional theories of language comprehension, syntactic and semantic processing are inextricably linked. This assumption has been challenged by the 'semantic illusion effect' found in studies using event related brain potentials. Semantically anomalous sentences did not produce the expected increase in N400 amplitude but rather one in P600 amplitude. To explain these findings, complex models have been devised in which an independent semantic processing stream can arrive at a sentence interpretation that may differ from the interpretation prescribed by the syntactic structure of the sentence. We review five such multi-stream models and argue that they do not account for the full range of relevant results because they assume that the amplitude of the N400 indexes some form of semantic integration. Based on recent evidence we argue that N400 amplitude might reflect the retrieval of lexical information from memory. On this view, the absence of an N400-effect in semantic illusion sentences can be explained in terms of priming. Furthermore, we suggest that semantic integration, which has previously been linked to the N400 component, might be reflected in the P600 instead. When combined, these functional interpretations result in a single-stream account of language processing that can explain all of the Semantic Illusion data.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          Brain Res
          Brain research
          Elsevier BV
          1872-6240
          0006-8993
          Mar 29 2012
          : 1446
          Affiliations
          [1 ] Center for Language and Cognition/BCN Neuro-Imaging Center, University of Groningen, The Netherlands. harm.brouwer@rug.nl
          Article
          S0006-8993(12)00158-8
          10.1016/j.brainres.2012.01.055
          22361114
          967e8f7f-46fd-450f-b3e2-d3c9f8097aac
          Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
          History

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