Differential electrophysiological signatures of semantic and syntactic scene processing.

ABSTRACT: In sentence processing, semantic and syntactic violations elicit differential brain responses observable in event-related potentials: An N400 signals semantic violations, whereas a P600 marks inconsistent syntactic structure. Does the brain register similar distinctions in scene perception? To address this question, we presented participants with semantic inconsistencies, in which an object was incongruent with a scene's meaning, and syntactic inconsistencies, in which an object violated structural rules. We found a clear dissociation between semantic and syntactic processing: Semantic inconsistencies produced negative deflections in the N300-N400 time window, whereas mild syntactic inconsistencies elicited a late positivity resembling the P600 found for syntactic inconsistencies in senten

SUBMITTER: Vo ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4838599 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature