Negative brain potentials elicited by an unexpected color patch or word.
The purpose of this study was to examine whether a physical stimulus that deviates from a semantic context can elicit the N400 component of event-related brain potentials (ERPs). ERPs were recorded while 12 students judged the veracity of a simple statement (e.g., red/is not/blue) presented with the order of subject (S), object (O), and verb (V), which is normal in Japanese grammar. In one condition, S was a color patch and O was a word representing the color, while in the other condition, S was a color name and O was a patch. In both conditions, a late additional negative potential was elicited by the O stimulus when it was mismatched with S. In addition, the negativities elicited by the incongruous color patch and word had the same morphology and scalp distribution. The results indicate that not only a word but a physical stimulus which deviates from a semantic context can elicit the N400 component.
Katayama
J
J
Department of Psychology, Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya, Japan.
Yagi
A
A
D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003116:Color; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012660:Semantics