title: Event-related theta activity reflects memory processes in pronoun resolution.
abstract: A recent eye-tracking study reported a reverse effect of a noun's lexical frequency in the context of the resolution of coreferring pronouns. Investigating the neurophysiological basis of this effect, the present electroencephalographic study found differential patterns in theta activation when participants read pronouns referring to nouns of different frequency classes. Evoked theta power after pronoun onset increased with the frequency of the critical noun. This finding suggests differential load on memory resources depending on the nouns' frequency. Elevated attention promoting memory encoding for low-frequency words is assumed to facilitate the resolution of pronouns. Location of sources of differential theta activity in the parahippocampal region is accounted for by its role in an association network that mediates memory processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany. aheine@zedat.fu-berlin.de
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heine
authors.forename: Sascha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tamm
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hofmann
authors.forename: Rainer M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Bösel
authors.forename: Arthur M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Jacobs
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D018913:Event-Related Potentials, P300 / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D011578:Psycholinguistics / Q000379:methods*; D012660:Semantics; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D013826:Theta Rhythm