title: Not all ambiguous words are created equal: an EEG investigation of homonymy and polysemy.
abstract: Event-related potentials (ERPs) were used to investigate the time-course of meaning activation of different types of ambiguous words. Unbalanced homonymous ("pen"), balanced homonymous ("panel"), metaphorically polysemous ("lip"), and metonymically polysemous words ("rabbit") were used in a visual single-word priming delayed lexical decision task. The theoretical distinction between homonymy and polysemy was reflected in the N400 component. Homonymous words (balanced and unbalanced) showed effects of dominance/frequency with reduced N400 effects predominantly observed for dominant meanings. Polysemous words (metaphors and metonymies) showed effects of core meaning representation with both dominant and subordinate meanings showing reduced N400 effects. Furthermore, the division within polysemy, into metaphor and metonymy, was supported. Differences emerged in meaning activation patterns with the subordinate meanings of metaphor inducing differentially reduced N400 effects moving from left hemisphere electrode sites to right hemisphere electrode sites, potentially suggesting increased involvement of the right hemisphere in the processing of figurative meaning.
authors: McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, QC, Canada. ekaterini.klepousniotou@mail.mcgill.ca
authors: Ekaterini
authors: E
authors: Klepousniotou
authors: G Bruce
authors: GB
authors: Pike
authors: Karsten
authors: K
authors: Steinhauer
authors: Vincent
authors: V
authors: Gracco
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019365:Metaphor; D010153:Paired-Associate Learning / Q000502:physiology; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D011932:Reading; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D012660:Semantics; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D035501:Uncertainty; D055815:Young Adult