title: ERP correlates of German Sign Language processing in deaf native signers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The present study investigated the neural correlates of sign language processing of Deaf people who had learned German Sign Language (Deutsche Gebärdensprache, DGS) from their Deaf parents as their first language. Correct and incorrect signed sentences were presented sign by sign on a computer screen. At the end of each sentence the participants had to judge whether or not the sentence was an appropriate DGS sentence. Two types of violations were introduced: (1) semantically incorrect sentences containing a selectional restriction violation (implausible object); (2) morphosyntactically incorrect sentences containing a verb that was incorrectly inflected (i.e., incorrect direction of movement). Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 74 scalp electrodes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Semantic violations (implausible signs) elicited an N400 effect followed by a positivity. Sentences with a morphosyntactic violation (verb agreement violation) elicited a negativity followed by a broad centro-parietal positivity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ERP correlates of semantic and morphosyntactic aspects of DGS clearly differed from each other and showed a number of similarities with those observed in other signed and oral languages. These data suggest a similar functional organization of signed and oral languages despite the visual-spacial modality of sign language.
authors.affiliation: University of Hamburg, Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, Von-Melle-Park 11, 20146 Hamburg, Germany. barbara.haenel-faulhaber@hochschule-rhein-waal.de.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hänel-Faulhaber
authors.forename: Nils
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Skotara
authors.forename: Monique
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kügow
authors.forename: Uta
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Salden
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bottari
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Röder
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003638:Deafness / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012660:Semantics; D012813:Sign Language; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult