MEG Evidence for Incremental Sentence Composition in the Anterior Temporal Lobe.
Research investigating the brain basis of language comprehension has associated the left anterior temporal lobe (ATL) with sentence-level combinatorics. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we test the parsing strategy implemented in this brain region. The number of incremental parse steps from a predictive left-corner parsing strategy that is supported by psycholinguistic research is compared with those from a less-predictive strategy. We test for a correlation between parse steps and source-localized MEG activity recorded while participants read a story. Left-corner parse steps correlated with activity in the left ATL around 350-500 ms after word onset. No other correlations specific to sentence comprehension were observed. These data indicate that the left ATL engages in combinatoric processing that is well characterized by a predictive left-corner parsing strategy.
Department of Linguistics, University of Michigan.
Jonathan R
JR
Brennan
Department of Linguistics, New York University.|Department of Psychology, New York University.|NYUAD Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi.
Liina
L
Pylkkänen
D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D015225:Magnetoencephalography; D008297:Male; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D011932:Reading; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
Language understanding; Magnetoencephalography; Semantics; Syntax