Quiroz-G Y T
Grupo de Neurociencias, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia.
Rev Neurol. 2003;36(12):1176-80.
The aim of this study was to survey the information available regarding the N400 component of event related potentials (ERP) as an electrophysiological measure of semantic processing.
The N400 component of ERP is characterised, the advantages and disadvantages of studies that use this type of electrophysiological measures are presented, and the main findings of the experiments conducted in recent years to establish how N400 is related to linguistic processes are analysed. We also present some of the ways its study can be applied to understanding the brain processes underlying dementias, and especially Alzheimer s disease. The value of this component of ERP in the scientific study of mental processes is clearly illustrated.
Electrophysiological measures of ERP are a very promising tool for the study of the cognitive processes that sustain the understanding and organisation of language and memory. ERP are changes in voltage that are registered on the scalp and which are synchronised with an observable (sensory, motor or cognitive) event. They are a non invasive method of monitoring brain processes in real time and as such can be used to obtain electrophysiological evidence of brain functioning and of psychological processes. The N400 component of ERP has been linked mainly to language processing and has been recorded in association with examples of semantic incongruence found in sentences, words or visually presented figures.
本研究旨在调查有关事件相关电位（ERP）的N400成分作为语义加工的电生理测量方法的现有信息。
对ERP的N400成分进行了特征描述，介绍了使用这种电生理测量方法的研究的优缺点，并分析了近年来为确定N400与语言过程的关系而进行的实验的主要发现。我们还介绍了其研究可用于理解痴呆症尤其是阿尔茨海默病潜在脑过程的一些方法。ERP这一成分在心理过程科学研究中的价值得到了清晰阐释。
ERP的电生理测量方法是研究维持语言理解和组织以及记忆的认知过程的非常有前景的工具。ERP是头皮上记录到的与可观察到的（感觉、运动或认知）事件同步的电压变化。它们是实时监测脑过程的非侵入性方法，因此可用于获取脑功能和心理过程的电生理证据。ERP的N400成分主要与语言加工相关，并已在与句子、单词或视觉呈现图形中发现的语义不一致示例相关的记录中出现。
