Language Science and Technology, Campus C7, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany.
Language Science and Technology, Campus C7, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany.
Brain Cogn. 2019 Oct;135:103569. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2019.05.007. Epub 2019 Jun 12.
The functional interpretation of two salient language-sensitive ERP components - the N400 and the P600 - remains a matter of debate. Prominent alternative accounts link the N400 to processes related to lexical retrieval, semantic integration, or both, while the P600 has been associated with syntactic reanalysis or, alternatively, to semantic integration. The often overlapping predictions of these competing accounts in extant experimental designs, however, has meant that previous findings have failed to clearly decide among them. Here, we present an experiment that directly tests the competing hypotheses using a design that clearly teases apart the retrieval versus integration view of the N400, while also dissociating a syntactic reanalysis/reprocessing account of the P600 from semantic integration. Our findings provide support for an integrated functional interpretation according to which the N400 reflects context-sensitive lexical retrieval - but not integration - processes. While the observed P600 effects were not predicted by any account, we argue that they can be reconciled with the integration view, if spatio-temporal overlap of ERP components is taken into consideration.
两个显著的语言敏感事件相关电位（ERP）成分——N400 和 P600——的功能解释仍然存在争议。有影响力的替代解释将 N400 与词汇检索、语义整合或两者相关的过程联系起来，而 P600 则与句法再分析或语义整合有关。然而，这些相互竞争的解释在现有实验设计中的预测经常重叠，这意味着之前的发现未能在它们之间做出明确的决定。在这里，我们使用一种设计进行了一项直接检验这些竞争假设的实验，该设计清楚地分离了 N400 的检索与整合观点，同时也将 P600 的句法再分析/再处理解释与语义整合区分开来。我们的发现支持了一种综合的功能解释，根据该解释，N400 反映了上下文敏感的词汇检索——而不是整合——过程。虽然观察到的 P600 效应没有被任何解释所预测，但我们认为，如果考虑到 ERP 成分的时空重叠，可以将它们与整合观点相协调。
