Xu Nannan, Chen Shiyi, Yang Yiming, Zhu Zude
School of Linguistic Sciences and Arts, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221009, China.
School of Linguistic Sciences and Arts, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221009, China; Collaborative Innovation Center for Language Competence, Xuzhou 221009, China; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Language and Cognitive Neuroscience, Xuzhou 221009, China; Institute of Linguistic Sciences, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221009, China.
Brain Cogn. 2020 Apr;140:105534. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2020.105534. Epub 2020 Jan 31.
A meaningful sentence might not be sensible according to world knowledge. In aging, world knowledge continues to increase, but semantic processing declines. An intriguing question is whether increased world knowledge aids world knowledge comprehension, even in the face of declining semantic processing. The present study collected EEG data from 43 older and 43 younger adults as they read correct sentences, sentences with a semantic violation, and sentences with a world knowledge violation. Compared to younger adults, older adults had a significantly greater reduction in amplitude and delayed peak/onset latency of N400 for both semantic and world knowledge integration. A significant Group by Condition by Region interaction revealed that, although the N400 amplitude under the semantic violation condition was comparable to that under the world knowledge violation condition in younger adults, the N400 amplitude in the posterior brain region was significantly smaller under the world knowledge violation condition than under the semantic violation condition in older adults. The N400 difference between world knowledge and semantic violation conditions was negatively correlated only with vocabulary scores. In conclusion, age-related increases in world knowledge do not help older adults to comprehend world knowledge more effectively.
根据世界知识，一个有意义的句子可能并不合理。在衰老过程中，世界知识持续增加，但语义处理能力却在下降。一个有趣的问题是，即使面对语义处理能力下降的情况，增加的世界知识是否有助于对世界知识的理解。本研究收集了43名老年人和43名年轻人在阅读正确句子、语义违反句子和世界知识违反句子时的脑电图数据。与年轻人相比，老年人在语义和世界知识整合方面，N400的波幅显著降低，峰值/起始潜伏期延迟。一个显著的组×条件×区域交互作用表明，虽然在年轻人中，语义违反条件下的N400波幅与世界知识违反条件下的相当，但在老年人中，世界知识违反条件下后脑部区域的N400波幅明显小于语义违反条件下的。世界知识和语义违反条件之间的N400差异仅与词汇分数呈负相关。总之，与年龄相关的世界知识增加并不能帮助老年人更有效地理解世界知识。
