Electrophysiology reveals semantic memory use in language comprehension. Kutas & Federmeier Trends Cogn Sci, 4(12):463-470, 2000.
abstract   bibtex   
The physical energy that we refer to as a word, whether in isolation or embedded in sentences, takes its meaning from the knowledge stored in our brains through a lifetime of experience. Much empirical evidence indicates that, although this knowledge can be used fairly flexibly, it is functionally organized in 'semantic memory' along a number of dimensions, including similarity and association. Here, we review recent findings using an electrophysiological brain component, the N400, that reveal the nature and timing of semantic memory use during language comprehension. These findings show that the organization of semantic memory has an inherent impact on sentence processing. The left hemisphere, in particular, seems to capitalize on the organization of semantic memory to pre-activate the meaning of forthcoming words, even if this strategy fails at times. In addition, these electrophysiological results support a view of memory in which world knowledge is distributed across multiple, plastic-yet-structured, largely modality-specific processing areas, and in which meaning is an emergent, temporally extended process, influenced by experience, context, and the nature of the brain itself.
@Article{Kutas2000,
  author   = {Kutas and Federmeier},
  journal  = {Trends Cogn Sci},
  title    = {Electrophysiology reveals semantic memory use in language comprehension.},
  year     = {2000},
  number   = {12},
  pages    = {463-470},
  volume   = {4},
  abstract = {The physical energy that we refer to as a word, whether in isolation
	or embedded in sentences, takes its meaning from the knowledge stored
	in our brains through a lifetime of experience. Much empirical evidence
	indicates that, although this knowledge can be used fairly flexibly,
	it is functionally organized in 'semantic memory' along a number
	of dimensions, including similarity and association. Here, we review
	recent findings using an electrophysiological brain component, the
	N400, that reveal the nature and timing of semantic memory use during
	language comprehension. These findings show that the organization
	of semantic memory has an inherent impact on sentence processing.
	The left hemisphere, in particular, seems to capitalize on the organization
	of semantic memory to pre-activate the meaning of forthcoming words,
	even if this strategy fails at times. In addition, these electrophysiological
	results support a view of memory in which world knowledge is distributed
	across multiple, plastic-yet-structured, largely modality-specific
	processing areas, and in which meaning is an emergent, temporally
	extended process, influenced by experience, context, and the nature
	of the brain itself.},
  keywords = {Computing Methodologies, Human, Language, Learning, Mental Processes, Models, Theoretical, Stochastic Processes, Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S., Cognition, Linguistics, Neural Networks (Computer), Practice (Psychology), Non-U.S. Gov't, Memory, Psychological, Task Performance and Analysis, Time Factors, Visual Perception, Adult, Attention, Discrimination Learning, Female, Male, Short-Term, Mental Recall, Orientation, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Perceptual Masking, Reading, Concept Formation, Form Perception, Animals, Corpus Striatum, Shrews, P.H.S., Visual Cortex, Visual Pathways, Acoustic Stimulation, Auditory Cortex, Auditory Perception, Cochlea, Ear, Gerbillinae, Glycine, Hearing, Neurons, Space Perception, Strychnine, Adolescent, Decision Making, Reaction Time, Astrocytoma, Brain Mapping, Brain Neoplasms, Cerebral Cortex, Electric Stimulation, Electrophysiology, Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe, Evoked Potentials, Frontal Lobe, Noise, Parietal Lobe, Scalp, Child, Language Development, Psycholinguistics, Brain, Perception, Speech, Vocalization, Animal, Discrimination (Psychology), Hippocampus, Rats, Calcium, Chelating Agents, Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials, Glutamic Acid, Guanosine Diphosphate, In Vitro, Neuronal Plasticity, Pyramidal Cells, Receptors, AMPA, Metabotropic Glutamate, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate, Somatosensory Cortex, Synapses, Synaptic Transmission, Thionucleotides, Action Potentials, Calcium Channels, L-Type, Electric Conductivity, Entorhinal Cortex, Neurological, Long-Evans, Infant, Mathematics, Statistics, Probability Learning, Problem Solving, Psychophysics, Association Learning, Child Psychology, Habituation (Psychophysiology), Probability Theory, Analysis of Variance, Semantics, Symbolism, Behavior, Eye Movements, Macaca mulatta, Prefrontal Cortex, Cats, Dogs, Haplorhini, Photic Stimulation, Electroencephalography, Nervous System Physiology, Darkness, Grasshoppers, Light, Membrane Potentials, Neural Inhibition, Afferent, Picrotoxin, Vision, Deoxyglucose, Injections, Microspheres, Neural Pathways, Rhodamines, Choice Behavior, Speech Perception, Verbal Learning, Dominance, Cerebral, Fixation, Ocular, Language Tests, Random Allocation, Comparative Study, Saguinus, Sound Spectrography, Species Specificity, Audiometry, Auditory Threshold, Calibration, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Anesthesia, General, Electrodes, Implanted, Pitch Perception, Sound Localization, Paired-Associate Learning, Serial Learning, Auditory, Age Factors, Motion Perception, Brain Injuries, Computer Simulation, Blindness, Psychomotor Performance, Color Perception, Signal Detection (Psychology), Judgment, ROC Curve, Regression Analysis, Music, Probability, Arm, Cerebrovascular Disorders, Hemiplegia, Movement, Muscle, Skeletal, Myoclonus, Robotics, 11115760},
}

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