Differential Electrophysiological Signatures of Semantic and Syntactic Scene Processing

In sentence processing, semantic and syntactic violations elicit differential brain responses observable in event-related potentials: An N400 signals semantic violations, whereas a P600 marks inconsistent syntactic structure. Does the brain register similar distinctions in scene perception? To addre...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological science 2013-09, Vol.24 (9), p.1816-1823
Main Authors: Võ, Melissa L.-H., Wolfe, Jeremy M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Brain
Brain - physiology
Comprehension - physiology
Electroencephalography - methods
Electrophysiology
Evoked Potentials - physiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Grammar
Hovering
Humans
Legal objections
Linguistics
Male
Neurology
Neuropsychology
Perception
Perceptions
Photic Stimulation - methods
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Research Report
Semantics
Sentences
Signatures
Syntactics
Syntax
Time windows
Vision
Visual perception
Vocabulary
Young Adult
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In sentence processing, semantic and syntactic violations elicit differential brain responses observable in event-related potentials: An N400 signals semantic violations, whereas a P600 marks inconsistent syntactic structure. Does the brain register similar distinctions in scene perception? To address this question, we presented participants with semantic inconsistencies, in which an object was incongruent with a scene's meaning, and syntactic inconsistencies, in which an object violated structural rules. We found a clear dissociation between semantic and syntactic processing: Semantic inconsistencies produced negative deflections in the N300-N400 time window, whereas mild syntactic inconsistencies elicited a late positivity resembling the P600 found for syntactic inconsistencies in sentence processing. Extreme syntactic violations, such as a hovering beer bottle defying gravity, were associated with earlier perceptual processing difficulties reflected in the N300 response, but failed to produce a P600 effect. We therefore conclude that different neural populations are active during semantic and syntactic processing of scenes, and that syntactically impossible object placements are processed in a categorically different manner than are syntactically resolvable object misplacements.
ISSN:0956-7976
1467-9280
DOI:10.1177/0956797613476955