Facilitated Lexical Ambiguity Processing by Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation over the Left Inferior Frontal Cortex

Previous studies suggest that the left inferior frontal cortex is involved in the resolution of lexical ambiguities for language comprehension. In this study, we hypothesized that processing of lexical ambiguities is improved when the excitability of the left inferior frontal cortex is enhanced. To...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of cognitive neuroscience 2015-01, Vol.27 (1), p.26-34
Main Authors: Ihara, Aya S., Mimura, Takanori, Soshi, Takahiro, Yorifuji, Shiro, Hirata, Masayuki, Goto, Tetsu, Yoshinime, Toshiki, Umehara, Hiroaki, Fujimaki, Norio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Female
Frontal Lobe - physiology
Functional Laterality
Humans
Hypothesis testing
Information processing
Judgment
Judgment - physiology
Language proficiency
Male
Middle Aged
Neurosciences
Psychomotor Performance - physiology
Reaction Time
Semantics
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
Young Adult
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Summary:Previous studies suggest that the left inferior frontal cortex is involved in the resolution of lexical ambiguities for language comprehension. In this study, we hypothesized that processing of lexical ambiguities is improved when the excitability of the left inferior frontal cortex is enhanced. To test the hypothesis, we conducted an experiment with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). We investigated the effect of anodal tDCS over the left inferior frontal cortex on behavioral indexes for semantic judgment on lexically ambiguous and unambiguous words within a context. Supporting the hypothesis, the RT was shorter in the anodal tDCS session than in the sham session for ambiguous words. The results suggest that controlled semantic retrieval and contextual selection were facilitated by anodal tDCS over the left inferior frontal cortex.
ISSN:0898-929X
1530-8898
DOI:10.1162/jocn_a_00703