HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gunter, T. C. Articles by Schriefers, H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Gunter, T. C. Articles by Schriefers, H.

Syntactic Gender and Semantic Expectancy: ERPs Reveal Early Autonomy and Late Interaction

Max-Planck Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience
Nijmegen University, Nijmegen Institute for Cognition and Information, Netherlands

Corresponding author. Max Planck Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Stephanstrasse 1a, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany. Tel.: +49-341-9940-115; fax: +49-341-9940-113; e-mail: gunter{at}cns.mpg.de

This experiment explored the effect of semantic expectancy on the processing of grammatical gender, and vice versa, in German using event-related-potentials (ERPs). Subjects were presented with correct sentences and sentences containing an article-noun gender agreement violation. The cloze probability of the nouns was either high or low. ERPs were measured on the nouns. The low-cloze nouns evoked a larger N400 than the high-cloze nouns. Gender violations elicited a left-anterior negativity (LAN, 300–600 msec) for all nouns. An additional P600 component was found only in high-cloze nouns. The N400 was independent of the gender mismatch variable; the LAN was independent of the semantic variable, whereas an interaction of the two variables was found in the P600. This finding indicates that syntactic and semantic processes are autonomous during an early processing stage, whereas these information types interact during a later processing phase.

Key Words: Syntax • Gender • N400 • P600 • SPS

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. S. Hasting and S. A. Kotz Speeding Up Syntax: On the Relative Timing and Automaticity of Local Phrase Structure and Morphosyntactic Processing as Reflected in Event-related Brain Potentials. J. Cogn. Neurosci., July 1, 2008; 20(7): 1207 - 1219. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. Steinbeis and S. Koelsch Shared Neural Resources between Music and Language Indicate Semantic Processing of Musical Tension-Resolution Patterns Cereb Cortex, May 1, 2008; 18(5): 1169 - 1178. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Service, P. Helenius, S. Maury, and R. Salmelin Localization of Syntactic and Semantic Brain Responses using Magnetoencephalography. J. Cogn. Neurosci., July 1, 2007; 19(7): 1193 - 1205. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. Pulvermuller and R. Assadollahi Grammar or serial order?: discrete combinatorial brain mechanisms reflected by the syntactic mismatch negativity. J. Cogn. Neurosci., June 1, 2007; 19(6): 971 - 980. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Silva-Pereyra, B. T. Conboy, L. Klarman, and P. K. Kuhl Grammatical processing without semantics? An event-related brain potential study of preschoolers using jabberwocky sentences. J. Cogn. Neurosci., June 1, 2007; 19(6): 1050 - 1065. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Rossi, M. F. Gugler, A. D. Friederici, and A. Hahne The Impact of Proficiency on Syntactic Second-language Processing of German and Italian: Evidence from Event-related Potentials J. Cogn. Neurosci., December 1, 2006; 18(12): 2030 - 2048. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Bahlmann, T. C. Gunter, and A. D. Friederici Hierarchical and linear sequence processing: an electrophysiological exploration of two different grammar types. J. Cogn. Neurosci., November 1, 2006; 18(11): 1829 - 1842. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Koelsch, T. C. Gunter, M. Wittfoth, and D. Sammler Interaction between Syntax Processing in Language and in Music: An ERP Study J. Cogn. Neurosci., October 1, 2005; 17(10): 1565. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. L. Mueller, A. Hahne, Y. Fujii, and A. D. Friederici Native and Nonnative Speakers' Processing of a Miniature Version of Japanese as Revealed by ERPs J. Cogn. Neurosci., August 1, 2005; 17(8): 1229 - 1244. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Schirmer, S.-L. Tang, T. B. Penney, T. C. Gunter, and H.-C. Chen Brain Responses to Segmentally and Tonally Induced Semantic Violations in Cantonese J. Cogn. Neurosci., January 1, 2005; 17(1): 1 - 12. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Barber and M. Carreiras Grammatical Gender and Number Agreement in Spanish: An ERP Comparison J. Cogn. Neurosci., January 1, 2005; 17(1): 137 - 153. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J.-F. Demonet, G. Thierry, and D. Cardebat Renewal of the Neurophysiology of Language: Functional Neuroimaging Physiol Rev, January 1, 2005; 85(1): 49 - 95. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Koester, Th. C. Gunter, S. Wagner, and A. D. Friederici Morphosyntax, Prosody, and Linking Elements: The Auditory Processing of German Nominal Compounds J. Cogn. Neurosci., November 1, 2004; 16(9): 1647 - 1668. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Manenti, C. Repetto, S. Bentrovato, A. Marcone, E. Bates, and S. F. Cappa The effects of ageing and Alzheimer's disease on semantic and gender priming Brain, October 1, 2004; 127(10): 2299 - 2306. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. Y. Y. Wicha, E. M. Moreno, and M. Kutas Anticipating Words and Their Gender: An Event-related Brain Potential Study of Semantic Integration, Gender Expectancy, and Gender Agreement in Spanish Sentence Reading J. Cogn. Neurosci., August 1, 2004; 16(7): 1272 - 1288. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y. Shtyrov, F. Pulvermuller, R. Naatanen, and R. J. Ilmoniemi Grammar Processing Outside the Focus of Attention: an MEG Study J. Cogn. Neurosci., November 1, 2003; 15(8): 1195 - 1206. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]