Human brain potentials to reading syntactic errors in sentences of different complexity

Thomas F. Münte*, Andras Szentkuti, Bernardina M. Wieringa, Mike Matzke, Sönke Johannes

*Corresponding author for this work
39 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In order to determine if an event-related brain potential (ERP) effect described for syntactic violations (P600/SPS) varies with the amount of reprocessing entailed by a violation, number incongruencies were presented either within simple declarative or within subordinate clauses. ERPs were recorded while 12 German subjects read the stimulus materials presented word by word on a video monitor. The ERPs showed a P600/SPS effect for all sentence types, which was smallest in amplitude and earliest in latency for simple declarative sentences. This effect therefore qualifies as a metric for the amount and timing of syntactic reprocessing entailed by a syntactic error. In addition, a late frontal negativity (1000-1400 ms range) was found for the simple declarative sentences.

Original languageEnglish
JournalNeuroscience Letters
Volume235
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)105-108
Number of pages4
ISSN0304-3940
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17.10.1997

Research Areas and Centers

  • Academic Focus: Center for Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM)

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