Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Published Online March 18, 2004
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1095455

Reports

Submitted on January 8, 2004
Accepted on March 9, 2004

Integration of Word Meaning and World Knowledge in Language Comprehension

Peter Hagoort 1*, Lea Hald 2, Marcel Bastiaansen 2, Karl Magnus Petersson 2

1 F.C. Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging; Nijmegen Institute for Cognition and Information, University of Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
2 F.C. Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, University of Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: peter.hagoort{at}fcdonders.kun.nl.

Although the sentences that we hear or read have meaning, this does not necessarily mean that they are also true. Relatively little is known about the critical brain structures for, and the relative time course of, establishing the meaning and truth of linguistic expressions. Here we present EEG data that show the rapid parallel integration of both semantic and world knowledge during the interpretation of a sentence. fMRI data revealed that the left inferior prefrontal cortex is involved in the integration of both meaning and world knowledge. Finally, oscillatory brain responses indicate that the brain keeps a record of what makes a sentence hard to interpret.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Neural correlates of pragmatic language comprehension in autism spectrum disorders.
C. M. J. Y. Tesink, J. K. Buitelaar, K. M. Petersson, R. J. van der Gaag, C. C. Kan, I. Tendolkar, and P. Hagoort (2009)
Brain 132, 1941-1952
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Selective Emotional Processing Deficits to Social Vignettes in Schizophrenia: An ERP Study.
G. R. Kuperberg, D. A. Kreher, A. Swain, D. C. Goff, and D. J. Holt (2009)
Schizophr Bull
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Topographical Functional Connectivity Pattern in the Perisylvian Language Networks.
H.-D. Xiang, H. M. Fonteijn, D. G. Norris, and P. Hagoort (2009)
Cereb Cortex
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The influence of lexical familiarity on ERP responses during sentence comprehension in language learners.
J. L. Mueller (2009)
Second Language Research 25, 43-76
   Abstract »    PDF »
Time travel through language: Temporal shifts rapidly decrease information accessibility during reading.
T. DITMAN, P. J. HOLCOMB, and G. R. KUPERBERG (2008)
Psychon Bull Rev 15, 750-756
   Abstract »    PDF »
The fractionation of spoken language understanding by measuring electrical and magnetic brain signals.
P. Hagoort (2008)
Phil Trans R Soc B 363, 1055-1069
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Processing Consequences of the Imperfective Paradox.
G. Baggio and M. Van Lambalgen (2007)
J Semantics 24, 307-330
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Brain Networks Subserving the Extraction of Sentence Information and Its Encoding to Memory.
U. Hasson, H. C. Nusbaum, and S. L. Small (2007)
Cereb Cortex 17, 2899-2913
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Human Neural Systems for Conceptual Knowledge of Proper Object Use: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.
S. J. H. Ebisch, C. Babiloni, C. Del Gratta, A. Ferretti, M. G. Perrucci, M. Caulo, M. M. Sitskoorn, and G. L. Romani (2007)
Cereb Cortex 17, 2744-2751
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Imaging cortical dynamics of language processing with the event-related optical signal.
C.-Y. Tse, C.-L. Lee, J. Sullivan, S. M. Garnsey, G. S. Dell, M. Fabiani, and G. Gratton (2007)
PNAS 104, 17157-17162
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
When Language Meets Action: The Neural Integration of Gesture and Speech.
R. M. Willems, A. Ozyurek, and P. Hagoort (2007)
Cereb Cortex 17, 2322-2333
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Beyond the sentence given.
P. Hagoort and J. van Berkum (2007)
Phil Trans R Soc B 362, 801-811
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Stimulating language: insights from TMS.
J. T. Devlin and K. E. Watkins (2007)
Brain 130, 610-622
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Reading words in discourse: the modulation of lexical priming effects by message-level context..
K. Ledoux, C. C. Camblin, T. Y. Swaab, and P. C. Gordon (2006)
Behav Cogn Neurosci Rev 5, 107-127
   Abstract »    PDF »
Is there a critical period for semantics?.
R. Slabakova (2006)
Second Language Research 22, 302-338
   Abstract »    PDF »
Dissociating Linguistic Processes in the Left Inferior Frontal Cortex with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.
P. M. Gough, A. C. Nobre, and J. T. Devlin (2005)
J. Neurosci. 25, 8010-8016
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)