Abstract
Although language is a tool for communication, most research in the neuroscience of language has focused on studying words and sentences, while little is known about the brain mechanisms of speech acts, or communicative functions, for which words and sentences are used as tools. Here the neural processing of two types of speech acts, Naming and Requesting, was addressed using the time-resolved event-related potential (ERP) technique. The brain responses for Naming and Request diverged as early as ~120 ms after the onset of the critical words, at the same time as, or even before, the earliest brain manifestations of semantic word properties could be detected. Request-evoked potentials were generally larger in amplitude than those for Naming. The use of identical words in closely matched settings for both speech acts rules out explanation of the difference in terms of phonological, lexical, semantic properties, or word expectancy. The cortical sources underlying the ERP enhancement for Requests were found in the fronto-central cortex, consistent with the activation of action knowledge, as well as in the right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), possibly reflecting additional implications of speech acts for social interaction and theory of mind. These results provide the first evidence for surprisingly early access to pragmatic and social interactive knowledge, which possibly occurs in parallel with other types of linguistic processing, and thus supports the near-simultaneous access to different subtypes of psycholinguistic information.
Highlights
Research in the neuroscience of language has so far mainly focused on the brain basis of words and utterances
In the second time window of 175–185 ms, there was a significant effect of Semantics [Hand > Non-Hand, F(1, 17) = 4.400, p = 0.05]
The analysis of the third time window of 260–335 ms did not show any significant results; and in the fourth window of 445–540 ms there was only a near-significant effect of Pragmatics, F(1, 17) = 0.081, with more positivity observed for Request than for Naming
Summary
Research in the neuroscience of language has so far mainly focused on the brain basis of words and utterances. The sentence “Here is an apple” can be used to teach somebody the meaning of the word, to direct somebody’s attention to a particular object, or to offer it upon request It is the situation and context, that is, pragmatic information that determines these communicative functions and the way the utterance is typically understood. This study aims to take a first step in exploring the brain basis of communicative functions, or the so-called speech acts, for which linguistic utterances serve It attempts to establish the neural time course of comprehension of communicative functions, and situates pragmatic processing in relation to other types of psycholinguistic information access. The neurophysiological responses are used to draw conclusions about the time course and cortical loci of brain processes supporting speech act understanding
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