EEG synchrony reflects closure of jabberwocky noun phrases but not predictable pseudoword sequences.

Abstract

Successful language comprehension requires the combination of individual words into larger linguistic units. In the present minimal-phrase study, we used electroencephalography (EEG) to investigate whether syntactic combination is indexed by changes in neural synchrony, while testing for both token-based and type-based effects. To do this, we analyzed inter-trial phase coherence (ITPC) elicited by reading two item (words or pseudowords) phrases that were either unifiable or non-unifiable. Results indicated that type-based unifiable phrases elicited increased ITPC relative to all other conditions in the frequency band corresponding to the rate of phrases (.5Hz) but not the rate of words (1Hz). Conversely, we observed a complementary pattern for the N400, which was more sensitive to token-based effects. These findings provide evidence that the combination of single words into larger syntactic structures may be indexed by the synchronous firing of assemblies of neurons oscillating at the rate of phrases during reading.