ERP Correlates of Individual Differences in the Comprehension of Nonliteral Language

Abstract

In recent years, the field of cognitive neuroscience has flourished as new tools allow researchers to peer inside the workings of the living brain. At the same time, those interested in the experimental study of language have begun to move beyond their initial focus on literal language to look at the more complex and potentially more interesting areas of figurative language. The purpose of this article is to highlight ongoing research into individual differences in nonliteral language processing, and to examine how the study of the electrophysiology of the brain can help illuminate theories of figurative language. We inquire into how one can explain individual differences between subject populations in the time course of comprehension using event-related brain potentials (ERPs). We review studies on individual differences in metaphor processing, examine how self-reported differences in relational aggression relate to the processing of sarcasm, and previewsome ongoing studies on expertise in poetry.