Abstract
Electrophysiological studies have increased in the field of Neuroscience of Language as they allow for detailed analyses of the temporal course of language processing. In figurative language research, the most employed technique is Event Related Potentials (ERPs). The N400 is the most studied ERP component and is usually described as a marker of difficulty or effort in semantic processing. However, many controversial results about N400 have been found. Two main reasons can be raised for these results: (1) methodological difficulties in controlling psycholinguistic variables that are known to affect language processing and (2) different interpretations regarding what the N400 indexes. In this systematic review our main goals are: (1) providing a general panorama of studies on the N400 component applied to metaphoric and idiomatic language and (2) discussing the different views adopted by researchers regarding functional N400 theories and how ERP studies of figurative processing fit into each of those theories. We found two main interpretations about the process which is indexed by the N400: N400 as a marker of lexical access or as a marker of semantic integration. We also found that this dichotomy has an impact on the choice of models to explain the results about figurative language processing.
Highlights
Figurative language is defined as the use of a word in a phrase or expression in an alternative meaning or sense in relation of literal use, such as “it’s raining cats and dogs” or “He broke my heart”
The search was guided by the following keywords, using “AND” only as a boolean operator: “Event Related Potentials (ERPs) AND metaphor”; “N400 AND metaphor”; “ERP AND idiom”; “N400 AND idiom”; “ERP AND figurative language”; “N400 AND figurative language”
After organization and removal of all duplicates, 69 different articles were selected by title and abstract
Summary
Figurative language is defined as the use of a word in a phrase or expression in an alternative meaning or sense in relation of literal use, such as “it’s raining cats and dogs” or “He broke my heart”. This is an important topic in language research due to its common occurrence in everyday language as well as the fact that it persists as a universal manifestation across different cultures (LAKOFF, 1979; LAKOFF; JONHSON, 1980). The nature of mind is metaphorical, which implicates the existence of a general mechanism to access meaning in a figurative way
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