Hemispheric asymmetries in “expert” processingof semantic relationships during reading
Abstract
How does individual-level variation in experience andknowledge influence neural mechanisms recruited during real-time language comprehension? We used event-related brainpotentials (ERPs) combined with lateralized visualpresentations of critical sentence-final words to examineasymmetries in hemispheric processing as individuals whovaried in their knowledge of the fictional world of Harry Potter(HP) read sentences about general topics / HP. HP sentenceendings were either contextually supported, unrelatedanomalies, or semantically related anomalies. Amongst HP“experts,” both hemispheres were sensitive to contextualsupport, but only the right hemisphere (RH) was sensitive tothe related anomaly manipulation. The exact pattern of resultsdepended on the relationship (categorical vs event). Ourfindings are in line with accounts on which the left hemisphere(LH) activates narrow/specific semantic contents and the RHactivates a broader range. We tentatively hypothesize thatcontent experts may exploit these hemispheric differences inscope of activation.