Abstract
Past studies showed that metaphoric expressions (e.g., “she was cold to him”) require more cognitive-neural effort than literal paraphrases (e.g., “she was indifferent to him”). In event-related potentials (ERP) studies, this was revealed as an N400, a late positivity (LP), and/or a late negativity (LN). We investigated whether stimulus emotionality and task demands influence these ERP correlates and metaphor processing. In Experiment 1, participants read emotional/neutral metaphorical/literal sentences and performed a sensicality judgement task. Emotional metaphors, in comparison to emotional literal sentences, showed a widespread N400 effect (300–450 ms) and a left-anterior LN (450–850 ms). In Experiment 2, participants simply read the sentences and participation was verified by occasional post-trial comprehension questions. Emotional metaphors elicited a more positive LP (450–850 ms) than emotional literal sentences. Findings indicate that stimulus emotionality and task demand co-determine the extent to which emotion- and semantic- related neural resources are recruited during metaphor comprehension.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Article number | 105530 |
Journal | Brain and Language |
Volume | 261 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2025 |
Keywords
- Emotion
- Late Negativity
- Late Positivity
- Metaphor
- N400
- Task
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Language and Linguistics
- Linguistics and Language
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Speech and Hearing