LING 415 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Paralimbic Cortex
17 May 2019
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Document Summary
Event related potential (erp) = change in the brain"s electrical field = neural activity. Happens when the brain is presented with a stimulus. Provides a way of studying the brain"s activity and structure during language processing. Research involving erps asks questions such as: Erp research is a method that researchers use to test language processing theories such as the possibility of modules for phonology/syntax/etc. Erps last about 1-2 seconds; are recorded by electrodes on the scalp. Provide moment-to-moment information about how the brain interprets language stimuli. More recent dense-array scalp recording technology provides better spatial detail. Leads to better theories of neural mechanism localization. Measuring erps requires presenting the same stimulus several times to the participant and the measurements of several erps averaged to cancel out random background eeg fluctuations. The result is negative and positive peaks that comprise the erp. Neural substrates are activated or inhibited depending on the language task/stimulus.
