Processing syntactic relations in language and music: an event-related potential study

Author(s): Gibson, E., Ratner, J., Besson, M., Holcomb, P. J.

Journal/Book: J Cogn Neurosci. 1998; 10: 717-33.

Abstract: In order to test the language-specificity of a known neural correlate of syntactic processing [the P600 event-related brain potential (ERP) component], this study directly compared ERPs elicited by syntactic incongruities in language and music. Using principles of phrase structure for language and principles of harmony and key-relatedness for music, sequences were constructed in which an element was either congruous, moderately incongruous, or highly incongruous with the preceding structural context. A within-subjects design using 15 musically educated adults revealed that linguistic and musical structural incongruities elicited positivities that were statistically indistinguishable in a specified latency range. In contrast, a music- specific ERP component was observed that showed antero-temporal right- hemisphere lateralization. The results argue against the language- specificity of the P600 and suggest that language and music can be studied in parallel to address questions of neural specificity in cognitive processing.

Keyword(s): Adolescence. Adult. Analysis of Variance. Auditory Perception/physiology. Dominance, Cerebral/physiology. Electroencephalography. Evoked Potentials, Auditory/physiology. Human. Language. Music. Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

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