Jing Wang , Zhongting Chen , Hailun Liu , Ciping Deng
{"title":"Prosodic intonation modulates semantic incongruence: Evidence from an electrophysiological study","authors":"Jing Wang , Zhongting Chen , Hailun Liu , Ciping Deng","doi":"10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109134","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>People always make semantic predictions based on preceding contexts which, however, can be beyond semantic information. This study examines the role of prosodic intonation as a non-semantic cue in semantic prediction. To compare effects of different intonation conditions on attenuating semantic incongruence between preceding contexts and target utterances, we recorded electroencephalogram when the participants listened to emotional utterances with congruent or incongruent endings and focused on two event-related potential components, N400 and P600, which relate to semantic and pragmatic processing, respectively. Interestingly, we observed that surprising intonation can mitigate the N400 in response to semantic incongruence, and this modulation was strongly correlated (r = 0.78) with the increase of P600 amplitude induced by the same intonation across individual participants. These findings consistently indicate the importance of prosodic intonation in promoting semantic prediction by lessening listeners’ perceived semantic incongruence, broadening our understanding of how non-semantic cues affect human verbal communication.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19279,"journal":{"name":"Neuropsychologia","volume":"211 ","pages":"Article 109134"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Neuropsychologia","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028393225000697","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
People always make semantic predictions based on preceding contexts which, however, can be beyond semantic information. This study examines the role of prosodic intonation as a non-semantic cue in semantic prediction. To compare effects of different intonation conditions on attenuating semantic incongruence between preceding contexts and target utterances, we recorded electroencephalogram when the participants listened to emotional utterances with congruent or incongruent endings and focused on two event-related potential components, N400 and P600, which relate to semantic and pragmatic processing, respectively. Interestingly, we observed that surprising intonation can mitigate the N400 in response to semantic incongruence, and this modulation was strongly correlated (r = 0.78) with the increase of P600 amplitude induced by the same intonation across individual participants. These findings consistently indicate the importance of prosodic intonation in promoting semantic prediction by lessening listeners’ perceived semantic incongruence, broadening our understanding of how non-semantic cues affect human verbal communication.
期刊介绍:
Neuropsychologia is an international interdisciplinary journal devoted to experimental and theoretical contributions that advance understanding of human cognition and behavior from a neuroscience perspective. The journal will consider for publication studies that link brain function with cognitive processes, including attention and awareness, action and motor control, executive functions and cognitive control, memory, language, and emotion and social cognition.