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Abstract:
Abstract: Data from neuropsychology and neuroimaging point to
an important role for the right hemisphere (RH) in the
interpretation of metaphors. One proposed explanation is the
*coarse coding hypothesis*, viz. the idea that semantic activations
in the RH are broader than in the LH, and consequently important
for the interpretation of distant semantic relationships in
figurative language. We examined interhemispheric differences
during metaphor processing by recording event-related potentials
from 16 healthy adults as they read sentences which ended with
words presented in either the left or the right visual field.
Stimuli included three sorts of sentences: *hicloze*, that is
sentences which ended predictably, *literal* sentences which ended
with an unpredictable word used in its literal sense, and
*metaphoric* sentences which ended with an equally low cloze word
used metaphorically. In both visual fields, hicloze endings
elicited smaller N400s than either of the less predictable ending
types (literal or metaphoric). When presented to the right visual
field (LH), the last words of both literal and metaphoric sentences
elicited fairly similar N400s. In contrast, left visual field (RH)
presentation resulted in larger N400s for metaphoric than literal
sentences. Results suggest interhemispheric differences are
relevant to the semantic integration of metaphoric words, but argue
against the coarse coding hypothesis. Larger N400 metaphoricity
effects with presentation to the left visual field suggest the RH
encounters more rather than less difficulty with metaphoric
stimuli.
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