Early left anterior negativity
Encyclopedia
The early left anterior negativity (commonly referred to as ELAN) is an event-related potential
in electroencephalography
(EEG), or component of brain activity that occurs in response to a certain kind of stimulus. It is characterized by a negative-going wave that peaks around 200 milliseconds or less after the onset of a stimulus, and most often occurs in response to linguistic stimuli that violate word-category or phrase structure rules
(as in *the in room instead of in the room). As such, it is frequently a topic of study in neurolinguistics
experiments, specifically in areas such as sentence processing. While it is frequently used in language research, there is no evidence yet that it is necessarily a language-specific phenomenon.
as a response to German
sentences with phrase structure violations, such as *the pizza was in the eaten (as opposed to the pizza was eaten); it can be elicited by English phrase structure violations such as *Max's of proof (as opposed to Max's proof) or *your write (as opposed to you write). The ELAN is not elicited by sentences with other kinds of grammatical errors, such as subject-verb disagreement (*"he go to the store" rather than "he goes to the store") or grammatically dispreferred and "awkward" sentences (such as "the doctor charged the patient was lying" rather than "the doctor charged that the patient was lying"); it only appears when it is impossible to build local phrase structure.
It appears rapidly, peaking between 100 and 300 milliseconds after the onset of the grammatically incorrect stimulus (other reports have placed its time course, or latency, between 100 and 200ms, "under 200ms," "around 125 ms," or "about 160ms"). The speed of the ELAN may also be affected by characteristic of the violating stimuli; the ELAN appears later to visual stimuli that are fuzzy or difficult to see, and may occur earlier in morphologically
complex spoken words where much information about the meaning of the word precedes the word's recognition point.
Its name derives from the fact that it is picked up most robustly by EEG sensors on the left front regions of the scalp; it may sometimes, however, have a bilateral (both sides of the scalp) distribution.
Some authors consider the ELAN to be a separate response from the Left anterior negativity (LAN), while others label it as just an early version of the LAN.
The ELAN has been reported in languages such as English
, German
, Dutch
, Chinese
, and Japanese
. It is possible, though, that it is not a response specific to language (in other words, that the ELAN might also occur in response to non-linguistic stimuli.
(for example, to take the words the and pizza and organize them into a noun phrase
the pizza), and it does not process semantic
information or meaning until after this step has succeeded. This model predicts that if the initial building of local phrase structure fails (as in the above examples *Max's of proof and *your write) then semantic processing (the brain's interpretation of the meaning of the sentence) does not go forward. This has been tested by taking advantage of two brain responses: the ELAN, which reflects the phrase-structure-building, and the N400, which reflects semantic processing; the model predicts that sentences eliciting an ELAN (a violation of local phrase structure) will not elicit an N400, since the building of phrase structure is a prerequisite for semantic processing. These types of studies have had subjects read or listen to sentences that have both a syntactic and semantic violation in the same place. Some such studies have found such sentences to elicit an ELAN and no N400, thus supporting the claim of the "serial model," while others have found both an ELAN and an N400, challenging the model.
Other ERP components
Event-related potential
An event-related potential is any measured brain response that is directly the result of a thought or perception. More formally, it is any stereotyped electrophysiological response to an internal or external stimulus....
in electroencephalography
Electroencephalography
Electroencephalography is the recording of electrical activity along the scalp. EEG measures voltage fluctuations resulting from ionic current flows within the neurons of the brain...
(EEG), or component of brain activity that occurs in response to a certain kind of stimulus. It is characterized by a negative-going wave that peaks around 200 milliseconds or less after the onset of a stimulus, and most often occurs in response to linguistic stimuli that violate word-category or phrase structure rules
Phrase structure rules
Phrase-structure rules are a way to describe a given language's syntax. They are used to break down a natural language sentence into its constituent parts namely phrasal categories and lexical categories...
(as in *the in room instead of in the room). As such, it is frequently a topic of study in neurolinguistics
Neurolinguistics
Neurolinguistics is the study of the neural mechanisms in the human brain that control the comprehension, production, and acquisition of language. As an interdisciplinary field, neurolinguistics draws methodology and theory from fields such as neuroscience, linguistics, cognitive science,...
experiments, specifically in areas such as sentence processing. While it is frequently used in language research, there is no evidence yet that it is necessarily a language-specific phenomenon.
Characteristics of the ELAN
The ELAN was first reported by Angela D. FriedericiAngela D. Friederici
Angela Friederici is a director at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, and is an internationally recognized expert in neuropsychology and linguistics...
as a response to German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
sentences with phrase structure violations, such as *the pizza was in the eaten (as opposed to the pizza was eaten); it can be elicited by English phrase structure violations such as *Max's of proof (as opposed to Max's proof) or *your write (as opposed to you write). The ELAN is not elicited by sentences with other kinds of grammatical errors, such as subject-verb disagreement (*"he go to the store" rather than "he goes to the store") or grammatically dispreferred and "awkward" sentences (such as "the doctor charged the patient was lying" rather than "the doctor charged that the patient was lying"); it only appears when it is impossible to build local phrase structure.
It appears rapidly, peaking between 100 and 300 milliseconds after the onset of the grammatically incorrect stimulus (other reports have placed its time course, or latency, between 100 and 200ms, "under 200ms," "around 125 ms," or "about 160ms"). The speed of the ELAN may also be affected by characteristic of the violating stimuli; the ELAN appears later to visual stimuli that are fuzzy or difficult to see, and may occur earlier in morphologically
Morphology (linguistics)
In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and description, in a language, of the structure of morphemes and other linguistic units, such as words, affixes, parts of speech, intonation/stress, or implied context...
complex spoken words where much information about the meaning of the word precedes the word's recognition point.
Its name derives from the fact that it is picked up most robustly by EEG sensors on the left front regions of the scalp; it may sometimes, however, have a bilateral (both sides of the scalp) distribution.
Some authors consider the ELAN to be a separate response from the Left anterior negativity (LAN), while others label it as just an early version of the LAN.
The ELAN has been reported in languages such as English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, Chinese
Standard Mandarin
Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin or Putonghua, is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Republic of China , and is one of the four official languages of Singapore....
, and Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
. It is possible, though, that it is not a response specific to language (in other words, that the ELAN might also occur in response to non-linguistic stimuli.
Use in neurolinguistics
The ELAN response has played an important role in studies of sentence processing, particularly in the development of the so-called "serial model" or "syntax-first model" of sentence processing. According to this model, the brain's first step in processing sentences is to organize input and build local phrase structurePhrase
In everyday speech, a phrase may refer to any group of words. In linguistics, a phrase is a group of words which form a constituent and so function as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence. A phrase is lower on the grammatical hierarchy than a clause....
(for example, to take the words the and pizza and organize them into a noun phrase
Noun phrase
In grammar, a noun phrase, nominal phrase, or nominal group is a phrase based on a noun, pronoun, or other noun-like word optionally accompanied by modifiers such as adjectives....
the pizza), and it does not process semantic
Semantics
Semantics is the study of meaning. It focuses on the relation between signifiers, such as words, phrases, signs and symbols, and what they stand for, their denotata....
information or meaning until after this step has succeeded. This model predicts that if the initial building of local phrase structure fails (as in the above examples *Max's of proof and *your write) then semantic processing (the brain's interpretation of the meaning of the sentence) does not go forward. This has been tested by taking advantage of two brain responses: the ELAN, which reflects the phrase-structure-building, and the N400, which reflects semantic processing; the model predicts that sentences eliciting an ELAN (a violation of local phrase structure) will not elicit an N400, since the building of phrase structure is a prerequisite for semantic processing. These types of studies have had subjects read or listen to sentences that have both a syntactic and semantic violation in the same place. Some such studies have found such sentences to elicit an ELAN and no N400, thus supporting the claim of the "serial model," while others have found both an ELAN and an N400, challenging the model.
See also
Other language-related ERPs- N400
- P600
Other ERP components
- Somatosensory evoked potentialSomatosensory Evoked PotentialSomatosensory Evoked Potentials are a useful, noninvasive means of assessing somatosensory system functioning. By combining SEP recordings at different levels of the somatosensory pathways, it is possible to assess the transmission of the afferent volley from the periphery up to the cortex...
- C1 and P1C1 & P1 (Neuroscience)The C1 and P1 are two human scalp-recorded event-related brain potential components, collected by means of a technique called electroencephalography . The C1 is named so because it was the first component in a series of components found to respond to visual stimuli when it was first discovered...
- Visual N1Visual N1The Visual N1 is a visual evoked potential, a type of event-related electrical potential , that is produced in the brain and recorded on the scalp. The N1 is so named to reflect the polarity and typical timing of the component. The "N" indicates that the polarity of the component is negative with...
- Mismatch negativityMismatch negativityThe mismatch negativity or mismatch field is a component of the event-related potential to an odd stimulus in a sequence of stimuli. It arises from electrical activity in the brain and is studied within the field of cognitive neuroscience and psychology. It can occur in any sensory system, but...
- N100
- N200N200 (neuroscience)The N200, or N2, is an event-related potential component. An ERP can be monitored using a non-invasive electroencephalography cap that is fitted over the scalp on human subjects...
- N2pcN2pcN2pc refers to an ERP component linked to selective attention. The N2pc appears over visual cortex contralateral to the location in space to which subjects are attending; if subjects pay attention to the left side of the visual field, the N2pc appears in the right hemisphere of the brain, and...
- N170N170The N170 is a component of the event-related potential that reflects the neural processing of faces.When potentials evoked by images of faces are compared to those elicited by other visual stimuli, the former show increased negativity 130-200 ms after stimulus presentation...
- P200P200In neuroscience, the visual P200 or P2 is a waveform component or feature of the event-related potential measured at the human scalp. Like other potential changes measurable from the scalp, this effect is believed to reflect the post-synaptic activity of a specific neural process...
- P300 (neuroscience)P300 (neuroscience)The P300 wave is an event related potential elicited by infrequent, task-relevant stimuli. It is considered to be an endogenous potential as its occurrence links not to the physical attributes of a stimulus but to a person's reaction to the stimulus. More specifically, the P300 is thought to...
- P3aP3aThe P3a, or novelty P3, is a component of time-locked signals known as event-related potentials . The P3a is a positive-going scalp-recorded brain potential that has a maximum amplitude over frontal/central electrode sites with a peak latency falling in the range of 250-280 ms...
- P3bP3bThe P3b is a subcomponent of the P300, an event-related potential component that can be observed in human scalp recordings of brain electrical activity...
- Late Positive ComponentLate Positive ComponentThe LPC is a positive-going event-related brain potential component that has been important in studies of explicit recognition memory...
- Difference due to MemoryDifference due to MemoryDifference due to Memory indexes differences in neural activity during the study phase of an experiment for items that subsequently are remembered compared to items that are later forgotten...
- Contingent negative variationContingent negative variationThe contingent negative variation was one of the first event-related potential components to be described. The CNV component was first described by Dr. W. Grey Walter and colleagues in an article published in Nature in 1964...
- Error-related negativityError-related negativityError-related negativity , , is a component of an event-related potential . ERPs are electrical activity in the brain as measured through electroencephalography and time-locked to an external event...
- BereitschaftspotentialBereitschaftspotentialIn neurology, the Bereitschaftspotential or BP , also called the pre-motor potential or readiness potential , is a measure of activity in the motor cortex of the brain leading up to voluntary muscle movement. The BP is a manifestation of cortical contribution to the pre-motor planning of volitional...
- Lateralized readiness potentialLateralized readiness potentialIn neuroscience, the lateralized readiness potential is an event-related brain potential, or increase in electrical activity at the surface of the brain, that is thought to reflect the preparation of motor activity on a certain side of the body; in other words, it is a spike in the electrical...