What is it about?

Some words are processed faster than others. Here, we looked at two factors that influence word processing: emotion and concreteness. We also tested the brain responses to these words with EEG. Both emotional and concrete words (e.g. pizza) are processes faster than neutral and abstract words (e.g. circumstance). The brain mechanisms related to the two factors also interact, suggesting specific mental imagery for negative concrete words like wound or bomb.

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Why is it important?

If we want to understand how the brain produces and understands language, we cannot only look at syntax and semantics, but have to investigate all the factors that influence the processing of linguistic stimuli, such as emotion and concreteness.

Perspectives

This was my very first peer-reviewed journal article and and I fully remember how it felt to hold a copy of it in my hands.

Philipp Kanske
Technische Universitat Dresden

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This page is a summary of: Concreteness in emotional words: ERP evidence from a hemifield study, Brain Research, May 2007, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2007.02.044.
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