We used event-related potentials (ERPs) and acoustic analyses to investigate the processing of prosodic pitch accents as a function of their position in a sentence. Accents in sentence-medial positions were characterised by a higher fundamental frequency (F0) and an increased duration. They elicited negative ERP components around 400 ms. When the accent was predictable, this negativity was fronto-laterally distributed and identified as the previously known Expectancy Negativity. Unpredictable accents elicited a more broadly distributed N400 with a central maximum, reflecting difficulties in semantic processing. In contrast, words with sentence-initial pitch accents had a higher F0 but of the same duration as in words without pitch accents. These pitch accents elicited a P200 but no negativity at a 400 ms time window. The P200 was modulated by the onset latency of the F0 peak rather than its magnitude. We discuss the possibility of a delayed processing of sentence-initial accents when the actual occurrence of an F0 peak can be identified by comparison with a subsequent reduced pitch shape in the signal.
Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) are a basic, non-invasive method of neurophysiological investigation. They can be used to assess aspects of human cognitive information processing. They also can be used in experiments on higher mammals. The most important and the most studied component of the ERP record is the P3 wave. It consists of two parts, P3a and P3b. There is no doubt that, besides the use in neurophysiological and psychophysiological research, the P3 wave also has clinical importance. Changes in its latency, amplitude and topography are correlated with clinical findings in a wide range of different ailments. The mini-review we present summarises the current state of the P3 wave research in experimental and clinical studies.
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