The concise language paradigm (CLaP), a framework for studying the intersection of comprehension and production: Electrophysiological properties

Abstract

Studies investigating language commonly isolate one language modality or process, focusing on comprehension or production. We aim to combine both in the new Concise Language Paradigm (CLaP), tapping into comprehension and production within one trial. The trial structure is identical across conditions, presenting an auditory sentence (constrained, unconstrained, time-reversed) followed by a picture to be named (normal, scrambled). We tested 21 young healthy speakers with EEG to examine several validations and novel contrasts afforded by the CLaP. Behavioral results revealed fastest naming times for pictures following constrained sentences, indicating word retrieval based on sentence constraint prior to picture onset. Naming following unconstrained sentences was equally fast as bare picture naming. Brain responses to normal speech after sentence onset (240-400ms) differed significantly from those to time-reversed speech. Picture-locked ERPs showed amplitude differences as a function of condition, especially in the P2 component (200-300ms), and were also modulated by preceding constrained sentences. Alpha-beta power was decreased for contextually guided picture naming relative to time-reversed or unconstrained sentences. These results indicate that the CLaP offers a promising framework to investigate the language system, affording different versions of the linguistic content and tasks, in combination with electrophysiology or other imaging methods.