Neuroimaging studies have shown that the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) plays a critical role in semantic and syntactic aspects of speech comprehension. It appears to be recruited when listeners are required to select the appropriate meaning or syntactic role for words within a sentence. However, this region is also recruited during tasks not…

Metaphorical expressions appear once every twenty words in everyday language, and play a central role in communication. Some cognitive linguistic theories propose that understanding metaphorical expressions requires mappings from one conceptual domain to the other. My research uses Event-Related Potentials to examine the processing, the…

To detect that a conversational turn is intended to be ironic is a difficult challenge in everyday language comprehension. Most authors suggested a theory of mind deficit is crucial for irony comprehension deficits in psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia; however, the underlying pathophysiology and neurobiology are unknown and recent research…