2023

Parviainen, Tiina; Kujala, Jan

Evoked responses (ERs) are a set of event-related small changes in voltage or magnetic field measured from the brain that arise in time- and phase-locked manner to external stimulation. ERs can be directly extracted from the electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings by averaging across stimuli. In the context of language, ERs can be used to study the different stages of processing by varying the stimulus characteristics, the way the stimuli are presented, or the task requirements of the subjects. The recorded effects in timing and amplitude at different latencies to these manipulations reflect the sensitivity of neural computations to specific processes of language perception and comprehension, from the stage of sensory analysis and perceptual processing of spoken or written linguistic signals up to the level of understanding of the meaning of complex sentences or verbal working memory. In this chapter, we will introduce the main evoked response components that are regularly used in cognitive neuroscience to characterize brain activation related to language processing in the brain. We will also provide a review of the methodological aspects related to the recording and analysis of the main responses used in the study of language, including source modeling algorithms that facilitate the extraction and separation of ER components more accurately than what is possible at the level of MEG/EEG sensors. The aim of this chapter is to provide general understanding of the use of evoked responses in language research, also with practical notions.