Right semantic modulation of early MEG components during ambiguity resolution

The time-line of lexical ambiguity resolution in bilateral neuronal networks was investigated using magnetoencephalography (MEG) in a semantic decision task. Dominant and subordinate associations of ambiguous words are considered to be processed in the left and right hemispheres, respectively. In the experiment, ambiguous words were followed by dominant or subordinate associations (manipulated between blocks) or by unrelated target words, and participants (N = 25) decided whether the words in each pair were related or not. Subordinate meaning blocks elicited greater changes in the magnetic fields relative to dominant ones over the right, but not the left hemisphere (LH) at 150-235. ms from target onset, a time window corresponding to the M/N170 M/EEG component. Beamforming analysis localized the differential right hemisphere (RH) activity at the perisylvian area, including the homologue regions of Broca's and Wernicke's. At a later stage (235-390. ms) there was no significant difference between the two meaning conditions. We suggest that the RH language regions assist the LH in integrating subordinate disambiguating clues to preceding context during the M170 time window.