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How the brain matures to understand metaphors: an EEG study in middle childhood
Poster Session C, Thursday, October 1, 10:45 am - 12:45 pm, Wangari Maathai
Chiara Battaglini1, Paolo Canal1, Chiara Pompei1, Elena Didoni1, Adele Loia1, Fabrizio Luciani1, Valentina Bambini1; 1University School for Advanced Studies IUSS Pavia
Metaphor is a context-dependent figurative use of language in which concepts are adjusted through inferential processes that promote some semantic properties while suppressing others to derive the speaker’s intended meaning [1]. It serves communicative functions, enabling the description of novel concepts, emotional meaning, and abstract ideas [2–5]. Because of their pervasive role in communication and education, children are exposed to metaphors early. Yet, behavioral data suggest that metaphor skills emerge late, reaching adult-like level in middle childhood [6]. ERP studies in adults showed that metaphor elicits N400 and P600-like effects, typically interpreted as reflecting an initial conceptual adjustment phase followed by implicature derivation [7]. How these processes change in the developing brain is unexplored. The present study aims to capture the maturation of metaphor processing in the key period of middle childhood, to determine which processing stages are most strongly implicated. Seventy-five Italian-speaking children participated in the experiment (59 retained after preprocessing; mean age=9.5y; range=7.3–11.5y). Participants read sentences followed by an explanation, with analyses focusing on two critical positions: the metaphor vehicle and the word completing the explanation. Materials comprised four conditions: [Salient metaphor: Certain friends are anchors because you can rely on them; Non-Salient metaphor: …because they always stay still; Anomalous metaphor: …because they eat carrots; Literal: “Certain friends are classmates because they are in the same class”]. Each condition included 25 items. EEG was recorded using a 32-channel system. Cluster-based permutation tests on the vehicle revealed a sustained negativity for metaphors [150-1000ms]. The effect began over left anterior sites and extended to central-parietal regions after 600ms. Linear mixed models were then applied across early [150–400ms], mid [400–600ms], and late [600–1000ms] windows. Analyses showed a main effect of condition at anterior sites across all windows (−0.77, −1.07, −1.26), an age effect in early and mid-posterior activity (+0.46, +0.61), and an age-by-condition interaction in the mid-window at parietal sites (+0.77). These findings indicate that the N400 diminishes with age, in line with the literature [8], with metaphor processing eliciting more positive responses in older children. At the explanation, salient and non-salient metaphors diverged in the early window [150–300ms], particularly over posterior and central-parietal regions. Salient metaphors elicited reduced negativity relative to non-salient ones; anomalous sentences elicited the strongest negative responses. Early sensitivity to metaphor explanation was modulated by age, with older children showing reduced negativity for both salient and non-salient explanations, consistent with a reduced anomaly detection effect. These results suggest that older children become successful at resolving the temporary anomaly elicited by the metaphor vehicle and integrating the subsequent explanation. Overall, the findings support the idea that children’s metaphor comprehension is associated with the development of an adult-like N400 profile, characterized by reduced amplitude, together with the parallel rise of late positivities, possibly indicating the point at which metaphorical meaning is finally “grasped”. [1] Camp E. 2007; [2] Wilson, Carston, 2007; [3] Mio, Katz, 2018; [4] Winner et al., 1988; [5] Lecce et al., 2019; [6] Matthews et al., 2019; [7] Canal, Bambini, 2023; [8] Hahne et al., 2004
Topic Areas: Language Development/Acquisition, Meaning: Discourse and Pragmatics