Event-related potentials and semantics: an overview and an integrative proposal.

Event-related potentials have shown to be a valuable tool when studying language processing. In this review we focus on the literature that deals with semantic processing. Thus, we review studies concerning the classic semantic-related ERP component, the N400, those concerning the recently described recognition potential (RP), and studies that have attempted to identify brain activations related to semantic processing without focusing on specific ERP components. From the available data we provide an integrative proposal. According to this proposal, ERPs are clear indexes of the three subprocesses presumable involved in semantic comprehension. ERPs would provide, additionally, information about the time course of such subprocesses.