This study addresses a debate on the nature of gamma (>30Hz) oscillations in language generation and structuring from a top-down vs. bottom-up chunking approach. Working within the framework of recent oscillatory models for syntax, we argue that a time-frequency analysis of electroencephalography at crucial points of recursions in bi-clausal wh-movement is probative of the role of gramma oscillations in the creation of referential dependencies nested into wh-dependencies, accounting for aspects of the expressive power of language.
The study proposes that gamma oscillations in frontotemporal circuitry create syntax-semantics objects in contrast with slow-rhythm entrainment of gamma oscillations tracking semantic fitness in bottom-up chunking. We show gamma power effects associated with aspects of anaphoric relations established in syntax vs. discourse during the processing of bi-clausal filler-gap dependencies. Despite equal semantic fitness across conditions for noun phrase modifiers (Mods) and noun complements (Comps), Mod-Comp modulations of ERPDs linked to anaphoric relations with early vs. late antecedents arose in referential processing aligned with gap positions, suggesting the gamma-based implementation of referential relations is induced by the re-representations of pronouns in complex filler-gap dependencies.
Cortical 𝛾-Oscillations Implement Basic Language Operations: Evidence from Electroencephalography in Anaphora During English Filler-gap Dependency Processing
