The study found that the human brain processes the structure of written sentences very quickly. By analyzing brain activity in 36 volunteers, researchers discovered that people can recognize basic sentence structures in just 125 milliseconds, which is as fast as a blink of an eye. This ability allows us to quickly consume information from smartphones and understand the world around us.
Understanding how the brain processes written language can provide insights into the properties of language that are not related to speech. For example, studying the neurobiology of language without the need for verbalization can help researchers uncover new information about how our brains encode language.
To study this phenomenon, researchers used magnetoencephalography, a non-invasive technique that tracks brain activity using magnetic fields. Participants were shown three-word sentence structures on a screen, and their brain activity was monitored to determine how quickly they could detect changes in the sentences.
The results showed that the brain’s left temporal cortex, which is important for language comprehension, exhibited higher activity when processing structured sentences compared to unstructured lists of words. Participants were most efficient at recognizing sentences with a subject, verb, and object, indicating that our brains are wired to quickly process specific language structures.
Interestingly, the brain also detected errors in agreement within sentences, such as mismatched verbs, and implausible sentence structures. This suggests that our brains not only recognize words but also apply previous knowledge to understand the meaning of sentences rapidly.
Moving forward, researchers plan to explore the types of sentence structures that the brain can quickly identify, and whether these align with the sentences people typically learn as children. Additionally, they aim to investigate whether similar mechanisms are used to process visual stimuli like images as they are for understanding text.
This study sheds light on how our brains process written language efficiently and provides valuable insights into the complexities of language comprehension. Understanding these mechanisms can help improve communication technologies and enhance our overall understanding of how the brain functions.
