Language processing was investigated using event-related
potentials obtained using a multichannel (58-channel) EEG
system, with regard to semantic dependency (i.e., selectional
restriction between a verb and the arguments it takes;
the SR type) and syntactic dependency between sentence-final
particles and interrogative phrases (the WH-Q type) in
Japanese. It was found that semantic violations elicited
the conventional N400, which was distributed in the bilateral
occipital and the right temporal regions, and that the
syntactic violations elicited the P600 in a broad area,
predominantly in the centroparietal regions. Scalp current
density mappings suggested that the right temporal cortex
plays a significant role in integrating pieces of contextual
information, especially when it is difficult to integrate
a word in the context of a sentence, and that the P600
was connected to the syntactic processes conceivably indexed
by the left temporal current sink with a relatively early
onset.