{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,24]],"date-time":"2026-10-24T01:30:23Z","timestamp":1792805423570,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,8]],"date-time":"2021-03-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1615161600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001700","name":"Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001700","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study examines the neural substrate of the understanding of human relationships in verbal communication with Japanese honorific sentences as experimental materials. We manipulated two types of Japanese verbs specifically used to represent respect for others, i.e., exalted and humble verbs, which represent respect for the person in the subject and the person in the object, respectively. We visually presented appropriate and anomalous sentences containing the two types of verbs and analyzed the electroencephalogram elicited by the verbs. We observed significant parietal negativity at a latency of approximately 400 ms for anomalous verbs compared with appropriate verbs. This parietal negativity could be a manifestation of the pragmatic process used to integrate the linguistic forms with the human relationships represented in the sentences. The topographies of these event-related potentials (ERPs) corresponded well with those of ERPs for two second-person pronouns in Chinese (plain <jats:italic>ni<\/jats:italic> and respectful <jats:italic>nin<\/jats:italic>). This correspondence suggests that the pragmatic integration process in honorific expressions is cross-linguistically common in part. Furthermore, we assessed the source localization by means of independent component (IC) analysis and dipole fitting and observed a significant difference in ERP between the honorific and control sentences in the IC cluster centered in the precentral gyrus and in the cluster centered in the medial part of the occipital lobe, which corresponded well with the functional magnetic resonance imaging findings for Japanese honorification. We also found several significant differences in the time-frequency analyses for the medial occipital cluster. These significant differences in the medial occipital cluster suggested that the circuit of the theory of mind was involved in the processing of Japanese honorification. Our results suggest that pragmatic and syntactic processing are performed in parallel because the person to be respected must fulfill the grammatical function appropriate for the honorific verb.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2021.549839","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,8]],"date-time":"2021-03-08T06:19:47Z","timestamp":1615184387000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["An EEG Analysis of Honorification in Japanese: Human Hierarchical Relationships Coded in Language"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Shingo","family":"Tokimoto","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yayoi","family":"Miyaoka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Naoko","family":"Tokimoto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"55","DOI":"10.1515\/lingty-2015-0002","article-title":"Verbal allocutivity in a crosslinguistic perspective","volume":"19","author":"Antonov","year":"2015","journal-title":"Linguist. Typol."},{"key":"B2","volume-title":"Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage","author":"Brown","year":"1978"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e135247","DOI":"10.1111\/psyp.13527","article-title":"Who are you talking to? The role of addressee identity in utterance comprehension","volume":"57","author":"Caffarra","year":"2020","journal-title":"Psychophysiology"},{"key":"B4","volume-title":"Aspects of the Theory of Syntax.","author":"Chomsky","year":"1965"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.1080\/016909698386582","article-title":"Expect the unexpected: event-related brain response to morphosyntactic violations","volume":"13","author":"Coulson","year":"1998","journal-title":"Lang. Cogn. Process."},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"128","DOI":"10.1016\/j.brainres.2007.03.008","article-title":"A special role for the right hemisphere in metaphor comprehension?","volume":"1146","author":"Coulson","year":"2007","journal-title":"Brain Res."},{"key":"B7","first-page":"85","article-title":"A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy","volume":"10","author":"Davis","year":"1980","journal-title":"JSAS Catalog Select. Doc. Psychol."},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"9","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jneumeth.2003.10.009","article-title":"EEGLAB: an open source toolbox for analysis of single-trial EEG dynamics including independent component analysis","volume":"134","author":"Delorme","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Neurosci. Methods"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"438","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1095455","article-title":"Integration of word meaning and world knowledge in language comprehension","volume":"304","author":"Hagoort","year":"2004","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"90","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bandl.2005.06.007","article-title":"EEG theta and gamma responses to semantic violations in online sentence processing","volume":"96","author":"Hald","year":"2006","journal-title":"Brain Lang."},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"210","DOI":"10.1016\/j.brainres.2007.02.054","article-title":"The interaction of discourse context and world knowledge in online sentence comprehension. Evidence from the N400","volume":"1146","author":"Hald","year":"2007","journal-title":"Brain Res."},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1396","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2015.01396","article-title":"Electrophysiology of subject-verb agreement mediated by speakers' gender","volume":"6","author":"Hanul\u00edkov\u00e1","year":"2015","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"61","DOI":"10.4992\/jjpsy.88.15218","article-title":"Development of a Japanese version of the interpersonal reactivity index","volume":"88","author":"Himichi","year":"2017","journal-title":"Jpn. J. Psychol."},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"59","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cogbrainres.2003.10.022","article-title":"Seeing words in context: the interaction of lexical and sentence level information during reading","volume":"19","author":"Hoeks","year":"2004","journal-title":"Cogn. Brain Res."},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2210","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuropsychologia.2013.07.021","article-title":"Is it over-respectful or disrespectful? Differential patterns of brain activity in perceiving pragmatic violation of social status information during utterance comprehension","volume":"51","author":"Jiang","year":"2013","journal-title":"Neuropsychologia"},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"205","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jml.2004.10.002","article-title":"The independence of combinatory semantic processing: evidence from event-related potentials","volume":"52","author":"Kim","year":"2005","journal-title":"J. Mem. Lang."},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bandl.2011.03.002","article-title":"Conflict and surrender during sentence processing: an ERP study of syntax-semantics interaction","volume":"118","author":"Kim","year":"2011","journal-title":"Brain Lang."},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"406","DOI":"10.1037\/xlm0000457","article-title":"Individual differences in verbal working memory underlie a tradeoff between semantic and structural processing difficulty during language comprehension: an ERP investigation","volume":"44","author":"Kim","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Exp. Psychol. Learn. Mem. Cogn."},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"117","DOI":"10.1016\/S0926-6410(03)00086-7","article-title":"Electrophysiological distinctions in processing conceptual relationships within simple sentences","volume":"17","author":"Kuperberg","year":"2003","journal-title":"Cogn. Brain Res."},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"203","DOI":"10.1126\/science.7350657","article-title":"Reading senseless sentences: brain potentials reflect semantic incongruity","volume":"207","author":"Kutas","year":"1980","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"539","DOI":"10.3758\/BF03196991","article-title":"Event-related brain potentials to grammatical errors and semantic anomalies","volume":"11","author":"Kutas","year":"1983","journal-title":"Mem. Cogn."},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"191","DOI":"10.1016\/S0304-3940(0\/3)00027-2","article-title":"Talker's voice and gender stereotype in human auditory sentence processing \u2013 evidence from event-related brain potentials","volume":"339","author":"Lattner","year":"2003","journal-title":"Neurosci. Lett."},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"213","DOI":"10.3389\/fnhum.2014.00213","article-title":"ERPLAB: an open-source toolbox for the analysis of event-related potentials","volume":"8","author":"Luck","year":"2014","journal-title":"Front. Hum. Neurosci."},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"68","DOI":"10.1016\/j.dcn.2014.01.002","article-title":"How and where: theory-of-mind in the brain","volume":"9","author":"Mahy","year":"2014","journal-title":"Dev. Cogn. Neurosci."},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"177","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jneumeth.2007.03.024","article-title":"Nonparametric statistical testing of EEG- and MEG-data","volume":"164","author":"Maris","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Neurosci. Methods"},{"key":"B26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2422","DOI":"10.1093\/brain\/awr151","article-title":"The neural basis of deictic shifting in linguistic perspective-taking in high-functioning autism","volume":"134","author":"Mizuno","year":"2011","journal-title":"Brain"},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"156","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cortex.2014.06.009","article-title":"On the left anterior negativity (LAN): the case of morphosyntactic agreement: a reply to Tanner et al","volume":"66","author":"Molinaro","year":"2015","journal-title":"Cortex"},{"key":"B28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"908","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cortex.2011.02.019","article-title":"Grammatical agreement processing in reading: ERP findings and future directions","volume":"47","author":"Molinaro","year":"2011","journal-title":"Cortex"},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bandl.2007.12.003","article-title":"Syntax in a native language still continues to develop in adults: honorification judgment in Japanese","volume":"107","author":"Momo","year":"2008","journal-title":"Brain Lang."},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2553","DOI":"10.1109\/TBME.2015.2481482","article-title":"Real-time neuroimaging and cognitive monitoring using wearable dry EEG","volume":"62","author":"Mullen","year":"2015","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng."},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"318","DOI":"10.1162\/jocn.1997.9.3.318","article-title":"Brain activity associated with syntactic incongruencies in words and pseudo-words","volume":"9","author":"M\u00fcnte","year":"1997","journal-title":"J. Cogn. Neurosci."},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"97","DOI":"10.1016\/0028-3932(71)90067-4","article-title":"The assessment and analysis of handedness: the Edinburgh Inventory","volume":"9","author":"Oldfield","year":"1971","journal-title":"Neuropsychologia"},{"key":"B33","first-page":"97","article-title":"\u201cModeling and estimation of dependent subspaces with non-radially symmetric and skewed densities,\u201d","volume-title":"Lecture Notes in Computer Science Book Series","author":"Palmer","year":"2007"},{"key":"B34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"749","DOI":"10.1007\/s10115-017-1053-1","article-title":"Crowd labeling latent Dirichlet allocation","volume":"53","author":"Pion-Tonachini","year":"2017","journal-title":"Knowledge Inform. Syst."},{"key":"B35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"121","DOI":"10.1016\/j.brainres.2009.10.077","article-title":"The communicative style of a speaker can affect language comprehension? ERP evidence from the comprehension of irony","volume":"1311","author":"Regel","year":"2010","journal-title":"Brain Res."},{"key":"B36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"409","DOI":"10.1097\/00001756-200403010-00005","article-title":"Fractionating language comprehension via frequency characteristics of the human EEG","volume":"15","author":"Roehm","year":"2004","journal-title":"Neuroreport"},{"key":"B37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"53","DOI":"10.1016\/0377-0427(87)90125-7","article-title":"Silhouettes: a graphical aid to the interpretation and validation of cluster analysis","volume":"20","author":"Rousseeuw","year":"1987","journal-title":"J. Comput. Appl. Math."},{"key":"B38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e13335","DOI":"10.1111\/psyp.13335","article-title":"Cluster-based permutation tests of MEG\/EEG data do not establish significance of effect latency or location","volume":"56","author":"Sassenhagen","year":"2019","journal-title":"Psychophysiology"},{"key":"B39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"181","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511980435.013","article-title":"\u201cThe role of experimental syntax in an integrated cognitive science of language,\u201d","volume-title":"The Cambridge Handbook of Biolinguistics","author":"Sprouse","year":"2013"},{"key":"B40","volume-title":"Co-Planar Stereotaxic Atlas of the Human Brain: 3-Dimensional Proportional System : An Approach to Cerebral Imaging","author":"Talairach","year":"1988"},{"key":"B41","article-title":"\u201cPerspective-taking in sentence comprehension and its relationship with autistic traits,\u201d","volume-title":"Symposium on language use by developmentally disabled individuals","author":"Tokimoto","year":"2019"},{"key":"B42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2744","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2019.02744","article-title":"Functional linking between negative and positive ERPs for syntactic processing in Japanese: mutual enhancement, syntactic prediction, and working memory constraints","volume":"10","author":"Tokimoto","year":"2019","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"B43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1574","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2018.01574","article-title":"Perspective-taking in sentence comprehension: time and empathy","volume":"9","author":"Tokimoto","year":"2018","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"B44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"646","DOI":"10.1080\/01690960701653501","article-title":"An ERP study of the processing of subject and object relative clauses in Japanese","volume":"23","author":"Ueno","year":"2008","journal-title":"Lang. Cogn. Process."},{"key":"B45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"243","DOI":"10.1016\/S0093-934X(02)00543-6","article-title":"Event-related brain indices of Japanese scrambling","volume":"86","author":"Ueno","year":"2003","journal-title":"Brain Lang."},{"key":"B46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1092","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9280.2009.02411.x","article-title":"Right or wrong? - the brain's fast response to morally objectionable statements","volume":"20","author":"Van Berkum","year":"2009","journal-title":"Psychol. Sci."},{"key":"B47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"580","DOI":"10.1162\/jocn.2008.20054","article-title":"The neural integration of speaker and message","volume":"20","author":"Van Berkum","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Cogn. Neurosci."},{"key":"B48","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"67","DOI":"10.1162\/jocn.2008.21170","article-title":"Monitoring in language perception: mild and strong conflicts elicit different ERP patterns","volume":"22","author":"van de Meerendonk","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Cogn. Neurosci."},{"key":"B49","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"173","DOI":"10.1093\/scan\/nsq094","article-title":"Empathy matters: ERP evidence for inter-individual differences in social language processing","volume":"7","author":"van den Brink","year":"2012","journal-title":"Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci."},{"key":"B50","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1181","DOI":"10.1162\/jocn.2006.18.7.1181","article-title":"When heuristics clash with parsing routines: ERP evidence for conflict monitoring in sentence perception","volume":"18","author":"van Herten","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Cogn. Neurosci."},{"key":"B51","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"279","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bandl.2005.11.003","article-title":"Neural localization of semantic context effects in electromagnetic and hemodynamic studies","volume":"97","author":"Van Petten","year":"2006","journal-title":"Brain Lang."},{"key":"B52","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"263","DOI":"10.1007\/s10803-005-0061-2","article-title":"The Autism-spectrum quotient (AQ) in Japan: a cross-cultural comparison","volume":"36","author":"Wakabayashi","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Autism Dev. Disord."},{"key":"B53","first-page":"4101","article-title":"\u201cOn the influence of high-pass filtering on ICA-based artifact reduction in EEG-ERP,\u201d","volume-title":"Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society","author":"Winkler","year":"2015"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Psychology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2021.549839\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,8]],"date-time":"2021-03-08T06:19:55Z","timestamp":1615184395000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2021.549839\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,8]]},"references-count":53,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fpsyg.2021.549839"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2021.549839","relation":{},"ISSN":["1664-1078"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1664-1078","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,8]]},"article-number":"549839"}}