PROcessing MEtaphors: Neurochronometry, Acquisition and DEcay

Introduction

As the master figure of speech, metaphor is a powerful communicative tool that might nevertheless come with costs for our processing system. Research in different fields has highlighted that a full-fledged metaphor comprehension capacity is a late achievement in development. It may decay as a consequence of several pathological conditions, and it evokes distinctive electrical activity in our brain compared to literal equivalents.

Current Gaps in Research

However, we still miss a comprehensive framework able to account for all these empirical findings in a unitary fashion. This is despite a vast number of linguistic and cognitive accounts of metaphor.

Project Goals

This project will ground on theoretical insights from the pragmatics of language to sketch a novel and comprehensive model of metaphor understanding. This model aims to account for:

1. Neural findings
2. Developmental findings
3. Clinical findings

Leading Hypothesis

The leading hypothesis is that metaphor comprehension is an inferential process that involves:

1. Adjusting the lexical concepts
2. Deriving the implicated non-literal meaning

Model Considerations

The model also takes into account the multiplicity of metaphor types, which might in turn engage visual images and sensory-motor processes. This is in line with recent multimodal accounts of lexical and semantic processing.

Methodology

The model will be tested and refined through a series of behavioral and electrophysiological studies. These studies will employ innovative experimental paradigms and involve:

• Neurotypical adults
• Children
• Individuals with psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases

Expected Outcomes

This multidisciplinary approach will lead to a significant breakthrough in our understanding of metaphor as the pinnacle of human verbal creativity. Additionally, it will disclose important aspects for research on language processing, development, and decay.