From novel to familiar: Tuning the brain for metaphors
DOI
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.11.079
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Date
2-15-2012
Publication Title
NeuroImage
Volume
59
Issue
4
First Page
3212
Last Page
3221
ISSN
10538119
Keywords
Career of metaphor, Familiarity, Figurative language, FMRI, Novelty, Right hemisphere
Abstract
Metaphors are fundamental to creative thought and expression. Newly coined metaphors regularly infiltrate our collective vocabulary and gradually become familiar, but it is unclear how this shift from novel to conventionalized meaning happens in the brain. We investigated the neural career of metaphors in a functional magnetic resonance imaging study using extensively normed new metaphors and simulated the ordinary, gradual experience of metaphor conventionalization by manipulating participants' exposure to these metaphors. Results showed that the conventionalization of novel metaphors specifically tunes activity within bilateral inferior prefrontal cortex, left posterior middle temporal gyrus, and right postero-lateral occipital cortex. These results support theoretical accounts attributing a role for the right hemisphere in processing novel, low salience figurative meanings, but also show that conventionalization of metaphoric meaning is a bilaterally-mediated process. Metaphor conventionalization entails a decreased neural load within semantic networks rather than a hemispheric or regional shift across brain areas. © 2011 Elsevier Inc.
Open Access
Green Accepted
Preprint
Repository Citation
Cardillo, E., Watson, C., Schmidt, G., Kranjec, A., & Chatterjee, A. (2012). From novel to familiar: Tuning the brain for metaphors. NeuroImage, 59 (4), 3212-3221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.11.079