We exploited the properties of VP-ellipsis constructions containing inherently reflexive and inalienable possession verbs that severely constrained final interpretation (e.g., "The policeman perjured himself, and the fireman did too…"). Using the cross-modal lexical priming task, we found that listeners reactivated the subject NP from the first clause at the elided position in the second clause (i.e., the "strict" reading), even though verb properties disallowed such an interpretation. We also found that listeners reactivated the subject NP from the second clause, demonstrating the "sloppy" interpretation. In a final experiment we examined VP-ellipsis constructions that did not contain anaphors (e.g., "The mailman bought a tie for Easter, and his brother did too…"). We found that only the object NP of the first clause was reconstructed in the second clause. We interpret these findings as support for a parser that computes multiple interpretations on-line, yet is initially insensitive to lexical and probabilistic information. KeywordsLanguage comprehension; VP-ellipsis; Syntax; Lexical There is no shortage of fundamental issues that remain unresolved in the study of language processing. Even the most basic assumptions continue to be questioned (as they should be). For example, though on some accounts it is common to assume 'separate' lexical, syntactic, and semantic operations when processing sentences, it remains unclear where to draw the boundaries. Indeed, given some theoretical viewpoints it is not entirely clear whether such boundaries are necessary (e.g., Bates & Goodman, 1997;MacDonald, Pearlmutter, & Seidenberg, 1994; but see Frazier, 1995). In the following study, we consider some of these fundamental issues by examining how on-line operations give way to final sentence interpretation. Specifically, we describe three experiments investigating how normal listeners understand constructions containing covert material that is inherent in verb phrase (VP) ellipsis. In two experiments we examine if lexical properties that constrain final interpretation also affect momentary, on-line comprehension. In a third experiment we examine which noun phrase arguments are 'reconstructed' at the elided VP site. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptWe begin with a linguistic characterization of VP-ellipsis constructions. Our focus on the linguistic underpinnings of such constructions is justified, we feel, by the descriptive details linguistic theory offers, and also by the fruit it has borne for accounts of language processing. We then discuss previous efforts investigating the comprehension of ellipsis constructions and attempt to ground this work in accounts of sentence processing. We then move on to the description of our current experiments and the discussion of our results. We are ultimately interested in the time-course of activation and use of different kinds of information, which, in turn, should shed light on the architecture of the sentence processing system and its m...

The microRNA miR-132 serves as a key regulator of a wide range of plasticity-associated processes in the central nervous system. Interestingly, miR-132 expression has also been shown to be under the control of the circadian timing system. This finding, coupled with work showing that miR-132 is expressed in the hippocampus, where it influences neuronal morphology and memory, led us to test the idea that daily rhythms in miR-132 within the forebrain modulate cognition as a function of circadian time. Here, we show that hippocampal miR-132 expression is gated by the time-of-day, with peak levels occurring during the circadian night. Further, in miR-132 knockout mice and in transgenic mice, where miR-132 is constitutively expressed under the control of the tetracycline regulator system, we found that time-of-day dependent memory recall (as assessed via novel object location and contextual fear conditioning paradigms) was suppressed. Given that miRNAs exert their functional effects via the suppression of target gene expression, we examined the effects that transgenic miR-132 manipulations have on MeCP2 and Sirt1-two miR-132 targets that are associated with neuronal plasticity and cognition. In mice where miR-132 was either knocked out, or transgenically expressed, rhythmic expression of MeCP2 and Sirt1 was suppressed. Taken together, these results raise the prospect that miR-132 serves as a key route through which the circadian timing system imparts a daily rhythm on cognitive capacity.

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is pub lished quarterly by Psi Chi, the International Honor So ci ety in Psychology. All contents ©2017 by Psi Chi. The pub li ca tion schedule fol lows the ac a dem ic year: fall, win ter, spring, and summer. All opinions ex pressed in signed ar ti cles are those of the author(s) and do not neces sar i ly reflect those of the editors and/or Psi Chi.

is pub lished quarterly by Psi Chi, the International Honor So ci ety in Psychology. All contents ©2017 by Psi Chi. The pub li ca tion schedule fol lows the ac a dem ic year: fall, win ter, spring, and summer. All opinions ex pressed in signed ar ti cles are those of the author(s) and do not neces sar i ly reflect those of the editors and/or Psi Chi.