Semantic prediction and cortical entrainment to the acoustic landmarks of the speech envelope are two fundamental yet qualitatively different mechanisms that facilitate speech comprehension. However, it is not clear how and to what extent those mechanisms interact with each other. On the one hand, richer semantic context could enhance the perceptual representation of a predictable stimulus, thus improving speech entrainment. On the other hand, pre-activating an upcoming item could inhibit further bottom-up analyses to minimize processing costs, thus weakening speech entrainment. To test these competing hypotheses, we recorded EEG activity from 27 participants while they listened to a 14-min recording of text reading. The passage contained target words presented twice: once in a highly constraining and once in a minimally constraining context. First, we measured event related potentials on target words in the two conditions. In line with previous research, we showed that semantic predictability modulated the N400 amplitude: words in minimally constraining contexts elicited larger negative amplitudes than words in highly constraining contexts between 250 and 450 ms. Second, we evaluated speech entrainment effects by analyzing phase alignment between neural activity and the envelope of target words. Importantly, we found increased speech entrainment for words in minimally constraining compared to highly constraining contexts between 400 and 450 ms. Both effects were located in central electrodes and were significantly correlated. Our results indicate a trade-off between semantic pre-activation and cortical entrainment to speech and support the cost minimization hypothesis.

语义预测和对语音包络的声学界标的皮层夹带是促进语音理解的两个基本但在质上不同的机制。但是，尚不清楚这些机制之间如何相互作用以及相互作用的程度。一方面，更丰富的语义上下文可以增强可预测刺激的感知表达，从而改善语音夹带。另一方面，预激活即将到来的项目可能会阻止进一步的自下而上的分析，以最大程度地降低处理成本，从而削弱语音夹带。为了检验这些相互竞争的假设，我们记录了27名参与者在聆听14分钟的文本阅读记录时的脑电图活动。这段话包含了两次提出的目标词：一次是在高度约束中，一次是在最小约束中。首先，我们在两种情况下测量了目标单词上与事件相关的电位。与先前的研究一致，我们表明语义可预测性调制了N400幅度：在250到450毫秒之间，最小约束上下文中的单词引起的负振幅大于高度约束上下文中的单词。其次，我们通过分析神经活动和目标词的包络之间的相位对齐来评估语音夹带效果。重要的是，与400到450 ms的高度约束上下文相比，我们发现在最小约束条件下增加了单词的语音夹带。两种效应均位于中央电极中，并且显着相关。我们的结果表明语义预激活和语音的皮层夹带之间的权衡，并支持成本最小化的假设。我们在两种情况下测量了目标单词上与事件相关的电位。与先前的研究一致，我们表明语义可预测性调制了N400幅度：在250到450毫秒之间，最小约束上下文中的单词引起的负振幅大于高度约束上下文中的单词。其次，我们通过分析神经活动和目标词的包络之间的相位对齐来评估语音夹带效果。重要的是，与400到450 ms的高度约束上下文相比，我们发现在最小约束条件下增加了单词的语音夹带。两种效应均位于中央电极中，并且显着相关。我们的研究结果表明语义预激活和语音的皮层夹带之间的权衡，并支持成本最小化的假设。我们在两种情况下测量了目标单词上与事件相关的电位。与先前的研究一致，我们表明语义可预测性调制了N400幅度：在250到450毫秒之间，最小约束上下文中的单词引起的负振幅大于高度约束上下文中的单词。其次，我们通过分析神经活动和目标词的包络之间的相位对齐来评估语音夹带效果。重要的是，与400到450 ms的高度约束上下文相比，我们发现在最小约束条件下增加了单词的语音夹带。两种效应均位于中央电极中，并且显着相关。我们的结果表明语义预激活和语音的皮层夹带之间的权衡，并支持成本最小化的假设。