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The effect of lexical ambiguity on memory: An EEG study

Poster Session E - Monday, March 9, 2026, 2:30 – 4:30 pm PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom
Also presenting in Data Blitz Session 3 - Saturday, March 7, 2026, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm PST, Salon E.

Vanessa Keller¹ (), Dan Denis¹, Cameron Kyle-Davidson¹, Scott Cairney¹, Gareth Gaskell¹; ¹University of York

Processing lexically ambiguous words involves the transient activation of all meanings known to the comprehender. While behavioural and event-related potential studies have mapped out the time course of this process, the neural oscillations underpinning the activation and later inhibition of multiple word meanings remain unstudied. It is similarly unclear how the activation of multiple meanings affects subsequent memory for language input. We used electroencephalography (EEG; n = 42) to investigate which neural oscillations supported processing of high ambiguity (multiple meanings), low ambiguity (one primary meaning) and incongruent (semantically anomalous) words in sentential contexts. We focused on theta and alpha/beta oscillations, which have been implicated in lexical-semantic processing, lexical access and memory encoding. We hypothesised that increased theta and decreased alpha/beta power would be linked to better memory and support the processing of high ambiguity and incongruent words, with the latter placing higher demands on lexical access processes than low ambiguity words. Behavioural analyses showed better memory for low ambiguity and incongruent compared to high ambiguity words, suggesting that activating multiple meanings negatively affects memory for the encountered word. Contrary to our hypotheses, we found no effects in the theta band. Instead, alpha/beta desynchronisation supported the processing of lexically ambiguous and incongruent endings, potentially by inhibiting alternative meanings. Overall, our findings suggest that the activation of multiple meanings during the processing of ambiguous words affects subsequent memory for the encountered word forms, and point to an important role for alpha/beta oscillations in the processing of lexically ambiguous and semantically incongruent information.

Topic Area: LANGUAGE: Other