ABSTRACT
Understanding how the brain makes meaning from language, a system of symbolic communication, is foundational to the field of neurosemiotics. Most studies investigating this process have used carefully selected word-, phrase-, or sentence-level stimuli, allowing for control of psycholinguistic variables. However, the majority of natural language (“language in the wild”) is experienced within the context of a larger discourse, narrative, or dialogue. Here, we survey neuroimaging studies on language processing in naturalistic contexts. We discuss findings related to lexico-semantic variables when words are processed in discourse context. Combinatorial operations and discourse-level processes are addressed next, followed by a discussion of possible roles of major areas that are consistently seen in discourse semantics. These insights contribute to a discourse-level agenda in neurosemiotics.
