Formal thought disorder is one of the major symptoms of schizophrenia and may be related to abnormal pattern of hemispheric lateralization of language functions. In accordance with recent neurolinguistic models that focus on the unique contribution of each hemisphere during language comprehension, the aim of this study is to explore the effect of schizotypy on hemispheric differences in semantic context processing.

The task was a modified version of Federmeier and Kutas’ paradigm (1999). Subjects headed pairs of sentences ending with an expected exemplar, an unexpected exemplar from the same category, or an unexpected exemplar from a different category. Pairs of sentences were presented binaurally while the last word (target) was presented either at the left or at the right ear (the reversed target was presented to the contralateral ear). The subjects performed a semantic judgment task. Reaction times (RTs) and percentage of correct responses were recorded. The schizotypy was assessed using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ, Raine et al., 1991).

Results showed that although the two hemispheres were sensitive to semantic context, the left hemisphere strongly activated small semantic fields, whereas the right hemisphere weakly activated large semantic fields. The percentage of correct responses did not differ between the two hemispheres. In addition, subjects with higher SPQ scores demonstrated a lack of semantic context effect on the left hemisphere and a diffuse activation of concepts on the right hemisphere. The implication of these results in the understanding of the cognitive mechanisms of schizophrenic formal thought disorder is discussed.