Semantic priming increases left hemisphere theta power and intertrial phase synchrony

Information is stored in distributed cortical networks, but it is unclear how distributed stores are synthesized into a unified percept. Activation of local circuits in the gamma range (30 < < 80 Hz), and distributed stores in the low theta range (3–5 Hz) may underlie perceptual binding. Words have a crucial role in semantic memory. Within memory, the activation of distributed semantic stores is facilitated by conceptually related previous items, termed semantic priming. We sought to detect event‐related brain oscillations (EROs) sensitive to semantic activation and priming. Here, we show that low theta evoked power and intertrial phase locking (4–5 Hz) from 250–350 msec over left hemisphere language areas was greater to related than to unrelated words. Theta band event‐related oscillations over left hemisphere language areas may provide a brain signature for semantic activation across distributed stores being facilitated by semantic priming.