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Motor issues are frequently observed accompanying core deficits in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Impaired motor behavior has also been linked to cognitive and social abnormalities, and problems with predictive ability have been suggested to play an important, possibly shared, part across all these domains. Brain imaging of sensory-motor behavior is a promising method for characterizing the neurobiological foundation for this proposed key trait. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) developmental study, involving children/youth with ASD, typically developing (TD) children/youth, and neurotypical adults, will investigate brain activations during execution and observation of a visually guided, goal-directed sequential (two-step) manual task. Neural processing related to both execution and observation of the task, as well as activation patterns during the preparation stage before execution/observation will be investigated. Main regions of interest include frontoparietal and occipitotemporal cortical areas, the human mirror neuron system (MNS), and the cerebellum.

Motor impairments are common in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) although less is known about the neural mechanisms related to such difficulties. This review provides an outline of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) findings associated with execution and observation of naturalistic actions in autistic adults. Summarized outcomes revealed that adults with ASD recruit similar brain regions as neurotypical adults during action execution and during action observation, although with a difference in direction and/or magnitude. For action execution, this included higher and lower activity bilaterally in the precentral cortex, the parietal cortex, the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), the middle temporal gyrus (MTG), the occipital cortex, and the cerebellum. For action observation, differences mainly concerned both higher and lower activity in bilateral IFG and right precentral gyrus, and lower activity in MTG. Activity overlaps between action execution and observation highlight atypical recruitment of IFG, MTG, precentral, and parieto-occipital regions in ASD. The results show atypical recruitment of brain regions subserving motor planning and/or predictive control in ASD. Atypical brain activations during action observation, and the pattern of activity overlaps, indicate an association with difficulties in understanding others' actions and intentions.

Background: Flexible work arrangements (FWA) are common, but knowledge on how to organize flexible work to reduce negative consequences and preserve positive aspects is currently sparse, which hampers organizational initiatives. Purpose: This study aimed at determining the extent to which work strategies, work-related ICT use outside regular working hours (i.e., use of laptop, tablet, or smartphone, to handle information and facilitate communication), productivity, expectations of availability, and clarity of expectations about availability, had changed among office-based employees with FWA two and four months after a participative two-step workplace intervention. Methods: An intervention group (n=97) was compared to a control group working as usual (n=70). The intervention, initiated and approved by the top management of the organization, included individual education intended to change work strategies, and workshops developing common rules and routines for FWA within the work group. Results: Participants were satisfied with the intervention and reported larger changes than the control group in work strategies. No statistically significant effects were, however, found on ICT use, productivity, or expectations of availability. Conclusions: This participative workplace intervention was successful in changing employees work strategies but may not be effective in influencing ICT use outside regular working hours, productivity, expectations of availability, and clarity of expectations about availability.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a diagnosis based on social communication deficits and prevalence of repetitive stereotyped behaviors, but sensorimotor disturbances are commonly exhibited. This longitudinal study aimed at exploring the development of the ability to form mental motor representations (motor imagery; MI) in 14 children with ASD and 17 typically developing (TD) children at 7, 8 and 9 years of age. MI was investigated using a hand laterality paradigm from which response times (RT) and error rates were extracted and compared with performance on a visually based mental rotation task (VI). A criterion task was used to ensure that the children could perform the task. The results showed wide performance variability in the ASD group with more failures than TD in the MI criterion task, especially at 7 years. For all age levels and both the MI and VI tasks, the error rates were significantly higher and RTs longer for the ASD group compared with TD. Signs of MI strategies were however noted in the ASD group as biomechanically constrained orientations had longer RTs than less constrained orientations, a RT pattern that differed from the VI task. The presence of MI in the ASD group was most evident at 9 years, but the error rates remained high at all ages, both in the MI and VI task. In comparison, the TD group showed stable MI strategies at all ages. These findings indicate that MI ability is delayed and/or impaired in children with ASD which may be related to difficulties performing required mental rotations.

Background: The main aim was to examine whether patients with persistent upper quadrant pain have higher end-point variability in goal directed pointing movements than pain-free controls when the pointing task is performed in total darkness and under full vision. An additional aim was to study associations between the magnitude of end-point variability and a clinical movement control test battery and self-rated functioning among patients. Methods: Seventeen patients and 17 age- and gender-matched pain-free controls performed a pointing task that evaluated end-point variability of repetitive shoulder movements in horizontal adduction and abduction with full vision, and abduction with no visual information, completed a movement control test battery of neck and shoulder control tests and answered questionnaires. Results: Patients had higher end point variability for horizontal abduction when performed with no visual information. For horizontal adduction the variability was higher, but only when it was controlled for movement time. No significant correlations were found between end-point variability and self-rated functioning, nor between end-point variability and neuromuscular control of the glenohumeral joint. Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence that patients with persistent neck/shoulder pain can partly compensate proprioceptive deficits in goal-directed arm movement when visual feedback is present.

Introduction: Difficulties with action planning and visuomotor integration may contribute to atypical motorfunctioning in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), although detailed studies of sensorimotorintegration in action planning are sparse. This ongoing study investigates visuomotor integration in actionplanning in 7-year-old children with and without ASD. Patients and methods: A sub-sample of 6 children with ASD and 6 typically developing (TD) controls wereincluded. Recordings of gaze synchronized with 3D kinematic registration were made during performance of amanual sequential peg rotation task with variations in goal insertion complexity. Group differences and relations between movement duration and number of gaze shifts over the sequential movement phases(latency, reach-to-grasp, grasp, and transport-to-fit) were explored. Results: No significant group differences were found for either movement duration or number of gaze shifts.When controlling for the between-participants variance, total number of gaze shifts and number of gaze shiftsin reach-to-grasp were related to movement duration in the initial phases of the movement in the TD-group but not in the ASD-group. Conclusion: The results indicate that, whilst performance measures were similar between groups, the overallpattern of visuomotor integration was related to feed-forward movement processes in the sequentialmovement in the TD-group but not in the ASD-group. This finding adds support to previous suggestions thatvisuomotor integration underpinning action planning may operate differently in ASD. Synchronizedexamination of gaze and detailed movement registration appears as a promising methodology for detailed investigation of visuomotor integration in action planning.

Denna rapport utvärderar fyra arbetsmiljöåtgärder som genomförts i ett samarbete mellan Trafikverket och Högskolan i Gävle. Projektets start var en omfattande kartläggning 2016 av arbetsvillkor, återhämtning och hälsa bland anställda med antingen flexibelt eller schemalagt arbete. Senare under 2017 genomfördes fokusgrupper och framtagande av åtgärdsförslagspaket och dessa tidigare rapporter har legat till grund för de interventioner som här utvärderas: – Flexibelt arbete: • Åtgärd A) Personlig effektivitet och spelregler – Schemalagt arbete: • Åtgärd B) Resurs- och schemaplanering • Åtgärd C) Hälsa i skiftmiljö • Åtgärd D) Hälsoåret Medarbetare som deltagit i Personlig effektivitet och spelregler samt Resurs- och schemaplanering har till en hög grad varit nöjda med utbildningen samt bedömt den som relevant för arbetet vilket är underlättande faktorer för att fortsätta jobba med liknande insatser. Bland medarbetare med flexibelt arbete har många förändrat sina arbetssätt och vanor, till exempel inom att prioritera och strukturera arbetsuppgifter samt hantera mejl. Interventionen kombinerade både individ- och grupperspektiv vilket ger bättre förutsättningar för att nå olika delområden inom arbetsmiljön. För de medarbetare med schemalagt arbete som genomfört Resurs och schemaplanering så har denna intervention också medfört ett ändrat sätt att arbeta med schemaplaneringen och fler upplever att schemaplaneringen påverkar stämningen positivt. För andra medarbetare med schemalagt arbete skulle liknande interventioner kunna genomföras med syftet att förbättra delaktighet och inflytande på schemaläggning. Deltagarna i Hälsa i skiftmiljö har haft utbildning i livsstilsfaktorers betydelse för hälsan med avsikt att motivera och stödja beteendeförändring. Andelen nöjda med aktiviteterna samt aktivt deltagande är något lägre i denna grupp och sjunker under uppföljningsperioden. Värt att lyfta är att mycket av det praktiska arbetet med att motivera och ge, Gränslöst arbete: hälsofrämjande interventioner för en hållbar digitalisering

Introduction: Motor anomalies are frequent in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Effective and efficient motor acts rely on the formation of motor plans that serve as predictive models or blue-prints of upcoming actions. We studied movement initiation latencies (MILs) and movement durations in a peg-rotation (PR) task and response times (RT) in a motor imagery (MI) task in children with ASD. Patients and Methods: Thirteen 7–8 year-old children with ASD (4 girls) and 17 typically developing (TD) children (9 girls) participated. MILs and PR task duration, extracted from 3D kinematic recordings, and RTs on a MI task (hand laterality judgement task) was compared between children with ASD and TD. The PR-task varied in constraints and the possibility to pre-plan actions was experimentally controlled. Results: Nine of the ASD children passed the MI task showing biomechanical constraints effect but the error rate was however higher than in TD. The MILs on the PR-task were shorter when pre-planning was possible, indicating a time cost for movement planning. This cost was highest for the children who failed the MI task, specifically for the PR-task with the highest constraint where task durations also were the highest. Overall, TD children had shorter PR-task durations than ASD. Conclusion: MI ability was highly varied for the ASD children. Interestingly, the children with ASD failing the MI task showed the greatest increase in MILs in relation to task difficulty indicative of pre-planning. They also had increased task durations, specifically for the most difficult condition, suggestive of poorer on-line control., Special Issue: Abstracts of the 33rd Annual Meeting of the European Academy of Childhood Disability (EACD), Europe (Virtual), May–June 2021Poster presentation 36

Introduction: Knowledge about motor imagery (MI) ability in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is limited and inconclusive in young children with ASD. The aim of the current study was to investigate MI ability in 7-year-old children with ASD. Patients and methods: Thirteen children with ASD and 13 typically developing (TD) children performed a computerized hand laterality judgement task (HLJ) and a non-corporeal visual imagery (VI) control task. All participants passing a criterion test performed the tasks with images at 4 different rotational increments to vary the MI biomechanical demands (HLJ task) or VI angle rotational demands (VI task). Response times (RT) and accuracy were extracted. Results: Four children with ASD did not pass the HLJ criterion test and one failed the VI criterion test. The ASD-group had evidently more incorrect responses than TD on both tasks. Analyses of RT showed a biomechanical effect in the MI task and an angle increment effect in the VI task in both groups. Children with ASD had longer RT than TD children on VI but not MI tasks. Conclusion: Findings suggest that both the ASD and control children used MI to solve the HLJ task. However, failures to pass the HLJ criterion test and the increased error rate in the ASD group indicate that MI ability is weaker in young children with autism than TD controls. Notably, a large individual variability in employment of MI within the ASD group was found, ranging from functional, fractional but existing, to absent MI ability.

Background: Cervical strength and stability is often addressed in rehabilitation of people with neck pain. These functions may be associated with emergence and retention of neck pain in cases where the neck strength does not meet daily demands. However, clear empiric support for these notions are lacking, partly due to a scarcity of well controlled dynamometry studies with large samples. First, clarification is needed whether neck strength is in fact reduced in people with neck pain and to resolve the diagnostic performance of neck strength tests. Purpose: To compare neck muscle strength of women with non-specific long-term neck pain and healthy controls. Also, to assess the diagnostic performance of neck strength tests by assessing their discriminative ability to discern women with and without neck pain. Methods: The study had a cross-sectional design with data on cervical strength derived from the baseline measurement of a randomized controlled trial (RCT). 80 women with long-term non-specific neck pain (NP) were compared with 40 healthy women (CON). The NP group was a subsample from the RCT selected so that there were no group differences (NP-CON) for body weight and physical activity. Cervical strength assessment included dynamometry of cervico-thoracic extension (CTE) and flexion (CTF) in sitting and cranio-cervical flexion (CCF) in standing, all performed with isometric maximum voluntary contraction (iMVC). Independent samples Mann-Whitney U test and T-test were used to assess group differences for iMVC of the tests. Diagnostic accuracy was further assessed with a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve by plotting the true positive rate (sensitivity) as a function of the false positive rate (1 - specificity). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) with 95% confidence interval was used to determine discriminative ability of the tests. The optimal cut-off value to discern NP from CON with corresponding sensitivity and specificity was also determined. Results

Besvär ifrån kroppens muskler och leder såsom nack- och ryggbesvär är fortfarande ett stort problem inom arbetslivet. Muskuloskeletal diagnos är den vanligaste orsaken till lång sjukfrånvaro inom privat sektor och näst vanligast inom kommuner och landsting. Orsakerna till dessa besvär kan vara relaterade till exponering både under arbete och på fritid, men även till individfaktorer. Vår forskargrupp har en bred ansats för att fylla kunskapsluckor inom detta område och kommer att presentera resultat från flera forskningsprojekt i symposiet Arbete, individ och nacksmärta. Långvarigt sittande har blivit alltmer vanligt förekommande i många yrkesgrupper. Långvarigt sittande och låg fysisk aktivitet har också uppmärksammats som ett betydande hälsoproblem i dagens arbetsliv och även som en möjlig riskfaktor för smärta i nacke-skuldra. Men forskningen om betydelsen av långvarigt sittande för smärta i nacke-skuldra är fortfarande begränsad. Likaså är det oklart om huvudets hållning vid sittandet och nackens funktion, exempelvis nackens rörelsefunktion och styrka, har betydelse för besvärsutveckling. Statiskt arbete med nacken i vridna och böjda positioner misstänks vara en riskfaktor för nack-skuldersmärta i yrken såsom tandläkare, men det är oklart varför vissa exponerade individer drabbas medan andra inte får ont. För de med långvarig smärta krävs ofta rehabiliterande åtgärder, och hur väl dessa åtgärder lyckas kan även det vara beroende av individens fysiska och psykosociala arbetsmiljö. Individens arbetsmiljö påverkar således inte bara risken för om man får besvär utan kan också ha betydelse för hur rehabiliteringen av besvären lyckas. Syftet med detta symposium är att presentera studier från Centrum för belastningsskadeforskning som handlar om nacksmärta i arbetslivet, sammanfatta kunskapsläget inom området och diskutera hur arbetet kan utformas för att bli hållbart och inkluderande. De forskningsexempel som presenteras berör stillasittande och hållning i arbetslivet o, Symposiet omfattade följande presentationer:1. Stillasittande och nackbesvär i yrken med manuellt arbete. David Hallman, Svend Erik Mathiassen, Marina Heiden, Marie Birk Jørgensen, Andreas Holtermann2. Har personer med nacksmärta dålig hållning – kan detta vara av betydelse för besvärsutvecklingen? Thomas Rudolfsson, Martin Björklund, Åsa Svedmark, Mats Djupsjöbacka3. Riskfaktorer bakom nacksmärta i tandläkaryrket. Fredrik Hellström, Tina Rönnlund Borg, Mats Djupsjöbacka, Martin Björklund4. Påverkar arbetsmiljön rehabiliteringsresultatet? En longitudinell uppföljning av kvinnor med nacksmärta. Martin Björklund, Åsa Svedmark, Charlotte Häger, Johan Sommar, Jens Wahlström

Background Cervical range of motion (ROM) is commonly assessed in clinical practice and research. In a previous study we decomposed active cervical sagittal ROM into contributions from lower and upper levels of the cervical spine and found level- and direction-specific impairments in women with chronic non-specific neck pain. The present study aimed to validate these results and investigate if the specific impairments can be explained by the neutral posture (defining zero flexion/extension) or a movement strategy to avoid large gravitationally induced torques on the cervical spine. Methods Kinematics of the head and thorax was assessed in sitting during maximal sagittal cervical flexion/extension (high torque condition) and maximal protraction (low torque condition) in 120 women with chronic non-specific neck pain and 40 controls. We derived the lower and upper cervical angles, and the head centre of mass (HCM), from a 3-segment kinematic model. Neutral head posture was assessed using a standardized procedure. Findings Previous findings of level- and direction-specific impairments in neck pain were confirmed. Neutral head posture was equal between groups and did not explain the direction-specific impairments. The relative magnitude of group difference in HCM migration did not differ between high and low torques conditions, lending no support for our hypothesis that impairments in sagittal ROM are due to torque avoidance behaviour. Interpretation The direction-and level-specific impairments in cervical sagittal ROM can be generalised to the population of women with non-specific neck pain. Further research is necessary to clarify if torque avoidance behaviour can explain the impairments., Orginally published in manuscript form with title: Direction specific impairments in cervical range of motion in women with chronic neck pain: Influence of head posture and gravitationally induced torque.

Introduction: Neck pain is a common problem in society and is more prevalent among women. The consequences of neck pain for the individual often include activity and participation limitations, thus affecting many dimensions of life. There is still a lack of understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the disorder and likewise of efficient rehabilitation for people with neck pain. However, coordination exercises have shown promising short-term effects. To carry this line of research forward, there is a need to improve methods for objective characterization of impairments and to investigate novel methods of rehabilitation. Aims: To characterize impairments of active cervical range of motion of the upper and lower cervical levels in women with chronic neck pain with a novel method (Study I and II) and identify the influence of head posture and movement strategies (Study II). Further, to investigate the effects of a novel method for neck coordination exercise on sensorimotor function and neck pain (study III) and the consistencies of motor variability metrics in a goal directed arm movement task to aid the design of future clinical research (Study IV). Methods: All studies were laboratory based with kinematic assessments of neck movements (Study I-III), balance (Study III) and goal directed arm movements (Study III, IV). The studies had designs that were: cross-sectional (I and II), randomized controlled trial (III) or test-retest reliability study (IV). Participants in Study I (n=135) and II (n=160) were women with chronic non-specific neck pain and healthy controls. In Study III, women with chronic non-specific neck pain (n=108) were randomized into three different individually supervised 11 week interventions. Study IV included healthy women (n=14). Results: It was found that cervical range of motion impairments in women with non-specific neck pain were direction- and level-specific; impairments were greater in extension in the upper and flexion in the lower levels, Långvarig smärta i nacken är vanligt förekommande och orsakar både personligt lidande och stora kostnader för samhället. Långvariga nackbesvär är vanligare hos kvinnor än hos män. Det saknas kunskap om effektiva rehabiliteringsmetoder, men forskning har indikerat att träning som förbättrar nackens koordination kan vara effektivt. För att uppnå bättre rehabiliteringsresultat är det viktigt att utveckla metoder för att objektivt mäta funktionsnedsättningar och att utveckla samt utvärdera nya rehabiliteringsmetoder. Syftet med avhandlingen kan sammanfattas i tre delar: Att detaljerat mäta nedsättningar i nackens rörelseomfång hos kvinnor med långvarig nacksmärta; att utvärdera effekten av en ny metod för nackkoordinationsträning på rörelsefunktion och smärta hos kvinnor med långvarig nacksmärta; samt att utvärdera ett nytt test för att mäta precision och koordination vid målriktade armrörelser och ämnat för framtida klinisk forskning. Resultaten visade att kvinnor med långvarig nacksmärta hade specifika nedsättningar i nacken rörelseomfång; i övre nackregionen var bakåtböjning mer begränsad medan i nedre nackregionen var framåtböjning mer begränsad. Vi kunde utesluta att resultaten berodde på skillnader i huvudets normala hållning. Graden av rörelsebegränsning i nacken uppvisade samband med personernas självskattade funktion, symtom och hälsa. Nackkoordinationsträningen var inte var bättre än styrketräning eller massage för att förbättra rörelsefunktion eller för att minska smärta. Det nya testet för armrörelser var inte lämpat för kliniska studier av rörelseprecision. Slutsatserna från avhandlingsarbetet är att kvinnor med långvarig nacksmärta har begränsningar i nackens rörelseomfång vid framåt- och bakåtböjning av huvudet som är specifika vad gäller nivå i halsryggen och riktning. Att graden av rörelsebegränsning uppvisade samband med självskattad funktion, symtom och hälsa styrker testets kliniska validitet. Ytterligare forskning behövs för att förstå orsakerna bak

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of neck coordination exercise on sensorimotor function in women with neck pain compared with best-available treatment and sham treatment. DESIGN: Observer-blinded randomized controlled trial with short-term and 6-month follow-ups. SUBJECTS: Women with chronic non-specific neck pain were randomized to 3 groups: neck coordination exercise with a novel training device; strength training for the neck and shoulders; or massage. Each group had 36 participants. METHODS: The intervention period was 11 weeks with 22 individually supervised sessions. Primary outcomes were postural sway measures and precision of goal-directed arm movements. Secondary outcomes were range of motion for the neck, peak speed of axial rotation, and neck pain. A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted separately on the primary outcomes for the short-term and 6-month evaluations and on the sensorimotor secondary outcomes for the 6-month effect. The 6-month effect on pain was analysed with a repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). RESULTS: No significant treatment effects in favour of neck coordination exercise were found for short-term or 6-month evaluations. CONCLUSION: Neck coordination exercise is no better than strength training and massage in improving sensorimotor function. Further research should investigate the use of cut-offs for sensorimotor dysfunctions prior to proprioceptive or coordinative training.

AIM: Several studies have reported reduced cervical range of motion (ROM) in people with neck pain. Different methodologies have been used, but with a few exception they measure only head-trunk relationship and do not discriminate between upper and lower cervical motion. Recent strategies for treatment of neck pain condition include retraining the function of the deep cervical flexors that act in cranio-cervical movements. Thus objective measures of cervical ROM in flexion-extension that includes determination of cervical level can be valuable for treatment evaluation. The aim of the present study was to compare cervical flexion and extension, separate for upper and lower cervical levels, between people with chronic neck pain and controls. Also, the association between upper and lower cervical ROM and self rated characteristics was studied. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study design, 135 subjects (non-traumatic neck pain: n = 102, controls: n = 33) performed three trials of maximum active cervical flexion and extension. Subjects were seated in a chair with belts crossed over the chest. An electromagnetic tracker system was used to register the kinematics to construct a three-segment model including the trunk, cervical spine and head. The angle for the upper cervical level was defined as the angle between the head and the cervical spine segments. The angle for the lower cervical level was defined as the angle between the cervical spine and the trunk segments. Pressure pain thresholds, pain ratings as well as self ratings of functioning and physical activity were assessed. RESULTS: Total ROM was reduced in the neck pain group for both the lower (controls: mean = 26.5, SD=6.7, neck pain: mean=19.0, SD =6.5 degrees) and the upper cervical levels (controls: mean = 84.7, SD = 7.9, neck pain: mean = 73.0, SD = 11.2 degrees). This reduction was direction specific: in the upper cervical level only extension was reduced and in the lower cervical level the reduction was predom

Introduction:Several studies have reported impaired postural control in people with neck pain. Many of these studies have analysed centre of pressure data from a force plate in quiet standing but to our knowledge none has investigated the kinematics of postural sway in people with neck pain. From studies on healthy controls there are two well established strategies of maintaining upright stance: hip and ankle strategies. Recent work has shown that these co-exist simultaneously. The purpose of this study is to investigate these kinematic strategies in people with neck pain. This could give a greater understanding of the mechanisms behind the postural control impairments and give implications for specific rehabilitation interventions.Methods:Seventy subjects (neck pain n=44, controls n=26) stood with their feet together, arms crossed and their eyes closed for 180 s. An electromagnetic tracker was used to record the kinematics for a two segment model (leg, trunk). An in-phase pattern between these segments corresponds to ankle strategy and an anti-phase pattern to hip-strategy. The strength of the in-phase pattern was quantified using coherence analysis.Results:Preliminary results indicate that people with neck pain rely less on ankle strategy in quiet standing than healthy controls. There were no differences in variability of the segment angles between groups. However people with neck pain tended to stand with a greater degree of extension in the hip.Conclusion:It’s generally considered that hip-strategy is used more when the difficulty of the task is higher. One speculative interpretation to the weaker ankle strategy in the neck pain group is that they perceived the task as more demanding. The method of coherence analysis used in this study can be a valuable tool in future studies for understanding postural sway in people with spinal pain.

The study investigated whether the P600/SPS component is sensitive to the richness of semantic content in sentences. ERPs were recorded while 30 native Swedish speakers read sentences, of which half were syntactically correct and half contained a syntactic violation. Both kinds of sentences came in one of three types of descending semantic completeness: semantically coherent sentences, sentences which were incoherent due to violations of selectional restrictions, or sentences of pseudo words, hence void of lexical content. In the semantically coherent sentences a P600/SPS was found for the syntactic violation. A less salient positivity was found for the violation in the semantically incoherent sentences. No P600/SPS was found for the syntactic violation in the pseudo word sentences and no LAN component in any sentence type. The results are interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that the P600/SPS component reflects a semantically based reanalysis process.