During language comprehension, the brain typically converts a stream of sensory input into meaningful mental representations. But not all of the information the brain needs or uses is physically available in the language signal it encounters: the brain often anticipates and processes some information before it becomes available, and it often also infers some information that is never explicitly present in the physical signal. In this dissertation, I present three studies that tackle the neural bases of processing these kinds of latent information in language comprehension. Collectively, the findings discussed here paint a picture of a brain that is able, through the involvement of several mechanisms and brain regions, to go beyond the information explicitly available in the concrete linguistic signal and arrive at a richer mental representation. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]