1
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Lutz CG, Coraj S, Fraga-González G, Brem S. The odd one out - Orthographic oddball processing in children with poor versus typical reading skills in a fast periodic visual stimulation EEG paradigm. Cortex 2024; 172:185-203. [PMID: 38354469 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2023] [Revised: 09/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
The specialization of left ventral occipitotemporal brain regions to automatically process word forms develops with reading acquisition and is diminished in children with poor reading skills (PR). Using a fast periodic visual oddball stimulation (FPVS) design during electroencephalography (EEG), we examined the level of sensitivity and familiarity to word form processing in ninety-two children in 2nd and 3rd grade with varying reading skills (n = 35 for PR, n = 40 for typical reading skills; TR). To test children's level of "sensitivity", false font (FF) and consonant string (CS) oddballs were embedded in base presentations of word (W) stimuli. "Familiarity" was examined by presenting letter string oddballs with increasing familiarity (CS, pseudoword - PW, W) in FF base stimuli. Overall, our results revealed stronger left-hemispheric coarse sensitivity effects ("FF in W" > "CS in W") in TR than in PR in both topographic and oddball frequency analyses. Further, children distinguished between orthographically legal and illegal ("W/PW in FF" > "CS in FF") but not yet between lexical and non-lexical ("W in FF" vs "PW in FF") word forms. Although both TR and PR exhibit visual sensitivity and can distinguish between orthographically legal and illegal letter strings, they still struggle with nuanced lexical distinctions. Moreover, the strength of sensitivity is linked to reading proficiency. Our work adds to established knowledge in the field to characterize the relationship between print tuning and reading skills and suggests differences in the developmental progress to automatically process word forms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina G Lutz
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Seline Coraj
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland; Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Center for Neurodevelopment, Growth, and Nutrition of the Newborn, Department of Neonatology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Gorka Fraga-González
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Silvia Brem
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland; University Research Priority Program (URPP), Adaptive Brain Circuits in Development and Learning (AdaBD), University of Zurich, Switzerland.
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2
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Huo S, Lo JCM, Ma J, Maurer U, McBride C. Neural specialization to English words in Chinese children: Joint contribution of age and English reading abilities. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2023; 63:101292. [PMID: 37666027 PMCID: PMC10482990 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2022] [Revised: 06/13/2023] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023] Open
Abstract
N1 tuning to words, a neural marker of visual word recognition, develops by an interaction between age and ability. The development of N1 tuning to a second learnt print is unclear. The present study examined the joint contribution of age and English reading abilities to N1 amplitude and tuning to English print in Chinese children in Hong Kong. EEG signals were recorded from 179 children (six to nine years old) while they were performing a repetition detection task comprised of different print stimuli measuring three types of tuning, i.e., coarse tuning (real word versus false font), fine tuning (real versus nonword), and lexicality effect (real versus pseudo word). Children were assessed in English word reading accuracy (EWR) and English sub-lexical orthographic knowledge (EOK). Results indicated that coarse tuning decreased with age but increased with EWR and EOK. Fine tuning uniquely increased with EOK, and the lexicality effect increased with EWR. At last, higher EWR was linked to less right-lateralized coarse tuning in younger children. Taken together, the findings support the visual perceptual expertise account in the L2 context, in that N1 coarse tuning, fine tuning, and lexicality effect are driven by skill improvement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuting Huo
- Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
| | | | - Jie Ma
- Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - Urs Maurer
- Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Brain and Mind Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Centre for Developmental Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
| | - Catherine McBride
- Department of Human Development and Family Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA
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3
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Wan S, Sun Y, Ye Q, Gu Y, Sommer W, Cao X. Processing objects of perceptual expertise: Differential interhemispheric transmission efficiency but similar transmission direction advantages. Neuropsychologia 2023; 188:108568. [PMID: 37150438 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 12/31/2022] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Faces and Chinese characters are both objects of perceptual expertise. In this study, we investigated the characteristics of interhemispheric transmission times (IHTTs) in both transmission direction and transmission efficiency during the processing of objects of perceptual expertise. A total of 112 participants engaged in a divided visual field paradigm for faces, Chinese characters, and houses in both upright and inverted orientations. The N170 amplitudes elicited by the objects of perceptual expertise (faces and Chinese characters) involved in this study were larger than those elicited by the non-perceptual expertise objects (houses). We used the latencies of the N170 component of the event-related potential (ERP) recorded in the left and right hemispheres to calculate the IHTTs. For all objects, the N170-related IHTTs from the right to the left hemispheres were shorter than those in the opposite direction. Essentially, the N170-related IHTTs for faces were shorter, that is, more efficient than those for Chinese characters and houses. This result indicates that the IHTTs during perceptual expertise and non-perceptual expertise object processing share a common transmission direction advantage, but transmission efficiency is face-specific.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simin Wan
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Yini Sun
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Qing Ye
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Yu Gu
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Werner Sommer
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China; Institut für Psychologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Xiaohua Cao
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China; Key Laboratory of Intelligent Education Technology and Application of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China.
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4
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Qi Z, Luo W. Electrophysiological measurements of holistic processing of Chinese characters. Front Psychol 2022; 13:976568. [PMID: 36072037 PMCID: PMC9443813 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.976568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2022] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Holistic processing (HP) is a marker of perceptual expertise in facial recognition. In the present study, we examined neural responses to the HP of Chinese characters, adopting the composite paradigm. The behavioral results showed that the discrimination of congruent trials was significantly higher than that of incongruent trials, and participants responded faster. Moreover, the congruent trials elicited significantly larger N170 amplitude than the incongruent trials. The HP effect of the N170 component was observed for upright characters, as the configural information of inverted characters and misaligned characters were destroyed. Right-lateralization of processing Chinese characters was observed in the N170 amplitudes and delta-theta band oscillations. The results suggested that Chinese character recognition employed a strategy of HP, and the finding that neural indicators provide a better signal of the strength of HP in Chinese characters than behavioral indicators was also crucial.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhengyang Qi
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Province, Dalian, China
| | - Wenbo Luo
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
- Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Province, Dalian, China
- *Correspondence: Wenbo Luo,
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5
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Sun Y, Wang J, Ye Q, Liu B, Zhong P, Li C, Cao X. Developmental trajectories of expert perception processing of Chinese characters in primary school children. Front Psychol 2022; 13:932666. [PMID: 35978799 PMCID: PMC9376261 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.932666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have demonstrated that inversion effect and left-side bias are stable expertise markers in Chinese character processing among adults. However, it is less clear how these markers develop early on (i.e., among primary school students). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the development of the two markers by comparing primary school-aged students of three age groups (Grade 1, Grade 3, and Grade 5) and adults in tests of inversion effect (Experiment 1) and left-sided bias effect (Experiment 2). The results replicated that both effects during Chinese character processing were present among adults. However, more importantly, the effects were different among primary school-aged students in different grades: the inversion effect was found as early as in Grade 1, but the left-side bias effect did not emerge in Grade 1 and as approximated that of adults until Grade 3. The study suggested a potential dissociation in developing different aspects of expertise during Chinese character processing in early childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yini Sun
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Jianping Wang
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Qing Ye
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Baiwei Liu
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Ping Zhong
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Chenglin Li
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
- Department of Biological Psychology and Cognitive Neurosciences, Institute of Psychology, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Xiaohua Cao
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
- Key Laboratory of Intelligent Education Technology and Application of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
- *Correspondence: Xiaohua Cao,
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6
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Ma X, Modersitzki N, Maurer U, Sommer W. Neural sensitivity to faces is increased by immersion into a novel ethnic environment: Evidence from ERPs. Psychophysiology 2022; 60:e14147. [PMID: 35819753 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Revised: 06/09/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Previous reports suggest that East-Asians may show larger face-elicited N170 components in the ERP as compared to Caucasian participants. Since the N170 can be modulated by perceptual expertise, such group differences may be accounted for by differential experience, for example, with logographic versus alphabetic scripts (script system hypothesis) or by exposure to abundant novel faces during the immersion into a new social and/or ethnic environment (social immersion hypothesis). We conducted experiments in Hong Kong and Berlin, recording ERPs in a series of one-back tasks, using same- and other-ethnicity face stimuli in upright and inverted orientation and doodle stimuli. In Hong Kong we tested local Chinese residents and foreign guest students who could not read the logographic script; in Berlin we tested German residents who could not read the logographic script and foreign Chinese visitors. In both experiments, we found significantly larger N170 amplitudes to faces, regardless of ethnicity, in the foreign than in the local groups. Moreover, this effect did not depend on stimulus orientation, suggesting that the N170 group differences do not reflect differences in configural visual processing. A group of short-term German residents in Berlin did not differ in N170 amplitude from long-term residents. Together, these findings indicate that the extensive confrontation with novel other-ethnicity faces during immersion in a foreign culture may enhance the neural response to faces, reflecting the short-term plasticity of the underlying neural system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoli Ma
- Institut für Psychologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Nick Modersitzki
- Abteilung Psychologie, Universität Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Urs Maurer
- Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,Brain and Mind Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Werner Sommer
- Institut für Psychologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jin Hua, China
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7
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Amora KK, Tretow A, Verwimp C, Tijms J, Leppänen PHT, Csépe V. Typical and Atypical Development of Visual Expertise for Print as Indexed by the Visual Word N1 (N170w): A Systematic Review. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:898800. [PMID: 35844207 PMCID: PMC9279737 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.898800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The visual word N1 (N170w) is an early brain ERP component that has been found to be a neurophysiological marker for print expertise, which is a prelexical requirement associated with reading development. To date, no other review has assimilated existing research on reading difficulties and atypical development of processes reflected in the N170w response. Hence, this systematic review synthesized results and evaluated neurophysiological and experimental procedures across different studies about visual print expertise in reading development. Literature databases were examined for relevant studies from 1995 to 2020 investigating the N170w response in individuals with or without reading disorders. To capture the development of the N170w related to reading, results were compared between three different age groups: pre-literate children, school-aged children, and young adults. The majority of available N170w studies (N = 69) investigated adults (n = 31) followed by children (school-aged: n = 21; pre-literate: n = 4) and adolescents (n = 1) while some studies investigated a combination of these age groups (n = 12). Most studies were conducted with German-speaking populations (n = 17), followed by English (n = 15) and Chinese (n = 14) speaking participants. The N170w was primarily investigated using a combination of words, pseudowords, and symbols (n = 20) and mostly used repetition-detection (n = 16) or lexical-decision tasks (n = 16). Different studies posed huge variability in selecting electrode sites for analysis; however, most focused on P7, P8, and O1 sites of the international 10–20 system. Most of the studies in adults have found a more negative N170w in controls than poor readers, whereas in children, the results have been mixed. In typical readers, N170w ranged from having a bilateral distribution to a left-hemispheric dominance throughout development, whereas in young, poor readers, the response was mainly right-lateralized and then remained in a bilateral distribution. Moreover, the N170w latency has varied according to age group, with adults having an earlier onset yet with shorter latency than school-aged and pre-literate children. This systematic review provides a comprehensive picture of the development of print expertise as indexed by the N170w across age groups and reading abilities and discusses theoretical and methodological differences and challenges in the field, aiming to guide future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathleen Kay Amora
- Brain Imaging Centre, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
- Faculty of Modern Philology and Social Sciences, Multilingualism Doctoral School, University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary
- *Correspondence: Kathleen Kay Amora ;
| | - Ariane Tretow
- Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Cara Verwimp
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Rudolf Berlin Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Jurgen Tijms
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Rudolf Berlin Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | | | - Valéria Csépe
- Brain Imaging Centre, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
- Institute for Hungarian and Applied Linguistics, University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary
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8
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Ma X, Kang J, Li X, Maurer U, Cao X, Sommer W. Does learning different script systems affect configural visual processing? ERP evidence from early readers of Chinese and German. Psychophysiology 2022; 59:e14006. [PMID: 35150451 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2021] [Revised: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 01/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoli Ma
- Institut für Psychologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Jing Kang
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jin Hua, China
| | - Xinran Li
- Institut für Psychologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Urs Maurer
- Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,Brain and Mind Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Xiaohua Cao
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jin Hua, China
| | - Werner Sommer
- Institut für Psychologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jin Hua, China
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9
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Guan CQ, Li Y, Meng W, Morett LM. Curved vs. Straight-Line Handwriting Effects on Word Recognition in Typical and Dyslexic Readers Across Chinese and English. Front Psychol 2021; 12:745300. [PMID: 34777137 PMCID: PMC8580950 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.745300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 10/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Handwriting serves to link auditory and motor routines with visual word processing, which is a hallmark of successful reading. The current study aims to explore the effect of multisensory integration as a pathway to neural specialization for print among typical and dyslexic readers across writing systems. We identified 9-10-year-old dyslexic Chinese children (n = 24) and their typically developing counterparts (n = 24) on whom we conducted both behavioral and electroencephalogram (EEG) experiments. We designed four learning conditions: Handwriting Chinese (HC), Viewing Chinese (VC), Drawing followed by Character Recognition in Chinese (D-C), and Drawing followed by Word Recognition in English (D-E). In both handwriting and drawing conditions, we also designed curved vs. straight-line stimuli. Both behavioral and EEG results showed that handwriting straight line strokes facilitated visual word recognition in Chinese compared to handwriting curved lines. Handwriting conditions resulted in a lateralization of the N170 in typical readers, but not the dyslexic readers. Interestingly, drawing curved lines facilitate word recognition in English among dyslexic readers. Taken together, the results of the study suggest benefits of handwriting on the neural processing and behavioral performance in response to Chinese character recognition and curved-line drawing effects on English word recognition among dyslexic readers. But the lack of handwriting effects in dyslexic readers suggest that students who have deficits in reading may also be missing the link between multisensory integration and word recognition in the visual word form areas. The current study results have implications for maintaining handwriting practices to promote perception and motor integration for visual word form area development for normal readers and suggest that drawing practices might benefit Chinese dyslexic readers in reading English.
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Affiliation(s)
- Connie Qun Guan
- Faculty of Foreign Studies, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, China
| | - Yifei Li
- School of Foreign Studies, Beijing University of Science and Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Wanjin Meng
- Institute of Moral Education, Psychology and Special Education, China National Institute of Education Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Laura M Morett
- Department of Educational Studies in Psychology, Research Methodology, and Counseling University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, United States
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10
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Guan CQ, Smolen ER, Meng W, Booth JR. Effect of Handwriting on Visual Word Recognition in Chinese Bilingual Children and Adults. Front Psychol 2021; 12:628160. [PMID: 34122220 PMCID: PMC8194694 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.628160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2020] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
In a digital era that neglects handwriting, the current study is significant because it examines the mechanisms underlying this process. We recruited 9- to 10-year-old Chinese children (n = 24), who were at an important period of handwriting development, and adult college students (n = 24), for both behavioral and electroencephalogram (EEG) experiments. We designed four learning conditions: handwriting Chinese (HC), viewing Chinese (VC), drawing shapes followed by Chinese recognition (DC), and drawing shapes followed by English recognition (DE). Both behavioral and EEG results showed that HC facilitated visual word recognition compared to VC, and behavioral results showed that HC facilitated visual word recognition compared to drawing shapes. HC and VC resulted in a lateralization of the N170 in adults, but not in children. Taken together, the results of the study suggest benefits of handwriting on the neural processing and behavioral performance in response to Chinese characters. The study results argue for maintaining handwriting practices to promote the perception of visual word forms in the digital age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Connie Qun Guan
- Faculty of Foreign Studies, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Elaine R Smolen
- Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City, NY, United States
| | - Wanjin Meng
- Institute of Psychology, Moral and Special Education, National Institute for Education Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - James R Booth
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
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11
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Massol S, Grainger J. The sentence superiority effect in young readers. Dev Sci 2020; 24:e13033. [PMID: 32869456 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2020] [Revised: 08/03/2020] [Accepted: 08/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The sentence superiority effect observed with skilled adult readers has been taken to reflect parallel processing of word identities and the rapid construction of a preliminary syntactic structure. Here we examined if such processing is already present in primary school children in Grade 3 (average age 8.9 years). Children saw sequences of four horizontally aligned words presented simultaneously for 500 ms and followed by a post-mask and post-cue indicating the position for report of one of the four words. Word identification was more accurate in grammatically correct sequences compared with ungrammatical scrambled sequences of the same words, and this sentence superiority effect did not interact with position. This replicates the pattern found in prior research with adults and suggests that parallel word processing and the associated efficiency in syntactic processing arealready in place in Grade 3. We also found that accuracy in identifying words, independently of the surrounding context, correlated with reading age. This points to efficient word-in-sequence identification as one key ingredient of the process of becoming a skilled reader.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stéphanie Massol
- Laboratoire d'Etude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Univ Lyon, Univ Lumière Lyon 2, Lyon, France
| | - Jonathan Grainger
- Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive, Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, Marseille, France.,Institute of Language, Communication and the Brain, Aix-en-Provence, France.,Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France
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12
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The N200 enhancement effect in reading Chinese is modulated by actual writing. Neuropsychologia 2020; 142:107462. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2019] [Revised: 03/01/2020] [Accepted: 04/01/2020] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
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13
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Li C, Ma X, Zhu C, Cao X. The recovery speed of category sensitive N170 responses to faces and Chinese characters. Brain Res 2019; 1723:146384. [PMID: 31421129 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2019.146384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2018] [Revised: 07/24/2019] [Accepted: 08/12/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Neural selectivity of N170 responses is important for understanding face, word, and object processing in the brain. However, the recovery times of neural selective responses remain unclear. In the present study, we used an adaptation paradigm to test the recovery speed of N170 responses to faces and Chinese characters. The findings revealed that recovery of N170 responses elicited by faces occurred between 1400 and 1800 ms after stimulus onset, whereas those elicited by Chinese characters occurred between 600 and 800 ms. These results demonstrate that N170 responses involved in the processing of faces and Chinese characters exhibit category sensitive recovery speeds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenglin Li
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, 321001 Jinhua, China; Department of Biological Psychology and Cognitive Neurosciences, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Xiaoli Ma
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, 321001 Jinhua, China; Institut für Psychologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 12489 Berlin, Germany
| | - Cuiyin Zhu
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, 321001 Jinhua, China
| | - Xiaohua Cao
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, 321001 Jinhua, China.
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14
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Zhao J, Maurer U, He S, Weng X. Development of neural specialization for print: Evidence for predictive coding in visual word recognition. PLoS Biol 2019; 17:e3000474. [PMID: 31600192 PMCID: PMC6805000 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2019] [Revised: 10/22/2019] [Accepted: 09/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
How a child's brain develops specialization for print is poorly understood. One longstanding account is selective neuronal tuning to regularity of visual-orthographic features, which predicts a monotonically increased neural activation for inputs with higher regularity during development. However, we observed a robust interaction between a stimulus' orthographic regularity (bottom-up input) and children's lexical classification ability (top-down prediction): N1 response, which is the first negative component of the event-related potential (ERP) occurring at posterior electrodes, was stronger to lower-regularity stimuli, but only in children who were less efficient in lexically classifying these stimuli (high prediction error). In contrast, N1 responses were reduced to lower-regularity stimuli in children who showed high efficiency of lexical classification (low prediction error). The modulation of children's lexical classification efficiency on their neural responses to orthographic stimuli supports the predictive coding account of neural processes of reading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Zhao
- Institutes of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou, China
| | - Urs Maurer
- Department of Psychology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
- Brain and Mind Institute, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Sheng He
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America
| | - Xuchu Weng
- Institute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
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15
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Xue L, Maurer U, Weng X, Zhao J. Familiarity with visual forms contributes to a left-lateralized and increased N170 response for Chinese characters. Neuropsychologia 2019; 134:107194. [PMID: 31542360 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2019] [Revised: 08/05/2019] [Accepted: 09/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
While skilled readers produce an increased and left-lateralized event-related-potential (ERP) component, known as N170, for strings of letters compared to strings of less familiar units, it remains unclear whether perceptual familiarity plays an important role in driving the increased and left-lateralized N170 for print. The present study addressed this issue by examining N170 responses for regular Chinese characters and cursive Chinese characters which are visually less familiar regarding their form, yet with phonological and semantic properties. Stroke combinations, which are with unfamiliar visual form and without phonological or semantic properties, were used as low-level control stimuli. Twenty college students (22.6 ± 1.2 years) were examined. A content-irrelevant color matching task was used to control for differences of attention load across familiar and unfamiliar stimuli. A left-lateralized N170 was evoked only by regular characters, but not by cursive characters or stroke combinations. Moreover, cursive characters, which are principally readable but visually unfamiliar, produced a lower N170 than regular characters, and no N170 difference was found compared with stroke combinations. These results suggest that visual form familiarity serves as an important driver for the increased and left-lateralized N170 response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Licheng Xue
- Center for Cognition and Brain Disorder, Hangzhou Normal University, China; Institute of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, China
| | - Urs Maurer
- Department of Psychology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, China; Brain and Mind Institute, Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
| | - Xuchu Weng
- Center for Cognition and Brain Disorder, Hangzhou Normal University, China; Institute of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, China; Institute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation, South China Normal University, China
| | - Jing Zhao
- Institute of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, China.
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16
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Varga V, Tóth D, Csépe V. Orthographic-Phonological Mapping and the Emergence of Visual Expertise for Print: A Developmental Event-Related Potential Study. Child Dev 2018; 91:e1-e13. [PMID: 30291746 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The N1 effect is an electrophysiological marker of visual specialization for print. The phonological mapping hypothesis (Maurer & McCandliss, 2007) posits that the left-lateralized effect reflects grapheme-phoneme integration. In this event-related potential study, first (age = 7.06 years, N = 32) and third-grade readers (age = 9.29 years, N = 28) were presented with pairs of pseudowords and Armenian character strings in a novel implicit same-different paradigm. To test the phonological mapping hypothesis, stimuli were presented in visual-only and audiovisual conditions. The results demonstrated that tuning for print already emerges in first grade. Moreover, the parallel presentation of auditory stimuli enhanced the N1 effect suggesting a role of orthographic-phonological mapping in the development of specialization for print.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vera Varga
- Hungarian Academy of Sciences.,Budapest University of Technology and Economics
| | | | - Valéria Csépe
- Hungarian Academy of Sciences.,Budapest University of Technology and Economics
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17
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Zhu C, Ma X, Ji L, Chen S, Cao X. Sex Differences in Categorical Adaptation for Faces and Chinese Characters during Early Perceptual Processing. Front Hum Neurosci 2018; 11:656. [PMID: 29375350 PMCID: PMC5770371 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2017] [Accepted: 12/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous event-related potential studies support sex differences in the N170 response during face and word processing; however, it remains unclear whether N170 categorical adaptation for faces and words is different between women and men. Using an adaptation paradigm, in which an adaptor and subsequent test stimulus are presented during each trial, the present study investigated N170 categorical adaptation for faces and Chinese characters in both women and men. The results demonstrated that the N170 amplitude elicited by test stimuli in within-category condition was lower than in control category condition, and this was observed during both face and Chinese character processing in women and men. In addition, we found that men have greater N170 categorical adaptation for face and word processing than women. There was also a significant correlation between N170 categorical adaptation indices for face and Chinese character processing in men, which did not occur in women. These findings suggest that men and women process repeated faces or words differently.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cuiyin Zhu
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Xiaoli Ma
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Lihong Ji
- Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital, Hangzhou, China
| | - Shuang Chen
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Xiaohua Cao
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
- *Correspondence: Xiaohua Cao
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18
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Brem S, Hunkeler E, Mächler M, Kronschnabel J, Karipidis II, Pleisch G, Brandeis D. Increasing expertise to a novel script modulates the visual N1 ERP in healthy adults. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT 2017. [DOI: 10.1177/0165025417727871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Neural tuning to print develops when children learn to read and is reflected by a more pronounced left occipito-temporal negativity to orthographic stimuli as compared to non-orthographic false fonts or symbols after around 150–250 ms in their N1, a visual event-related potential (ERP). In adults, initial expertise for a novel script can emerge in less than 2 hours through repeated exposure or training. Here, we aimed to assess changes in the visual N1 related to the process of learning associations between unknown written characters and familiar, spoken syllables or words. Thirty-two healthy literate adults learned to associate a set of foreign characters with either syllables or German words within a single experimental session. EEG was recorded during a visual one-back character repetition detection task in which trained characters, untrained characters and familiar letters were presented before and after the training. A bilateral occipito-temporal increase in the N1 negativity with training was only found for the newly learned characters, but not for the control characters. In conclusion, the present data indicate that expertise to novel characters can be induced by a short character–sound association training and is reflected by a bilateral modulation of the visual N1 amplitude. However, no differentiation was found regarding the comparison of word or syllable training, indicating that the visual N1 most likely reflects gaining expertise driven by phonological associations common to both training types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Brem
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland
- University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Neuroscience Center Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Eliane Hunkeler
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Markus Mächler
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Jens Kronschnabel
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Iliana Irini Karipidis
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland
- University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Neuroscience Center Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Georgette Pleisch
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland
- University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Neuroscience Center Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Daniel Brandeis
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland
- University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Neuroscience Center Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
- Center for Integrative Human Physiology Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland
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19
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Zhao P, Zhao J, Weng X, Li S. Event-related potential evidence in Chinese children. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT 2017. [DOI: 10.1177/0165025417708341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Visual word N170 is an index of perceptual expertise for visual words across different writing systems. Recent developmental studies have shown the early emergence of visual word N170 and its close association with individual’s reading ability. In the current study, we investigated whether fine-tuning N170 for Chinese characters could emerge after short-term literacy learning in young pre-literate children. Two groups of Chinese preschool children were trained for visual identification and free writing respectively. Results showed that visual identification learning led to enhanced N170 sensitivity to characters over radical-combinations in the left hemisphere and line-combinations in the right hemisphere, and writing learning led to enhanced N170 sensitivity to characters over radical-combinations and line-combinations in the right hemisphere. These results suggested that the N170 component became more sensitive for the local graphic feature (strokes) of characters rapidly after brief literacy learning even in young children; and writing learning experiences specifically led to enhanced orthographic sensitivity in the right hemisphere.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pei Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
- Public Administration, Beijing City University, China
| | - Jing Zhao
- Institutes of Psychological Sciences Hangzhou Normal University, China
- Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou, China
- Center for Cognition and Brain Disorder, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xuchu Weng
- Institutes of Psychological Sciences Hangzhou Normal University, China
- Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou, China
- Center for Cognition and Brain Disorder, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Su Li
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
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20
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Yang H, Zhao J, Gaspar CM, Chen W, Tan Y, Weng X. Selectivity of N170 for visual words in the right hemisphere: Evidence from single-trial analysis. Psychophysiology 2017; 54:1128-1137. [PMID: 28369927 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.12867] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2016] [Revised: 02/12/2017] [Accepted: 02/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Neuroimaging and neuropsychological studies have identified the involvement of the right posterior region in the processing of visual words. Interestingly, in contrast, ERP studies of the N170 typically demonstrate selectivity for words more strikingly over the left hemisphere. Why is right hemisphere selectivity for words during the N170 epoch typically not observed, despite the clear involvement of this region in word processing? One possibility is that amplitude differences measured on averaged ERPs in previous studies may have been obscured by variation in peak latency across trials. This study examined this possibility by using single-trial analysis. Results show that words evoked greater single-trial N170s than control stimuli in the right hemisphere. Additionally, we observed larger trial-to-trial variability on N170 peak latency for words as compared to control stimuli over the right hemisphere. Results demonstrate that, in contrast to much of the prior literature, the N170 can be selective to words over the right hemisphere. This discrepancy is explained in terms of variability in trial-to-trial peak latency for responses to words over the right hemisphere.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hang Yang
- Institutes of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.,Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou, China.,Center for Cognition and Brain Disorder, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jing Zhao
- Institutes of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.,Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou, China.,Center for Cognition and Brain Disorder, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Carl M Gaspar
- Institutes of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.,Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou, China.,Center for Cognition and Brain Disorder, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Wei Chen
- Objects and Knowledge Laboratory, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Yufei Tan
- Institutes of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.,Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou, China.,Center for Cognition and Brain Disorder, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xuchu Weng
- Institutes of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.,Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou, China.,Center for Cognition and Brain Disorder, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
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21
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Tzeng YL, Hsu CH, Huang YC, Lee CY. The Acquisition of Orthographic Knowledge: Evidence from the Lexicality Effects on N400. Front Psychol 2017; 8:433. [PMID: 28424638 PMCID: PMC5371601 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2016] [Accepted: 03/08/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
This study aimed to understand how reading ability shapes the lexicality effects on N400. Fifty-three typical developing children from the second to the sixth grades were asked to perform the pronounceability judgment task on a set of Chinese real characters (RC), pseudocharacters (PC) and non-characters (NC), as ERPs were recorded. The cluster-based permutation analysis revealed that children with low- to medium-reading ability showed greater negativity to NCs than to RCs and PCs in frontal sites from 300 to 450 ms, while children with high ability group showed a greater positivity to NCs than both RCs and PCs at central to posterior sites. Furthermore, the linear mixed model (LMM) analysis was applied to investigate the relationship between lexicality effects on N400 and reading-related behavioral assessments on a set of standardized tests (including character recognition, vocabulary size, phonological awareness, and working memory). The results found that in children with lower reading ability, the N400 elicited by NCs becomes more negative in the frontal sites. For children with higher reading ability, the N400 elicited by NCs became more positive than that elicited by RCs or PCs in the posterior sites. These findings demonstrate the developmental changes in the lexicality effects on N400 as children become more advanced readers and suggested that the lexicality effects on N400 can serve as neural markers for the evaluation of orthographic proficiency in reading development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Lin Tzeng
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang-Ming UniversityTaipei, Taiwan
| | - Chun-Hsien Hsu
- Brain and Language Laboratory, Institute of Linguistics, Academia SinicaTaipei, Taiwan
| | - Yu-Chen Huang
- Department of Rehabilitation, Chung Shan Medical University HospitalTaichung City, Taiwan
| | - Chia-Ying Lee
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang-Ming UniversityTaipei, Taiwan.,Brain and Language Laboratory, Institute of Linguistics, Academia SinicaTaipei, Taiwan.,Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, National Central UniversityTaoyuan, Taiwan.,Research Center for Mind, Brain and Learning, National Chengchi UniversityTaipei, Taiwan
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22
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Ji L, Cao X, Xu B. Sex differences of hemispheric lateralization for faces and Chinese characters in early perceptual processing. Neurosci Lett 2016; 635:77-82. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2016.10.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2016] [Revised: 09/02/2016] [Accepted: 10/20/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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23
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Tong X, Lo JCM, McBride C, Ho CSH, Waye MMY, Chung KKH, Wong SWL, Chow BWY. Coarse and fine N1 tuning for print in younger and older Chinese children: Orthography, phonology, or semantics driven? Neuropsychologia 2016; 91:109-119. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2016] [Revised: 08/04/2016] [Accepted: 08/05/2016] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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24
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Qi Z, Wang X, Hao S, Zhu C, He W, Luo W. Correlations of Electrophysiological Measurements with Identification Levels of Ancient Chinese Characters. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0151133. [PMID: 26982215 PMCID: PMC4794118 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2015] [Accepted: 02/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies of event-related potential (ERP) in the human brain have shown that the N170 component can reliably distinguish among different object categories. However, it is unclear whether this is true for different identifiable levels within a single category. In the present study, we used ERP recording to examine the neural response to different identification levels and orientations (upright vs. inverted) of Chinese characters. The results showed that P1, N170, and P250 were modulated by different identification levels of Chinese characters. Moreover, time frequency analysis showed similar results, indicating that identification levels were associated with object recognition, particularly during processing of a single categorical stimulus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhengyang Qi
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
| | - Xiaolong Wang
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
| | - Shuang Hao
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
| | - Chuanlin Zhu
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
| | - Weiqi He
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
| | - Wenbo Luo
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China.,Laboratory of Cognition and Mental Health, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, China
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25
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Cao X, Yang Q, Hu F. Eyeglasses elicit effects similar to face-like perceptual expertise: evidence from the N170 response. Exp Brain Res 2015; 234:883-91. [PMID: 26670904 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-015-4525-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2015] [Accepted: 12/06/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Studies of event-related potentials show that the specific N170 response has become a stable electrophysiological hallmark of objects related to expertise in early perceptual processing. In the present study, we investigated whether eyeglasses can elicit N170 effects similar to those elicited by objects of expertise. Our results showed that the N170 response elicited by eyeglasses was larger than the response elicited by objects that do not generate perceptual expertise (e.g., houses). Importantly, we found that eyeglasses could produce a within-category N170 adaptation effect, similar to that produced in response to objects of expertise (e.g., faces). Our results have revealed for the first time that with a large amount of experience, eyeglasses could evoke the face-like N170 response, which suggested that eyeglasses may become an object of perceptual expertise to some human observers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaohua Cao
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, 321001, China.
| | - Qi Yang
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, 321001, China
| | - Fengpei Hu
- School of Management, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, China
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26
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Zhao P, Li S, Zhao J, Gaspar CM, Weng X. Training by visual identification and writing leads to different visual word expertise N170 effects in preliterate Chinese children. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2015; 15:106-16. [PMID: 26409757 PMCID: PMC6989826 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2015.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2015] [Revised: 09/05/2015] [Accepted: 09/07/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The N170 component of EEG evoked by visual words is an index of perceptual expertise for the visual word across different writing systems. In the present study, we investigated whether these N170 markers for Chinese, a very complex script, could emerge quickly after short-term learning (∼ 100 min) in young Chinese children, and whether early writing experience can enhance the acquisition of these neural markers for expertise. Two groups of preschool children received visual identification and free writing training respectively. Short-term character training resulted in selective enhancement of the N170 to characters, consistent with normal expert processing. Visual identification training resulted in increased N170 amplitude to characters in the right hemisphere, and N170 amplitude differences between characters and faces were decreased; whereas the amplitude difference between characters and tools increased. Writing training led to the disappearance of an initial amplitude difference between characters and faces in the right hemisphere. These results show that N170 markers for visual expertise emerge rapidly in young children after word learning, independent of the type of script young children learn; and visual identification and writing produce different effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pei Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Graduate School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Su Li
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
| | - Jing Zhao
- Department of Psychology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Carl M Gaspar
- Department of Psychology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
| | - Xuchu Weng
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Department of Psychology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China.
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27
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N170 adaptation effect for repeated faces and words. Neuroscience 2015; 294:21-8. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2015.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2014] [Revised: 02/18/2015] [Accepted: 03/05/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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28
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Fan C, Chen S, Zhang L, Qi Z, Jin Y, Wang Q, Luo Y, Li H, Luo W. N170 changes reflect competition between faces and identifiable characters during early visual processing. Neuroimage 2015; 110:32-8. [PMID: 25639206 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.01.047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2014] [Revised: 11/11/2014] [Accepted: 01/24/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
According to the neuronal recycling hypothesis, brain circuits can gain new functions through cultural learning, which are distinct from their evolutionarily established functions, creating competition between processes such as facial and identifiable character processing. In the present study, event-related potential (ERP) recording was used to examine electrophysiological correlates of identification levels of Chinese characters as well as the competition between facial and Chinese character processing after the characters were learnt. Twenty volunteers performed a lateralized face detection task, and N170 responses were recorded when the participants viewed only Chinese characters (identifiable or unidentifiable in Xiaozhuan font), or Chinese characters and faces concurrently. Viewing identifiable Chinese characters bilaterally elicited larger N170 amplitudes than viewing unidentifiable ones. N170 amplitudes in response to faces bilaterally declined when identifiable Chinese characters and faces were viewed concurrently as compared to viewing unidentifiable Chinese characters and faces concurrently. These results indicate that the N170 component is modulated by the observer's identification level of Chinese characters, and that identifiable Chinese characters compete with faces during early visual processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cong Fan
- Department of Education, Minnan Normal University, Zhangzhou 363000, China; School of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China
| | - Shunsen Chen
- Department of Education, Minnan Normal University, Zhangzhou 363000, China
| | - Lingcong Zhang
- Department of Education, Minnan Normal University, Zhangzhou 363000, China
| | - Zhengyang Qi
- School of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China
| | - Yule Jin
- Department of Education, Minnan Normal University, Zhangzhou 363000, China
| | - Qing Wang
- Department of Education, Minnan Normal University, Zhangzhou 363000, China
| | - Yuejia Luo
- Institute of Affective and Social Neuroscience, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Hong Li
- Institute of Brain Function and Psychological Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Wenbo Luo
- School of Psychology, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China; Laboratory of Cognition and Mental Health, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing 402168, China.
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29
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Su M, Wang J, Maurer U, Zhang Y, Li J, McBride-Chang C, Tardif T, Liu Y, Shu H. Gene-environment interaction on neural mechanisms of orthographic processing in Chinese children. JOURNAL OF NEUROLINGUISTICS 2015; 33:172-186. [PMID: 26294811 PMCID: PMC4539967 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneuroling.2014.09.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
The ability to process and identify visual words requires efficient orthographic processing of print, consisting of letters in alphabetic languages or characters in Chinese. The N170 is a robust neural marker for orthographic processes. Both genetic and environmental factors, such as home literacy, have been shown to influence orthographic processing at the behavioral level, but their relative contributions and interactions are not well understood. The present study aimed to reveal possible gene-by-environment interactions on orthographic processing at the behavioral and neural level in a normal children sample. Sixty 12 year old Chinese children from a 10-year longitudinal sample underwent an implicit visual-word color decision task on real words and stroke combinations. The ERP analysis focused on the increase of the occipito-temporal N170 to words compared to stroke combinations. The genetic analysis focused on two SNPs (rs1419228, rs1091047) in the gene DCDC2 based on previous findings linking these 2 SNPs to orthographic coding. Home literacy was measured previously as the number of children's books at home, when the children were at the age of 3. Relative to stroke combinations, real words evoked greater N170 in bilateral posterior brain regions. A significant interaction between rs1091047 and home literacy was observed on the changes of N170 comparing real words to stroke combinations in the left hemisphere. Particularly, children carrying the major allele "G" showed a similar N170 effect irrespective of their environment, while children carrying the minor allele "C" showed a smaller N170 effect in low home-literacy environment than those in good environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengmeng Su
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Jiuju Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
- Peking University Sixth Hospital, Beijing, 100191, China
- Peking University Institute of Mental Health, Beijing, 100191, China
- Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Ministry of Health (Peking University), Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Urs Maurer
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Yuping Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
- Department of Psychology, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, 610083, China
| | - Jun Li
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | | | - Twila Tardif
- Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, U.S.A
| | - Youyi Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Hua Shu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
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30
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Zhao J, Kipp K, Gaspar C, Maurer U, Weng X, Mecklinger A, Li S. Fine Neural Tuning for Orthographic Properties of Words Emerges Early in Children Reading Alphabetic Script. J Cogn Neurosci 2014; 26:2431-42. [DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The left-lateralized N170 component of ERPs for words compared with various control stimuli is considered as an electrophysiological manifestation of visual expertise for written words. To understand the information sensitivity of the effect, researchers distinguish between coarse tuning for words (the N170 amplitude difference between words and symbol strings) and fine tuning for words (the N170 amplitude difference between words and consonant strings). Earlier developmental ERP studies demonstrated that the coarse tuning for words occurred early in children (8 years old), whereas the fine tuning for words emerged much later (10 years old). Given that there are large individual differences in reading ability in young children, these tuning effects may emerge earlier than expected in some children. This study measured N170 responses to words and control stimuli in a large group of 7-year-olds that varied widely in reading ability. In both low and high reading ability groups, we observed the coarse neural tuning for words. More interestingly, we found that a stronger N170 for words than consonant strings emerged in children with high but not low reading ability. Our study demonstrates for the first time that fine neural tuning for orthographic properties of words can be observed in young children with high reading ability, suggesting that the emergent age of this effect is much earlier than previously assumed. The modulation of this effect by reading ability suggests that fine tuning is flexible and highly related to experience. Moreover, we found a correlation between this tuning effect at left occipitotemporal electrodes and children's reading ability, suggesting that the fine tuning might be a biomarker of reading skills at the very beginning of learning to read.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Zhao
- 1Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
- 2Hangzhou Normal University
- 3Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou
| | | | - Carl Gaspar
- 2Hangzhou Normal University
- 3Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou
| | - Urs Maurer
- 5University of Zurich
- 6Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Xuchu Weng
- 2Hangzhou Normal University
- 3Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou
| | | | - Su Li
- 1Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
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Cao XH, Jiang B, Li C, He ZQ. Rapid adaptation effect of N170 for printed words. Percept Mot Skills 2014; 119:191-202. [PMID: 25153749 DOI: 10.2466/24.22.pms.119c15z6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Faces and written words are two of the most familiar types of visual patterns with the brain's selective response of N170 component in early perception. Using ERP adaptation paradigms, studies have found the N170 response is reduced when there is repeated presentation of upright faces relative to a control condition. In contrast to these well-established features of the face-related N170 adaptation effect, the characteristics of the N170 adaptation effect for printed words are less clear. The goal was to investigate the ERP adaptation effects of printed language (English words and Chinese characters) in a short ISI (200 msec.) adaptation paradigm. The present study showed that both alphabetic words and non-alphabetic words could produce a rapid N170 adaptation effect. Objects of expertise (e.g. words and faces) can produce a rapid N170 adaptation effect but other objects (e.g., houses) cannot, indicating that the specific stimuli have some specific mechanisms for the rapid N170 adaptation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao-Hua Cao
- 1 Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University
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Cao X, Jiang B, Gaspar C, Li C. The overlap of neural selectivity between faces and words: evidences from the N170 adaptation effect. Exp Brain Res 2014; 232:3015-21. [PMID: 24854017 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-014-3986-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2013] [Accepted: 05/06/2014] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Faces and words both evoke an N170, a strong electrophysiological response that is often used as a marker for the early stages of expert pattern perception. We examine the relationship of neural selectivity between faces and words by using a novel application of cross-category adaptation to the N170. We report a strong asymmetry between N170 adaptation induced by faces and by words. This is the first electrophysiological result showing that neural selectivity to faces encompasses neural selectivity to words and suggests that the N170 response to faces constitutes a neural marker for versatile representations of familiar visual patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaohua Cao
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, 688 Yinbing Road, Jinhua, China,
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33
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Yum YN, Law SP, Su IF, Lau KYD, Mo KN. An ERP study of effects of regularity and consistency in delayed naming and lexicality judgment in a logographic writing system. Front Psychol 2014; 5:315. [PMID: 24782812 PMCID: PMC3995054 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2014] [Accepted: 03/26/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Phonological access is an important component in theories and models of word reading. However, phonological regularity and consistency effects are not clearly separable in alphabetic writing systems. We investigated these effects in Chinese, where the two variables are operationally distinct. In this orthographic system, regularity is defined as the congruence between the pronunciation of a complex character (or phonogram), and that of its phonetic radical, while phonological consistency indexes the proportion of orthographic neighbors that share the same pronunciation as the phonogram. In the current investigation, regularity and consistency were contrasted in an event-related potential (ERP) study using a lexical decision (LD) task and a delayed naming (DN) task with native Chinese readers. ERP results showed that effects of regularity occurred early after stimulus onset and were long-lasting. Regular characters elicited larger N170, smaller P200, and larger N400 compared to irregular characters. In contrast, significant effects of consistency were only seen at the P200 and consistent characters showed a greater P200 than inconsistent characters. Thus, both the time course and the direction of the effects indicated that regularity and consistency operated under different mechanisms and were distinct constructs. Additionally, both of these phonological effects were only found in the DN task and absent in LD, suggesting that phonological access was non-obligatory for LD. The study demonstrated cross-language variability in how phonological information was accessed from print and how task demands could influence this process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yen Na Yum
- Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Hong KongHong Kong, China
| | - Sam-Po Law
- Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Hong KongHong Kong, China
| | - I-Fan Su
- Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Hong KongHong Kong, China
| | - Kai-Yan Dustin Lau
- Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityHong Kong, China
| | - Kwan Nok Mo
- Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Hong KongHong Kong, China
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González-Garrido AA, Gómez-Velázquez FR, Rodríguez-Santillán E. Orthographic recognition in late adolescents: an assessment through event-related brain potentials. Clin EEG Neurosci 2014; 45:113-21. [PMID: 24043221 DOI: 10.1177/1550059413489975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Reading speed and efficiency are achieved through the automatic recognition of written words. Difficulties in learning and recognizing the orthography of words can arise despite reiterative exposure to texts. This study aimed to investigate, in native Spanish-speaking late adolescents, how different levels of orthographic knowledge might result in behavioral and event-related brain potential differences during the recognition of orthographic errors. Forty-five healthy high school students were selected and divided into 3 equal groups (High, Medium, Low) according to their performance on a 5-test battery of orthographic knowledge. All participants performed an orthographic recognition task consisting of the sequential presentation of a picture (object, fruit, or animal) followed by a correctly, or incorrectly, written word (orthographic mismatch) that named the picture just shown. Electroencephalogram (EEG) recording took place simultaneously. Behavioral results showed that the Low group had a significantly lower number of correct responses and increased reaction times while processing orthographical errors. Tests showed significant positive correlations between higher performance on the experimental task and faster and more accurate reading. The P150 and P450 components showed higher voltages in the High group when processing orthographic errors, whereas N170 seemed less lateralized to the left hemisphere in the lower orthographic performers. Also, trials with orthographic errors elicited a frontal P450 component that was only evident in the High group. The present results show that higher levels of orthographic knowledge correlate with high reading performance, likely because of faster and more accurate perceptual processing, better visual orthographic representations, and top-down supervision, as the event-related brain potential findings seem to suggest.
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Cao F, Rickles B, Vu M, Zhu Z, Chan DHL, Harris LN, Stafura J, Xu Y, Perfetti CA. Early stage visual-orthographic processes predict long-term retention of word form and meaning: a visual encoding training study. JOURNAL OF NEUROLINGUISTICS 2013; 26:440-461. [PMID: 23798804 PMCID: PMC3689543 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneuroling.2013.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Adult learners of Chinese learned new characters through writing, visual chunking or reading-only. Following training, ERPs were recorded during character recognition tasks, first shortly after the training and then three months later. We hypothesized that the character training effects would be seen in ERP components associated with word recognition and episodic memory. Results confirmed a larger N170 for visual chunking training than other training and a larger P600 for learned characters than novel characters. Another result was a training effect on the amplitude of the P100, which was greater following writing training than other training, suggesting that writing training temporarily lead to increased visual attention to the orthographic forms. Furthermore, P100 amplitude at the first post-test was positively correlated with character recall 3 months later. Thus the marker of early visual attention (P100) was predictive of retention of orthographic knowledge acquired in training.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fan Cao
- Division of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
| | - Ben Rickles
- Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Marianne Vu
- Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Ziheng Zhu
- Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Derek Ho Lung Chan
- Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Lindsay N. Harris
- Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Joseph Stafura
- Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Yi Xu
- Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Charles A. Perfetti
- Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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Li S, Lee K, Zhao J, Yang Z, He S, Weng X. Neural competition as a developmental process: early hemispheric specialization for word processing delays specialization for face processing. Neuropsychologia 2013; 51:950-9. [PMID: 23462239 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.02.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2012] [Revised: 02/01/2013] [Accepted: 02/13/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Little is known about the impact of learning to read on early neural development for word processing and its collateral effects on neural development in non-word domains. Here, we examined the effect of early exposure to reading on neural responses to both word and face processing in preschool children with the use of the Event Related Potential (ERP) methodology. We specifically linked children's reading experience (indexed by their sight vocabulary) to two major neural markers: the amplitude differences between the left and right N170 on the bilateral posterior scalp sites and the hemispheric spectrum power differences in the γ band on the same scalp sites. The results showed that the left-lateralization of both the word N170 and the spectrum power in the γ band were significantly positively related to vocabulary. In contrast, vocabulary and the word left-lateralization both had a strong negative direct effect on the face right-lateralization. Also, vocabulary negatively correlated with the right-lateralized face spectrum power in the γ band even after the effects of age and the word spectrum power were partialled out. The present study provides direct evidence regarding the role of reading experience in the neural specialization of word and face processing above and beyond the effect of maturation. The present findings taken together suggest that the neural development of visual word processing competes with that of face processing before the process of neural specialization has been consolidated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Su Li
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 4A Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China.
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Zhao J, Li S, Lin SE, Cao XH, He S, Weng XC. Selectivity of N170 in the left hemisphere as an electrophysiological marker for expertise in reading Chinese. Neurosci Bull 2012; 28:577-84. [PMID: 23054635 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-012-1274-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2012] [Accepted: 05/23/2012] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The left-lateralized N170, an event-related potential component consistently shown in response to alphabetic words, is a robust electrophysiological marker for reading expertise in an alphabetic language. In contrast, such a marker is lacking for expertise in reading Chinese, because the existing results about the lateralization of N170 for Chinese characters are mixed, reflecting complicated factors such as top-down modulation that contribute to the relative magnitudes of N170 in the left and right hemispheres. The present study aimed to explore a potential electrophysiological marker for reading expertise in Chinese with minimal top-down influence. METHODS We recorded N170 responses to Chinese characters and three kinds of control stimuli in a content-irrelevant task, minimizing potential top-down effects. RESULTS Direct comparison of the N170 amplitude in response to Chinese characters between the hemispheres showed a marginally significant left-lateralization effect. However, detailed analyses of N170 in each hemisphere revealed a more robust pattern of left-lateralization - the N170 in the left but not the right hemisphere differentiated Chinese characters from control stimuli. CONCLUSION These results suggest that the selectivity of N170 (a greater N170 in response to Chinese characters than to control stimuli) within the left hemisphere rather than the hemispheric difference of N170 with regard to Chinese characters is an electrophysiological marker for expertise in reading Chinese.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
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38
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Zhang JX, Fang Z, Du Y, Kong L, Zhang Q, Xing Q. Centro-parietal N200: An event-related potential component specific to Chinese visual word recognition. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2012. [DOI: 10.1007/s11434-011-4932-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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39
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Cao XH, Zhang HT. Change in subtle N170 specialization in response to Chinese characters and pseudocharacters. Percept Mot Skills 2011; 113:365-76. [PMID: 22185051 DOI: 10.2466/04.22.24.28.pms.113.5.365-376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
The N170 effect is thought to reflect fast perceptual processing for visual words. While quite a few studies on developmental word-related coarse N170 specialization have been reported, little is known about the appearance of the subtle N170 specialization in processing logographic scripts by Chinese children. The present study investigated the changes of subtle N170 specialization for Chinese logographic script in 32 primary schoolchildren in Grades 2 and 6, and in 16 college students. Participants were required to perform a content-irrelevant color-matching task. The results showed that the subtle N170 specialization for Chinese characters had not emerged in Grade 2 children. Interestingly, both Chinese characters and pseudowords elicited larger N170 responses than stroke combinations in Grade 6 children and adults, which suggested that the subtle N170 specialization for Chinese characters associated with reading learning had achieved adult level in children by Grade 6.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao-Hua Cao
- Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, 321004 China.
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40
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Lin SE, Chen HC, Zhao J, Li S, He S, Weng XC. Left-lateralized N170 response to unpronounceable pseudo but not false Chinese characters-the key role of orthography. Neuroscience 2011; 190:200-6. [PMID: 21704128 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.05.071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2011] [Revised: 05/22/2011] [Accepted: 05/27/2011] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
A negative event-related potential (ERP) component, known as N170, can be readily recorded over the posterior left brain region when skilled readers are presented with visual words. This left-lateralized word-related N170 has been attributed either to linguistic processes, particularly phonological processing, or to the role of orthographic regularity, emphasizing a perceptual origin. This debate, however, is difficult to resolve in the context of alphabetic scripts because of the tight relations between orthography and phonology. In contrast, Chinese characters have arbitrary mappings between orthographic and sound forms, making it possible to tease apart these two properties of visual words. We therefore addressed this issue by examining ERP responses to Chinese characters and three types of structurally matched but unpronounceable stimuli: pseudo-characters, false-characters, and stroke combinations. A content-irrelevant color matching task was adopted to minimize potentially different top-down modulations across stimulus types. Results show that, relative to false-characters and stroke combinations, real- and pseudo-characters evoked greater N170 in the left posterior brain region. Critically, despite being unpronounceable, pseudo-characters produced the same amplitude and left-lateralized N170, just as real-characters. These results provide strong evidence that orthography rather than phonology serves as the main driver for the enhanced and left-lateralized N170 to visual words.
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Affiliation(s)
- S E Lin
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
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