Variations in Pupil Size Related to Memory for Recently Presented Words and Event Related Potentials.

Pupillometry has been found to be correlated with activity of cholinergic and noradrenergic neuromodulator systems. These systems regulate the level of cortical arousal and therefore perception, attention, and memory. Here, we tested how different types of pupil size variance (prestimulus baseline and prestimulus hippus power) may correlate with behavioral and event-related potentials (ERPs).

Abstract images and words can convey the same meaning.

Intuitively, deriving meaning from an abstract image is a uniquely human, idiosyncratic experience. Here we show that, despite having no universally recognised lexical association, abstract images spontaneously elicit specific concepts conveyed by words, with a consistency akin to that of concrete images. We presented a group of naïve participants with abstract picture-word pairs construed as 'related' or 'unrelated' according to a preliminary norming procedure conducted with different participants.

Episodic traces and statistical regularities: Paired associate learning in typical and dyslexic readers.

Learning visual-phonological associations is a key skill underlying successful reading acquisition. However, we are yet to understand the cognitive mechanisms that enable efficient learning in good readers, and those which are aberrant in individuals with developmental dyslexia. Here, we use a repeated cued-recall task to examine how typical and reading-impaired adults acquire novel associations between visual and phonological stimuli, incorporating a looking-at-nothing paradigm to probe implicit memory for target locations.

Word meaning acquisition is reflected in brain potentials of isolated words.

Learning a new concept and corresponding word typically involves repeated exposure to the word in the same or a similar context until the link crystallizes in long term memory. Although electrophysiological indices of the result of learning are well documented, there is currently no measure of the process of conceptually-mediated learning itself. Here, we recorded event-related brain potentials from participants who read unfamiliar words presented in isolation followed by a definition that either explained the meaning of the word or was a true, but uninformative statement.

ERPs Reveal the Time-Course of Aberrant Visual-Phonological Binding in Developmental Dyslexia.

New evidence is accumulating for a deficit in binding visual-orthographic information with the corresponding phonological code in developmental dyslexia. Here, we identify the mechanisms underpinning this deficit using event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in dyslexic and control adult readers performing a letter-matching task. In each trial, a printed letter was presented synchronously with an auditory letter name.

Bilingualism and increased attention to speech: Evidence from event-related potentials.

A number of studies have shown that from an early age, bilinguals outperform their monolingual peers on executive control tasks. We previously found that bilingual children and adults also display greater attention to unexpected language switches within speech. Here, we investigated the effect of a bilingual upbringing on speech perception in one language.

On the road to somewhere: Brain potentials reflect language effects on motion event perception.

Recent studies have identified neural correlates of language effects on perception in static domains of experience such as colour and objects. The generalization of such effects to dynamic domains like motion events remains elusive. Here, we focus on grammatical differences between languages relevant for the description of motion events and their impact on visual scene perception.

Anomalous transfer of syntax between languages.

Each human language possesses a set of distinctive syntactic rules. Here, we show that balanced Welsh-English bilinguals reading in English unconsciously apply a morphosyntactic rule that only exists in Welsh. The Welsh soft mutation rule determines whether the initial consonant of a noun changes based on the grammatical context (e.

Semantic priming in the motor cortex: evidence from combined repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and event-related potential.

Reading action verbs is associated with activity in the motor cortices involved in performing the corresponding actions. Here, we present new evidence that the motor cortex is involved in semantic processing of bodily action verbs. In contrast to previous studies, we used a direct, nonbehavioural index of semantic processing after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS).

ERP-pupil size correlations reveal how bilingualism enhances cognitive flexibility.

A bilingual upbringing has been shown to enhance executive control, but the neural mechanisms underpinning such effect are essentially unknown. Here, we investigated whether monolingual and bilingual toddlers differ in semantic processing efficiency and their allocation of attention to expected and unexpected visual stimuli. We simultaneously recorded event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and pupil size in monolingual and bilingual toddlers presented with (spoken) word-picture pairs.

Event-related potential correlates of language change detection in bilingual toddlers.

Children raised in a bilingual environment are faced with the daunting task of learning to extract meaning from language input that can differ between caregivers but, depending on the social context, also within caregivers. Here, we investigated monolingual and bilingual toddlers' brain responses to an unexpected language change. We presented 2-3 year old children with picture-word pairs and occasionally changed the language of the spoken word while recording event-related potentials (ERPs).

Congruency effects in conceptualizing for speech.

In naming a picture at the basic level, a semantically related distractor word induces interference in comparison to an unrelated word. When the task is changed from basic-level naming to categorization, however, this effect reverses to semantic facilitation. In previous studies, this semantic facilitation effect was attributed to "message congruency" at the conceptual level.

N400 amplitude reduction correlates with an increase in pupil size.

Pupil dilation is classically associated with increase in cognitive load in humans. Here, we studied the potential link between human pupil dilation and meaning integration effort as indexed by event-related brain potentials (ERPs). We recorded pupil size variation and ERPs simultaneously while participants were presented with matching or unrelated picture-word pairs.

Perceptual shift in bilingualism: brain potentials reveal plasticity in pre-attentive colour perception.

The validity of the linguistic relativity principle continues to stimulate vigorous debate and research. The debate has recently shifted from the behavioural investigation arena to a more biologically grounded field, in which tangible physiological evidence for language effects on perception can be obtained. Using brain potentials in a colour oddball detection task with Greek and English speakers, a recent study suggests that language effects may exist at early stages of perceptual integration [Thierry, G.

Event-related brain potentials reveal the time-course of language change detection in early bilinguals.

Using event-related brain potentials, we investigated the temporal course of language change detection in proficient bilinguals as compared to matched controls. Welsh-English bilingual participants and English controls were presented with a variant of the oddball paradigm involving picture-word pairs. The language of the spoken word was manipulated such that English was the frequent stimulus (75%) and Welsh the infrequent stimulus (25%).

The Whorfian mind: Electrophysiological evidence that language shapes perception.

Color perception has been a traditional test-case of the idea that the language we speak affects our perception of the world.1 It is now established that categorical perception of color is verbally mediated and varies with culture and language.2 However, it is unknown whether the well-demonstrated language effects on color discrimination really reach down to the level of visual perception, or whether they only reflect post-perceptual cognitive processes.

Unconscious effects of language-specific terminology on preattentive color perception.

It is now established that native language affects one's perception of the world. However, it is unknown whether this effect is merely driven by conscious, language-based evaluation of the environment or whether it reflects fundamental differences in perceptual processing between individuals speaking different languages. Using brain potentials, we demonstrate that the existence in Greek of 2 color terms--ghalazio and ble--distinguishing light and dark blue leads to greater and faster perceptual discrimination of these colors in native speakers of Greek than in native speakers of English.

In defense of the lexical-competition account of picture-word interference: a comment on Finkbeiner and Caramazza (2006).

On the basis of two empirical observations, Finkbeiner and Caramazza (2006) take issue with the generally accepted interpretation of semantic interference in the picture-word interference task in terms of lexical competition. As an alternative, they propose a response-selection account, in which semantic interference is attributed to the time needed to remove the inappropriate (word-reading) response from an output buffer. In this comment we argue that the empirical work discussed provides an interesting challenge for current models of language production, but that the authors' alternative account is at variance with at least three robust empirical findings in the language production literature.