Brain responses to lexical attestedness and phonological well-formedness as revealed by fast periodic visual stimulation

Abstract

We investigated the mechanisms underlying the online-processing of phonological constraints using oddball fast-periodic visual stimulation coupled with EEG. We focused on the Sonority Sequencing Principle and examined whether steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) are sensitive to the sonority constraint on syllable onsets. Native French speakers were presented with streams of CCVC non-words (C: consonant, V: vowel) at a fixed 6-Hz base rate. We manipulated the phonological well-formedness and lexical attestedness of CC onsets in two conditions. SSVPs were observed at the base rate associated to visual stimuli. As expected, they did not differ between conditions. Oddball SSVEPs were observed at 1.2 Hz (and its harmonics) and differed in the two conditions. These results showed that SSVEPs are sensitive to sublexical features. They also suggest that the processing of phonological constraints rely on mechanisms which could be dissociated from those underlying the processing of statistical properties of the lexicon.