Electrophysiological Evidence Research Articles

Feedback-related brain activity in individual decision: evidence from a gambling EEG study.

In this study, based on scalp electroencephalogram (EEG), we conducted cortical source localization and functional network analyses to investigate the underlying mechanism explaining the decision processes when individuals anticipate maximizing gambling benefits, particularly in situations where the decision outcomes are inconsistent with the profit goals. The findings shed light on the feedback monitoring process, wherein incongruity between outcomes and gambling goals triggers a more pronounced medial frontal negativity and activates the frontal lobe. Moreover, long-range theta connectivity is implicated in processing surprise and uncertainty caused by inconsistent feedback conditions, while middle-range delta coupling reflects a more intricate evaluation of feedback outcomes, which subsequently modifies individual decision-making for optimizing future rewards. Collectively, these findings deepen our comprehension of decision-making under circumstances where the profit goals are compromised by decision outcomes and provide electrophysiological evidence supporting adaptive adjustments in individual decision strategies to achieve maximum benefit.

Electrophysiological evidence for context reinstatement effects on object recognition memory

Reinstating the context present at encoding during the test phase generally enhances recognition memory compared with changing the context when specific item–context associations are established during encoding. However, it remains unclear whether context reinstatement improves the performance in differentiating between old and similar items in recognition memory tests and what underlying cognitive processes are involved. Using the context reinstatement paradigm together with event-related potentials (ERP), we examined the context-dependent effects of background scenes on recognition discrimination among similar objects. Participants were instructed to associate intentionally specific objects with background scenes during the encoding phase and subsequently complete an object recognition memory task, during which old and similar new objects were presented superimposed over the studied old or similar new background scenes. Electroencephalogram was recorded to measure the electrophysiological manifestations of cognitive processes associated with episodic retrieval. Behavioral results revealed enhanced performance in differentiating old from similar objects in the old context, as opposed to the similar context condition. Importantly, ERP results indicated a more pronounced recollection-related parietal object old/new effect in the old context compared to the similar context condition. This suggests that the ability to distinguish between old and similar objects in recognition memory is primarily driven by recollection rather than familiarity, particularly when the encoding context is reinstated during the test phase. Our findings are in line with the account that the impact of context reinstatement on object recognition memory is attributable to the enhanced recollection of specific item–context associations during retrieval and provides evidence for the specificity of episodic associative representations.

Gender congruency between languages influence second-language comprehension: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence

Gender congruency between languages influence second-language comprehension: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence

Electrical stimulation promotes functional recovery after spinal cord injury by activating endogenous spinal cord-derived neural stem/progenitor cell: an in vitro and in vivo study

Background contextElectrical stimulation is a noninvasive treatment method that has gained popularity in the treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI). Activation of spinal cord-derived neural stem/progenitor cell (SC-NSPC) proliferation and differentiation in the injured spinal cord may elicit considerable neural regenerative effects. PurposeThis study aimed to explore the effect of electrical stimulation on the neurogenesis of SC-NSPCs. Study designThis study analyzed the effects of electrical stimulation on neurogenesis in rodent SC-NSPCs in vitro and in vivo and evaluated functional recovery and neural circuitry improvements with electrical stimulation using a rodent SCI model. MethodsRats (20 rats/group) were assigned to sham (Group 1), SCI only (Group 2), SCI + electrode implant without stimulation (Group 3), and SCI + electrode with stimulation (Group 4) groups to count total SC-NSPCs and differentiated neurons and to evaluate morphological changes in differentiated neurons. Furthermore, the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan scores were analyzed, and the motor- and somatosensory-evoked potentials in all rats were monitored. ResultsBiphasic electrical currents enhanced SC-NSPC proliferation differentiation and caused qualitative morphological changes in differentiated neurons in vitro. Electrical stimulation promoted SC-NSPC proliferation and neuronal differentiation and improved functional outcomes and neural circuitry in SCI models. Increased Wnt3, Wnt7, and β-catenin protein levels were also observed after electrical stimulation. ConclusionsOur study proved the beneficial effects of electrical stimulation on SCI. The Wnt/β-catenin pathway activation may be associated with this relationship between electrical stimulation and neuronal regeneration after SCI. Clinical significanceThe study confirmed the benefits of electrical stimulation on SCI based on cellular, functional, electrophysiological, and histological evidence. Based on these findings, we expect electrical stimulation to make a positive and significant difference in SCI treatment strategies.

Individual differences in information processing during sleep and wake predict sleep-based memory consolidation of complex rules

Memory is critical for many cognitive functions, from remembering facts, to learning complex environmental rules. While memory encoding occurs during wake, memory consolidation is associated with sleep-related neural activity. Further, research suggests that individual differences in alpha frequency during wake (∼7 – 13 Hz) modulate memory processes, with higher individual alpha frequency (IAF) associated with greater memory performance. However, the relationship between wake-related EEG individual differences, such as IAF, and sleep-related neural correlates of memory consolidation has been largely unexplored, particularly in a complex rule-based memory context. Here, we aimed to investigate whether wake-derived IAF and sleep neurophysiology interact to influence rule learning in a sample of 35 healthy adults (16 males; mean age = 25.4, range: 18 – 40). Participants learned rules of a modified miniature language prior to either 8hrs of sleep or wake, after which they were tested on their knowledge of the rules in a grammaticality judgement task. Results indicate that sleep neurophysiology and wake-derived IAF do not interact but modulate memory for complex linguistic rules separately. Phase-amplitude coupling between slow oscillations and spindles during non-rapid eye-movement (NREM) sleep also promoted memory for rules that were analogous to the canonical English word order. As an exploratory analysis, we found that rapid eye-movement (REM) sleep theta power at posterior regions interacts with IAF to predict rule learning and proportion of time in REM sleep predicts rule learning differentially depending on grammatical rule type. Taken together, the current study provides behavioural and electrophysiological evidence for a complex role of NREM and REM sleep neurophysiology and wake-derived IAF in the consolidation of rule-based information.

Electrophysiological evidence that TRPM3 is a candidate in latent spinal sensitization of chronic low back pain

Latent spinal sensitization is one key mechanism developing at the early stage of chronic low back pain (LBP). TRPM3-mediated calcium transients of dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons are considered critical presynaptic signals involved in this latent sensitization. However, postsynaptic consequences in input laminae of the spinal cord have not been addressed so far. Here, by electrophysiological recordings in acute spinal cord slices from adult rats, we show that perfusion of the TRPM3 agonist pregnenolone sulfate (PregS) induced a significant increase in the frequency but not amplitude of spontaneous postsynaptic currents in lamina I and II neurons. This frequency increase started slowly during PregS perfusion but was reversible following washout. This result is consistent with a presynaptic action of the neurosteroid PregS, indicating the presynaptic expression of functional TRPM3 in the superficial dorsal horn of adult rats. Thus, PregS-induced TRPM3 activation enhances spinal synaptic strength, implying a mediating role of TRPM3 between neuroendocrine and nociceptive signaling, which might as well exist in chronic LBP primed by chronic stress that promotes the biosynthesis of PregS.

Electrophysiological signatures of visual temporal processing deficits in developmental dyslexia.

Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that affects reading ability despite normal intelligence and education. In search of core deficits, previous evidence has linked DD with impairments in temporal aspects of perceptual processing, which might underlie phonological deficits as well as inefficient graphemic parsing during reading. However, electrophysiological evidence for atypical temporal processing in DD is still scarce in the visual modality. Here, we investigated the efficiency of both temporal segregation and integration of visual information by means of event-related potentials (ERPs). We confirmed previous evidence of a selective segregation deficit in dyslexia for stimuli presented in rapid succession (<80 ms), despite unaffected integration performance. Importantly, we found a reduced N1 amplitude in DD, a component related to the allocation of attentional resources, which was independent of task demands (i.e., evident in both segregation and integration). In addition, the P3 amplitude, linked to working memory and processing load, was modulated by task demands in controls but not in individuals with DD. These results suggest that atypical attentional sampling in dyslexia might weaken the quality of information stored in visual working memory, leading to behavioral and electrophysiological signatures of atypical temporal segregation. These results are consistent with some existing theories of dyslexia, such as the magnocellular theory and the "Sluggish Attentional Shifting" framework, and represent novel evidence for neural correlates of decreased visual temporal resolution in DD.

Re-WRAP (Remyelination for women at risk of axonal loss and progression): A phase II randomized placebo-controlled delayed-start trial of bazedoxifene for myelin repair in multiple sclerosis

IntroductionMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a major cause of disability in young and middle-aged people, and myelin repair therapies are needed to slow or potentially reverse this damage. Bazedoxifene (BZA) is a selective estrogen receptor modulator identified in a novel high-throughput unbiased screen for its remyelinating potential, and its remyelinating effects were demonstrated in pre-clinical models. MethodsThis is a single-center, double blind, randomized, controlled, delayed-start Phase 2 clinical trial (NCT04002934) investigating the remyelinating effects of BZA relative to placebo. Female patients with relapsing-remitting MS, aged 45–60 years (or > 40 if post-menopausal), and ambulatory status (EDSS 0–6 inclusive), will be recruited into a clinical trial with 2 arms of identical design, except that the “Chronic Optic Neuropathy” arm requires additional inclusion criteria of electrophysiological evidence of prior visual pathway demyelination. Clinical, electrophysiological, and imaging evaluations will occur at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. The primary outcome is change in Myelin Water Fraction (MWF) on MRI within the corpus callosum. Secondary outcomes are: visual evoked potential (VEP) P100 latency, novel digital measures of cognition and activity, and patient reported outcomes. Tertiary outcomes are: safety and tolerability. DiscussionBZA has strong preclinical effects on myelin repair, and in the general population demonstrated benefits in treating postmenopausal osteoporosis. Together, these findings support the rationale for an RCT testing BZA in women with MS, evaluating established neuroimaging and neurovisual measures of myelin repair. Additionally, validating novel digital tools could increase sensitivity to change and inform the duration and design of future clinical trials.

An Overview on Electrophysiological and Neuroimaging Findings in Dyslexia.

Objective: Dyslexia is a prevalent neurodevelopmental condition that is characterized by inaccurate and slow word recognition. This article reviews neural correlates of dyslexia from both electrophysiological and neuroimaging studies. Method : In this brief review, we provide electrophysiological and neuroimaging evidence from electroencephalogram (EEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies in dyslexia to understand functional and structural brain changes in this condition. Results: In both electrophysiological and neuroimaging studies, the most frequently reported functional impairments in dyslexia include aberrant activation of the left hemisphere occipito-temporal cortex (OTC), temporo-parietal cortex (TPC), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and cerebellar areas. EEG studies have mostly highlighted the important role of lower frequency bands in dyslexia, especially theta waves. Furthermore, neuroimaging studies have suggested that dyslexia is related to functional and structural impairments in the left hemisphere regions associated with reading and language, including reduced grey matter volume in the left TPC, decreased white matter connectivity between reading networks, and hypo-activation of the left OTC and TPC. In addition, neural evidence from pre-reading children and infants at risk for dyslexia show that there are abnormalities in the dyslexic brain before learning to read begins. Conclusion: Advances in comprehending the neural correlates of dyslexia could bring closer translation from basic to clinical neuroscience and effective rehabilitation for individuals who struggle to read. However, neuroscience still has great potential for clinical translation that requires further research.

High-resolution mapping of the circuit of typical atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia.

Recent anatomic and electrophysiologic evidence has provided new insight into the anatomic substrate. Previous reports on electroanatomic mapping (EAM) of the circuit of atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) have been limited by mapping only the triangle of Koch on the right side of the septum and by the use of conventional mapping tools. The objectives are to obtain comprehensive high-resolution mapping of typical AVNRT and to investigate the role of the atrioventricular ring tissues in the circuit. We employed EAM with the use of novel modules and algorithms for studying typical AVNRT from the right and the left sides of the septum. We performed extensive mapping of both the atrial septum and the septal vestibule of the tricuspid valve during typical AVNRT in 9 (6 females) patients, aged 49.6 ± 12.1years. In two of these, left septal mapping was also obtained through the aorta. The earliest initial activation was variable, emanating from the superior or medial septum. The impulse consistently appeared below the orifice of the coronary sinus, at the site where its inferoanterior margin merged with the septal vestibule of the tricuspid valve at its entrance to the right atrium. It then returned to the initial activation site, presumably through the septal vestibular myocardium. The left septal activation area corresponded to that recorded on the right side. Typical AVNRT uses a circuit confined within the pyramid of Koch from the AV node to the septal isthmus, involving the myocardial walls of the pyramidal space.

Temporal characteristics of emotional conflict processing: the modulation role of attachment styles

Theoretical account of attachment proposed that individual differences in adult attachment styles play a key role in adjusting balance between affective evaluation and cognitive control. Yet, little is known about the temporal characteristics of emotional conflict processing modulated by attachment styles. Accordingly, the present study used event-related potentials (ERP) and multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) combined with an emotional face-word Stroop task to investigate the temporal dynamics of attachment-related cognitive-affective patterns in emotional conflict processing. The ERP results demonstrated multiple-process of emotional conflict modulated by attachment styles. In early sensory processing, positive faces captured avoidant attachment individuals' attention as reflected in greater P1, while the same situation led to greater N170 in secure and anxious individuals. Crucially, impairment in conflict-monitoring function was found in anxious individuals as reflected by the absence of interference effect on N450, leading to impaired ability of inhibitory control as indicated by decreased slow potential. In contrast, avoidant individuals showed greater slow potential for inhibiting emotional interference. Furthermore, MVPA revealed that the corresponding time window for conflict monitoring was found for emotional distractors decoding rather than congruency decoding in the anxious attachment group. Convergent results from ERPs and MVPA indicated that the deficits in emotional conflict monitoring and resolution among anxious individuals might be due to the excessive approach to emotional distractors, as they habitually use emotional evaluation rather than cognitive control. In summary, the present study provides electrophysiological evidence that attachment styles modulated emotional conflict processing, which highlights the contribution of attachment to social information processing.

Age-related differences in understanding pronominal reference in sentence comprehension: An electrophysiological investigation.

This study aimed to investigate how age affects the ability to comprehend sentence meaning, specifically how individuals resolve pronouns to their corresponding nouns. The study included 34 young participants (20-29 years old) and 34 older participants (60-81 years old). The participants were presented with sentences containing two characters and a third-person singular pronoun. Stereotypical genders associated with character names were manipulated such that the pronoun had either one, two, or no possible antecedents, rendering the pronoun referentially unambiguous, ambiguous, or mismatched, respectively. Consistent with the prior findings on preserved syntactic processing with advanced age, event-related potential data time-locked to the critical pronouns showed a P600 effect to mismatched pronouns regardless of age. These results indicate that older adults, like their younger counterparts, have a strong preference for readily available antecedents. When the pronoun was ambiguous, younger adults showed a typical Nref effect-a sustained anterior negativity associated with elaborative inferencing to search for the referent. Older adults did not exhibit this effect, suggesting a reduction in elaborative processes for establishing coherence. Nevertheless, the Nref response to ambiguous pronouns was observed in a subset of older adults, who also showed a Nref instead of P600 response to mismatched pronouns. Overall, individuals who elicited the Nref response to ambiguous pronouns were associated with a higher level of print exposure, suggesting that life-long reading experience may help to counteract age-related decline. Together, these findings help characterize the differential effects of aging on pronominal understanding and provide initial electrophysiological evidence of the protective benefit of print exposure on language processing in the aging population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Electrophysiological evidence for increased auditory crossmodal activity in adult ADHD.

Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by core symptoms of inattention, and/or impulsivity and hyperactivity. In order to understand the basis for this multifaceted disorder, the investigation of sensory processing aberrancies recently reaches more interest. For example, during the processing of auditory stimuli comparable low sensory thresholds account for symptoms like higher distractibility and auditory hypersensitivity in patients with ADHD. It has further been shown that deficiencies not only exist on an intramodal, but also on a multimodal level. There is evidence that the visual cortex shows more activation during a focused auditory task in adults with ADHD than in healthy controls. This crossmodal activation is interpreted as the reallocation of more attentional resources to the visual domain as well as deficient sensory inhibition. In this study, we used, for the first time, electroencephalography to identify a potential abnormal regulated crossmodal activation in adult ADHD. 15 adult subjects with clinically diagnosed ADHD and 14 healthy controls comparable in age and gender were included. ERP components P50, P100, N100, P200 and N200 were measured during the performance of a unimodal auditory and visual discrimination task in a block design. Sensory profiles and ADHD symptoms were assessed with inattention as well as childhood ADHD scores. For evaluating intramodal and crossmodal activations, we chose four EEG channels for statistical analysis and group-wise comparison. At the occipital channel O2 that reflects possible crossmodal activations, a significantly enhanced P200 amplitude was measured in the patient group. At the intramodal channels, a significantly enhanced N200 amplitude was observed in the control group. Statistical analysis of behavioral data showed poorer performance of subjects with ADHD as well as higher discrimination thresholds. Further, the correlation of the assessed sensory profiles with the EEG parameters revealed a negative correlation between the P200 component and sensation seeking behavior. Our findings show increased auditory crossmodal activity that might reflect an altered stimulus processing resource allocation in ADHD. This might induce consequences for later, higher order attentional deployment. Further, the enhanced P200 amplitude might reflect more sensory registration and therefore deficient inhibition mechanisms in adults with ADHD.

Dynamic expectations: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence of sub-second updates in reward predictions

Expectations are often dynamic: sports fans know that expectations are rapidly updated as games unfold. Yet expectations have traditionally been studied as static. Here we present behavioral and electrophysiological evidence of sub-second changes in expectations using slot machines as a case study. In Study 1, we demonstrate that EEG signal before the slot machine stops varies based on proximity to winning. Study 2 introduces a behavioral paradigm to measure dynamic expectations via betting, and shows that expectation trajectories vary as a function of winning proximity. Notably, these expectation trajectories parallel Study 1’s EEG activity. Studies 3 (EEG) and 4 (behavioral) replicate these findings in the loss domain. These four studies provide compelling evidence that dynamic sub-second updates in expectations can be behaviorally and electrophysiologically measured. Our research opens promising avenues for understanding the dynamic nature of reward expectations and their impact on cognitive processes.

Electrophysiological evidence of crossmodal correspondence between auditory pitch and visual elevation affecting inhibition of return

Inhibition of return (IOR) has proved to be weakened by audiovisual integration because of the increased perceptual salience of targets. Although other audiovisual interactions, such as crossmodal correspondence, have also been shown to facilitate attentional processes, to the best of our knowledge, no study has investigated the interaction between crossmodal correspondence and IOR. The present study employed Posner’s spatial cueing paradigm and manipulated the cue validity, crossmodal correspondence congruency and time interval of auditory and visual stimuli (AV interval) to explore the effect of crossmodal correspondence on the IOR effect. The behavioral results showed a reduced IOR effect under the correspondence congruency condition in contrast to the correspondence incongruency condition at the AV interval of 200 ms, whereas at an AV interval of 80 ms, the decreased IOR effect under crossmodal correspondence congruency was eliminated. The electrophysiological results showed a reduced amplitude difference in P2 between valid and invalid cue conditions when the crossmodal correspondence effect decreased the IOR effect. The present study provided the first evidence of the weakened effect of the crossmodal correspondence effect on the IOR effect, which could be eliminated by audiovisual integration.

Decision and response monitoring during working memory are sequentially represented in the human insula

Emerging research supports a role of the insula in human cognition. Here, we used intracranial EEG to investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics in the insula during a verbal working memory (vWM) task. We found robust effects for theta, beta, and high frequency activity (HFA) during probe presentation requiring a decision. Theta band activity showed differential involvement across left and right insulae while sequential HFA modulations were observed along the anteroposterior axis. HFA in anterior insula tracked decision making and subsequent HFA was observed in posterior insula after the behavioral response. Our results provide electrophysiological evidence of engagement of different insula subregions in both decision-making and response monitoring during vWM and expand our knowledge of the role of the insula in complex human behavior.

Prevalence of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Symptoms Among Young Dentists.

Objectives Although age is a risk factor, carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) can also affect younger individuals, particularly those involved in activities or occupations that require repetitive hand movements, forceful gripping, or prolonged wrist flexion/extension. This case-control study aimed to examine the prevalence of CTS symptoms and frequent object dropping among a group of young dentists who are exposed to CTS risk factors. Additionally, other reported risk factors for CTS, such as sex, obesity, and square wrist sign, were also investigated. Methods A total of 74 dentists (48 women, mean age 28.5 years), who are working at Istanbul Faculty of Dentistry, the largest dental school in Istanbul, which is the biggest city in Turkey, were included in the study. Additionally, 61 age- and sex-matched controls (38 women, mean age 27.9 years) were also recruited. The Edinburgh Hand Preference Questionnaire, Boston Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Questionnaire (BCTQ), a questionnaire for object dropping and occupational hand usage, anthropometric measurements of the hands, clinical neurologic examination, and electromyography intended for the detection of CTS were performed. Results The dentists had a higher total weekly hand usage duration compared to the controls (66.3 vs 44.8 hours, p<0.001). BCTQ scores and the frequency of object dropping were also significantly higher in dentists compared to controls (respective p values: 0.011, 0.003). Positive correlations were found between BCTQ scores, hand usage durations, and object dropping (respective p values: 0.001, <0.001). BCTQ scores were higher in women than in men (p=0.027). Electrophysiologic evidence of CTS was found in one dentist. Conclusions Symptoms of CTS may manifest in individuals at a younger age than predicted, primarily influenced by their occupation and the duration of hand usage. Dentists, in particular, report a higher incidence of complaints related to object dropping, which can be attributed to their frequent use of specialized tools and engagement in delicate tasks, resulting in heightened awareness. However, it can also potentially serve as an indicator of CTS.

Social Buffering Effects during Craft Activities in Parallel Group Session Revealed by EEG Analysis and Parasympathetic Activity

Introduction: The therapeutic structure of occupational therapy (OT) includes groups. Although the presence of others is expected to be relaxing due to the social buffering effect and the tend and befriend theory, it has not been sufficiently validated in accordance with the therapeutic structure of OT. The aim of this study was to investigate the electrophysiological evidence for the effectiveness of parallel groups and states of concentration on craft activities used in OT. Methods: Thirty healthy young adults were used as controls to measure EEG and autonomic activity during craft activities in three conditions: alone, parallel, and nonparallel. EEG was analyzed using exact low-resolution electromagnetic tomography, and autonomic activity was analyzed using Lorenz plot analysis. Results: Parasympathetic activity was significantly higher in the parallel condition than in the alone condition. A significant negative correlation was found between current source density and parasympathetic activity in the region centered on the right insular cortex in the α1 band, and functional connectivity in regions including the anterior cingulate cortex and insular cortex was associated with autonomic activity. Conclusion: Craft activities that occurred during frontal midline theta rhythm also increased parasympathetic activity. The results suggest that the parallel groups used in OT and the intensive state of craft activities induce a social buffering effect that increases parasympathetic activity despite the absence of physical contact or social support. This provides evidence for the effectiveness of the therapeutic structure of occupational activities and groups in OT.

Does the speaker's eye gaze facilitate infants' word segmentation from continuous speech? An ERP study.

The environment in which infants learn language is multimodal and rich with social cues. Yet, the effects of such cues, such as eye contact, on early speech perception have not been closely examined. This study assessed the role of ostensive speech, signalled through the speaker's eye gaze direction, on infants' word segmentation abilities. A familiarisation-then-test paradigm was used while electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded. Ten-month-old Dutch-learning infants were familiarised with audio-visual stories in which a speaker recited four sentences with one repeated target word. The speaker addressed them either with direct or with averted gaze while speaking. In the test phase following each story, infants heard familiar and novel words presented via audio-only. Infants' familiarity with the words was assessed using event-related potentials (ERPs). As predicted, infants showed a negative-going ERP familiarity effect to the isolated familiarised words relative to the novel words over the left-frontal region of interest during the test phase. While the word familiarity effect did not differ as a function of the speaker's gaze over the left-frontal region of interest, there was also a (not predicted) positive-going early ERP familiarity effect over right fronto-central and central electrodes in the direct gaze condition only. This study provides electrophysiological evidence that infants can segment words from audio-visual speech, regardless of the ostensiveness of the speaker's communication. However, the speaker's gaze direction seems to influence the processing of familiar words. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: We examined 10-month-old infants' ERP word familiarity response using audio-visual stories, in which a speaker addressed infants with direct or averted gaze while speaking. Ten-month-old infants can segment and recognise familiar words from audio-visual speech, indicated by their negative-going ERP response to familiar, relative to novel, words. This negative-going ERP word familiarity effect was present for isolated words over left-frontal electrodes regardless of whether the speaker offered eye contact while speaking. An additional positivity in response to familiar words was observed for direct gaze only, over right fronto-central and central electrodes.

Electrophysiological evidence that own-race faces are recognized more automatically

Electrophysiological evidence that own-race faces are recognized more automatically