Nonverbal Stimuli Research Articles

The White Matter Module-Hub Network of Semantics Revealed by Semantic Dementia.

Cognitive neuroscience exploring the architecture of semantics has shown that coherent supramodal concepts are computed in the anterior temporal lobes (ATL), but it is unknown how/where modular information implemented by posterior cortices (word/object/face forms) is conveyed to the ATL hub. We investigated the semantic module-hub network in healthy adults (n = 19) and in semantic dementia patients (n = 28) by combining semantic assessments of verbal and nonverbal stimuli and MRI-based fiber tracking using seeds in three module-related cortices implementing (i) written word forms (visual word form area), (ii) abstract lexical representations (posterior-superior temporal cortices), and (iii) face/object representations (face form area). Fiber tracking revealed three key tracts linking the ATL with the three module-related cortices. Correlation analyses between tract parameters and semantic scores indicated that the three tracts subserve semantics, transferring modular verbal or nonverbal object/face information to the left and right ATL, respectively. The module-hub tracts were functionally and microstructurally damaged in semantic dementia, whereas damage to non-module-specific ATL tracts (inferior longitudinal fasciculus, uncinate fasciculus) had more limited impact on semantic failure. These findings identify major components of the white matter module-hub network of semantics, and they corroborate/materialize claims of cognitive models positing direct links between modular and semantic representations. In combination with modular accounts of cognition, they also suggest that the currently prevailing "hub-and-spokes" model of semantics could be extended by incorporating an intermediate module level containing invariant representations, in addition to "spokes," which subserve the processing of a near-unlimited number of sensorimotor and speech-sound features.

Emojis influence autobiographical memory retrieval from reading words: An fMRI-based study.

Advances in computer and communications technology have deeply affected the way we communicate. Social media have emerged as a major means of human communication. However, a major limitation in such media is the lack of non-verbal stimuli, which sometimes hinders the understanding of the message, and in particular the associated emotional content. In an effort to compensate for this, people started to use emoticons, which are combinations of keyboard characters that resemble facial expressions, and more recently their evolution: emojis, namely, small colorful images that resemble faces, actions and daily life objects. This paper presents evidence of the effect of emojis on memory retrieval through a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) study. A total number of fifteen healthy volunteers were recruited for the experiment, during which successive stimuli were presented, containing words with intense emotional content combined with emojis, either with congruent or incongruent emotional content. Volunteers were asked to recall a memory related to the stimulus. The study of the reaction times showed that emotional incongruity among word+emoji combinations led to longer reaction times in memory retrieval compared to congruent combinations. General Linear Model (GLM) and Blind Source Separation (BSS) methods have been tested in assessing the influence of the emojis on the process of memory retrieval. The analysis of the fMRI data showed that emotional incongruity among word+emoji combinations activated the Broca's area (BA44 and BA45) in both hemispheres, the Supplementary Motor Area (SMA) and the inferior prefrontal cortex (BA47), compared to congruent combinations. Furthermore, compared to pseudowords, word+emoji combinations activated the left Broca's area (BA44 and BA45), the amygdala, the right temporal pole (BA48) and several frontal regions including the SMA and the inferior prefrontal cortex.

SPECIFIC FEATURES OF THE COMPREHENSION OF TEXTS AND STORY PICTURES BY ADOLESCENTS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISTURBANCES

The present article addresses the peculiarities of comprehending visual stimuli by adolescents with intellectual disturbances. We have studied the ability of school students to analyse and synthesise the meaning of the text and a series of story pictures, to successively retell their content, and distinguish the main semantic constructs. We examined 60 adolescents: 20 normatively developing students from secondary school, 20 students with learning disabilities and 20 children with a clinical diagnosis of "intellectual disturbances". The age of the students ranged from 15 to 19 years old (the average age was 16 years 1 month old). The age range was due to the presence of adolescents with intellectual disturbances. The examination involved 25 girls and 35 boys. The main method of research is authorial questionnaire. A small excerpt from the Russian folk tale "The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats" is used as a verbal stimulus, and Bidstrup comic cartoons – as a non-verbal stimulus. The technique of eye-tracking is used as a research method that allows registering the number of fixations, duration of gaze and length of saccades. The differences in the comprehension of text and picture visual stimuli in students with different levels of intelligence have been determined. In the case of intellectual disturbances, the duration of fixations significantly increases when perceiving the texts. The level of intelligence affects the parameters of the recognition and decoding of the visual information significantly. It was found that the specifics of understanding texts and subject pictures by adolescents with intellectual disturbances are due to thinking passivity and different formats of information.

Multimodal feature binding in object memory retrieval using event-related potentials: Implications for models of semantic memory

To test the hypothesis that semantic processes are represented in multiple subsystems, we recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) as we elicited object memories using the modified Semantic Object Retrieval Test, during which an object feature, presented as a visual word [VW], an auditory word [AW], or a picture [Pic], was followed by a second feature always presented as a visual word. We performed both hypothesis-driven and data-driven analyses using event-related potentials (ERPs) time locked to the second stimulus. We replicated a previously reported left fronto-temporal ERP effect (750–1000 ms post-stimulus) in the VW task, and also found that this ERP component was only present during object memory retrieval in verbal (VW, AW) as opposed to non-verbal (Pic) stimulus types. We also found a right temporal ERP effect (850–1000 ms post-stimulus) that was present in auditory (AW) but not in visual (VW, Pic) stimulus types. In addition, we found an earlier left temporo-parietal ERP effect between 350 and 700 ms post-stimulus and a later midline parietal ERP effect between 700 and 1100 ms post-stimulus, present in all stimulus types, suggesting common neural mechanisms for object retrieval processes and object activation, respectively. These findings support multiple semantic subsystems that respond to varying stimulus modalities, and argue against an ultimate unitary amodal semantic analysis.

Tracking the Effects of Top-Down Attention on Word Discrimination Using Frequency-tagged Neuromagnetic Responses.

Discrimination of words from nonspeech sounds is essential in communication. Still, how selective attention can influence this early step of speech processing remains elusive. To answer that question, brain activity was recorded with magnetoencephalography in 12 healthy adults while they listened to two sequences of auditory stimuli presented at 2.17 Hz, consisting of successions of one randomized word (tagging frequency = 0.54 Hz) and three acoustically matched nonverbal stimuli. Participants were instructed to focus their attention on the occurrence of a predefined word in the verbal attention condition and on a nonverbal stimulus in the nonverbal attention condition. Steady-state neuromagnetic responses were identified with spectral analysis at sensor and source levels. Significant sensor responses peaked at 0.54 and 2.17 Hz in both conditions. Sources at 0.54 Hz were reconstructed in supratemporal auditory cortex, left superior temporal gyrus (STG), left middle temporal gyrus, and left inferior frontal gyrus. Sources at 2.17 Hz were reconstructed in supratemporal auditory cortex and STG. Crucially, source strength in the left STG at 0.54 Hz was significantly higher in verbal attention than in nonverbal attention condition. This study demonstrates speech-sensitive responses at primary auditory and speech-related neocortical areas. Critically, it highlights that, during word discrimination, top-down attention modulates activity within the left STG. This area therefore appears to play a crucial role in selective verbal attentional processes for this early step of speech processing.

Brainstem auditory evoked potentials in children with autism spectrum disorder

ObjectivesThis study aimed to analyze the neural encoding of verbal and nonverbal stimuli in individuals with autism spectrum disorder using brainstem auditory evoked potentials. MethodologyThirty individuals between 7 and 12 years of age and of both genders participated in this study. Fifteen were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, and 15 had typical development. All subjects had normal hearing and no other impairments. An electrophysiological hearing assessment was performed using brainstem auditory evoked potentials with click and speech stimuli. ResultsIn the brainstem auditory evoked potentials with click stimuli, the mean wave I latency was longer for the right ear in both groups, and interpeak intervals III–V were greater for the individuals with autism spectrum disorder. For brainstem auditory evoked potentials with speech stimuli, wave V latency was shorter in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. ConclusionThese data suggest that individuals with autism spectrum disorder may have a dysfunction of the central auditory nervous system for nonverbal stimuli and faster neural encoding of the initial part of the verbal stimulus, suggesting hypersensitivity to complex sounds such as speech.

Teaching multiply-controlled tacting to children with autism

ABSTRACT Responding accurately to questions is a fundamental skill, currently under researched in the applied field. The present paper reports the results of a multiple-baseline design across stimulus sets to establish multiply controlled tacting to verbal (“What is it?” “What does it say?” “What color?” “What number?”) and nonverbal visual stimuli (colored objects, animals, and numbers). Two preschool children with autism were taught first to echo, then to tact, using matched autoclitic frames (e.g., “It’s a spoon,” “It’s a cat,” “It says meow,” “Color red,” “Number three”) to the verbal antecedent to establish generalized responding under multiple control. Following intervention, responding of both children generalized to novel members of the stimulus classes, and for one child, to a novel stimulus class. Question discrimination skills thus developed as a generalized response class under multiple sources of control, irrespective of the particular stimuli.

Mismatch Negativity Occurrence with Verbal and Nonverbal Stimuli in Normal-Hearing Adults.

Introduction The mismatch negativity (MMN) is a long-latency auditory evoked potential related to a passive elicited auditory event. Objective To verify the occurrence of MMN with different stimuli, to describe reference values in normal-hearing adults with verbal and nonverbal stimuli and to compare them with each other, besides analyzing the latency, area, and amplitude regarding gender and between the ears. Method Normal-hearing individuals, aged between 18 and 59 years old, participated in the study. As inclusion criterion in the study, all of them underwent tone threshold audiometry, logoaudiometry, tympanometry, and the Dichotic Sentence Identification (DSI) test, and later the MMN with 4 different stimuli, being 2 verbal (da/ta and ba/di) and 2 nonverbal stimuli (750/1,000Hz and 750/4,000Hz), which are considered stimuli with low and high contrast. Results A total of 90 individuals composed the sample, being 39 males and 51 females, with an average age of 26.9 years old. In the analysis of the latency, amplitude, and area of the four stimuli between the ears, they were not considered statistically different. There was a significant difference between all of the stimuli in terms of latency, amplitude and area, with the highest latency found in da/ta, and the greatest amplitude and area in ba/di. Regarding gender, there was only difference in the latency of the da/ta stimulus. Conclusion The da/ta and 750/1,000Hz stimuli elicited the most MMN in the population of normal-hearing adults. Among the genders, there was difference only regarding the latency of the verbal stimulus da/ta, and there was no difference between the ears.

Processing of Real-World, Dynamic Natural Stimuli in Autism is Linked to Corticobasal Function.

Many individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been shown to perceive everyday sensory information differently compared to peers without autism. Research examining these sensory differences has primarily utilized nonnatural stimuli or natural stimuli using static photos with few having utilized dynamic, real-world nonverbal stimuli. Therefore, in this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to characterize brain activation of individuals with high-functioning autism when viewing and listening to a video of a real-world scene (a person bouncing a ball) and anticipating the bounce. We investigated both multisensory and unisensory processing and hypothesized that individuals with ASD would show differential activation in (a) primary auditory and visual sensory cortical and association areas, and in (b) cortical and subcortical regions where auditory and visual information is integrated (e.g. temporal-parietal junction, pulvinar, superior colliculus). Contrary to our hypotheses, the whole-brain analysis revealed similar activation between the groups in these brain regions. However, compared to controls the ASD group showed significant hypoactivation in the left intraparietal sulcus and left putamen/globus pallidus. We theorize that this hypoactivation reflected underconnectivity for mediating spatiotemporal processing of the visual biological motion stimuli with the task demands of anticipating the timing of the bounce event. The paradigm thus may have tapped into a specific left-lateralized aberrant corticobasal circuit or loop involved in initiating or inhibiting motor responses. This was consistent with a dual "when versus where" psychophysical model of corticobasal function, which may reflect core differences in sensory processing of real-world, nonverbal natural stimuli in ASD. Autism Res 2020, 13: 539-549. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: To understand how individuals with autism perceive the real-world, using magnetic resonance imaging we examined brain activation in individuals with autism while watching a video of someone bouncing a basketball. Those with autism had similar activation to controls in auditory and visual sensory brain regions, but less activation in an area that processes information about body movements and in a region involved in modulating movements. These areas are important for understanding the actions of others and developing social skills.

Different predictive roles of phonological awareness and visual attention span for early character reading fluency in Chinese

Previous studies have usually explored the possible mechanisms underlying reading fluency separately from either linguistic (e.g., phonological awareness, PA) or basic cognitive (e.g., visual attention span, VAS) levels, but relatively little is known about the systematic relationship between multiple levels of cognitive factors and reading fluency development. Thus, the present study, from a combinative point of view, investigated the relationship between VAS at a basic cognitive level and PA at a high linguistic level and explored their predictive power for reading fluency development a year later through a longitudinal method. PA and VAS were measured in sixty-five Chinese children who had just entered Grade 1 of primary school (Time 1); PA tests included syllabic and phonemic aspects, and VAS was reflected by performance in the visual 1-back task with nonverbal stimuli and no verbal response. Reading fluency was tested at the single-character level at the beginning of Grade 2 (Time 2). The results showed that phoneme awareness could not predict variation in reading fluency, while both syllable awareness and VAS showed significant predictive powers for single-character reading fluency. Additionally, further analysis revealed that the relationship between VAS and later single-character reading fluency was partially mediated by syllable awareness. These findings indicated Chinese language characteristics in the relationship among VAS, PA, and reading fluency. The possible roles of multiple levels of cognitive skills in fluent reading have been further discussed and have implications for the early diagnosis and remediation of reading dysfluency.

Improving sentence reading performance in Chinese children with developmental dyslexia by training based on visual attention span

Deficits in the visual attention span (VAS) are thought to hamper reading performance in dyslexic individuals. However, the causal relationship between VAS deficits and reading disability remains unclear. The present study attempts to address this issue by using a VAS-based intervention to explore the possible influence of VAS on reading processes in Chinese children with dyslexia. Given the influence of the heterogeneity of dyslexia on intervention effects, VAS-impaired dyslexic and VAS-intact dyslexic individuals were separately trained. Therefore, there were five groups of participants in this study, including 10 trained dyslexic individuals with VAS deficits and 10 untrained dyslexic individuals with VAS dysfunction as the baseline reference, 10 trained and 10 untrained dyslexic individuals with an intact VAS, and fourteen age-matched normal readers for reference of normal level. All participants completed reading measures and a visual 1-back task, reflecting VAS capacity with non-verbal stimuli and non-verbal responses, before and after VAS-based training. VAS-based training tasks included a length estimation task regarding the bottom-up attention, visual search and digit cancelling tasks targeting top-down attentional modulation, and visual tracking tasks to train eye-movement control. The results showed that visual training only helped improve VAS skills in VAS-impaired dyslexic individuals receiving training. Meanwhile, their silent sentence reading accuracy improved after training, and there was a significant relationship between training improvements in VAS function and reading performance. The current findings suggest that VAS-based training has a far-transfer effect on linguistic level (i.e., fluent reading). These findings suggest the possibility that VAS-related training may help children with dyslexia improve their reading skills.

Developmental Differences in the Relationship Between Visual Attention Span and Chinese Reading Fluency.

It has been suggested that there is a close relationship between visual attention span (VAS) and fluent reading. This relation may be modulated by participants’ age, and exhibits various patterns in different reading modes (i.e., oral vs. silent reading) and different reading levels (e.g., sentence vs. character/word levels). Moreover, the modulation effects from the above factors might be more remarkable in the framework of languages with a deep orthography. Therefore, the present study investigated the developmental pattern of the relationship between VAS skills and reading fluency in Chinese, a language with particularly deep orthography, by recruiting 292 participants from primary schools, middle schools, and universities. Two tests were utilized to assess fluent reading skills at the single-character and sentence levels with oral and silent reading modes. A visual 1-back task was adopted to reflect VAS capacity with non-verbal stimuli and no verbal response. Results showed that the VAS capacity of low-grade primary school students could significantly account for the variance in single-character reading fluency in the oral mode and that it was a significant predictor of sentence reading fluency in the oral mode among high-grade primary school students. VAS abilities of middle school students allowed a unique and stable prediction of their silent sentence reading. With increasing reading ability, VAS skills of adults showed significant and similar predictive power for estimating the variations in fluent sentence reading in both silent and oral modes. These results revealed developmental changes in the contribution of VAS to fluent reading in Chinese, and provided evidence unveiling whether the underlying mechanisms of oral and silent reading were shared or different.

Mismatch Negativity Elicited by Verbal and Nonverbal Stimuli: Comparison with Potential N1.

Introduction Mismatch negativity (MMN) is a long latency auditory evoked potential, represented by a negative wave, generated after the potential N1 and visualized in a resulting wave. Objective To identify the time of occurrence of MMN after N1, elicited with verbal and nonverbal stimuli. Methods Ninety individuals aged between 18 and 56 years old participated in the study, 39 of whom were male and 51 female, with normal auditory thresholds, at least 8 years of schooling, and who did not present auditory processing complaints. All of them underwent audiologic anamnesis, visual inspection of external auditory meatus, pure tone audiometry, speech audiometry, acoustic immittance measures and the dichotic sentence identification test as a screening for alterations in auditory processing, a requirement to participate in the sample. The MMN was applied with two different stimuli, with these being da/ta (verbal) and 750 Hz and 1,000 Hz (nonverbal). Results There was a statistically significant difference between the latency values of the N1 potential and the MMN with the two stimuli, as well as between the MMN with verbal and nonverbal stimuli, and the latency of the MMN elicited with da/ta being greater than that elicited with 750 Hz and 1,000 Hz, which facilitated its visualization. Conclusion The time of occurrence of MMN after the N1 elicited with verbal stimuli was 100.4 ms and with nonverbal stimuli 85.5 ms. Thus, the marking of the MMN with verbal stimuli proved to be more distant from N1 compared with the nonverbal stimuli.

Talking matters \u2013 evaluative and motivational inner speech use predicts performance in conflict tasks

Conflict between response tendencies is ubiquitous in every day performance. Capabilities that resolve such conflicts are therefore mandatory for successful goal achievement. The present study investigates the potential of evaluative and motivational inner speech to help conflict resolution. In our study we assessed six tasks commonly used to measure conflict resolution capabilities and cognitive flexibility in 163 participants. Participants additionally answered questionnaires concerned with their habitual usage of inner speech such as silently rehearsing task instructions and evaluating performance. We found reduced conflict effects in tasks using symbolic, non-verbal stimuli for participants with higher self-reported use of evaluative and motivational inner speech. Overall, our findings suggest that silent self-talk and performance monitoring are beneficial for conflict resolution over and above constructs such as intelligence and working memory capacity that account for mean RT differences among participants.

Neural substrates of amodal and modality-specific semantic processing within the temporal lobe: A lesion-behavior mapping study of semantic dementia

Although the human temporal lobe has been documented to participate in semantic processing of both verbal and nonverbal stimuli, the exact neural basis underlying the common and unique processing of the two modalities is unclear. Semantic dementia (SD), a disease with a semantic-selective deficit due to predominant temporal lobe atrophy is an ideal lesion model to address this issue. However, many previous studies of SD used an impure patient sample or did not appropriately control for common components between tasks. To overcome these limitations, the present study aims to identify amodal semantic hubs and modality-specific regions in the temporal lobe by investigating behavioral performance on a verbal modality task (word associative matching) and a nonverbal modality task (picture associative matching) and neuroimaging data in 33 SD patients. We found that the left anterior fusiform gyrus was an amodal semantic hub whose gray matter volume correlated significantly with both modalities. We also observed two verbal modality-specific regions (the left posterior inferior temporal gyrus and the left middle superior temporal gyrus) and a nonverbal modality-specific region (the right lateral anterior middle temporal gyrus) whose gray matter volume correlated significantly with one modality when performance on the other modality was partialled out. The results remained significant when we excluded a wide range of potential confounding variables. Furthermore, to confirm the observed effects, we compared the performance of left- and right-hemispheric-predominant atrophic patients on the verbal and nonverbal tasks. The left-predominant patients showed more severe deficits in performance of the verbal task than the right-predominant patients, whereas the two groups of patients presented comparable deficits in the performance of the nonverbal task. These findings refined the structure of semantic network in the temporal lobe, deepening our understanding of the critical role of the temporal lobe in semantic processing.

Task-unrelated thoughts and forgetting in working memory

Abstract The present article reports four experiments that investigated the effects of task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs) on forgetting in non-verbal working memory. Participants had to remember three non-verbal stimuli over unfilled retention intervals (RIs) and then judge whether or not a subsequently presented probe stimulus matched one of the to-be-remembered stimuli. Participants additionally responded to randomly appearing probes that measured different aspects of their TUT engagement during the RI of the preceding trial. Forgetting over unfilled RIs was observed in three of four experiments and reliably associated with the proportion of time spent on TUTs. In contrast, the visual and auditory nature of the TUTs and the number of different TUTs did not reliably predict forgetting. The results support the view that TUTs block attention-based processes that are needed for restoring decaying memory representations rather than an alternative account in terms of interference caused by the content of the TUTs. .

Strategies of oral communication of deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HH) non-native English users

ABSTRACTThe aim of this paper is to analyse oral communication strategies in English as a foreign language (EFL) of deaf and hard of hard-of-hearing (D/HH) students. The paper is based on an action research case study concerning oral communication strategies of this group of students with special educational needs. The results demonstrate that when they communicate orally in the target foreign language, D/HH students use the same verbal, nonverbal, linguistic, and non-linguistic stimuli as their hearing peers, alongside certain characteristic communication strategies. The paper relates these students’ employment of various communication strategies to their greater autonomy, and emphasises the need to identify and promote beneficial communication strategies during EFL classes for the D/HH.

Brainstem auditory evoked potentials in children with autism spectrum disorder

ObjectivesThis study aimed to analyze the neural encoding of verbal and nonverbal stimuli in individuals with autism spectrum disorder using brainstem auditory evoked potentials. MethodologyThirty individuals between 7 and 12 years of age and of both genders participated in this study. Fifteen were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, and 15 had typical development. All subjects had normal hearing and no other impairments. An electrophysiological hearing assessment was performed using brainstem auditory evoked potentials with click and speech stimuli. ResultsIn the brainstem auditory evoked potentials with click stimuli, the mean wave I latency was longer for the right ear in both groups, and interpeak intervals III–V were greater for the individuals with autism spectrum disorder. For brainstem auditory evoked potentials with speech stimuli, wave V latency was shorter in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. ConclusionThese data suggest that individuals with autism spectrum disorder may have a dysfunction of the central auditory nervous system for nonverbal stimuli and faster neural encoding of the initial part of the verbal stimulus, suggesting hypersensitivity to complex sounds such as speech.

Affective Language, Interpretation Bias and Its Molecular Genetic Variations: Exploring the Relationship Between Genetic Variations of the OXTR Gene (rs53576 and rs2268498) and the Emotional Evaluation of Words Related to the Self or the Other.

Several studies have demonstrated links between oxytocin and socio-emotional information processing. Regarding the frequently studied single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs53576 and the less studied, functional polymorphism rs2268498 of the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene, previous research suggested that their variants might be associated with different proficiency in the processing of social information. Differences between the genotype variants are not restricted to non-verbal stimulus processing but have also been reported in the verbal domain. Moreover, there is evidence that oxytocin expression influences empathic communication and language development during childhood, indicating that language-based theory-of-mind abilities may be affected by interindividual differences in OXTR genotypes as well. The present study therefore investigates whether two prominent SNPs of the OXTR gene (rs53576 GG vs. A+; rs2268498 TT vs. C+) also play a role in the affective evaluation of verbal stimuli varying in emotional valence and in self-other reference. Participants (N = 149 Caucasian participants, 104 females; A+: n = 80, GG: n = 69; C+: n = 98, TT: n = 51) were presented a series of written, self-, other-, and unreferenced words of positive, negative, and neutral valence and asked to affectively evaluate each word pair as positive, negative, or neutral by button press. In line with previous research, reaction times and accuracy (number of valence-congruent responses) showed a self-positivity bias (i.e., preferential processing of self-related positive words), which, however, was unaffected by participants’ genotype. Regarding affective evaluation of neutral words (interpretation bias), A+ carriers displayed a weaker positive interpretation bias compared to GG carriers in the other– and unreferenced stimulus categories. C+ carriers showed a weaker positive interpretation bias than TT carriers in the self-reference condition and in the other-reference condition. These effects were independent from participants’ gender. The present results suggest that the OXTR genotype and hence participants’ genetic oxytocin sensitivity may cause an interpretation bias in the spontaneous appraisal of neutral words.

Differences and similarities in the long-latency auditory evoked potential recording of P1-N1 for different sound stimuli

ABSTRACT Purpose: this study aimed at illustrating the similarities and differences in the recording of components P1 and N1 for verbal and non-verbal stimuli, in an adult sample population, for reference purposes. Methods: twenty-one adult, eutrophic individuals of both sexes were recruited for this study. The long-latency auditory evoked potential was detected by bilateral stimulation in both ears, using simultaneous recording, with non-verbal stimuli and the syllable /da/. Results: for non-verbal and speech stimuli, N1 was identified in 100.0% of the participants, whereas P1 was observed in 85.7% and 95.2% individuals for non-verbal and speech stimuli, respectively. Significant differences were observed for the P1 and N1 amplitudes between the ears (p <0.05); the P1 component, in the left ear, was higher than that in the right ear, whereas the N1 component was higher in the right one. Regarding the stimuli, the amplitude and latency values of N1 were higher for speech, whereas in P1, different results were obtained only in latency. Conclusion: the N1 component was the most frequently detected one. Differences in latency and amplitude for each stimuli occurred only for N1, which can be justified by its role in the process of speech discrimination.