Abstract
To master linguistic communication, humans must acquire large vocabularies quickly and effortlessly. Efficient word learning might be facilitated by the ability to rapidly acquire novel word forms even outside the focus of attention, occurring within minutes of repetitive exposure and suggesting fast and automatic lexicon acquisition. However, this phenomenon has been studied in the auditory modality only, and it is unknown whether similar mechanisms also exist in the visual domain. We tested this by presenting participants with novel written word forms while the focus of their attention was on a non-linguistic dual colour-detection task. Matched familiar word forms served as a control. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we scrutinised changes in neuromagnetic responses to familiar and to novel word forms over approximately 15 minutes of exposure. We found, for the first time, a visual analogue of automatic rapid build-up of neural memory circuits for unattended novel lexical items, seen as a rapid enhancement of early (similar to 100 ms post-onset) activation in the left anterior-superior temporal lobe. Our results suggest that the brain quickly forms cortical representations for new written forms, and indicate that the automatic neural mechanisms subserving rapid online acquisition of novel linguistic information might be shared by both auditory and visual modalities.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 15829 |
| Journal | Scientific Reports |
| Volume | 8 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| ISSN | 2045-2322 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 25 Oct 2018 |
| MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Fields of Science
- EARLY CORTICAL RESPONSES
- BEHAVIORAL EVIDENCE
- REGRESSION-ANALYSIS
- LANGUAGE
- SUPPRESSION
- REPETITION
- FMRI
- MEG
- RECOGNITION
- ACQUISITION
- 515 Psychology
Cite this
}
Formation of neocortical memory circuits for unattended written word forms : neuromagnetic evidence. / Partanen, Eino J.; Leminen, Alina; Cook, Clare; Shtyrov, Yury.
In: Scientific Reports, Vol. 8, 15829, 25.10.2018.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Formation of neocortical memory circuits for unattended written word forms
T2 - neuromagnetic evidence
AU - Partanen, Eino J.
AU - Leminen, Alina
AU - Cook, Clare
AU - Shtyrov, Yury
PY - 2018/10/25
Y1 - 2018/10/25
N2 - To master linguistic communication, humans must acquire large vocabularies quickly and effortlessly. Efficient word learning might be facilitated by the ability to rapidly acquire novel word forms even outside the focus of attention, occurring within minutes of repetitive exposure and suggesting fast and automatic lexicon acquisition. However, this phenomenon has been studied in the auditory modality only, and it is unknown whether similar mechanisms also exist in the visual domain. We tested this by presenting participants with novel written word forms while the focus of their attention was on a non-linguistic dual colour-detection task. Matched familiar word forms served as a control. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we scrutinised changes in neuromagnetic responses to familiar and to novel word forms over approximately 15 minutes of exposure. We found, for the first time, a visual analogue of automatic rapid build-up of neural memory circuits for unattended novel lexical items, seen as a rapid enhancement of early (similar to 100 ms post-onset) activation in the left anterior-superior temporal lobe. Our results suggest that the brain quickly forms cortical representations for new written forms, and indicate that the automatic neural mechanisms subserving rapid online acquisition of novel linguistic information might be shared by both auditory and visual modalities.
AB - To master linguistic communication, humans must acquire large vocabularies quickly and effortlessly. Efficient word learning might be facilitated by the ability to rapidly acquire novel word forms even outside the focus of attention, occurring within minutes of repetitive exposure and suggesting fast and automatic lexicon acquisition. However, this phenomenon has been studied in the auditory modality only, and it is unknown whether similar mechanisms also exist in the visual domain. We tested this by presenting participants with novel written word forms while the focus of their attention was on a non-linguistic dual colour-detection task. Matched familiar word forms served as a control. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we scrutinised changes in neuromagnetic responses to familiar and to novel word forms over approximately 15 minutes of exposure. We found, for the first time, a visual analogue of automatic rapid build-up of neural memory circuits for unattended novel lexical items, seen as a rapid enhancement of early (similar to 100 ms post-onset) activation in the left anterior-superior temporal lobe. Our results suggest that the brain quickly forms cortical representations for new written forms, and indicate that the automatic neural mechanisms subserving rapid online acquisition of novel linguistic information might be shared by both auditory and visual modalities.
KW - EARLY CORTICAL RESPONSES
KW - BEHAVIORAL EVIDENCE
KW - REGRESSION-ANALYSIS
KW - LANGUAGE
KW - SUPPRESSION
KW - REPETITION
KW - FMRI
KW - MEG
KW - RECOGNITION
KW - ACQUISITION
KW - 515 Psychology
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-018-34029-y
DO - 10.1038/s41598-018-34029-y
M3 - Article
VL - 8
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
SN - 2045-2322
M1 - 15829
ER -