P8-27 The role of visual imagery in concrete word processing: Effects of dynamic visual noise on event-related potentials to spoken words

Objective. Stress-reducing therapies help maintain cognitive performance during stress. Aromatherapy is popular for stress reduction, but its effectiveness and mechanism are unclear. This study examined stress-reducing effects of aromatherapy on cognitive function using the go/no-go (GNG) task performance and event related potentials (ERP) components sensitive to stress. The study also assessed the importance of expectancy in aromatherapy actions.Methods. 81 adults were randomized to 3 aroma groups (active experimental, detectable, and undetectable placebo) and 2 prime subgroups (prime suggesting stress-reducing aroma effects or no-prime). GNG performance, ERPs, subjective expected aroma effects, and stress ratings were assessed at baseline and poststress.Results. No specific aroma effects on stress or cognition were observed. However, regardless of experienced aroma, people receiving a prime displayed faster poststress median reaction times than those receiving no prime. A significant interaction for N200 amplitude indicated divergent ERP patterns between baseline and poststress for go and no-go stimuli depending on the prime subgroup. Furthermore, trends for beneficial prime effects were shown on poststress no-go N200/P300 latencies and N200 amplitude.Conclusion. While there were no aroma-specific effects on stress or cognition, these results highlight the role of expectancy for poststress response inhibition and attention.

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Cognitive processing effects on auditory event-related potentials and the evoked cardiac response

International Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2010.06.027 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 78 (2) ◽

pp. 100-106 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Carlie A. Lawrence ◽

Robert J. Barry

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Processing ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Cardiac Response ◽

Auditory Event ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Processing Effects ◽

Auditory Event Related Potentials

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Prediction and integration in native and second-language processing of elliptical structures

Bilingualism Language and Cognition ◽

10.1017/s1366728914000844 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 1-18 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

EDITH KAAN ◽

JOSEPH KIRKHAM ◽

FRANK WIJNEN

Keyword(s):

Language Processing ◽

Sentence Processing ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Syntactic Analysis ◽

Second Language Processing ◽

L2 Learners ◽

Frontal Negativity ◽

Related Potentials

According to recent views of L2-sentence processing, L2-speakers do not predict upcoming information to the same extent as do native speakers. To investigate L2-speakers’ predictive use and integration of syntactic information across clauses, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) from advanced L2-learners and native speakers while they read sentences in which the syntactic context did or did not allow noun-ellipsis (Lau, E., Stroud, C., Plesch, S., & Phillips, C. (2006). The role of structural prediction in rapid syntactic analysis. Brain and Language, 98, 74–88.) Both native and L2-speakers were sensitive to the context when integrating words after the potential ellipsis-site. However, native, but not L2-speakers, anticipated the ellipsis, as suggested by an ERP difference between elliptical and non-elliptical contexts preceding the potential ellipsis-site. In addition, L2-learners displayed a late frontal negativity for ungrammaticalities, suggesting differences in repair strategies or resources compared with native speakers.

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Effects of handedness on olfactory event-related potentials in a simple olfactory task

Rhinology Journal ◽

10.4193/rhino14.204 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 53 (2) ◽

pp. 149-153

Author(s):

Marie Gottschlich ◽

Thomas Hummel

Keyword(s):

Hydrogen Sulfide ◽

Ethyl Alcohol ◽

Healthy Subjects ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Major Influence ◽

Chemical Senses ◽

Phenyl Ethyl Alcohol ◽

Related Potentials ◽

The Rose

The purpose of the present study was to re-investigate the influence of handedness on simple olfactory tasks to further clarify the role of handedness in chemical senses. Similar to language and other sensory systems, effects of handedness should be expected. Young, healthy subjects participated in this study, including 24 left-handers and 24 right-handers, with no indication of any major nasal or health problems. The two groups did not differ in terms of sex and age (14 women and 10 men in each group). They had a mean age of 24.0 years. Olfactory event-related potentials were recorded after left or right olfactory stimulation with the rose-like odor phenyl ethyl alcohol (PEA) or the smell of rotten eggs (hydrogen sulfide, H2S). Results suggested that handedness has no major influence on amplitude or latency of olfactory event-related potentials when it comes to simple olfactory tasks.

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Dissociable electrophysiological correlates of semantic access of motor and non-motor concepts

10.1101/517284 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Rodika Sokoliuk ◽

Sara Calzolari ◽

Damian Cruse

Keyword(s):

Premotor Cortex ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Specific Role ◽

Cortical Activation ◽

Motor Action ◽

Relative Contribution ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Action Verbs ◽

Healthy Participants

AbstractThe notion of semantic embodiment posits that concepts are represented in the same neural sensorimotor systems that were involved in their acquisition. However, evidence in support of embodied semantics – in particular the hypothesised contribution of motor and premotor cortex to the representation of action concepts – is varied. Here, we tested the hypothesis that, consistent with semantic embodiment, sensorimotor cortices will rapidly become active while healthy participants access the meaning of visually-presented motor and non-motor action verbs. Event-related potentials revealed early differential processing of motor and non-motor verbs (164-203ms) within distinct regions of cortex likely reflecting rapid cortical activation of differentially distributed semantic representations. However, we found no evidence for a specific role of sensorimotor cortices in supporting these representations. Moreover, we observed a later modulation of the alpha band (8-12Hz) from 555-785ms over central electrodes, with estimated generators within the left superior parietal lobule, which may reflect post-lexical activation of the object-directed features of the motor action concepts. In conclusion, we find no evidence for a specific role of sensorimotor cortices when healthy participants judge the meaning of visually-presented action verbs. However, the relative contribution of sensorimotor cortices to action comprehension may vary as a function of task goals.

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Embodiment of sleep-related words: evidence from event-related potentials

10.1101/2020.12.23.424194 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Mareike J. Hülsemann ◽

Björn Rasch

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Processing ◽

Word Processing ◽

Body Position ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

The Body ◽

Semantic Meaning ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Multimodal Networks ◽

Lying Down

AbstractOur thoughts, plans and intentions can influence physiological sleep, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. According to the theoretical framework of “embodied cognition”, the semantic content of cognitive processes is represented by multimodal networks in the brain which also include body-related functions. Such multimodal representation could offer a mechanism which explains mutual influences between cognition and sleep. In the current study we tested whether sleep-related words are represented in multimodal networks by examining the effect of congruent vs. incongruent body positions on word processing during wakefulness.We experimentally manipulated the body position of 66 subjects (50 females, 16 males, 19-40 years old) between standing upright and lying down. Sleep- and activity-related words were presented around the individual speech recognition threshold to increase task difficulty. Our results show that word processing is facilitated in congruent body positions (sleep words: lying down and activity words: standing upright) compared with incongruent body positions, as indicated by a reduced N400 of the event-related potential (ERP) in the congruent condition with the lowest volume. In addition, early sensory components of the ERP (N180 and P280) were enhanced, suggesting that words were also acoustically better understood when the body position was congruent with the semantic meaning of the word. However, the difference in ERPs did not translate to differences on a behavioural level.Our results support the prediction of embodied processing of sleep- and activity-related words. Body position potentially induces a pre-activation of multimodal networks, thereby enhancing the access to the semantic concepts of words related to current the body position. The mutual link between semantic meaning and body-related function could be a key element in explaining influences of cognitive processing on sleep.

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