scholarly journals Sex differences in communicative gestures and speech comprehension: an ERP study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
mirella manfredi ◽  
Paulo Boggio
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Speech Comprehension ◽  
N400 Effect ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Late Positivity ◽  
Communicative Gestures

The goal of this study was to investigate whether the semantic processing of the audiovisual combination of communicative gestures with speech differs between men and women. We recorded event-related brain potentials in women and men during the presentation of communicative gestures that were either congruent or incongruent with the speech. Our results showed that incongruent gestures elicited an N400 effect over frontal sites compared to the congruent ones in both groups. Moreover, only females showed an earlier N2 response to incongruent stimuli than congruent ones, while larger sustained negativity and late positivity in response to incongruent stimuli was observed only in males. These results suggest that women rapidly recognize and process audiovisual combinations of communicative gestures and speech (as early as 300 ms) whereas men analysis at the later stages of the process.

scholarly journals Electrophysiological Differentiation of the Effects of Stress and Accent on Lexical Integration in Highly Fluent Bilinguals

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 113
Author(s):  
Jennifer Lewendon ◽  
Anouschka Foltz ◽  
Guillaume Thierry
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Semantic Relatedness ◽  
Lexical Stress ◽  
Speech Comprehension ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Phonological Representations ◽  
Priming Paradigm ◽  
Processing Effort ◽  
Cross Language

Individuals who acquire a second language (L2) after infancy often retain features of their native language (L1) accent. Cross-language priming studies have shown negative effects of L1 accent on L2 comprehension, but the role of specific speech features, such as lexical stress, is mostly unknown. Here, we investigate whether lexical stress and accent differently modulate semantic processing and cross-language lexical activation in Welsh–English bilinguals, given that English and Welsh differ substantially in terms of stress realisation. In an L2 cross-modal priming paradigm, we manipulated the stress pattern and accent of spoken primes, whilst participants made semantic relatedness judgments on visual word targets. Event-related brain potentials revealed a main effect of stress on target integration, such that stimuli with stress patterns compatible with either the L1 or L2 required less processing effort than stimuli with stress incompatible with both Welsh and English. An independent cross-language phonological overlap manipulation revealed an interaction between accent and L1 access. Interestingly, although it increased processing effort, incorrect stress did not significantly modulate semantic priming effects or covert access to L1 phonological representations. Our results are consistent with the concept of language-specific stress templates, and suggest that accent and lexical stress affect speech comprehension mechanisms differentially.

Conceptual Processing in Music as Revealed by N400 Effects on Words and Musical Targets

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 1882-1892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérôme Daltrozzo ◽  
Daniele Schön
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Linguistic Context ◽  
N400 Effect ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Conceptual Processing ◽  
Electrophysiological Responses ◽  
Musical Excerpts ◽  
N400 Component ◽  
Nature Neuroscience

The cognitive processing of concepts, that is, abstract general ideas, has been mostly studied with language. However, other domains, such as music, can also convey concepts. Koelsch et al. [Koelsch, S., Kasper, E., Sammler, D., Schulze, K., Gunter, T., & Friederici, A. D. Music, language and meaning: Brain signatures of semantic processing. Nature Neuroscience, 7, 302–307, 2004] showed that 10 sec of music can influence the semantic processing of words. However, the length of the musical excerpts did not allow the authors to study the effect of words on musical targets. In this study, we decided to replicate Koelsch et al. findings using 1-sec musical excerpts (Experiment 1). This allowed us to study the reverse influence, namely, of a linguistic context on conceptual processing of musical excerpts (Experiment 2). In both experiments, we recorded behavioral and electrophysiological responses while participants were presented 50 related and 50 unrelated pairs (context/target). Experiments 1 and 2 showed a larger N400 component of the event-related brain potentials to targets following a conceptually unrelated compared to a related context. The presence of an N400 effect with musical targets suggests that music may convey concepts. The relevance of these results for the comprehension of music as a structured set of conceptual units and for the domain specificity of the mechanisms underlying N400 effects are discussed.

scholarly journals When dogs meow: an electrophysiological study of lexical-semantic processing in toddlers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirella Manfredi ◽  
Moritz M. Daum
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Electrophysiological Study ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Older Children ◽  
N400 Effect ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Lexical Information ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
Two Age Groups

The goal of this study was to investigate lexical–semantic processing at an early phase of language development. Adults often communicate with children using infant-directed speech that typically involves lexical and syntactic modifications such as onomatopoeias (Soderstrom, 2007).Here we asked how and when children start to show an advantage for processing conventional linguistic forms, such as common nouns, and consequently decreasing sensitivity to onomatopoeias. We recorded event-related brain potentials in children of two age groups (16 to 20 months and 24 to 30 months) and in an adult control group during the presentation of the four conditions in which either common nouns or onomatopoeias were presented auditorily followed by either a congruent or incongruent image. The younger children showed a N400 effect only for onomatopoeic words, while the older children showed a N400 effect only for common nouns. The adults show N400 for onomatopoeia and nouns. These different N400 effects suggest that these categories are differently organized in children’s semantic memory and that the acquisition of linguistic abilities affects and modifies semantic processing of different lexical information.

Sex Differences in Cardiovascular Reactivity

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew C. Whited ◽  
Kevin T. Larkin
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Sex Differences ◽  
Gender Roles ◽  
Cardiovascular Reactivity ◽  
Task Type ◽  
Conflict Task ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Conflicting Evidence ◽  
Blood Pressure Responses

Sex differences in cardiovascular reactivity to stress are well documented, with some studies showing women having greater heart rate responses than men, and men having greater blood pressure responses than women, while other studies show conflicting evidence. Few studies have attended to the gender relevance of tasks employed in these studies. This study investigated cardiovascular reactivity to two interpersonal stressors consistent with different gender roles to determine whether response differences exist between men and women. A total of 26 men and 31 women were assigned to either a traditional male-oriented task that involved interpersonal conflict (Conflict Task) or a traditional female-oriented task that involved comforting another person (Comfort Task). Results demonstrated that women exhibited greater heart rate reactions than men independent of the task type, and that men did not display a higher reactivity than women on any measure. These findings indicate that sex of participant was more important than gender relevance of the task in eliciting sex differences in cardiovascular responding.

The Relationship of Compliance with Coping Strategies and Self-Esteem

2003 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gisli H. Gudjonsson ◽  
Jon Fridrik Sigurdsson
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Multiple Regression ◽  
Sex Difference ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Stressful Situation ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Summary: The Gudjonsson Compliance Scale (GCS), the COPE Scale, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were administered to 212 men and 212 women. Multiple regression of the test scores showed that low self-esteem and denial coping were the best predictors of compliance in both men and women. Significant sex differences emerged on all three scales, with women having lower self-esteem than men, being more compliant, and using different coping strategies when confronted with a stressful situation. The sex difference in compliance was mediated by differences in self-esteem between men and women.

Sex Differences in Time Production Revisited

2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Glicksohn ◽  
Yamit Hadad
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Sex Difference ◽  
Absolute Error ◽  
Internal Clock ◽  
Target Duration ◽  
Log P ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Time Production ◽  
T Score

Individual differences in time production should indicate differences in the rate of functioning of an internal clock, assuming the existence of such a clock. And sex differences in time production should reflect a difference in the rate of functioning of that clock between men and women. One way of approaching the data is to compute individual regressions of produced duration (P) on target duration (T), after log transformation, and to derive estimates for the intercept and the slope. One could investigate a sex difference by comparing these estimates for men and women; one could also contrast them by looking at mean log(P). Using such indices, we found a sex difference in time production, female participants having a relatively faster internal clock, making shorter time productions, and having a smaller exponent. The question is whether a sex difference in time production would be found using other methods for analyzing the data: (1) the P/T ratio; (2) an absolute discrepancy (|P-T|) score; and (3) an absolute error (|P-T|/T) score. For the P/T ratio, female participants have a lower mean ratio in comparison to the male participants. In contrast, the |P-T| and |P-T|/T indices seem to be seriously compromised by wide individual differences.

Do Men and Women Feel Extreme Jealousy in Different Types of Relationships? Sex Differences in the Contexts of Jealousy and Envy

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brad J. Sagarin ◽  
Katharine E. Seidelman ◽  
Leah Peryer ◽  
Jeremy Heider ◽  
Sherman B. Serna
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Different Types

Reflections on Death by Spiritually Mature Elders

1994 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Eugene Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Fear Of Death ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Spatial Terms ◽  
Present Life

Beliefs and feelings about death are excerpted from interviews conducted with elderly English men and women, who were viewed as spiritually mature by those in their community. Respondents reported a wide range of beliefs about death, reflecting their personal experience, but none reported fear of death. Subtle sex differences were noted: men tended to picture death in spatial terms, of moving into a new dimension, while women tended to describe death in terms of relationships. Overall the respondents indicated that they placed a positive value on death, viewing it as a continuation of, and source of meaning for their present life.

scholarly journals Sex-Specific Differences in Glioblastoma

Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1783
Author(s):  
Anna Carrano ◽  
Juan Jose Juarez ◽  
Diego Incontri ◽  
Antonio Ibarra ◽  
Hugo Guerrero Cazares
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Immune System ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Protective Role ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Individualized Approach ◽  
Male Patients ◽  
Outcome Differences

Sex differences have been well identified in many brain tumors. Even though glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary malignant brain tumor in adults and has the worst outcome, well-established differences between men and women are limited to incidence and outcome. Little is known about sex differences in GBM at the disease phenotype and genetical/molecular level. This review focuses on a deep understanding of the pathophysiology of GBM, including hormones, metabolic pathways, the immune system, and molecular changes, along with differences between men and women and how these dimorphisms affect disease outcome. The information analyzed in this review shows a greater incidence and worse outcome in male patients with GBM compared with female patients. We highlight the protective role of estrogen and the upregulation of androgen receptors and testosterone having detrimental effects on GBM. Moreover, hormones and the immune system work in synergy to directly affect the GBM microenvironment. Genetic and molecular differences have also recently been identified. Specific genes and molecular pathways, either upregulated or downregulated depending on sex, could potentially directly dictate GBM outcome differences. It appears that sexual dimorphism in GBM affects patient outcome and requires an individualized approach to management considering the sex of the patient, especially in relation to differences at the molecular level.

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