Neurocognitive Correlates of Statistical Learning of Orthographic-Semantic Connections in Chinese Adult Learners / 神经科学通报·英文版

We examined the neural correlates of the statistical learning of orthographic-semantic connections in Chinese adult learners. Visual event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants were exposed to a sequence of artificial logographic characters containing semantic radicals carrying low, moderate, or high levels of semantic consistency. The behavioral results showed that the mean accuracy of participants' recognition of previously exposed characters was 63.1% that was significantly above chance level (50%), indicating the statistical learning of the regularities of semantic radicals. The ERP data revealed a temporal sequence of the neural process of statistical learning of orthographic-semantic connections, and different brain indexes were found to be associated with this processing, i.e., a clear N170-P200-N400 pattern. For N170, the larger negative amplitudes were evoked by the high and moderate consistency than the low consistency. For P200, the mean amplitudes elicited by the moderate and low consistency were larger than the high consistency. In contrast, a larger N400 amplitude was observed in the low than moderate and high consistency; and more negative amplitude was elicited by the moderate than high consistency. We propose that the initial potential shifts (N170 and P200) may reflect orthographic or graphic form identification, while the later component (N400) may be associated with semantic information analysis.

Abnormal semantic and syntactic processing in patients with schizophrenia: an event-related potential study / 上海交通大学学报（医学版）

Objective • To explore the differences of event-related potential components (N400 and P600) in response to language processing between schizophrenia (SZ) patients with formal thought disorder (FTD), SZ patients without FTD, genetic high-risk subjects and healthy controls (HC). Methods • Thirty SZ patients with FTD (SZ-FTD group) and 29 SZ patients without FTD (SZ-nFTD group), who were hospitalized in Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 22 subjects at genetic high risk who were first degree relatives of SZ patients, and 31 healthy controls (HC) were recruited. Four different types of sentences (syntactically and semantically correct, syntactically correct but semantically incorrect, syntactically incorrect but semantically correct, and syntactically and semantically incorrect) were presented to the four groups respectively with electroencephalogram recording. Repeated measurement analysis of variance was used to compare the response accuracy of the four groups and to analyze the differences in the amplitude and latency of N400 and P600 components in response to each kind of sentence among the four groups. Results • SZFTD group showed a lower accuracy rate compared with the HC group (P=0.000). Compared with the HC group, N400 amplitude in SZ-FTD group was lower in statistically significance (P=0.003), while SZ-FTD group did not show a prominent N400 component. P600 component was well evoked in four groups, and there was an interaction between semantics, syntax and group (P=0.022). By further analysis, neither SZ-FTD nor SZ-nFTD group showed significant differences in P600 amplitudes evoked by syntactically correct and syntactically incorrect sentences. There was no significant difference in P600 amplitudes evoked by semantically correct and incorrect sentences in SZ-FTD group, whereas P600 amplitudes evoked by semantically correct sentences were greater than those evoked by semantically incorrect ones in the other three groups. Conclusion • Neural activity is impaired during semantic processing in SZ. In particular, SZ-FTD patients have impairments in both semantic and syntactic processing.

Role of Working Memory in Lexical Access: An Event-related Potential Study Based on Word-picture Matchin Tasks / 中国康复理论与实践

Objective To observe the role of working memory in the process of language, and provide an objective evaluation for Chinese language rehabilitation.Methods From December, 2017 to June, 2018, 20 healthy subjects accepted word-picture matching tasks as the word and picture showed on the different (task 1) or same (task 2) screens, and their event-related potential of N400 were compared in matched and mismatched conditions.Results Forteen subjects were included finally. Task 1 induced N400 appeared earlier with higher amplitude and more activation in central parietal occipital region, followed larger N170 and P1 wave. There were significant differences in most cerebral regions between the two tasks in N400 amplitude difference of matched and mismatched conditions (t＞ 2.319, P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Word-picture matching tasks may involve more language-related brain regions with the intervention of working memory, that might work better in process of vocabulary. The tasks simulating the scene of Chinese language rehabilitation can be used as an objective evaluation for clinical activities.

Associations between semantic priming and problem behavior in boy with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective To investigate the semantic priming of boy with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder( ADHD) and explore whether the semantic priming deficits was associated with behavioral problems by event-related potential(ERP). Methods Thirty boy with and without ADHD aged from 7 to 13 years were asked to finish the semantic Semantic judgment task. The study took advantage of t-test ( independent-samples) to compare the amplitude and latency of the N400 in both groups,as well as behavioral data.Behav-ioral problems were assessed by the Achenbach child behavior checklist( CBCL) ,and Pearson correlation a-nalysis were used to explore the relationship between behavioral problems and semantic priming. Result-s Under the condition of semantic correlation,the hyperactive factor of CBCL in ADHA group was positively correlated with ERP N400 amplitude ( r=0.44,P<0.05) and negatively correlated with reaction accuracy ( r=-0.48,P<0.05).Under the semantic irrelevant condition,the latency of ERP N400 in ADHA group was pos-itively correlated with hyperactivity factor (r=0.53,P<0.05)and aggression factor of CBCL(r=0.62,P<0.05).The N400 amplitude of the ADHD group was significant higher than that in the control group under se-mantic related conditions((-11.36±4.77)μV vs (-7.66±5.24)μV,P=0.006),and the latency of the N400 in ADHD was more delay((369.6±44.09)ms vs (341.27±24.54)ms,P=0.004),and the reaction times (RT) was much longer((936.18±135.03)ms vs (857.78±103.45)ms,P=0.014).The latency of the N400 in ADHD was more delay than that in the control group under semantic irrelevant conditions ( ( 383. 93 ±29.66)ms vs (362.33±29.66)ms,P=0.012),and accuracies of ADHD group was lower than that of control group(0.43±0.39 vs 0.81±0.23,P<0.01).Conclusion The present result indicates that children with ADHD exhibit a deficit in the semantic priming mechanism,and the deficit is positively correlated with hy-peractivity and impulsiveness.

Effects of Risperidone and Paliperidone on Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and N400 in First-Episode Schizophrenia / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>Background</b>Risperidone and paliperidone have been the mainstay treatment for schizophrenia and their potential role in neuroprotection could be associated with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and N400 (an event-related brain potential component). So far, different effects on both BDNF and N400 were reported in relation to various antipsychotic treatments. However, few studies have been conducted on the mechanism of risperidone and paliperidone on BDNF and N400. This study aimed to compare the effects of risperidone and paliperidone on BDNF and the N400 component of the event-related brain potential in patients with first-episode schizophrenia.</p><p><b>Methods</b>Ninety-eight patients with first-episode schizophrenia were randomly divided into the risperidone and paliperidone groups and treated with risperidone and paliperidone, respectively, for 12 weeks. Serum BDNF level, the latency, and amplitude of the N400 event-related potential before and after the treatment and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) scores were compared between the two groups.</p><p><b>Results</b>A total of 94 patients were included in the final analysis (47 patients in each group). After the treatment, the serum BDNF levels in both groups increased (all P < 0.01), while no significant difference in serum BDNF level was found between the groups before and after the treatment (all P > 0.05). After the treatment, N400 amplitudes were increased (from 4.73 ± 2.86 μv and 4.51 ± 4.63 μv to 5.35 ± 4.18 μv and 5.52 ± 3.08 μv, respectively) under congruent condition in both risperidone and paliperidone groups (all P < 0.01). Under incongruent conditions, the N400 latencies were shortened in the paliperidone group (from 424.13 ± 110.42 ms to 4.7.41 ± 154.59 ms, P < 0.05), and the N400 amplitudes were increased in the risperidone group (from 5.80 ± 3.50 μv to 7.17 ± 5.51 μv, P < 0.01). After treatment, the total PANSS score in both groups decreased significantly (all P < 0.01), but the difference between the groups was not significant (P > 0.05). A negative correlation between the reduction rate of the PANSS score and the increase in serum BDNF level after the treatment was found in the paliperidone group but not in the risperidone group.</p><p><b>Conclusions</b>Both risperidone and paliperidone could increase the serum BDNF levels in patients with first-episode schizophrenia and improve their cognitive function (N400 latency and amplitude), but their antipsychotic mechanisms might differ.</p>

Cerebro constructor dinámico de significados: más allá de la lingüística computacional / Brain dynamic builder meanings: beyond computational linguistic

Desde la aparición del estudio del cerebro a partir de las redes neuronales artificiales de McCulloch & Pitts (1965) y la arquitectura cerebral de Von Neumann(1951), la explicación científica de cómo significamos el mundo sentó sus bases en la metáfora de la mente entendida como cerebro-computador (Chomsky,1965). Aun cuando el intento de abordar la cuestión del significado desde esta perspectiva fue auspicioso, hoy es posible encontrar obstáculos asociados a laconcepción estática de la representación, requiriendo una perspectiva que conciba el cerebro como un constructor dinámico de significados (Varela, Thompson& Rosch, 2005). En este artículo presentamos una revisión de tres paradigmas experimentales que conciben la mente como un sistema dinámico espaciotemporal,donde la neurodinámica, el componente N400 y la neuroimagen son los más utilizados en la actualidad en el estudio del significado.

Since the emergence of the study of the brain from artificial neural networks McCulloch & Pitts (1965) and brain Von Neumann architecture (1951), the scien-tific explanation of how mean the world laid its foundations in the metaphor of the mind understood as brain-computer (Chomsky, 1965). Although the attempt to address the questionof meaning from this perspective was auspicious, it is now possible to find obstacles associated with static conception of representation, required a perspective that sees the brain as a dynamic builder of meanings (Varela, Thompson & Rosch, 2005). We present a review of three experimental paradigms which conceive the mind as a space-time, dynamic system where neurodynamics, the N400 component and neuroimaging are the most used today in the study of meaning.

A semantic processing development study in 7-11 years old children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and normal children:an ERP study of N400 / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective To explore the developmental characteristics of semantic processing of chil-dren with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder( ADHD) by comparing the event related potential in normal children and ADHD children ( ages 7-11 years old) .Methods 83 ADHD children and 93 normal children ranging from 7 to 11-year were divided into 5 groups to analyze the difference of the amplitude and latency of ERP N400 in three conditions:the related,unrelated and pesudoword after the Chinese character word visual stimulus task.Results (1) The related condition:the amplitude of the 7 years old normal children group was higher than 11 years old((-10.67±4.39)μV,(-4.62±3.55)μV;P=0.005);and the amplitude was highest in 8 years old group in children with ADHD( (-10.77±6.66) ms, F=2.54, P=0.046) .The latency in normal children was shorter at 8 years old((311.7±33.1) ms, P<0.05),but was shorter at 9 years old in ADHD group.( 2) The unrelated condition:the amplitude of normal children aged 10 years was higher than that of other age groups.( 3) The pesudoword condition:the amplitude of 9 years old normal children was higher than other age groups.The amplitude of ADHD in children aged 9 years was higher than that in other age groups( (-16.08±7.14)μV, P<0.05) .Conclusion In the semantic related conditions,the amplitude of the N400 in ADHD children at the age of 8 and the latency at the age of 9 are significantly developed,and in the false words conditions,it is at the age of 11.This suggests that the ability of 7-11 years old ADHD chil-dren's orthographic semantic processing and cognitive development are slower than normal.N400 can better reflect the children's early language cognitive ability,and it is valuable for the early diagnosis of children with ADHD.

Interferencia de la información léxica sobre la identificación de fonemas durante una tarea de decisión fonológica / Lexical information interference in phonemic recognition during a phonological decision task

A partir de estudios con potenciales relacionados a eventos en tareas de decisión fonológica (DF) o léxica (DL), se ha propuesto que el procesamiento auditivo del lenguaje es de tipo serial con interacciones tardías entre los módulos fonológico, sintáctico y semántico. Este trabajo intentó valorar si existía una interferencia entre el procesamiento fonológico y semántico durante la DL y DF de sintagmas nominales utilizando un artículo definido en concordancia con un sustantivo. A fin de examinar esto, se presentaron 180 estímulos auditivos a un grupo de participantes, y se les pidió que realizaran una tarea de DL y una de decisión DF; 60 estímulos utilizaron palabras de la lengua, 60 con una vocal alterada en el sustantivo que generaba una pseudopalabra (PSP1), y 60 con una sílaba traslocada en el sustantivo para generar otro tipo de pseudopalabra (PSP2). Se registraron 10 participantes hispanohablantes adultos sin padecimientos neurológicos ni psiquiátricos. Se encontró que los participantes se equivocaron más al identificar las PSP1 que las PSP2 en la tarea de DL. No se encontraron diferencias en el componente N400 durante DL. En la tarea de DF, se encontró que el N100 incrementó su amplitud ante la presentación de palabras. Estos hallazgos apuntan a que la información léxica interfiere con la fase de procesamiento fonológico y cuestiona el modelo de procesamiento serial del lenguaje.

Experiments using event-related potentials during phonological decision (PD) and lexical decision (LD) tasks have suggested that auditory language processing occurs in a serial fashion, with late interactions amongst the phonological, syntactic and semantic modules. This paper sought to assess the existence of interference between phonological and semantic processing during LD and PD in nominal phrases, by using a definite article to match a noun. In order to examine this, 180 auditory stimuli were presented to a group of participants, and they were asked to perform a LD and a PD task. Sixty auditory stimuli included a noun that generated a pseudo-word (PSP1), and 60 others included a misplaced syllable within the noun so as to generate another type of pseudo-word (PSP2). Ten adult Spanish speakers without any neurological or psychiatric disorders volunteered to take part in the experiment. Participants were found to make more mistakes when identifying PSP1 than PSP2 during the LD task. There were no significant differences in the N400 component during LD. As for the PD task, it was found that N100 increased in amplitude when words were presented. These findings go to show that lexical information interferes with the phonological processing phase, and questions the serial model of language processing.

The variation of N400 event-related potentials during language cognition of different paradigms in stroke patients / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

Objective To explore the cognition processes of language in stroke patients by characterizing the differences between the event-related potentials (ERPs) N400 evoked bypicture-word andsentence-wordparadigms.Methods Twenty patients with a single brain lesion resulting from a first episode of stroke were tested along with 20 normal controls.Their N400 ERPs were tested using pictures and sentences as activating stimuli and phrases composed of nouns and verbs as the target stimuli.The N400 potentials were recorded from electrodes located at Fz,Pz,T3 and T4 positions of the International 10-20 system.The N400 latencies and amplitudes and the behavioral responses of the experimental and control groups were compared.Results The latencies were longer and the amplitudes were lower in response to sentence activation than to picture activation.The differences in terms of amplitude were the greatest with N400 recorded from Pz.The responses to the target stimuli were not significantly different with regard to the types of stimuli and recording location.The average response time was longer and the error rate was higher in response to sentence activation than to picture activation.Conclusion Multiple accesses,activating stimuli and integrating processes are involved in language cognition.The brain is more sensitive and accurate in response to picture stimuli in language cognition.The response to sentence stimuli is slower,and the error rate is higher.This suggests that it is better to usc varied prime stimuli in teaching children languages.

Study on Event-related Potential N400 before and after Speech Therapy in Chinese Aphasia Patients / 中国康复理论与实践

Objective To investigate the feature of event-related potential N400 before and after speech therapy in Chinese aphasia pa-tients. Methods 20 Chinese aphasia patients received speech therapy for 12 weeks. Language function was evaluated with Western Aphasia Battery (WAB), and the latency and amplitude of N400 were monitored before and after treatment. Results Spontaneous speech, retelling, and nomination in WAB and aphasia quotient (AQ) of WAB significantly increased after treatment (P<0.05). N400 latency was shorter and N400 amplitude was lower after treatment (P<0.05). The latency and amplitude of N400 were negatively correlated to the score of AQ in the difference before and after treatment (P<0.001). Conclusion Event-related potential N400 could reflect the improvement of speech function before and after treatment, and it is a valuable index for evaluating the recovery of language function in Chinese aphasia patients.

The impact of Chitosan Lecithin on the mild cognitive impairment patients' semantic understanding by event-related potential N400 / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective To study the impact of Chitosan Lecithin on the mild cognitive impairment(MCI) patients' semantic understanding by event-related potential N400.Methods 32 patients with MCI were screened from 500 elder people aged Court in Weifang by mini-mental state examination (MMSE) scale,and were divided into two groups:the observation group ( n=16) and the control group ( n=16) by the table of random numbers.The observation group were given Chitosan Lecithin while the control group were given an equal dose of placebo.The intervention time was 2 months.The subjects were asked to conduct semantic judgement by semantic violation experiment.Thirty-two channels electroencephalogram(EEG) was recorded by Neuroacan Nuamps Systerm and analyzed data.Results 1 ) Specific component N400 was found in both groups,which was distributed at the frontal,central and parietal regions.2 ) The observation group reaction time and correct rate were respectively (965.13 ± 178.07 ) ms and ( 92.56 ± 2.36 ) ％ ,while the control group were respectively ( 1126.13 ± 252.77 ) ms and (85.28 ± 5.73 )％,with significant difference(P ＜ 0.05 ).3 ) Compared with N400 in control group,N400 latency was shorter ( (425.28 ±47.26) ms vs (456.19 ± 37.75 ) ms,F=6.01,P＜0.05) and amplitude was higher ( (4.79 ±2.18)μV vs (3.59 ± 1.33) pV,F=5.96,P＜0.05).Conclusion Chitosan lecithin has the effect of N400 latency and amplitude,it may be helpful for the patients of MCI in semantic understanding.

Using event-related potentials to explore language processing / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

Objective To investigate the use of component N400 of the event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by Chinese idioms ending with matching and nonmatching words to explore the cognitive patterns and processing mechanisms elicited by Chinese characters. Methods Sixty-two right-handed healthy adults (age 19-50 years) , were presented with Chinese idioms ending with words with the same pronunciation but different form and meaning, words with similar forms but different pronunciation and meaning, words with same meaning but different pronunciation and form, and words with different pronunciation, form and meaning. A Guangzhou Runjie WJ-1 instrument was used to record component N400 of the potentials evoked. Results N400 showed a midline distribution , and could be detected under electrodes Fz, Cz and Pz. Significant differences were found in N400 latencies and amplitudes between matching and nonmatching ending-words. Compared with idioms with matching ending-words, N400 latencies were prolonged and amplitudes increased in nonmatching cases. The observed changes in N400 latencies and amplitudes were related to stimulus types, and the longest latency and largest amplitude were e-licited by ending-words with different pronunciation, form and meaning. No gender difference in N400 latency or amplitude was observed. Conclusions Compared with Western phonetic words, Chinese ideographic words are more flexible stimuli for N400 research, offering 3 dimensions for change: pronunciation, form and meaning. The N400 features elicited by matching and nonmatching ending words in Chinese idioms are mainly determined by the meaning of the word.

Inference making while reading narrative and expository texts: an ERP study

Much of the recent research on discourse comprehension has centered on the readers' ability to construct coherent mental representations of texts. In order to form a unified representation of a given text, a reader must be able to join the information presented in the text with his/her background knowledge to construe the meaning that may not be explicitly stated, through the generation of inferences. In this study, the process of inference making by native speakers of English while reading two different types of text was investigated using electroencephalography (EEG). Subjects read narrative and expository paragraphs, and judged the plausibility of the final sentence of each four-sentence long paragraph by reference to the previous information. The analysis of data focused on the N400 component and on accuracy of behavioral responses. N400 amplitudes revealed that exposition was more demanding than narration in terms of semantic processing, whereas the behavioral data showed that subjects were more prone to generate inferences when reading exposition. Overall, this study suggests that these two types of text are processed differently by the brain, as revealed by the changes in the N400 component across the last sentences of the paragraphs.

Study on neural generators of N400 in first episode schizophrenia / 上海交通大学学报（医学版）

Objective To explore the features and neural generators of the events related potentials ( ERP) component N400, elicited by congruent and incongruent ending sentences, in first episode schizophrenia patients. Methods N400 was elicited by 76 congruent (31) or incongruent (45) ending Chinese sentences paradigm, and recorded by WJ-1 ERP instruments in 56 first episode schizophrenia. The neural generators of N400 different wave in 105 -615 ms time windows were analyzed by Brain Electrical Activity Mapping software. Results① The N400 latencies were significantly longer and amplitudes significantly higher in incongruent conditions than in congruent conditions in first episode schizophrenia (P < 0.05 or P <0.01).② N400 elicited by Chinese sentences distributed on frontal, parietal, occipital and temporal regions, and had a clear waveform. ③ The main brain areas activated by N400 were frontal areas in 345 -405 ms time windows, and central areas in 420 - 570 ms time windows. Conclusion N400 elicited by Chinese sentences are multi-generated in first episode schizophrenia, especially in frontal area.

Serial Processing of Exogenous and Endogenous Information Conflicts in Human Brain / 中国康复理论与实践

@# Objective To investigate the cortical activities for processing exogenous stimulus-related information conflict and endogenous mental-related information conflict.Methods Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while 15 healthy subjects performed a digit matching task. Each trial consisted of two sequentially presented digits (S1～S2), where S2 was either the same as S1 (S-) or different from S1 (S+) in digital value. Subjects pressed a button of a push-pad when S2 was the same as S1 and pressed the other button when S2 was different from S1 in the first session. Furtherly, they were required to calculate the difference between S1 and S2, and compare their calculation result with digit '3' in the second session. They pressed a button when the calculation result was equal to '3' (M-) and pressed the other button when it was not (M+). Three trial types were included: same numbers but their difference was not equal to '3' (S-M+), different numbers but their difference was '3' (S+M-) and different numbers but their difference was not '3' (S+M+). Results Following S2 onset, a component N270 was broadly elicited at all the scalps by S+, S+M- and S-M+. N270 and N400 were elicited in series by S+M+. The maximal amplitude of N270 was at the posterior scalp while the maximal amplitude of the N400 was at the central areas. Conclusion The different spatio-temporal distributions of the two negative potentials suggested that exogenous and endogenous information conflicts were serially processed in the human brain by the conflict processing system of multiple neural substrates.

Progress of Study on N400 Event-related Potentials in Languge Cognition / 中国临床心理学杂志

N400 as one of endogenic components in event-related potentials,which reflected the cognitive process of language in brain,has been more and more widely concerned.This article reviewed the discovery,the characteristics,the origins and the elicited methods of N400,summarized the investigations and point at issue on the cognitive process of language over the past several years,and explored the application foreground of N400 in the field of language cognition.

Study of event-related potentials N400 in children with Tic disorders / 临床神经病学杂志

Objective To investigate the change of event-related potentials(ERPs)N400 and its significances in children with Tic disorders.Methods N400 of 35 children with Tic disorders(case group)and 20 healthy children(control group)were taken.The results of case group and control group were compared with each other.Results N400 latency of the case group was(706.87?198.99)ms,and the amplitude was(26.12?13.64)?V;N400 latency of the control group was(485.75?85.76)ms,the amplitude was(22.35?19.76)?V.There was obvious difference in latency between two groups(P0.05).Conclusion ERPs N400 latency of children with Tic disorders prolong obviously which shows cognitive dysfunction in the patients.

Brain Processing of Nonliteral Language:ERP Researches / 中国临床心理学杂志

The nonliteral language and the literal language may be stored and processed differently in the brain. This review examines studies on idiom,metaphor and prosody processing by event-related brain potentials(ERPs). Many kinds of nonliteral languages,may be automatic speech modulated by the right hemisphere. What are to be further examined is the research paradigm of nonliteral language,the development of automatic speech and the social and emotional interaction.