SUBTLEX-CY: A new word frequency database for Welsh.

We present SUBTLEX-CY, a new word frequency database created from a 32-million-word corpus of Welsh television subtitles. An experiment comprising a lexical decision task examined SUBTLEX-CY frequency estimates against words with inconsistent frequencies in a much smaller Welsh corpus that is often used by researchers, the Cronfa Electroneg o'r Gymraeg (CEG), and three other Welsh word frequency databases. Words were selected that were classified as low frequency (LF) in SUBTLEX-CY and high frequency (HF) in CEG and compared with words that were classified as medium frequency (MF) in both SUBTLEX-CY and CEG. Reaction time analyses showed that HF words in CEG were responded to more slowly compared to MF words, suggesting that SUBTLEX-CY corpus provides a more reliable estimate of Welsh word frequencies. The new Welsh word frequency database that also includes part-of-speech, contextual diversity, and other lexical information is freely available for research purposes on the Open Science Framework repository at https://osf.io/9gkqm/.

The impact of phonological relatedness on semantic congruency judgements in readers with dyslexia: Evidence from behavioural judgements, event related potentials and pupillometry.

Readers with developmental dyslexia are known to be impaired in representing and accessing phonology, but their ability to process meaning is generally considered to be intact. However, neurocognitive studies show evidence of a subtle semantic processing deficit in dyslexic readers, relative to their typically-developing peers. Here, we compared dyslexic and typical adult readers on their ability to judge semantic congruency (congruent vs. inconcongruent) in short, two-word phrases, which were further manipulated for phonological relatedness (alliterating vs. non-alliterating); "dazzling-diamond"; "sparkling-diamond"; "dangerous-diamond"; and "creepy-diamond". At the level of behavioural judgement, all readers were less accurate when evaluating incongruent alliterating items compared with incongruent non-aliterating, suggesting that phonological patterning creates the illusion of semantic congruency (as per Egan et al., 2020). Dyslexic readers showed a similar propensity for this form-meaning relationship despite a phonological processing impairment as evidenced in the cognitive and literacy indicative assessments. Dyslexic readers also showed an overall reduction in the ability to accurately judge semantic congruency, suggestive of a subtle semantic impairment. Whilst no group differences emerged in the electrophysiological measures, our pupil dilation measurements revealed a global tendency for dyslexic readers to manifest a reduced attentional response to these word stimuli, compared with typical readers. Our results show a broad manifestation of neurocognitive differences in adult dyslexic and typical readers' processing of print, at the level of autonomic arousal as well as in higher level semantic judgements.

Asynchronous Online Instruction Leads to Learning Gaps When Compared to a Flipped Classroom.

With the gradual shift to online education models that has taken place in recent decades, research has sought to understand the nuances of student performance in an online model in comparison to more traditional in-person modalities. However, the effects of instructional modality have been difficult to determine given the many variables that exist in course design between these methods. In this study, we attempt to determine the efficacy of asynchronous online instruction by comparing two nearly equivalent courses. The first course was a flipped classroom, a recent and well-studied hybrid model of instruction. The second was an asynchronous fully online course that contained all the same instructional elements as the in-person course but lacked any student or instructor interaction. Student performance was tracked at both a highly-selective private institution and an open-enrollment public institution. Results show that students' performance drops in an asynchronous online course compared to an equivalent in-person experience. Several potential hypotheses are put forth to explain a change in performance that can potentially shape the design of online instruction.

How alliteration enhances conceptual-attentional interactions in reading.

In linguistics, the relationship between phonological word form and meaning is mostly considered arbitrary. Why, then, do literary authors traditionally craft sound relationships between words? We set out to characterise how dynamic interactions between word form and meaning may account for this literary practice. Here, we show that alliteration influences both meaning integration and attentional engagement during reading. We presented participants with adjective-noun phrases, having manipulated semantic relatedness (congruent, incongruent) and form repetition (alliterating, non-alliterating) orthogonally, as in "dazzling-diamond"; "sparkling-diamond"; "dangerous-diamond"; and "creepy-diamond". Using simultaneous recording of event-related brain potentials and pupil dilation (PD), we establish that, whilst semantic incongruency increased N400 amplitude as expected, it reduced PD, an index of attentional engagement. Second, alliteration affected semantic evaluation of word pairs, since it reduced N400 amplitude even in the case of unrelated items (e.g., "dangerous-diamond"). Third, alliteration specifically boosted attentional engagement for related words (e.g., "dazzling-diamond"), as shown by a sustained negative correlation between N400 amplitudes and PD change after the window of lexical integration. Thus, alliteration strategically arouses attention during reading and when comprehension is challenged, phonological information helps readers link concepts beyond the level of literal semantics. Overall, our findings provide a tentative mechanism for the empowering effect of sound repetition in literary constructs.

tDCS Facilitation of Picture Naming: Item-Specific, Task General, or Neither?

The aim of the present study was to clarify the conditions under which anodal tDCS applied to left hemisphere language sites may facilitate picture naming latencies in healthy young adults. We built upon previous studies by directly testing for item-specific and generalized effects of tDCS through manipulation of item-familiarization and through testing for both online and offline effects of stimulation, in the same paradigm. In addition, we tested for the robustness of these effects by comparing two left hemisphere sites critical for lexical retrieval. Twenty-eight healthy young adults completed two testing sessions receiving either anodal (1.5 mA, 20 min) or sham stimulation (1.5 mA, 30 s) in each session. Half of the participants received tDCS over the left inferior frontal region and the other half over the left posterior superior temporal region. All participants were asked to a name a set of pictures and their response latencies were compared at three time points (before, during, and after the end of stimulation). The stimulus set was constructed so that some items were presented at all time points, some before and after stimulation, and some during stimulation only. A parsimonious linear mixed effects model (LMM) revealed robust repetition priming effects as latencies were reliably faster for previously named items in all conditions. However, active tDCS did not produce any additional facilitation in relation to sham, and even led to slower performance in the IFG group when the stimulated items differed from those tested at baseline and post-test. Our findings add to the present debate about the efficacy of single-session tDCS for modulation of lexical retrieval in healthy young adults. We conclude that future research should take a more systematic, step-wise approach to the application of tDCS to the study of language and that more sensitive experimental paradigms, which include a training element, are more adapted to the study of cognitive processes in populations with optimal levels of cortical excitability.

Study protocol for a randomised pilot study of a computer-based, non-pharmacological cognitive intervention for motor slowing and motor fatigue in Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic, neurodegenerative disorder affecting over 137,000 people in the UK and an estimated five million people worldwide. Treatment typically involves long-term dopaminergic therapy, which improves motor symptoms, but is associated with dose-limiting side effects. Developing effective complementary, non-pharmacological interventions is of considerable importance. This paper presents the protocol for a three-arm pilot study to test the implementation of computer-based cognitive training that aims to produce improvements or maintenance of motor slower and motor fatigue symptoms in people with PD. The primary objective is to assess recruitment success and usability of external data capture devices during the intervention. The secondary objectives are to obtain estimates of variance and effect size for changes in primary and secondary outcome measures to inform sample size calculations and study design for a larger scale trial. METHODS: The study aims to recruit between 40 and 60 adults with early- to middle-stage PD (Hoehn and Yahr 1-3) from National Health Service (NHS) outpatients' clinics and support groups across North Wales, UK. Participants will be randomised to receive training over five sessions in either a spatial grid navigation task, a sequential subtraction task or a spatial memory task. Patient-centred outcome measures will include motor examination scores from part 3 of the UPDRS-III and data from movement kinematic and finger tapping tasks. DISCUSSION: The results of this study will provide information regarding the feasibility of conducting a larger randomised control trial of non-pharmacological cognitive interventions of motor symptoms in PD. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN, ISRCTN12565492. Registered 4 April 2018-retrospectively registered, in accordance with the WHO Trial Registration Data Set.