Frequency-tagged visual evoked responses track syllable effects in visual word recognition

Abstract

The processing of syllables in visual word recognition was investigated using a novel paradigm based on steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs). French words were presented to proficient readers in a delayed naming task. Words were split into two segments, the first of which was flickered at 18.75 Hz and the second at 25 Hz. The first segment either matched (congruent condition) or did not match (incongruent condition) the first syllable. The SSVEP responses in the congruent condition showed increased power compared to the responses in the incongruent condition, providing new evidence that syllables are important sublexical units in visual word recognition and reading aloud. With respect to the neural correlates of the effect, syllables elicited an early activation of a right hemisphere network. This network is typically associated with the programming of complex motor sequences, cognitive control and timing. Subsequently, responses were obtained in left hemisphere areas related to phonological processing.

Modulation of rhythmic visual stimulation on left–right attentional asymmetry

“…Using time-frequency analyses, this study replicated previous finding that RVS could induce frequency-tagged SSVEP responses at the stimulation frequency of RVS and its harmonics (Herrmann, 2001). In previous studies, SSVEPs have been widely used for studying dynamic neural processes, such as attention control (Wittenhagen and Mattingley, 2019;Kritzman et al, 2022), working memory (Ellis et al, 2006), emotion recognition (Deng et al, 2020), visual information processing (Hansen et al, 2019;Montani et al, 2019) and visual perception (Chicherov and Herzog, 2015). In their views, the frequency-tagged SSVEP can reflect the dynamic neural processes but not influence them, thus making it a good candidate biomarker of brain functioning.…”

Cortical tracking of spoken and written language structures in (dys)fluent readers

“…During visual word form processing, in particular, periodically inserted real words were rapidly discriminated from pseudofonts, nonwords and pseudowords with robust SSEPs elicited over the occipito-temporal and dorsal parietal regions at the frequency of deviant stimuli (Lochy, Van Reybroeck, & Rossion, 2016;Wang et al, 2021). Moreover, when words were split into two parts and flickered at different frequencies, SSEPs were stronger when the segments matched the syllabification compared to when they did not retain the constituent syllabic structure (Montani, Chanoine, Grainger, & Ziegler, 2019). These findings suggest that visual SSEPs are not only sensitive to sensory features, but may also reflect higher-level processing such as (pre-)lexical analyses (Lochy et al, 2018;Lochy, Van Belle, & Rossion, 2015).…”