Theoretical analysis of interhemispheric transfer costs in visual word recognition

It is becoming increasingly clear that interhemispheric transfer is an important factor in visual word recognition. One of the two computational models of visual word recognition that includes this aspect, the SERIOL model, is tested on the basis of recently obtained behavioural word naming data. Optimal viewing position (OVP) data were collected from participants with left hemisphere language dominance, right hemisphere language dominance, and bilateral language representation (as determined by fMRI). We employ a mathematical model, which is based on some of the underlying assumptions of SERIOL, to investigate the model's ability to predict our results. We show that this mathematical model, which makes use of the original parameters, is able to perfectly predict the differences in the OVP curves observed in the three groups of participants

Foveal word reading requires interhemispheric communication

The left cerebral hemisphere is dominant for language processing in most individuals. It has been suggested that this asymmetric language representation can influence behavioral performance in foveal word-naming tasks. We carried out two experiments in which we obtained laterality indices by means of functional imaging during a Mental word-generation task, using functional transcranial Doppler sonography and functional magnetic resonance imaging, respectively. Subsequently, we administered a behavioral word-naming task, where participants had to name foveally presented words of different lengths shown in different fixation locations shifted horizontally across the screen. The optimal viewing position for left language dominant individuals is located between the beginning and the center of a word. It is shifted toward the end of a word for right language dominant individuals and, to a lesser extent, for individuals with bilateral language representation. These results demonstrate that inter-hemispheric communication is required for foveal word recognition. Consequently, asymmetric representations of language and processes of inter-hemispheric transfer should] be taken into account in theoretical models of visual word recognition to ensure neurological plausibility

Multiple Sklerose Therapie Konsensus Gruppe (MSTKG): Positionspapier zur verlaufsmodifizierenden Therapie der Multiplen Sklerose 2021 (White Paper)

Multiple sclerosis is a complex, autoimmune-mediated disease of the central nervous system characterized by inflammatory demyelination and axonal/neuronal damage. The approval of various disease-modifying therapies and our increased understanding of disease mechanisms and evolution in recent years have significantly changed the prognosis and course of the disease. This update of the Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Consensus Group treatment recommendation focuses on the most important recommendations for disease-modifying therapies of multiple sclerosis in 2021. Our recommendations are based on current scientific evidence and apply to those medications approved in wide parts of Europe, particularly German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)

Multiple Sklerose Therapie Konsensus Gruppe (MSTKG): Positionspapier zur verlaufsmodifizierenden Therapie der Multiplen Sklerose 2021 (White Paper)

Multiple sclerosis is a complex, autoimmune-mediated disease of the central nervous system characterized by inflammatory demyelination and axonal/neuronal damage. The approval of various disease-modifying therapies and our increased understanding of disease mechanisms and evolution in recent years have significantly changed the prognosis and course of the disease. This update of the Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Consensus Group treatment recommendation focuses on the most important recommendations for disease-modifying therapies of multiple sclerosis in 2021. Our recommendations are based on current scientific evidence and apply to those medications approved in wide parts of Europe, particularly German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)