Investigating the flow of information during speaking: the impact of morpho-phonological, associative, and categorical picture distractors on picture naming

In three experiments, participants named target pictures by means of German compound words (e.g., Gartenstuhl–garden chair), each accompanied by two different distractor pictures (e.g., lawn mower and swimming pool). Targets and distractor pictures were semantically related either associatively (garden chair and lawn mower) or by a shared semantic category (garden chair and wardrobe). Within each type of semantic relation, target and distractor pictures either shared morpho-phonological (word-form) information (Gartenstuhl with Gartenzwerg, garden gnome, and Gartenschlauch, garden hose) or not. A condition with two completely unrelated pictures served as baseline. Target naming was facilitated when distractor and target pictures were morpho-phonologically related. This is clear evidence for the activation of word-form information of distractor pictures. Effects were larger for associatively than for categorically related distractors and targets, which constitute evidence for lexical competition. Mere categorical relatedness, in the absence of morpho-phonological overlap, resulted in null effects (Experiments 1 and 2), and only speeded target naming when effects reflect only conceptual, but not lexical processing (Experiment 3). Given that distractor pictures activate their word forms, the data cannot be easily reconciled with discrete serial models. The results fit well with models that allow information to cascade forward from conceptual to word-form levels

Literacy shapes thought: the case of event representation in different cultures

There has been a lively debate whether conceptual representations of actions or scenes follow a left-to-right spatial transient when participants depict such events or scenes. It was even suggested that conceptualizing the agent on the left side represents a universal. We review the current literature with an emphasis on event representation and on cross-cultural studies. While there is quite some evidence for spatial bias for representations of events and scenes in diverse cultures, their extent and direction depend on task demands, one‘s native language, and importantly, on reading and writing direction. Whether transients arise only in subject-verb-object languages, due to their linear sentential position of event participants, is still an open issue. We investigated a group of illiterate speakers of Yucatec Maya, a language with a predominant verb-object-subject structure. They were compared to illiterate native speakers of Spanish. Neither group displayed a spatial transient. Given the current literature, we argue that learning to read and write has a strong impact on representations of actions and scenes. Thus, while it is still under debate whether language shapes thought, there is firm evidence that literacy does

Non-invasive stimulation reveals ventromedial prefrontal cortex function in reward prediction and reward processing

IntroductionStudies suggest an involvement of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in reward prediction and processing, with reward-based learning relying on neural activity in response to unpredicted rewards or non-rewards (reward prediction error, RPE). Here, we investigated the causal role of the vmPFC in reward prediction, processing, and RPE signaling by transiently modulating vmPFC excitability using transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS).MethodsParticipants received excitatory or inhibitory tDCS of the vmPFC before completing a gambling task, in which cues signaled varying reward probabilities and symbols provided feedback on monetary gain or loss. We collected self-reported and evaluative data on reward prediction and processing. In addition, cue-locked and feedback-locked neural activity via magnetoencephalography (MEG) and pupil diameter using eye-tracking were recorded.ResultsRegarding reward prediction (cue-locked analysis), vmPFC excitation (versus inhibition) resulted in increased prefrontal activation preceding loss predictions, increased pupil dilations, and tentatively more optimistic reward predictions. Regarding reward processing (feedback-locked analysis), vmPFC excitation (versus inhibition) resulted in increased pleasantness, increased vmPFC activation, especially for unpredicted gains (i.e., gain RPEs), decreased perseveration in choice behavior after negative feedback, and increased pupil dilations.DiscussionOur results support the pivotal role of the vmPFC in reward prediction and processing. Furthermore, they suggest that transient vmPFC excitation via tDCS induces a positive bias into the reward system that leads to enhanced anticipation and appraisal of positive outcomes and improves reward-based learning, as indicated by greater behavioral flexibility after losses and unpredicted outcomes, which can be seen as an improved reaction to the received feedback

Enhancing precision in human neuroscience

Human neuroscience has always been pushing the boundary of what is measurable. During the last decade, concerns about statistical power and replicability - in science in general, but also specifically in human neuroscience - have fueled an extensive debate. One important insight from this discourse is the need for larger samples, which naturally increases statistical power. An alternative is to increase the precision of measurements, which is the focus of this review. This option is often overlooked, even though statistical power benefits from increasing precision as much as from increasing sample size. Nonetheless, precision has always been at the heart of good scientific practice in human neuroscience, with researchers relying on lab traditions or rules of thumb to ensure sufficient precision for their studies. In this review, we encourage a more systematic approach to precision. We start by introducing measurement precision and its importance for well-powered studies in human neuroscience. Then, determinants for precision in a range of neuroscientific methods (MRI, M/EEG, EDA, Eye-Tracking, and Endocrinology) are elaborated. We end by discussing how a more systematic evaluation of precision and the application of respective insights can lead to an increase in reproducibility in human neuroscience

Configural and featural processing in humans with congenital prosopagnosia.

Prosopagnosia describes the failure to recognize faces, a deficiency that can be devastating in social interactions. Cases of acquired prosopagnosia have often been described over the last century. In recent years, more and more cases of congenital prosopagnosia (CP) have been reported. In the present study we tried to determine possible cognitive characteristics of this impairment. We used scrambled and blurred images of faces, houses, and sugar bowls to separate featural processing strategies from configural processing strategies. This served to investigate whether congenital prosopagnosia results from process-specific deficiencies, or whether it is a face-specific impairment. Using a delayed matching paradigm, 6 individuals with CP and 6 matched healthy controls indicated whether an intact test stimulus was the same identity as a previously presented scrambled or blurred cue stimulus. Analyses of d´ values indicated that congenital prosopagnosia is a face-specific deficit, but that this shortcoming is particularly pronounced for processing configural facial information

Worterkennung und -produktion

In diesem Kapitel befassen [die Autoren sich] mit Wörtern, die wir beim Reden mühelos zu Sätzen aneinanderreihen und die uns in gesprochener oder geschriebener Form tagtäglich begegnen. Zuerst beschreiben [sie], was Wörter eigentlich sind. In weiteren Abschnitten [befassen sie sich] mit den Lauten der Sprache und dem Wissen, welches wir über die Wörter unserer Sprache (und anderer Sprachen) haben […]. Danach wenden [sie sich] dem Erkennen von Wörtern beim Hören und Lesen zu und beschreiben, was beim Sprechen von Wörtern abläuft. Jeder nicht sprachgestörte Mensch kann sowohl verstehen (Sprachwahrnehmung) als auch sprechen (Sprachproduktion), dennoch [behandeln die Autoren] Sprechen und Verstehen häufig getrennt. (DIPF/Orig.

Influence of sulfur modifications on catalytic properties of amorphous porous carbon materials

Der Schwerpunkt der vorliegenden Arbeit lag in der Synthese und Charakterisierung S-dotierter poröser Kohlenstoffmaterialien mit vergleichbaren texturellen und strukturellen Eigenschaften. Zu diesem Zweck wurden Serien von S-dotierten porösen Kohlenstoffmaterialien aus den S-haltigen Precursoren Dimethylsulfoxid, p-Toluolsulfonsäure und Thiophen zusammen mit verschiedenen Anteilen von β-d-Saccharose als zusätzlichem Kohlenstofflieferant im Rahmen einer templatgestützten Synthese auf Basis von mesoporösen Silicagel-Kugeln hergestellt. Zusätzlich wurden Serien S+N-, B+S- und B+N-co-dotierter poröser Kohlenstoffmaterialien mit vergleichbaren texturellen und strukturellen Eigenschaften nach derselben templatgestützten Synthese hergestellt. Zur co-Dotierung mit den Elementen S, N und B wurden jeweils die heteroatomhaltigen Precursoren p-Toluolsulfonsäure, Harnstoff und Borsäure in verschiedenen Anteilen verwendet und verschiedene Anteile von β-d-Saccharose als zusätzlichem Kohlenstofflieferant hinzugefügt. Die katalytischen Eigenschaften sämtlicher hergestellten poröser Kohlenstoffe wurden auf deren Fähigkeit zur Aktivierung von molekularem O2 untersucht. In diesem Zusammenhang wurden die Materialien als Katalysatoren in der oxidation schwefliger Säure zu Schwefelsäure (OSA), der elektrochemischen Sauerstoffreduktionsreaktion (ORR) und der oxidativen Dehydrierung von Ethylbenzol (ODH) getestet. Mit Hilfe dieser drei Testreaktionen, welche in mindestens einem Teilschritt des jeweiligen Katalysezyklus die Aktivierung von molekularem O2 voraussetzen, sollten insbesondere Rückschlüsse auf mögliche Einflüsse des Heteroatoms S auf die Aktivitäten, Umsätze und Selektivitäten gezogen werden. Die rein S-dotierten Proben lieferten Hinweise darauf, dass die S-Funktionalitäten einen ähnlichen Beitrag zu den genannten Reaktionen leisten wie vergleichbare O-Funktionalitäten S-freier Proben. In der OSA zeigten S-dotierte Proben keine Veränderung bezogen auf die Aktivität, in der OSA einen negativen Einfluss auf die Aktivitäten und das Onset-Potential. Der deutlichste Einfluss der S-Gruppen konnte in der ODH gezeigt werden, in welcher S-haltige Proben sowohl den Initialumsatz bezogen auf Ethylbenzol als auch die Langzeitstabilität der Katalysatoren positiv veränderten im Vergleich zu S-freien Proben. Bei den B+N- und N+S-co-dotierten Proben lieferten insbesondere N-Funktionalitäten einen positiven Beitrag zur Aktivität in allen Reaktionen. Eine mögliche Begründung lieferte hierbei die Annahme, dass bestimmte N-Gruppen die Elektronendichte im Kohlenstoffgerüst erhöhen und somit zur Aktivierung von auf den Basalebenen des Kohlenstoffs adsorbierten molekularen O2 beitragen. Während eine co-Dotierung mit B das Verhalten der Katalysatoren wenig beeinflusste, zeigte sich, dass die co-Dotierung mit S zu einer Addition der Einflüsse in allen betrachteten Reaktionen führte im Vergleich zu jeweils einzeln S- und N-dotierten Serien.The focus of the present work was the synthesis and characterization of S-doped porous carbon materials with comparable textural and structural properties. For this purpose, series of S-doped porous carbon materials were prepared from the S-containing precursors dimethyl sulfoxide, p-toluenesulfonic acid, and thiophene together with various proportions of β-d-sucrose as an additional carbon source in a template-assisted synthesis based on mesoporous silica gel spheres. In addition, series of S+N-, B+S-, and B+N-co-doped porous carbon materials with comparable textural and structural properties were prepared by the same template-assisted synthesis. The heteroatom-containing precursors p-toluenesulfonic acid, urea, and boric acid were used in various proportions for co-doping with elements S, N, and B, respectively, and various proportions of β-d-sucrose were added as an additional carbon source. The catalytic properties of all the porous carbons prepared were investigated for their ability to activate molecular O2. In this context, the materials were tested as carbon catalysts in the oxidation of sulfurous acid to sulfuric acid (OSA), the electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene (ODH). With the aid of these three test reactions, which require the activation of molecular O2 in at least one substep of the respective catalytic cycle, conclusions were to be drawn about possible influences of the heteroatom S on the activities, conversions and selectivities. The purely S-doped samples provided evidence that the S-functionalities make a similar contribution to the above reactions as comparable O-functionalities of S-free samples. In the OSA, S-doped samples showed no change related to the activity, and in the OSA, a negative influence on the activities and onset. The clearest influence of the S groups was shown in ODH, in which S-containing samples positively changed both the initial conversion related to ethylbenzene and the long-term stability of the catalysts compared to S-free samples. In the case of the B+N- and N+S-co-doped samples, N-functionalities contained made a positive contribution to the activity in all reactions. A possible reason was provided by the assumption that certain N groups increase the electron density in the carbon skeleton and thus contribute to the activation of molecular O2 adsorbed on the basal planes of carbon. While co-doping with B had little effect on the behavior of the catalysts, co-doping with S was found to lead to an addition of influences in all reactions considered compared to individually S- and N-doped series, respectively