The Role of Syllable Representation in Korean Script A Connectionist Modeling

to understand the syllable representation in Korean script ‘Hangul’, modeling study was conducted. Two types of models were constructed by the existence of syllable representation. These models were trained and tested through the same stimulus list. As the result, whereas the model, which did not have the syllable layer, can only simulate the word frequency effect, the model, which had the syllable layer, can simulate the both of word frequency and syllable frequency effects. This result proposed the syllable representation contributed the stabilization of representation

Decoding foveal word recognition: the role of interhemispheric inhibition in bilateral hemispheric processing

Extant research has largely favored the Split Fovea Theory (SFT) over the Bilateral Projection Theory (BPT) in the context of foveal word recognition. SFT posits that during foveal fixation, letters in the left and right visual fields are projected to their respective contralateral hemispheres, thereby facilitating a division of labor across the bilateral hemispheres. This division may serve as a regulatory mechanism to mitigate redundant processing in both hemispheres. The present investigation conducted two experiments utilizing Korean visual words to explore whether this hemispheric division in foveal word recognition is a strategy to circumvent potential interhemispheric inhibition arising from duplicated processing. Experiment 1 established the suitability of Korean visual words for studies involving both unilateral and bilateral presentations. Experiment 2 revealed that the split presentation of a word elicited greater accuracy compared to its identical presentation in the bilateral visual fields. These findings lend credence to the notion that interhemispheric inhibition may drive the hemispheres to engage in divided labor, thereby reducing processing redundancy in foveal word recognition

Neural correlates of confusability in recognition of morphologically complex Korean words

When people confuse and reject a non-word that is created by switching two adjacent letters from an actual word, is called the transposition confusability effect (TCE). The TCE is known to occur at the very early stages of visual word recognition with such unit exchange as letters or syllables, but little is known about the brain mechanisms of TCE. In this study, we examined the neural correlates of TCE and the effect of a morpheme boundary placement on TCE. We manipulated the placement of a morpheme boundary by exchanging places of two syllables embedded in Korean morphologically complex words made up of lexical morpheme and grammatical morpheme. In the two experimental conditions, the transposition syllable within-boundary condition (TSW) involved exchanging two syllables within the same morpheme, whereas the across-boundary condition (TSA) involved the exchange of syllables across the stem and grammatical morpheme boundary. During fMRI, participants performed the lexical decision task. Behavioral results revealed that the TCE was found in TSW condition, and the morpheme boundary, which is manipulated in TSA, modulated the TCE. In the fMRI results, TCE induced activation in the left inferior parietal lobe (IPL) and intraparietal sulcus (IPS). The IPS activation was specific to a TCE and its strength of activation was associated with task performance. Furthermore, two functional networks were involved in the TCE: the central executive network and the dorsal attention network. Morpheme boundary modulation suppressed the TCE by recruiting the prefrontal and temporal regions, which are the key regions involved in semantic processing. Our findings propose the role of the dorsal visual pathway in syllable position processing and that its interaction with other higher cognitive systems is modulated by the morphological boundary in the early phases of visual word recognition

Familiarity with words modulates interhemispheric interactions in visual word recognition

Bilateral redundancy gain (BRG) indicates superior performance in bilaterally presented word recognition in the left and right visual fields (RVFs) relative to word recognition given in either the left or the RVF. The BRG may be modulated by participants’ subjective familiarity with words as previous studies found smaller regional activations in the brain as they become proficient. It can be assumed that visual recognition of words with high subjective familiarity indicates skilled performance in visual recognition. Thus, this study examined the subjective familiarity effect of visual words on the BRG during lateralized lexical decision performances. It showed that the significant BRG of response times was only observed in the most familiar word condition (F4 level); on the other hand, accuracy results revealed the significant BRGs in all the subjective familiarity levels (F1, F2, F3, and F4 levels). These results suggest that the bilateral presentation of identical words with higher subjective familiarity facilitates the recognition led by cooperative interactions between cerebral hemispheres. Therefore, the subjective familiarity with visual words modulates the efficiency of hemispheric interactions in visual word recognition

Enhanced saccadic control in young people with Tourette syndrome despite slowed pro-saccades

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by motor and vocal tics. Tics are repetitive and uncontrolled behaviours that have been associated with basal ganglia dysfunction. We investigated saccadic eye movements in a group of young people with TS but without co-morbid ADHD. Participants performed two tasks. One required them to perform only pro-saccade responses (pure pro-saccade task). The other involved shifting, unpredictably, between executing pro- and anti-saccades (mixed saccade task). We show that in the mixing saccade task, the TS group make significantly fewer errors than an age-matched control group, while responding equally fast. By contrast, on the pure pro-saccade task the TS group were shown to be significantly slower to initiate and to complete the saccades (longer movement duration and decreased peak velocity) than controls, while movement amplitude and direction accuracy were not different. These findings demonstrate enhanced shifting ability despite slower reflexive responding in TS and are discussed with respect to a disorder-related adaptation for increased cognitive regulation of behaviour

Enhanced saccadic control in young people with Tourette syndrome despite slowed pro-saccades

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by motor and vocal tics. Tics are repetitive and uncontrolled behaviours that have been associated with basal ganglia dysfunction. We investigated saccadic eye movements in a group of young people with TS but without co-morbid ADHD. Participants performed two tasks. One required them to perform only pro-saccade responses (pure pro-saccade task). The other involved shifting, unpredictably, between executing pro- and anti-saccades (mixed saccade task). We show that in the mixing saccade task, the TS group make significantly fewer errors than an age-matched control group, while responding equally fast. By contrast, on the pure pro-saccade task the TS group were shown to be significantly slower to initiate and to complete the saccades (longer movement duration and decreased peak velocity) than controls, while movement amplitude and direction accuracy were not different. These findings demonstrate enhanced shifting ability despite slower reflexive responding in TS and are discussed with respect to a disorder-related adaptation for increased cognitive regulation of behaviour

Korean word recognition : are different orthographies recognized differently?

Psycholog

Electrophysiological Evidence Reveals the Asymmetric Transfer from the Right to Left Hemisphere as Key to Reading Proficiency

The present investigation aimed to explore the interhemispheric interactions that contribute to changes in reading proficiency by examining the processing of visual word recognition in relation to word familiarity. A lexical decision task was administered to 25 participants, and their electrophysiological activity was recorded. A behavioral analysis showed the faster and more accurate processing of highly familiar words compared to less familiar ones. An event-related potential analysis uncovered an asymmetric familiarity effect over the N100 and N400 components across the two hemispheres, indicating an asymmetrical word familiarity processing. Granger causality analyses demonstrated a stronger transfer of information from the right hemisphere (RH) to the left hemisphere (LH) during the N100 processing and a weaker transfer from the LH to the RH during the N400 processing for highly familiar word recognition. These findings suggest that the asymmetric coordination between the RH and LH occurs early in visual word recognition and highlight the importance of interhemispheric interactions in efficient visual word recognition and proficient reading

The Effects of Self-Perceived Parenting Attitudes on Visuo-Spatial Attention and Mental Rotation Abilities among Adolescents

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of adolescents’ perceived negative evaluation of parenting on their visuo-spatial attention and mental rotation abilities. The useful field of view (UFOV) and mental rotation tasks were used to measure visuo-spatial attention and mental rotation abilities among adolescents. The experimental groups were divided into the negatively evaluating group (MAge = 18.44, SD = 0.87, 20.7% girls) and positively evaluating group (MAge = 18.40, SD = 0.81, 23.3% girls) based on their scores on the self-perceived parenting attitude scales. The UFOV task showed lesser accuracy of the negatively evaluating group when compared to the positively evaluating one in target perception presented in 20° visual angle, indicating a deteriorated visuo-spatial attention ability in the negatively evaluating group. In the mental rotation task, the negatively evaluating group exhibited a small trade-off effect between response times and rotation angles, which implied an impatient strategy was employed to perform the task, whereas such a trade-off was not observed in the positively evaluating group. Thus, both experimental groups differed in terms of their visual attention and mental spatial abilities. This study suggests that the reduced visuo-spatial attention and mental rotation abilities may act as precursors for serious psychological symptoms caused by the negative self-evaluation of their parents’ parenting attitudes

The interplay of semantic and syntactic processing across hemispheres

Abstract The current study investigated the hemispheric dynamics underlying semantic and syntactic priming in lexical decision tasks. Utilizing primed-lateralized paradigms, we observed a distinct pattern of semantic priming contingent on the priming hemisphere. The right hemisphere (RH) exhibited robust semantic priming irrespective of syntactic congruency between prime and target, underscoring its proclivity for semantic processing. Conversely, the left hemisphere (LH) demonstrated slower response times for semantically congruent yet syntactically incongruent word pairs, highlighting its syntactic processing specialization. Additionally, nonword data revealed a hemispheric divergence in syntactic processing, with the LH showing significant intrahemispheric syntactic priming. These findings illuminate the intrinsic hemispheric specializations for semantic and syntactic processing, offering empirical support for serial processing models. The study advances our understanding of the complex interplay between semantic and syntactic factors in hemispheric interactions