The Syntactic and Semantic Processing of Mass and Count Nouns: An ERP Study

The present study addressed the question of whether count and mass nouns are differentially processed in the brain. In two different ERP (Event-Related Potentials) tasks we explored the semantic and syntactic levels of such distinction. Mass and count nouns typically differ in concreteness, hence the effect of this important variable was factorially examined in each task. Thus the stimuli presented were: count concrete, count abstract, mass concrete or mass abstract. The first experiment (concrete/abstract semantic judgment task) involved the interaction between the N400 concreteness effect and the Mass/Count condition, revealing a substantial effect between mass and count nouns at the semantic level. The second experiment (sentence syntactic violation task) showed a Mass/Count distinction on left anterior negativity (LAN) and on P600 components, confirming the difference at the syntactic level. This study suggests that the brain differentiates between count and mass nouns not only at the syntactic level but also at the semantic level. Implications for our understanding of the brain mechanisms underlying the Mass/Count distinction are discussed

Flight simulator and fNIRS : study of relation between acute stress and cognitive workload

In aviation, knowing the internal state of pilots is desirable to prevent and detect abnormal situations such as an excessive cognitive workload (CW) or acute stress, both known to impact human performance 1. Detecting these states becomes crucial with the possible emergence of Single Pilot Operations (SPO), during which tasks will be largely supported by a single pilot and the aircraft systems. The mental constructs of CW and acute stress have been extensively studied in the human factor literature, but the analysis of their respective impact in the same ecological situations remains poorly studied. In the current study, twenty-one private pilots from the French Civil Aviation University were recruited. They all performed two realistic flight simulator scenarios with the same difficult level and duration (around 35 minutes each). The CW was manipulated with the difficulty of a secondary task (low CW vs high CW; for details, see [2]) and the level of stress was manipulated by means of a social stressor (low arousal vs high arousal). We examined brain hemodynamic activity via functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) with a portable NIRS system (NIRSport, NIRx Medical Technologies, NY, USA)

Numbers in the Blind's “Eye”

Background: Although lacking visual experience with numerosities, recent evidence shows that the blind perform similarly to sighted persons on numerical comparison or parity judgement tasks. In particular, on tasks presented in the auditory modality, the blind surprisingly show the same effect that appears in sighted persons, demonstrating that numbers are represented through a spatial code, i.e. the Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) effect. But, if this is the case, how is this numerical spatial representation processed in the brain of the blind? Principal Findings: Here we report that, although blind and sighted people have similarly organized numerical representations, the attentional shifts generated by numbers have different electrophysiological correlates (sensorial N100 in the sighted and cognitive P300 in the blind). Conclusions: These results highlight possible differences in the use of spatial representations acquired through modalities other than vision in the blind population

Effets du vieillissement dans la cognition numérique (études comportementale, électrophysiologique (ERPs) et neurofonctionnelle (IRMf))

AIX-MARSEILLE1-BU Lettres (130012101) / SudocSudocFranceF

Event Related Potential investigation of Initial Accent processing in French.

International audienceThis study investigates stress processing through the Event-Related brain Potential (ERP) technique. It aims at evaluating whether French listeners can perceive and discriminate the Initial Accent (IA) and whether IA is encoded in the phonological representation. Participants listened to trisyllabic words in two stress-pattern conditions, with (+IA) or without (-IA) initial accenting, in an oddball paradigm. The EEG was recorded in both a passive and an active listening task, and in two di erent oddball versions: one where standard stimuli were +IA words and deviants -IA words, and the reverse for the other version (-IA standard, +IA deviant). Behavioral results show faster processing and less errors for +IA stimuli. ERP results show larger MisMatch Negativity component for -IA words, pointing out 1) that French listeners are sensitive to f0 manipulation, and 2) that +IA is the preferred stress template in French. Altogether, our results indicate that French listeners not only discriminate stress patterns but that IA is encoded in long-term memory, hence phonologically relevant

Risk preference in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome is modulated by the gain or loss context

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Bilingualism and executif control: neurofunctional correlates in ERPs and fMRI

International audienceLors de l’interaction verbale, un locuteur bilingue est en mesure de maintenir le code linguistique dans lequel il souhaite s’exprimer ou d’en changer si la situation le demande. Ces actions font appel à un mécanisme de contrôle qui lui permet de sélectionner un code tout en inhibant le second. Depuis une quinzaine d’années, l’hypothèse selon laquelle le contrôle des langues serait géré par le système exécutif est très présente dans la littérature. Les avancées de la neuroimagerie fonctionnelle dans les domaines du langage représentent des outils particulièrement intéressants pour tenter d’éclaircir cet aspect. Dans cette revue nous exposons les principales études ayant utilisé la tâche de dénomination bilingue (switch task) avec des mesures en Potentiels Evoqués (PE) et Imagerie par Résonance Magnétique fonctionnelle (IRMf). Nous confrontons les résultats obtenus au moyen de ces deux techniques afin de mieux comprendre la nature et le fonctionnement de ce mécanisme (notamment d’un point de vue de l’inhibition). Les résultats montrent de nombreux points de convergence avec les études utilisant des paradigmes de switch dans des tâches non spécifiques au matériel linguistique, notamment sur la modulation de la composante N200 et l’implication du Cortex Cingulaire Antérieur (CCA) et du Cortex Prefrontal Dorsolatéral (CPFDL). Ces résultats renforcent l’hypothèse de l’implication du système exécutif dans le contrôle bilingue.During oral interaction, bilingual speakers can maintain the language which they intend to use or switch to a second one if required by the situation. These actions are made possible with the support of a control mechanism which enables the selection of a target language while inhibiting the non target language. Behavioural research over the past fifteen years has yielded significant evidence that this mechanism is not language-specific but operated by executive control.Functional imaging is a valuable research method to help understanding this issue. In this review, we discuss the main studies having collected ERPs and fMRI data during a bilingual switch task. The results obtained by these two techniques are compared in order to better understand the nature of the language control (with respect to inhibition). Results show many similarities with studies using switch paradigms in non linguistic tasks. Observing modulations of the N200 component combined with the role of the Anterior Cingular Cortex and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex corroborate the hypothesis that the executive system takes a major part in bilingual control

Project NeuroPros: EEG investigation of prosodic cues processing in French

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Vowel ling and semantic priming effects in Arabic

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