Dependent mechanism of Chinese prepositions processing in the brain:evidence from event-related potentials

Objective To compare the event-related potentials （ERPs） waves of verbs and prepositions in the brain. Methods We recorded ERPs in the brain while participants judged the legality of the collocation for verbs and ＂preposition＂. Results Both verbs and prepositions elicited a negativity at the frontal site in 230-330 ms and 350-500 ms window. No difference was seen in 230-330 ms and 350-500 ms window; In difference waves, a negativity was elicited in the left and fight hemisphere at about 270-400 ms and 470-600 ms window for both open and closed-class words. Conclusion These may demonstrate that prepositions in modem Chinese are probably not a separate class from verbs and that N280 may be not a specific component for only prepositions （or closed-class words）.

Forensic Study on Objective Evaluation of Visual Acuity of Ametropia with the Event-related Potential P3

Objective In this study,we aimed to assess the characteristics of the P3 component from an event-related potential(ERP)that was induced by visual acuity(VA)processing.Furthermore,we sought to provide electrophysiological evidence for the objective evaluation of VA.Methods We recruited 32 participants with myopia-related ametropia.They reported no other ocular diseases and had an uncorrected VA of 4.0 in both eyes.We used the block letter“E”at different visual angles and orientations as the graphic stimuli.The oddball paradigm,consisting of 4 modules,was used for ERP analysis.The standard stimuli of each module were identical,with a visual angle of 1°15′.The visual angles of the target stimuli were 1°15′,55′,24′,and 15′.The VA test was performed on each eye separately for all participants,and all characteristics of the P3 component were analyzed.Results There was no significant difference in the P3 peak letencies between the target stimulation angle 1°15′group and the 55′group,or between the target stimulation angle 24′group and the 15′group.There was a significant difference in the P3 peak letencies between the target stimulation angle 1°15′group and the 24′group as well as the 15′group.There was a significant difference in the P3 peak letencies between the target stimulation angle 55′group and the 24′group as well as the 15′group.No significant differences were observed in the P3 amplitude between modules.Conclusion In the oddball paradigm,P3 elicitation indicated a cognitive response to the target stimuli.These data showed that the characteristics of P3 can be used as an objective evaluation of VA.

Correlations between Event-related Potentials with Pictures Recognition and WMS-RC Scores in Patients with Memory Disorder Caused by Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

This study explored the possibility of using event-related potentials （ERP） for the measurement of picture-recognition memory and examined its correlation with the Chinese Wechsler Memory Scale-revised （WMS-RC） in patients with memory disorder caused by severe traumatic brain injury （sTBI）. The subjects included 20 sTBI patients with memory disorder and 22 healthy individuals. Memory function was measured by using WMS-RC. Behavioral and ERP responses were recorded on-line during performance on a battery of picture recognition and the responses were analyzed off-line for recognition memory effects. Mean memory quotient （MQ） of patients with sTBI was significantly lower than that of the control group. Mean reaction time （RT） was significantly longer and the mean correctness rate （CR） of picture recognition was significantly lower in sTBI group than that of the controls. In controls, the main components of average ERP of picture recognition includes two positive-going waves, designated as P170 and P500, that appear 170 ms and 500 ms after stimulation when the subject could later successfully recall and recognize the pictures. P500 amplitude of target stimulus was significantly higher than that of non-target stimulus. Compared to controls, P500 responses of sTBI group were significantly delayed in latency （P〈0.001） and lower in amplitude （P〈0.001）. P500 latency showed significant negative correlation with MQ and the scores of ＂addition＂, ＂visual recognition＂, ＂picture recall＂, ＂visual reproduction＂ and ＂tactile memory＂ in WMS-RC. ERP of picture recognition provides a neurophysiological approach to directly assess memory impairment, and P500 may serve as a helpful index for memory disorder caused by sTBI in forensic practice.

Use of cognitive event-related potentials in the management of psychiatric disorders:Towards an individual follow-up and multicomponent clinical approach

Relapse prevention remains a major challenge in psychiatry,thus indicating that the established treatment methods combining psychotherapy with neuropharmacological interventions are not entirely effective.In recent years,several intervention strategies have been devised that are aimed at improving psychiatric treatment by providing a complementary set of add-on tools that can be used by clinicians to improve current patient assessment.Among these,cognitive eventrelated potentials(ERPs)have been indexed as valuable biomarkers of the pathophysiological mechanisms of various mental illnesses.However,despite decades of research,their clinical utility is still controversial and a matter of debate.In this opinion review,I present the main arguments supporting the use of cognitive ERPs in the management of psychiatric disorders,stressing why it is currently still not the case despite the vast number of ERP studies to date.I also propose a clinically-oriented suitable way in which this technique could—in my opinion—be effectively incorporated into individual patient care by promotion of the use of individual ERP test-retest sessions and the use of a multi-component approach.

Effect of emotional valence on episodic memory stages as indexed by event-related potentials

Several investigations have shown that emotional events show superior recall than non-emotional ones. However, the cortical mechanisms underlying the episodic recall of emotional scenes are still poorly understood. Our main aim was to compare the magnitude of the Event-Related brain Potentials (ERP) old-new effect related to emotionally unpleasant, pleasant and neutral photographic images. As expected, correct recognition of all types of images elicited three topographically distinct ERP components sensitive to the classical old-new recognition effect. The results revealed that the behavioral performances were mainly sensitive to arousal, while the ERP old/new effect over posterior regions (300 - 1000 ms) was exclusively affected by unpleasantness. A later component (1000 - 1400 ms) showed an inverted old/ new effect at parietal sites, which was also sensitive to unpleasantness. These results imply that ERP reflecting episodic conscious recollection and post-retrieval monitoring are clearly affected both by valence and arousal.

Effects of different cue positions on evoked potentials in the cerebral cortex during global and local processing of compound stimuli A study of event-related potential

BACKGROUND： Previous studies of attentional control have focused primarily on pre-cue control of attentional cue and direction. OBJECTIVE： To measure the differences in electrical activity of brain cells while processing pre-cue and post-cue compound stimuli, and to explore brain electrical activity during global and local processing of compound stimuli according to electroencephalogram （EEG） recordings. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING： A within-subject design study was performed at the School of Psychology, State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, China from March to May 2006. PARTICIPANTS： A total of 30 healthy, undergraduate students, aged 17-24 years, comprising 12 males and 18 females, were voluntarily enrolled from Beijing Normal University. Subjects exhibited normal or corrected-to-normal visual acuity. No significant non signal wave drift was detected during testing. METHODS： A total of 30 subjects were subjected to pre-cue and post-cue compound stimulus processing using event-related potential and EEG recordings. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Evoked potential was recorded in different brain regions utilizing event-related potential to observe hemispheric symmetry, cue consistency and global-local features. RESULTS： Pre-cue compound stimuli resulted in hemispheric asymmetry for early wave （N1） and late wave （P3） in anterior brain regions. Early- and late-wave induced hemispheric asymmetry for electrode points （O1, 02, P3, P4, Pz, F3, F4, F7, F8, Fz, FP1, FP2, T7, TS, C3, C4, and Cz） during processing of pre-cue compound stimuli （P 〈 0.05）. Post-cue compound stimuli did not induce hemispheric asymmetry of brain waves induced by the above-described electrode points. No significant differences in global and local responses were determined during processing of post-cue compound stimuli. Under pre-cue conditions, significant differences were observed in N1 and P3 in the above-mentioned electrode points （P 〈 0.05）. However, under post-cue conditions, no significant differences were observed in N1 and P3 using the above-mentioned electrode points. Significant differences in early waves （N1 and P1） using the above-mentioned electrode points were detected between anterior and posterior brain regions, regardless of consistent or inconsistent, large or small letters （P 〈 0.05）. CONCLUSION： Cue location effected mechanisms underlying global and local processing of compound stimuli. Pre- or post-cue conditions resulted in differences in hemispheric symmetry, cue consistency, and global and local features. Under pre-cue conditions, hemispheric dominance was detected in global and local processing following compound stimuli. Under post-cue conditions, hemispheric dominance was not determined.

Mechanisms underlying syntactic and semantic processing of Chinese simple sentences Evidence from event-related brain potentials

This study sought to test the processing of three types of sentences in Chinese, as correct sentences, semantic violation sentences, and sentences containing semantic and syntactic violations, based on the following sentence pattern： ＂subject （noun） ＋ yi/gang/zheng ＋ predicate （verb）＂. Event-related potentials on the scalp were recorded using 32-channel electroencephalography. Compared with correct sentences, target words elicited an early left anterior negativity （N400） and a later positivity （P600） over frontal, central and temporal sites in sentences involving semantic violations. In addition, when sentences contained both semantic and syntactic violations, the target words elicited a greater N400 and P600 distributed in posterior brain areas. These results indicate that Chinese sentence comprehension involves covert grammar processes.

Identification of a Novel Dynamic Red Blindness in Human by Event-related Brain Potentials

Dynamic color is an important carrier that takes information in some special occupations.However,up to the present,there are no available and objective tests to evaluate dynamic color processing.To investigate the characteristics of dynamic color processing,we adopted two patterns of visual stimulus called "onset-offset" which reflected static color stimuli and "sustained moving" without abrupt mode which reflected dynamic color stimuli to evoke event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in primary color amblyopia patients (abnormal group) and subjects with normal color recognition ability (normal group).ERPs were recorded by Neuroscan system.The results showed that in the normal group,ERPs in response to the dynamic red stimulus showed frontal positive amplitudes with a latency of about 180 ms,a negative peak at about 240 ms and a peak latency of the late positive potential (LPP) in a time window between 290 and 580 ms.In the abnormal group,ERPs in response to the dynamic red stimulus were fully lost and characterized by vanished amplitudes between 0 and 800 ms.No significant difference was noted in ERPs in response to the dynamic green and blue stimulus between the two groups (P】0.05).ERPs of the two groups in response to the static red,green and blue stimulus were not much different,showing a transient negative peak at about 170 ms and a peak latency of LPP in a time window between 350 and 650 ms.Our results first revealed that some subjects who were not identified as color blindness under static color recognition could not completely apperceive a sort of dynamic red stimulus by ERPs,which was called "dynamic red blindness".Furthermore,these results also indicated that low-frequency ERPs induced by "sustained moving" may be a good and new method to test dynamic color perception competence.

Event-related potentials associated with Chinese and English color-word Stroop tasks in Chinese bilinguals

Objective:To investigate the neural electrophysiologieal activity underlying Chinese and Eng- lish Stroop tasks for Chinese English bilinguals.Methods:Event-related potentials(ERPs)were recorded in 14 Chinese bilinguals with a moderate command of English when they performed the Stroop task pre- sented in English words and Chinese characters,respectively.Results:In Chinese task version,it was found an increased positivity over bilateral front-polar regions on incongruent trials compared with congru- ent trials,followed by an increased negativity over fronto-central region and an increased positivity over occipital region.While in English task version,only the increased negativity was observed over fronto-cen- tral region,but with reduced amplitude and anterior distribution.Conclusion:This increased negativity was proposed as an index of the resolution processes of conflicting information in the incongruent situa- tion.The increased positivity over occipital region on Chinese incongruent trials may indicate visually rechecking effect for Chinese character.

Relationships among Event-Related Potentials, Memory, and Schizophrenic Symptoms in College Students with Schizotypal-Traits

The present study investigated the relationships among event-related potentials (ERPs), memory, and schizophrenic symptoms in college students with schizotypal-traits. Scores on the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) were used to categorize the participants into schizotypal-trait (n = 30) and normal control (n = 37) groups. ERPs were assessed using an auditory oddball paradigm, in which a series of standard tones (1000 Hz) and target tones (1500 Hz) were presented;participants were asked to count the number of presented target tones. The verbal memory and visual memory of the participants were evaluated using the Korean version of the California Verbal Learning Test (K-CVLT) and the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (RCFT), respectively. The schizotypal-trait and control groups did not differ in terms of age, educational level, IQ score, accuracy on the auditory oddball task, or performance on the K-CVLT and RCFT measures. However, the schizotypal-trait group exhibited significantly smaller P300 amplitudes than the control group. Additionally, the P300 amplitudes measured at Cz and Pz were negatively correlated with the cognitive-perceptual factor scores on the SPQ. Thus, the present results indicate that reduced P300 amplitudes may represent a biological marker of schizophrenia.

Icon memory research under different time pressures and icon quantities based on event-related potential

In order to obtain related brain electrical components and neural bases of physiology assessment of icon elements in a digital human-computer interface the modified sample-delay matching task experimental paradigm is used under different time pressures 4 000 and 2 000 ms and different icon quantities three five and ten icons on icon memory based on event-related potential ERP technology.Experimental results demonstrate that P300 has significant volatility changes and the maximum amplitude around the middle line of the parietal area PZ and P200 has obvious volatility changes around the middle line of the frontal and central area FCZ during icon cognition.P300 and P200 amplitudes increase as tasks become more difficult.Thus P300 latency is positively correlated with task difficulty. ERP research on the characteristics of icon memory will be an important reference standard in guiding user neurocognitive behavior and physiology assessment on interface usability.

情绪对低感觉寻求者安全行为决策的影响:来自ERPs的证据

为从神经层面深究不同偶然情绪对低感觉寻求者的不安全行为决策过程的影响作用,采用事件相关电位(ERPs)技术进行试验研究。使用中国版大学生感觉寻求问卷筛选低感觉寻求者和中感觉寻求者(对照组)。采用视频片段作为情绪刺激材料在试验前诱发正性和负性情绪,并设置风险情景任务进行风险决策试验。结果表明:不考虑情绪变量时,低感觉寻求组与感觉寻求对照组在安全行为决策上无显著差异;正性情绪下,低感觉寻求个体保持风险规避倾向;负性情绪下,在行为表现上,低感觉寻求者更倾向作出不安全行为决策;负性情绪下,在ERPs成分上,低感觉寻求者诱发的晚期正成分(LPP)潜伏期更晚,表明负性情绪的干扰导致个体在风险分类与评价时难度增大,故此从神经层面解释其外在行为表现的内在原因。总之,情绪在感觉寻求影响安全行为决策过程中产生调节作用。

Differential cognitive responses to guqin music and piano music in Chinese subjects： an event-related potential study

Objective To compare the cognitive effects of guqin （the oldest Chinese instrument） music and piano music. Methods Behavioral and event-related potential （ERP） data in a standard two-stimulus auditory oddball task were recorded and analyzed. Results This study replicated the previous results of culture-familiar music effect on Chinese subjects： the greater P300 amplitude in frontal areas in a culture-familiar music environment. At the same time, the difference between guqin music and piano music was observed in NI and later positive complex （LPC： including P300 and P500）： a relatively higher participation of right anterior-temporal areas in Chinese subjects. Conclusion The results suggest that the special features of ERP responses to guqin music are the outcome of Chinese tonal language environments given the similarity between Guqin＇s tones and Mandarin lexical tones.

Enhanced inhibitory control during re-engagement processing in badminton athletes:An event-related potential study

Purpose:The purpose of present study was to investigate the impact of sport experience on response inhibition and response re-engagement in expert badminton athletes during the stop-signal task and change-signal task.Methods:A total of 19 badminton athletes and 20 nonathletes performed both the stop-signal task and change-signal task.Reaction times(RTs)and event-related potentials were recorded and analyzed.Results:Behavioral results indicated that badminton athletes responded faster than nonathletes to go stimuli and to change signals,with faster change RTs and change-signal RTs,which take into consideration the variable stimulus onset time mean.During successful change trials in the change-signal task,the amplitudes of the event-related potential components N2 and P3 were smaller for badminton athletes than for nonathletes.Moreover,change-signal RTs and N2 amplitudes as well as change RTs and P3 amplitudes were significantly correlated in badminton athletes.A significant correlation was also found between the amplitude of the event-related potential component N1 and response accuracy to change signals in badminton athletes.Conclusion:Moderation of brain cortical activity in badminton athletes was more associated with their ability to rapidly inhibit a planned movement and re-engage with a new movement compared with nonathletes.The superior inhibitory control and more efficient neural mechanisms in badminton athletes compared with nonathletes might be a result of badminton athletes’ professional training experience.

Chinese emotional words in patients with major depressive disorder during a subliminal Stroop task An event-related potential study

Patients with major depressive disorder （MDD） develop a negative cognitive bias, but how they respond to information in Chinese emotional words is unclear. Here we used a Stroop paradigm with subliminal Chinese emotional words to explore the event-related potential components of abnormal emotional processing Jn patients with MDD. The correct rate was similar in MDD and normal control groups, but MDD reaction time was longer than the normal controls, especially to the negative and neutral stimuli. In N270, repeated-measure analysis of variance demonstrated a significant main effect of the relation electrode and valence on peak amplitude and interactions between valence and electrode site. The peak amplitudes of the three kinds of words were different in the two groups （positive 〉 negative 〉 neutral）. The topography of the difference waves indicated that the difference distributed in the frontal and left parietal-temporal sites across the scalp. In N400, there was a significant main effect of the relation electrode and valence on peak amplitude, and the latency showed a main effect of the electrode and an interaction between electrode and group. The amplitudes induced by type of words were significantly different from each other in both groups （positive 〉 negative 〉 neutral）. The topography of the difference waves indicated that the effect of relation type was primarily at left and right frontal and central and left parietal-temporal regions. Both MDD patients and normal controls exhibited significant emotional Stroop effects during the processing of positive/negative Chinese emotional words. MDD patients showed interference in emotional stimuli in early cognitive processing that induced psychological resource intervention during late emotional information processing.

The Effect of Emotional Conflict on Attention Allocation: An Event-Related Potential Study

Attention allocation research frequently focuses on the valence of emotion. However, there is increasing evidence to indicate that arousal may be more relevant at some stages of affective processing. The present study employed a combined priming and cue-target paradigm and examined event-related potentials (ERPs) in order to explore the effects of emotional conflict of arousal on attention allocation. The background context of arousal was manipulated (using photos of facial expressions) while subjects performed a cognitive task in which a central arrow cue indicated the location of a peripheric target square, and a response was made according to the direction of the square. There was no main effect between incongruent emotion and congruent emotion in the response time, which means the resolution of the emotional conflict facilitate the participant behavioral response. There was a main effect of different emotional states on ERP component. In the present study, incongruent arousal also triggered greater positive potential compared with congruent arousal.

An event-related potential observation of preposition processing in Chinese: Is N280 a specific component for Chinese prepositions?

BACKGROUND： Studies have shown that closed-class words, such as prepositions and conjunctions, induce a left anterior negativity （N280）, indicating that N280 should be a specific component of the word category. OBJECTIVE： To observe if Chinese prepositions and verbs exhibit different linguistic functions, to determine whether they are processed by different neural systems, and to verify that N280 is a specific component. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING： The observed neurolinguistics experiment was performed at Xuzhou Normal University between November and December 2006. PARTICIPANTS： Sixteen undergraduate students, comprising 8 females and 8 males, with no mental or neuropathological history, were selected. METHODS： A total of 15 verbs and prepositions were used as linguistic stimuli, and each verb and preposition was combined to produce four correct phrase collocations and four incorrect ones. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Event-related potentials were recorded in the subjects while they read correct or incorrect phases flashed upon a video screen. RESULTS： Both verbs and prepositions elicited negativity at the frontal site in a 230-330 ms window, as well as at the fronto-temporal and central sites in a 350-500 ms window. Neither exhibited significant differences in peak [F（1, 15） = 0.144, P = 0.710] and latency [F（1, 15） = 0.144, P= 0.710]. Both verbs and prepositions elicited negativity at the left and right hemisphere in a 270-400 ms window. CONCLUSION： There was no significant difference between Chinese prepositions and verbs in the neural system process and N280 was not the specific component for closed-class words.

A Study of Visual Event-Related Potential and Reaction Time in Elderly People: Comparative Analysis of the Scores of Intelligence Test in 30 Subjects

The results of visual event-related potential(ERP)examinations and reactiontime(RT)tests were reported in 30 elders and compared with their performanceintellegence quotient(PIQ)scores.The subjects consisted of 18 males and 12 femalesaged 50-71(mean 61.4)years old.No history of central nervous system disease wasfound.The visual stimuli were randomly presented to the subject,including three sym-bols:E as target stimulus with 0.15 probability,and H and E as nontarget stimuliwith 0.15 and 0.70 probability respectively.The recording electrodes were placed on Fzand Pz.The duration from the subject seeing the target to touching a button immediatelywas considered as reaction time(RT).It was shown that the P3 latency at Pz was longer than that at Fz and the P3amplitude at Pz was larger than that at Fz,and that the RT was longer than P3 latencywith obvious effect of distribution(P【0.05 at Fz and P】0.05 at Pz)as well .The higherthe PIQ scores,the longer the RT and the P3 latency.It is suggested that the ERPmight reflect the differences of PIQ scores,and the P3 is an objective index.We considerthat the research of ERP is of great interest in the neuropsychological and neurological sci-ences.

Effect of Neurofeedback on Visual-Spatial Attention in Male Children with Reading Disabilities: An Event-Related Potential Study

Recent studies describe a number of difficulties associated with attention deficit in children with reading disabilities. Information about visual-spatial attention mainly arises from studies using event-related potentials (ERPs) during Posner’s spatial cueing paradigm. This study aims to use neurofeedback with a special protocol for treating children with reading disabilities, and moreo-ver, to evaluate visual-spatial attention ability by means of Posner paradigm task and ERPs. The study was conducted in a single subject design in 20 sessions. Participants were 2 male children, aged between 10 - 12 years old, who completed twelve 30-min neurofeedback sessions. Repeated measurements were performed during the baseline, treatment, and post treatment phases. Results showed some improvement in Posner paradigm parameters (correct response, valid and invalid reaction times). Furthermore, grand average ERPs for both of the participants in each of the four conditions (Valid-right, Invalid-right, Valid-left and Invalid-left) were analyzed. The analysis of P3 component showed a reduction in latency, indicating an improvement in the timing of cognitive processes. In addition, the graphs showed a decrease in amplitude level, which meant easier processing than before.