Material differences of auditory source retrieval: Evidence from event-related potential studies

Two event-related potential experiments were conducted to investigate the temporal and the spatial distributions of the old/new effects for the item recognition task and the auditory source retrieval task using picture and Chinese character as stimuli respectively. Stimuli were presented on the center of the screen with their names read out either by female or by male voice simultaneously during the study phase and then two testa were performed separately. One test task was to differentiate the old items from the new ones, and the other task was to judge the items read out by a certain voice during the study phase as targets and other ones as non-targets. The results showed that the old/new effect of the auditory source retrieval task was more sustained over time than that of the item recognition task in both experiments, and the spatial distribution of the former effect was wider than that of the latter one. Both experiments recorded reliable old/new effect over the prefrontal cortex during the source retrieval task. However, there existed some differences of the old/new effect for the auditory source retrieval task between picture and Chinese character, and LORETA source analysis indicated that the differences might be rooted in the temporal lobe. These findings demonstrate that the relevancy of the old/new effects between the item recognition task and the auditory source retrieval task supports the dual-process model; the spatial and the temporal distributions of the old/new effect elicited by the auditory source retrieval task are regulated by both the feature of the experimental material and the perceptual attribute of the voice.     

ERP evidence for neural dissociation of processing Chinese nouns and verbs

To investigate whether there is neural dissociation between processing Chinese nouns and verbs， event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 17 healthy undergraduate students while they read sentences silently. The results revealed that the late negative component (LNC) generated by nouns and verbs was significantly different. The strongest effect was in the 200—300 ms and 400—550 ms time window. In the first window, the negativity generated by verbs was more positive than that by nouns over the centro-frontal electrodes. In the second window, the negativity elicited by verbs was more positive than that by nouns over anterior areas and more negative than that by nouns over posterior areas. The results indicated the neural dissociation of processing Chinese nouns and verbs.     

ERP evidence for neural dissociation of processing Chinese nouns and verbs

To investigate whether there is neural dissociation between processing Chinese nouns and verbs， event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 17 healthy undergraduate students while they read sentences silently. The results revealed that the late negative component (LNC) generated by nouns and verbs was significantly different. The strongest effect was in the 200—300 ms and 400—550 ms time window. In the first window, the negativity generated by verbs was more positive than that by nouns over the centro-frontal electrodes. In the second window, the negativity elicited by verbs was more positive than that by nouns over anterior areas and more negative than that by nouns over posterior areas. The results indicated the neural dissociation of processing Chinese nouns and verbs.     

Differentiating electrophysiological response to decrease and increase negative emotion regulation

We investigated the reappraisal and the time course of negative emotion regulation by performing event-related potential (ERP) recordings. We found that negative pictures elicited more positive P2 and late positivity potential (LPP) deflections than neutral pictures. This effect occurred between 150-2000 ms post-stimulus. Compared to the emotion maintaining condition, the emotion enhancing condition was associated with higher arousal ratings and displayed increased P2 and LPP amplitudes. The decrease condition was also associated with reduced picture-induced arousal; however, it led to increased P2 and LPP amplitudes. Furthermore, when compared with the maintain condition, both the enhancing and decrease conditions significantly enhanced LPP in the early stage (350-750 ms). Compared to previous studies using western subjects, the negative emotion LPP effects of the present study were shorter in duration and the decrease-emotion condition elicited larger LPPs.     

Neural correlates of moral judgment of lying： An event-related-potential study

The present study investigated neural mechanisms of moral judgment of lying in adults using high-density event-related potentials (ERPs). Participants were recruited to do moral judgment of 200 stories including two types of lying and their corresponding truth-telling. The results showed that both types of lying were judged more negative than their corresponding truth-telling, and moral judgment of black lying was more negative than that of modest lying. There were two main components of the ERPs evoked by the test stimuli. One was an early component, peaking at about 200 ms, and the other was a late component, peaking at about 400 ms. Over the frontal scalp sites, the early component was positive and the late component was negative, while they both reversed over the posterior sites. The ERPs of both types of lying was more positive than that of their corresponding truth-telling in the time window of 600—900 ms at the posterior sites.     

Neural correlates of moral judgment of lying： An event-related-potential study

The present study investigated neural mechanisms of moral judgment of lying in adults using high-density event-related potentials (ERPs). Participants were recruited to do moral judgment of 200 stories including two types of lying and their corresponding truth-telling. The results showed that both types of lying were judged more negative than their corresponding truth-telling, and moral judgment of black lying was more negative than that of modest lying. There were two main components of the ERPs evoked by the test stimuli. One was an early component, peaking at about 200 ms, and the other was a late component, peaking at about 400 ms. Over the frontal scalp sites, the early component was positive and the late component was negative, while they both reversed over the posterior sites. The ERPs of both types of lying was more positive than that of their corresponding truth-telling in the time window of 600—900 ms at the posterior sites.     

Differences of relevance in implicit and explicit memory tests: An ERP study

An ERP study was conducted to explore the differences between other-relevant words and possessor-relevant words in implicit and explicit memory tests. The results show that other-relevant words are associated with a more negative ERP than possessor-relevant words during 300--900 ms whether in the implicit or the explicit memory tests. The N400 effect is also found in semantic processing of social materials. There is an ERP dissociation of retrieval formats between the implicit and the explicit memory tests during 700--900 ms, namely, there is no difference between other-relevant words and possessor-relevant words in the implicit memory while there is a significant difference between them in the explicit memory. Observed through Curry 6.0, the analysis of neural sources for other-relevant words and possessor-relevant words indicates that they have different locations. At 400 ms, activity is found in the left precuneus during possessor-relevant words processing. Both the right and the left precuneus are activated during other-relevant words processing. However, at 600 ms their location is both in the left precuneus. In a word, our results show that there exists a cognitive difference between other-relevant words and possessor-relevant words, and other-relevant words closely related to the percipient himself/herself are strongly responded to, which reflects that there is a bigger attention bias to the stimuli concerning the percipient himself/herself than to processor-relevant words.     

Pollutants in stormwater runoff in Shanghai （China）： Implications for management of urban runoff pollution

Runoff samples were collected from four functional areas (traffic, residential, commercial and industrial) and four roof types (old concrete,new concrete, old clay and new clay) in central Shanghai, China, during rain events. The event mean concentrations (EMCs) of three forms of nitrogen (NH4+―N,NO3-―N,NO2-―N) and the temporal variations of total phosphorus (TP) were then measured to evaluate the effects of runoff from different areas on water quality management. The results revealed that the TP levels varied significantly in the samples collected from different functional areas and roof types during rain events. In addition, although the NO3-―N and NO2-―N concentrations in runoff remained well below the fifth class values of the national surface water quality standards, the NH4+―N levels were 1.36, 1.17, 1.10 and 0.85 times higher than the standard value in samples collected from commercial, traffic, industrial,and residential areas, respectively. Similarly, the concentrations of NH4+―N in samples collected from old concrete, new concrete,old clay and new clay roofs exceeded the fifth class standard by 6.66, 5.72, 4.32 and 3.32 times, respectively. And the NO3-―N levels were 1.86 and 1.53 times higher than the standard values in runoff samples collected from new and old concrete roofs, respectively.     

Neural correlates underlying humans’ differential sensitivity to emotionally negative stimuli of varying valences: an ERP study

The present study aims to investigate the neural correlates underlying humans’ sensitivity to valence differences in negative stimuli. Event-related potentials (ERPs) for highly negative (HN), moderately negative (MN), and Neutral pictures were recorded while subjects perform a standard/deviant categorization task, irrespective of the emotional valence of the deviants. The results show more negative ERP deflections during HN condition than during MN condition at each 50 ms interval from 350 to 650 ms after stimulus onset (at P3 and slow negative wave (SNW) components). Moreover, emotional effect was also observed for MN stimuli at P3 component (350—450 ms interval). Dipole analyses on the HN-MN difference wave during 350—450 ms interval (P3 component) and that during 450—650 ms interval (SNW component) were both localized to the right medial temporal lobe. Thus, the present study confirmed the human sensitivity to valence variations in emotionally negative stimuli, and further showed that the right medial temporal lobe, in particular, the right hippocampus/amygdala complex, may be the critical neural substrates underlying humans’ differential sensitivity to emotionally negative stimuli of varying valences.     

Neural correlates underlying humans’ differential sensitivity to emotionally negative stimuli of varying valences: an ERP study

The present study aims to investigate the neural correlates underlying humans’ sensitivity to valence differences in negative stimuli. Event-related potentials (ERPs) for highly negative (HN), moderately negative (MN), and Neutral pictures were recorded while subjects perform a standard/deviant categorization task, irrespective of the emotional valence of the deviants. The results show more negative ERP deflections during HN condition than during MN condition at each 50 ms interval from 350 to 650 ms after stimulus onset (at P3 and slow negative wave (SNW) components). Moreover, emotional effect was also observed for MN stimuli at P3 component (350—450 ms interval). Dipole analyses on the HN-MN difference wave during 350—450 ms interval (P3 component) and that during 450—650 ms interval (SNW component) were both localized to the right medial temporal lobe. Thus, the present study confirmed the human sensitivity to valence variations in emotionally negative stimuli, and further showed that the right medial temporal lobe, in particular, the right hippocampus/amygdala complex, may be the critical neural substrates underlying humans’ differential sensitivity to emotionally negative stimuli of varying valences.     

ERP dissociation and connection between implicit and explicit memory

ERP dissociations between implicit and explicit memory have been confirmed by a large amount of evidence in theories of human memory. However, similarities between the two forms of memory have scarcely been studied. A possibility is that while implicit memory and explicit memory have independ- ent components, they might additionally have shared components. To explore this question, an ERP experiment was conducted with a study-to-test paradigm, in which participants performed a "shallow" (color) study task or a "deep" (pleasant) study task, followed by either a lexical decision (implicit) test (Section 1) or a recognition (explicit) test (Section 2). An interference task was performed concurrently with either the encoding or the retrieval phase of the memory task for encoding interference condition or retrieval interference condition. We compared ERP signatures of implicit and explicit memory as a function of depth of processing or interference. Under the action of the same variables, 300―500 ms old/new ERP effects of implicit and explicit memory showed the same trend. These effects maybe all link with a perceptual representational system. 500―700 ms old/new ERP effects of the two memories were dissociated. They may probably reflect voluntary and involuntary recollection respectively. These results suggested that implicit and explicit memories are not completely independent of each other, but have both independent and shared components.     

图画优异性效果在编码和提取中的促进作用

为调查图画优异性效果,比较了在编码和提取过程中图词和单词所诱发的ERP(事件相关电位)。20位中国留学生被分成2组,分别参加了图词和单词记忆实验,每个实验包含12个学习-测试序列。在图词记忆实验中,120幅图词组合被平均分成12组作为视觉刺激物呈现在学习阶段,相同的120个单词呈现在单词记忆实验的学习阶段。在两个实验的测试阶段,都只呈现单词作为记忆测试的刺激物,每个序列里随机呈现5个旧单词和5个新单词。在学习阶段,图词诱发的FN400比单词诱发的FN400波幅更大且持续时间更长。在提取阶段,相对于单词条件,图词条件的旧项目诱发了更显著的FN400熟悉性效果和晚期新旧效果。比较图词条件的新旧项目在提取阶段的ERP成分,发现图词旧项目诱发了显著的FN400熟悉性效果和晚期新旧效果。但在提取阶段,单词条件的新旧项目之间不存在显著的FN400波幅和晚期正成分波幅上的差异。因此推测,由于图词同时进行的图像和语义双编码引起了图词旧项目在测试阶段被更快更好地回忆,图画优异性效果主要表现为图画能增强编码和促进回忆。     

编码和提取过程中日语汉字和假名的差异比较

 为了解明中国人日语学习者记忆日语汉字和假名词汇时所关联的脑神经机制,本研究比较了日语汉字和假名在编码和提取过程中所诱发的ERP成分的差异。在学习阶段,汉字和假名条件的各ERPs成分的波幅-潜时之间存在着显著性差异,汉字条件的P300和N400的波幅都显著大于假名条件,潜时也比假名条件出现得更早,这些结果说明汉字的编码加工比假名更快更深刻。在提取阶段,相对于旧假名,旧汉字诱发了低波幅·短持续时间的FN400和高波幅·短持续时间的LPC(晚期阳性慢波)。这些结果显示了旧汉字的熟悉性效果更大,旧汉字能被更快更好地回忆起来。而且它们的编码和提取具有明显的半球优异性特征,说明了与汉字和假名的记忆相关联的脑神经机制不同。本文认为,由于假名的记忆加工比汉字复杂,增加了假名的记忆负荷,导致记忆成绩比汉字差,解明汉字和假名的记忆特征对日语学习具有重要的指导作用。     

Neural correlation of item recognition and voice source retrieval

An experiment was conducted using event-related potentials to investigate the old/new effects of the item recognition and the voice source retrieval tasks on drawing. The results indicated that (1) the old/new effect for the voice source retrieval task was much wider than that of the item recognition task; (2) the distributive characteristics of the voice source memory effect were different from those in previous studies; (3) the old/new effects for target and non-target-old drawings were similar. These results demonstrated that the voice source retrieval task is more difficult than the item recognition task for drawing, which supports the dual-process model. The experimental material and the source characteristic regulate the spatial and temporal distributions of the old/new effect for the voice source retrieval task together.     

Neural correlation of item recognition and voice source retrieval

An experiment was conducted using event-related potentials to investigate the old/new effects of the item recognition and the voice source retrieval tasks on drawing. The results indicated that (1) the old/new effect for the voice source retrieval task was much wider than that of the item recognition task; (2) the distributive characteristics of the voice source memory effect were different from those in previous studies; (3) the old/new effects for target and non-target-old drawings were similar. These results demonstrated that the voice source retrieval task is more difficult than the item recognition task for drawing, which supports the dual-process model. The experimental material and the source characteristic regulate the spatial and temporal distributions of the old/new effect for the voice source retrieval task together.     

Effects of encoding and retrieval on the mechanism of item + context binding

To investigate the neural mechanism of semantic representation and color context binding, we used electroencephalograph time frequency and coherence analyses to reveal local and long-range functional coupling in the encoding and retrieval phases of episodic memory. Fifteen undergraduates participated in the experiment and middle-frequency double-character Chinese words were used as stimuli in two types of study-test tasks (context recall and context recognition tests). Significant differences between item+context and item in the encoding phase were observed at the electrodes in the frontal region at 600–800 ms by time frequency analysis. Further differences were observed at 800 ms by independent component analysis: the frontal component and the coherent component of the triangle phase locking structure among the prefrontal, right parietal and left parietal-occipital regions. In the retrieval phase, differences between item+context and item were found on the electrodes at the central parietal and parietal-occipital regions at 400 ms by time frequency analysis, on the parietal-occipital component at 800 ms by independent component analysis and on the coherence component of the anterior right hemisphere and parietal-occipital regions at 1400 ms. In conclusion, the different effects of encoding and retrieval processing on ‘binding’ are reflected by the differing extents that brain regions engaged in cognitive operations. In the retrieval phase in particular, activities of the parietal-occipital region were specifically associated with ‘binding’, and coherence between frontal and temporal-parietal regions is a common brain activity in episodic memory.     

An event-related potential study of working memory in children

Working memory refers to temporary storage and manipulation of “on-line” information in the brain,which is central to a large range of cognitive capabili- ties[1]. Visual working memory involves processes such as maintaining, updating and manipulating b…