title: Neuroelectric evidence for cognitive association formation: an event-related potential investigation.
abstract: Although many types of learning require associations to be formed, little is known about the brain mechanisms engaged in association formation. In the present study, we measured event-related potentials (ERPs) while participants studied pairs of semantically related words, with each word of a pair presented sequentially. To narrow in on the associative component of the signal, the ERP difference between the first and second words of a pair (Word2-Word1) was derived separately for subsequently recalled and subsequently not-recalled pairs. When the resulting difference waveforms were contrasted, a parietal positivity was observed for subsequently recalled pairs around 460 ms after the word presentation onset, followed by a positive slow wave that lasted until around 845 ms. Together these results suggest that associations formed between semantically related words are correlated with a specific neural signature that is reflected in scalp recordings over the parietal region.
authors.affiliation: Rotman Research Institute of Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. aa.kim@utoronto.ca
authors.forename: Alice S N
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Malcolm A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Binns
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alain
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012660:Semantics; D055815:Young Adult