title: Cortical plasticity induced by rapid Hebbian learning of novel tonal word-forms: evidence from mismatch negativity.
abstract: Although several experiments reported rapid cortical plasticity induced by passive exposure to novel segmental patterns, few studies have devoted attention to the neural dynamics during the rapid learning of novel tonal word-forms in tonal languages, such as Chinese. In the current study, native speakers of Mandarin Chinese were exposed to acoustically matched real and novel segment-tone patterns. By recording their Mismatch Negativity (MMN) responses (an ERP indicator of long-term memory traces for spoken words), we found enhanced MMNs to the novel word-forms over the left-hemispheric region in the late exposure phase relative to the early exposure phase. In contrast, no significant changes were identified in MMN responses to the real word during familiarisation. Our results suggest a rapid Hebbian learning mechanism in the human neocortex which develops long-term memory traces for a novel segment-tone pattern by establishing new associations between the segmental and tonal representations.
authors.affiliation: International Doctorate in Experimental Approaches to Language And the Brain (IDEALAB), University of Potsdam, Germany; University of Groningen, The Netherlands; University of Trento, Italy; Newcastle University, UK; and Macquarie University, Australia; Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK; Center for Language and Cognition Groningen (CLCG), University of Groningen, Groningen, PO Box 716, 9700 AS, The Netherlands. Electronic address: j.yue2@ncl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Jinxing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.affiliation: Center for Language and Cognition Groningen (CLCG), University of Groningen, Groningen, PO Box 716, 9700 AS, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Roelien
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bastiaanse
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Alter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D057567:Memory, Long-Term / Q000502:physiology; D019579:Neocortex / Q000502:physiology*; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Event-related potential; Hebbian learning; Language; Lexical tone; Mandarin Chinese; Mismatch Negativity (MMN); Novel word; Oddball paradigm; Rapid learning