title: Temporal dynamics of early visual word processing - Early versus late N1 sensitivity in children and adults.
abstract: In the course of reading development children become familiar with letter strings and learn to distinguish between lexical and non-lexical items. In previous studies, the N1 component of the ERP was shown to reflect print tuning but also to be sensitive to lexical effects. It remains unclear, however, whether these two aspects of orthographic processing occur at the same time or in different time windows during the lengthy N1 component. Moreover, it is unclear whether these processes develop late or occur already at early stages of literacy acquisition and whether this is similar for native languages and languages acquired later in life. To address these questions, 27 children were tested longitudinally, i.e. before (mean: 7.6 years) and after one year of classroom-based English instruction. Additionally, 22 adult speakers of English as a foreign language (mean: 25.1 years) were investigated. A 128-channel EEG was recorded while participants performed a one-back task with native German words, English words, pseudowords and false-font strings. The event-related EEG analysis of early and late N1 phases revealed early effects related to print tuning and late effects related to lexical processing in the native, but not in the second language of adult readers. In the absence of lexicality effects in children, print tuning effects were found across both early and late N1 segments. The temporally distinct N1 sensitivities to print and lexicality reflect temporal dynamics of visual word processing, which seem to depend on reading expertise or maturation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: aleksandra.moscicka@psychologie.uzh.ch.
authors.forename: Aleksandra K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Eberhard-Moscicka
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lea B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Jost
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lynn V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Fehlbaum
authors.affiliation: Department of English and American Studies, University of Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Simone E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Pfenninger
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Brain and Mind Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Urs
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Maurer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000375:Aging; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time; D011932:Reading; D014825:Vocabulary
keywords: Foreign language learning; N1 lexicality effects in the native language; N1 lexicality effects in the second language; N1 print tuning; Reading; Visual word processing