Figure 4 - uploaded by Benjamin Rohaut
Content may be subject to copyright.
![Semantic priming ERP effect within the N400 time-window. (a) ERP effects occurring within the general N400 time-window are reported. The N400 time-window was defined by the contrast Pseudo-word (PW) – Word (W). Statistical effects using a nonparametric cluster-based approach for the PW-W contrast (first two rows), and a parametric approach based on a sample-by-sample paired t-test with a triple criterion are plotted in color map. Nonsignificant topographies are plotted in black and white. Cg = Congruent, Icg = Incongruent, Init = Initial, Sep = Separate; R = “right-hand for words” code; L = “left-hand for words” code. The [Sep-Cg] contrast revealed a left-lateralized priming effect of the contextualized meaning of masked polysemous words for the “right-hand for words” code. (b) The ROI approach showed the time-course of the left lateralized priming effect of the contextualized meaning of masked polysemous words for the “right-hand for words” code. Bars indicate standard errors of mean; * = P < 0.05.](profile/Benjamin-Rohaut/publication/305947266/figure/fig3/AS:439339755806720@1481758168668/Semantic-priming-ERP-effect-within-the-N400-time-window-a-ERP-effects-occurring-within.png)
Semantic priming ERP effect within the N400 time-window. (a) ERP effects occurring within the general N400 time-window are reported. The N400 time-window was defined by the contrast Pseudo-word (PW) – Word (W). Statistical effects using a nonparametric cluster-based approach for the PW-W contrast (first two rows), and a parametric approach based on a sample-by-sample paired t-test with a triple criterion are plotted in color map. Nonsignificant topographies are plotted in black and white. Cg = Congruent, Icg = Incongruent, Init = Initial, Sep = Separate; R = “right-hand for words” code; L = “left-hand for words” code. The [Sep-Cg] contrast revealed a left-lateralized priming effect of the contextualized meaning of masked polysemous words for the “right-hand for words” code. (b) The ROI approach showed the time-course of the left lateralized priming effect of the contextualized meaning of masked polysemous words for the “right-hand for words” code. Bars indicate standard errors of mean; * = P < 0.05.
Source publication
Semantic processing of visually presented words can be identified both on behavioral and neurophysiological evidence. One of the major discoveries of the last decades is the demonstration that these signatures of semantic processing, initially observed for consciously perceived words, can also be detected for masked words inaccessible to conscious...
Similar publications
Converging evidence has proved the attentional bias of Internet addicts (IAs) on network information. However, previous studies have neither explained how characteristics of network information are detected by IAs with priority nor proved whether this advantage is in line with the unconscious and automatic process. To answer the two questions, this...
Citations
... Since this study, a large number of studies confirmed and extended the validity of this major theoretical revision of automaticity. Some unconscious cognitive processes can be flexible Naccache 2008;Van den Bussche et al. 2008;Rohaut et al. 2016) and sensitive to various influences including endogenous spatio-temporal attention (Kentridge et al. 1999;Naccache et al. 2002;Kentridge et al. 2008;Rozier et al. 2020), conscious consideration of task instructions and stimuli sets (Greenwald et al. 2003;Van Opstal et al. 2010) and executive control (van Gaal et al. 2008;Reuss et al. 2014;Schouppe et al. 2014). In our 2002 study we proposed to refine the concept of 'automaticity' by separating the source of conscious strategical control from its effects: Unconscious "processing is automatic inasmuch it cannot serve as a source of information for the subsequent definition of an explicit strategy. ...
We introduce here a general model of Functional Neurological Disorders based on the following hypothesis: a Functional Neurological Disorder could correspond to a consciously initiated voluntary top-down process causing involuntary lasting consequences that are consciously experienced and subjectively interpreted by the patient as involuntary. We develop this central hypothesis according to Global Neuronal Workspace theory of consciousness, that is particularly suited to describe interactions between conscious and non-conscious cognitive processes. We then present a list of predictions defining a research program aimed at empirically testing their validity. Finally, this general model leads us to reinterpret the long-debated links between hypnotic suggestion and functional neurological disorders. Driven by both scientific and therapeutic goals, this theoretical paper aims at bringing closer the psychiatric and neurological worlds of functional neurological disorders with the latest developments of cognitive neuroscience of consciousness.
... In contrast to the overt presentation of distractors in a picture-word procedure, masked primes are forward/backward masked by a preceding and/or immediately subsequent display that precludes conscious processing of the prime word (Van den Bussche et al., 2009;Nacacche et al., 2002). Most masked priming research has involved word categorization or lexical decision tasks in which semantically related primes pre-activate target representations and thus facilitate processing (Rohaut et al., 2016;Nacacche et al., 2002). However, in production tasks where the selection of a single word must occur prior to articulation, competitor activation tends to cause interference (Levelt et al., 1999, but see Finkbeiner & Caramazza, 2006. ...
Language production entails selecting words in the face of internally, and sometimes externally, driven competition that influences the long-term accessibility of both selected words and competitors. Because both endogenous and externally presented competitors usually result in semantic interference, it is often assumed that they engage the same underlying processes. We question this assumption. Specifically, we propose that latent primes may more naturally commingle with endogenous lexical activation whereas overt primes elicit strong control processes. Two experiments examined the effects of latent (masked) and overt (picture-word) priming in combination with cyclic picture naming of small sets of taxonomically or thematically related or unrelated pictures. A subsequent continuous picture naming phase was designed to assess enduring effects of service as a prime or target. Only taxonomic relations showed substantial interference in cyclic naming. Latent priming tended to increase interference for taxonomic relations, but it produced facilitation for thematic relations. In contrast, overt priming induced interference for both types of relation, indicating exertion of cognitive control. In the continuous picture naming phases, accessibility was hindered for previously presented latent primes (Experiment 1) but enhanced for previously overt primes (Experiment 2). Surprisingly, interference in cyclic naming did not carry forward to the continuous phase. These findings suggest that masked priming may be a viable intervention in the internal dynamics of lexical selection. In contrast, they also add to the body of evidence questioning the validity of using picture-word procedures to study inherent semantic interference.
... Nevertheless, the perception of the word meaning does not mean mandatory awareness of them. In priming experiments, the presentation of words at a subthreshold level of awareness affects the parameters of the subject's response to the subsequent presentation of conscious stimuli that are similar in meaning (Meyer & Schvaneveldt, 1971;Ortells et al., 2016;Rohaut et al., 2016). ...
Since the middle of the 20th century, more and more data have appeared on the limited role of consciousness in determining human behavior. In this opinion paper, we hypothesize that the basis of consciousness is precisely the communicative function, and discuss relations of consciousness to other cognitive processes such sensory detection, decision-making and emotions. Within the framework of the hypothesis, consciousness is considered as a highly specialized function of the brain, which ensures encoding of personal information as communication messages. On a subjective level, mental representation just means the state of information to be shared in a human group. Accordingly, consciousness affects only those components of human behavior that are associated with the transmission of messages. Sensory detection, decision-making, emotions and other processes are only projected into consciousness during the encoding of information of them. The communication hypothesis assumes that consciousness is an adaptation that increases the efficiency of a collective way of life, and the emergence of consciousness is inextricably linked with the development of language in human culture. In the future, our view of consciousness provides an opportunity for an objective analysis of subjective phenomena by means of a directed study of the formation of messages both at the level of brain processes and at the level of interactions between individuals.
... Interestingly, the GNWT states that a conscious context or instruction can modulate, in a top-down manner, the unfolding of unconscious processes Naccache et al., 2002;Naccache, 2009). This prediction has been tested and confirmed in several experimental contexts such as the endogenous allocation of spatial (Kentridge et al., 2004) and temporal attention (Naccache et al., 2002) for subliminal stimuli, the conscious setting of response codes (Dehaene et al., 1998;Rohaut et al., 2016) or task-related strategies (Nakamura et al., 2007). In all these examples, once a specific "conscious posture" is adopted, it can influence unreported cognitive but also sensory and motor processes. ...
Hypnosis can be conceived as a unique opportunity to explore how top-down effects can influence various conscious and non-conscious processes. In the field of perception, such modulatory effects have been described in distinct sensory modalities. In the present study we focused on the auditory channel and aimed at creating a radical deafness to elementary sounds by a specific hypnotic suggestion. We report here a single case-study in a highly suggestible healthy volunteer who reported a total hypnotically suggested deafness. We recorded high-density scalp EEG during an auditory odd-ball paradigm before and after hypnotic deafness suggestion. While both early auditory event-related potentials to sounds (P1) and mismatch negativity component were not affected by hypnotic deafness, we observed a total disappearance of the late P3 complex component when the subject reported being deaf. Moreover, a centro-mesial positivity was present exclusively during the hypnotic condition prior to the P3 complex. Interestingly, source localization suggested an anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) origin of this neural event. Multivariate decoding analyses confirmed and specified these findings. Resting state analyses confirmed a similar level of conscious state in both conditions, and suggested a functional disconnection between auditory areas and other cortical areas. Taken together these results suggest the following plausible scenario: (i) preserved early processing of auditory information unaffected by hypnotic suggestion, (ii) conscious setting of an inhibitory process (ACC) preventing conscious access to sounds, (iii) functional disconnection between the modular and unconscious representations of sounds and global neuronal workspace. This single subject study presents several limits that are discussed and remains open to alternative interpretations. This original proof-of-concept paves the way to a larger study that will test the predictions stemming from our theoretical model and from this first report.
... There are arguably three distinct processes involved in this form of priming (Heyman et al. 2015;Rohaut et al. 2016): ...
This article proposes that predicate order and coherence relations are the two major determining factors in copredication licensing, resolving a long-standing puzzle over the criteria for constructing acceptable copredications. The effects of predicate ordering are claimed to be anchored around semantic complexity, such that copredications with semantically Simple–Complex predicate orderings are more acceptable than the reverse. This motivates a parsing bias, termed Incremental Semantic Complexity. Particular ways of implementing this parsing bias are discussed. The effect of predicate coherence is claimed to be anchored around a sense of causality and featural commonality. Lastly, a hierarchy of possible copredications is outlined (the Copredication Hierarchy), helping to delimit the modelling of copredications to a greater extent than has previously been possible.
... Taking stock, there are arguably three distinct processes underlying Incremental Semantic Complexity if the priming account can be sustained (which, as argued, it may not be) (Collins & Loftus 1975, Heyman et al. 2015, Neely 1991, Rohaut et al. 2016, Tabossi & Zardon 1993: ...
This thesis addresses the lexical and psycholinguistic properties of copredication. In particular, it explores its acceptability, frequency, crosslinguistic and electrophysiological features. It proposes a general parsing bias to account for novel acceptability data, through which Complex-Simple predicate orderings are degraded across distinct nominal types relative to the reverse order. This bias, Incremental Semantic Complexity, states that the parser seeks to process linguistic representations in incremental stages of semantic complexity. English and Italian acceptability data are presented which demonstrate that predicate order preferences are based not on sense dominance but rather sense complexity. Initial evidence is presented indicating that pragmatic factors centred on coherence relations can impact copredication acceptability when such copredications host complex (but not simple) predicates. The real-time processing and electrophysiological properties of copredication are also presented, which serve to replicate and ground the acceptability dynamics presented in the thesis.
... In view of recent findings implicating potential top-down influences from response-hand or hand contractions on preferentially engaging the left-or the right-hemisphere language network (Rohaut et al., 2016;Turner et al., 2017), we also explored whether such top-down influences could affect the degree of RH inhibition and modulate RH P600 effect. Rohaut et al. (2016), using the word-triplet paradigm (e.g., hand, palm, wrist), discovered that contextualized semantic priming from the homograph to the last word was present exclusively when subjects categorized target stimuli as being words with their right hand in the unconscious condition. ...
... In view of recent findings implicating potential top-down influences from response-hand or hand contractions on preferentially engaging the left-or the right-hemisphere language network (Rohaut et al., 2016;Turner et al., 2017), we also explored whether such top-down influences could affect the degree of RH inhibition and modulate RH P600 effect. Rohaut et al. (2016), using the word-triplet paradigm (e.g., hand, palm, wrist), discovered that contextualized semantic priming from the homograph to the last word was present exclusively when subjects categorized target stimuli as being words with their right hand in the unconscious condition. These results were taken to suggest that assessing semantic representations without conscious awareness is sensitive to top-down influences-which hand is designated for 'yes' could preferentially enhance the left-hemisphere or right-hemisphere language network. ...
... Subset analysis of our data based on participants' response hand for the 'yes' judgment showed that right-hemisphere P600 effects were not modulated by the response hand assignment (see Supplementary materials for more details). Thus, consistent with findings from semantic priming (Rohaut et al., 2016;Weems & Zaidel, 2005), our results also indicate that response hand for 'yes' does not cast reliable top-down influences on elicitation of the RH P600 effect when all stimuli were consciously perceived. ...
The present study examined the hypothesis that left hemisphere (LH) equivalent language capabilities in the right hemisphere (RH) are inhibited in neurologically intact individuals by testing healthy young right-handers with a history of familial sinistrality (FS+, i.e. with at least one left handed biological relative), a population documented to show greater variability for RH language processing. Event-Related Potential (ERP) and split visual field presentation techniques were combined to assess LH- and RH- biased responses to syntactic category violations. In addition, a bilateral flanker task was used to measure inter-hemispheric inhibition ability in the same set of participants. Replicating prior findings, in addition to the LH-biased P600 grammaticality effect previously seen for right-handers in general, a fair amount, though not all, of FS+ right-handers showed RH-biased P600 responses, leading to a reliable RH P600 grammaticality effect at the group level. Capitalizing on the variability of RH P600 responses, our results further revealed that reduced RH-biased P600 effects were reliably correlated with more effective RH inhibition (indexed by smaller reaction time differences between incongruent and neutral flankers presented to the RH via the left visual field). These results corroborated previous findings that the RH is capable of processing syntactic information in a manner qualitatively similar to that in the LH and further demonstrated that LH-equivalent processing in the RH as indexed by the P600 responses is modulated by RH inhibition, contributing to inter-individual variability in syntactic lateralization.
... Going even further, masking paradigms combined with priming (investigation of the influence of a first stimulus on a subsequent stimulus and specifically here the potential influence of a subliminal stimulus on a target stimulus), have suggested that unconscious processing can cover a vast range of cognitive processes, not just restricted to early perceptual levels. For instance, visually presented words can be processed unconsciously from basic physical parameters (Frost et al., 2000;Giraudo and Grainger, 2001), up to more abstract and complex levels such as orthographic (Kouider et al., 2007), semantic (Dehaene et al., 1998;van Gaal et al., 2014;Rohaut et al., 2015Rohaut et al., , 2016, syntactic (Batterink and Neville, 2013;Berkovitch and Dehaene, 2019) or emotional level (Naccache et al., 2005a;Gaillard et al., 2006). In addition, several other higher-level cognitive processes such as arithmetic (Sklar et al., 2012), motor response (Leuthold and Kopp, 1998), motivation (Pessiglione et al., 2007), cognitive control (inhibitory control (Kunde et al., 2003;van Gaal et al., 2008van Gaal et al., , 2010, error detection (Charles et al., 2013) and task switching (Lau and Passingham, 2007)) can be influenced by subliminal stimuli. ...
Accurate diagnosis and treatment of consciousness disorders (DoC) remains a challenging issue. In this work, we introduced a new behavioral scale for DoC capitalizing on the wisdom of the crowd phenomenon, we validated the FDG-PET metabolic index of the best preserved hemisphere as one of the best neuro-imaging technique for minimally conscious state (MCS) diagnosis and proposed a new and reliable clinical sign of MCS, the habituation of auditory startle reflex. In addition to enriching and refining our repertoire of diagnostic procedures available for DoC diagnosis, our results support the interpretation of the generic and elusive MCS as a cortically-mediated state, which reflects the preservation of activity within specialized cortical networks and could include both conscious and non-conscious states. On the therapeutic side, by investigating the effects of prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on behavior and brain activity of patients suffering from DoC, we provided evidence for a genuine and direct cortical effect of the stimulation on consciousness through the modulation of residual cortical activity and cortico-cortical connectivity. Finally, in an attempt to develop theory-driven stimulation paradigms, we used tDCS and transcranial alternative stimulation to test predictions of the global neuronal workspace theory on conscious access in healthy subjects, with heterogeneous stimulation responses. Taken together, our results advocate for the systematic investigation of stimulation effect on brain activity and for the future development of more powerful and targeted stimulation procedures.
... Many researchers have demonstrated unconscious processing of information (Bernat et al. 2001;Diaz and McCarthy 2007;Yun et al. 2011) and interaction between conscious and unconscious mental processes. For example, unconscious information can influence the processing of conscious information (Faivre and Kouider 2011;Montoro et al. 2014), and conscious information can affect the processing of unconscious information (Pinto et al. 2015;Rohaut et al. 2016). In addition, a number of recent studies have indicated an integration between different unconscious processes Van Opstal et al. 2010), with unconscious integration defined as the generation of a new representation from two or more unconscious component representations, including determining a same or different relation between two perceptual or semantic representations . ...
... As to the extent to which the subliminal semantic information can be processed, numerous studies have revealed that a single subliminally presented word in the prime can affect the subsequent response to a supraliminally presented target (Kiefer 2002;Kiefer and Martens 2010;Luck et al. 1996;Neely 1991;Ortells et al. 2016;Rohaut et al. 2016;Rolke et al. 2001;Valdés et al. 2005). This finding is taken to support the subliminal semantic processing. ...
In the present study, we showed evidence of an integration between two unconscious semantic representations. In experiment 1, two masked Chinese words of the same or different categories (“orange apple” or “grape hammer”) were simultaneously presented in the prime, followed by two Chinese words also of same or different categories in the target. We examined possible prime/target visual feature priming, semantic category priming and motor response priming effects. Moreover, two ISI intervals (53, 163 ms) between the prime and the target words were used to examine the positive and negative priming. The results revealed a negative motor response priming and a positive semantic category priming effect independent of the ISI when the target words were of the same category. Experiment 2 eliminated an alternative interpretation of the effect based on different number of category words changed across the prime and the target. Experiment 3 eliminated a potential confound of unequal numbers of trials for motor congruent and incongruent conditions in Experiment 1. Overall, these results indicated an integration between the meanings of the two subliminally perceived words in the prime. The difference between simultaneous and sequential presentations, and the reason why positive priming was not observed when the interval between the prime and the target was short were discussed in the context of unconscious semantic integration.
... This led to the conclusion that masked priming reflects unconscious mechanisms of word processing (Marcel, 1983). Although there is still debate about the models explaining unconscious semantic effects (for overviews, see De Wit & Kinoshita, 2015;Rohaut, Alario, Meadow, Cohen, & Naccache, 2016), consensus instead exists that in the masked priming paradigm the mask interferes with the consolidation of long-lasting episodic memories. Therefore, this paradigm is well suited to investigate (a) the neural correlates of the unconscious processing of gender stereotypes and (b) the early stages of gender stereotype activation. ...
