Word-selective EEG/MEG responses in the English language obtained with Fast Periodic Visual Stimulation (FPVS)

Abstract

Fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS) allows the recording of objective brain responses of human word discrimination (i.e., reproducible word-category-selective responses) with a high signal-to-noise ratio. This approach has been successfully employed over the last decade in a number of scalp electroencephalography (EEG) studies. Three important advances were achieved in this study: (1) robust measures of written word-selective responses with this approach have not been reported in English; (2) responses have only been reported in EEG but not with MEG, and (3) without source localization. Thus, we presented English words periodically (2 Hz) among different types of letter strings (10Hz; consonant strings, non-words, pseudowords) whilst recording simultaneous EEG and MEG in 25 participants who performed a simple non-linguistic color detection task. Data were analyzed in sensor and in source space (L2-minimum-norm estimation, MNE). With only 4 minutes of stimulation we observed a robust word discrimination response in each condition including, importantly, even when words were embedded in word-like pseudowords. This response was larger in nonwords and largest in consonant strings. We observed left-lateralized responses in all conditions in the majority of our participants. Cluster-based permutation tests revealed that these responses were left-lateralized in sensor as well as in source space, with peaks in left posterior regions. Our results demonstrate that the FPVS paradigm can elicit robust English word-discrimination responses in EEG and MEG within only a few minutes of recording time. Together with source estimation, this can provide novel insights into the neural basis of visual word recognition in healthy and clinical populations.