Recent studies have found holistic processing to be a marker of expertise for perception of words in alphabetic (e.g., English) and non-alphabetic (e.g., Chinese) writing systems, consistent with what has been found for faces and other objects of face-like expertise. It is unknown, however, whether holistic processing of words occurs in an early, perceptual stage as it does for faces. We examined how early holistic processing of Chinese characters emerges by recording the event-related potentials (ERPs) in an adaptation paradigm. Participants judged if the top parts of two sequentially presented characters were the same or different while ignoring the bottom part. An early potential (P1) at the posterior channels was smaller when the attended top parts were the same compared with when they are different, indicating an adaptation effect. Critically, for trials with identical top parts, P1 was larger when the irrelevant bottom parts were different, indicating a release of adaptation. This effect was present only when the two character parts were aligned but not misaligned, and only for characters but not for pseudocharacters. The finding of early sensitivity to all parts of a Chinese character suggests that Chinese characters are represented holistically at a perceptual level.
References
[1]
Farah MJ (1991) Patterns of co-occurrence among the associative agnosias: Implications for visual object representation. Cognitive Neuropsych 8: 1–19.
[2]
Farah MJ, Wilson KD, Drain M, Tanaka JN (1998) What is "Special" about Face Perception? Psychol Rev 105: 482–498.
[3]
Farah MJ (2004) Visual Agnosia (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
[4]
Levy I, Hasson U, Avidan G, Hendler T, Malach R (2001) Center-periphery organization of human object areas. Nat Neurosci 4: 533–539.
[5]
Wong ACN, Jobard G, James KH, James TW, Gauthier I (2009) Expertise with characters in alphabetic and non-alphabetic writing systems engage overlapping occipito-temporal areas. Cognitive Neuropsych 26: 111–127.
[6]
Wong CAN, Palmeri TJ, Gauthier I (2009) Conditions for face-like expertise with objects: Becoming a Ziggerin expert–but which type? Psychol Sci 20: 1108–1117.
[7]
Bilali? M, Langner R, Ulrich R, Grodd W (2011) Many faces of expertise: Fusiform face area in chess experts and novices. J Neurosci 31: 10206–10214.
[8]
Bukach CM, Phillips WS, Gauthier I (2010) Limits of generalization between categories and implications for theories of category specificity. Atten. Percept. Psychophys 72: 1865–1874.
[9]
Busey TA, Vanderkolk JR (2005) Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence for configural processing in fingerprint experts. Vision Res 45: 431–448.
[10]
Gauthier I, Curran T, Curby KM, Collins D (2003) Perceptual interference supports a non-modular account of face processing. Nat Neurosci 6: 428–432.
[11]
Richler JJ, Tanaka JW, Brown DD, Gauthier I (2008) Why does selective attention fail in face processing? J Exp Psychol Learn 34: 1356–1368.
[12]
Wong ACN, Bukach CM, Yuen C, Yang L, Leung S, et al. (2011) Holistic processing of words modulated by reading experience. PLoS ONE 6: e20753.
[13]
Wong ACN, Bukach CM, Hsiao J, Greenspon E, Ahern E, et al. (2012) Holistic processing as a hallmark of perceptual expertise for non-face categories including Chinese characters. J Vision 12: 1–5.
[14]
Jacques C, Rossion B (2009) The initial representation of individual faces in the right occipito-temporal cortex is holistic: electrophysiological evidence from the composite face illusion. J Vision 9: 1–16.
[15]
Kuefner D, Jacques C, Prieto EA, Rossion B (2010) Electrophysiological correlates of the composite face illusion: Disentangling perceptual and decisional components of holistic face processing in the human brain. Brain Cognition 74: 225–238.
[16]
Letourneau SM, Mitchell TV (2008) Behavioral and ERP measure of holistic face processing in a composite task. Brain Cognition 67: 234–245.
[17]
Schiltz C, Dricot L, Goebel R, Rossion B (2010) Holistic perception of individual faces in the right middle fusiform gyrus as evidenced by the composite face illusion. J Vision 10: 11–16.
[18]
Schiltz C, Rossion B (2006) Faces are represented holistically in the human occipito-temporal cortex. Neuroimage 32: 1385–1394.
[19]
Fahle M (2004) Perceptual learning: a case for early selection. J Vision 4: 879–890.
[20]
Gilbert CD, Li W, Piech V (2009) Perceptual learning and adult cortical plasticity. J Physiology 587: 2743–2751.
[21]
Sigman M, Pan H, Yang Y, Stern E, Sillbersweig D, et al. (2005) Top-down reorganization of activity in the visual pathway after learning a shape identification task. Neuron 46: 823–835.
[22]
Szwed M, Dehaene S, Kleinschmidt A, Eger E, Valabrègue R, et al. (2011) Specialization for written words over objects in the visual cortex. Neuroimage 56: 330–344.
[23]
Richler JJ, Cheung OS, Gauthier I (2011) Holistic processing predicts face recognition. Psychol Sci 22: 464–471.
[24]
Gauthier I, Tarr MJ (2002) Unraveling mechanisms for expert object recognition: Bridging brain activity and behavior. J Exp Psychol Human 28: 431–446.
[25]
Di Russo F, Martínez A, Sereno MI, Pitzalis S, Hillyard SA (2001) Cortical sources of the early components of the visual evoked potential. Human Brain Mapp 15: 95–111.
[26]
Nazir TA, Ben-Boutayab N, Decoppet N, Deutsch A, Frost R (2004) Reading habits, perceptual learning, and recognition of printed words. Brain Lang 88: 294–311.
[27]
Itier RJ, Taylor MJ (2004) N170 or N1? Spatiotemporal differences between object and face processing using ERPs. Cereb Cortex 14: 132–142.
[28]
Bentin S, Allison T, Puce A, Perez E, McCarthy G (1996) Electrophysiological studies of face perception in humans. J Cognitive Neurosci 8: 551–565.
[29]
Curran T, Tanaka JW, Weiskopf DM (2002) An electrophysiological comparison of visual categorization and recognition memory. Cogn Affect Behav Ne 2: 1–18.
[30]
Rossion B, deGelder B, Dricot L, Zoontjes R, Devolder A, et al. (2000) Hemispheric asymmetries for whole-based and part-based face processing in the human brain. J Cognitive Neurosci 12: 793–802.
[31]
Rossion B, Gauthier I, Goffaux V, Tarr MJ, Crommelinck M (2002) Expertise training with novel objects leads to left lateralized face-like electrophysiological responses. Psychol Sci 13: 250–257.
[32]
Scott LS, Tanaka JW, Sheinberg DL, Curran T (2006) A reevaluation of the electrophysiological correlates of expert object processing. J Cognitive Neurosci 18: 1453–1465.
[33]
Tanaka JW, Curran T (2001) A neural basis for expert object recognition. Psychol Sci 12: 43–47.
[34]
Gore JC, Horovitz SG, Cannistraci CJ, Skudlarski P (2006) Integration of fMRI, NIROT, and ERP for studies of human brain function. Mang Reson Imaging 4: 507–513.
[35]
Horovitz SG, Rossion B, Skudlarski P, Gore JC (2004) Parametric design and correlational analyses help integrating fMRI and electrophysiological data during face processing. Neuroimage 22: 1587–1595.
[36]
Lidaka T, Matsumoto A, Haneda K, Okada T, Sadato N (2006) Hemodynamic and electrophysiological relationship involved in human face processing: Evidence from a combined fMRI–ERP study. Brain Cognition 60: 176–186.
[37]
Baker CI, Liu J, Wald LL, Kwong KK, Benner T, et al. (2007) Visual word processing and experiential origins of functional selectivity in human extrastriate cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104: 9087–9092.
[38]
Bentin S, Mouchetant-Rostaing Y, Giard MH, Echallier JF, Pernier J (1999) ERP manifestations of processing printed words at different psycholinguistic levels: time course and scalp distribution. J Cognitive Neurosci 11: 235–260.
[39]
Maurer U, Zevin JD, McCandliss BD (2008) Left-lateralized N170 effects of visual expertise in reading: evidence from Japanese syllabic and logographic scripts. J Cognitive Neurosci 20: 1878–1891.
[40]
Wong ACN, Gauthier I, Woroch B, Debuse C, Curran T (2005) An early electrophysiological response associated with expertise in letter perception. Cogn Affect Behav Ne 5: 306–318.
[41]
Rossion B, Jacques C (2008) Does physical interstimulus variance account for early electrophysiological face sensitive responses in the human brain? Ten lessons on the N170. Neuroimage 39: 1959–1979.
[42]
Krekelberg B, Boynton GM, van Wezel RJ (2006) Adaptation: from single cells to BOLD signals. Trends in Neurosci 29: 250–256.
[43]
Sawamura H, Orban GA, Vogels R (2006) Selectivity of neuronal adaptation does not match response selectivity: a single-cell study of the fMRI adaptation paradigm. Neuron 49: 307–318.
[44]
Rentzeperis I, Nikolaev AR, Kiper DC, van Leeuwen C (2012) Relationship between neural response and adaptation selectivity to form and color: an ERP study. Front Hum Neurosci 6: 1–12.
[45]
Wong YK, Woodman GF, Gauthier I (2013) The role of early visual cortex in music reading expertise. In preparation
[46]
Lamme VA, Roelfsema PR (2000) The distinct modes of vision offered by feedforward and recurrent processing. Trends in Neurosci 23: 571–579.
[47]
Ravobsky M, Sommer W, Rahman RA (2012) Depth of conceptual knowledge modulates visual processes during word reading. J Cognitive Neurosci 24: 990–1005.
[48]
Cohen L, Lehéricy S, Chochon F, Lemer C, Rivaud S (2002) Language-specific tuning of visual cortex? Functional properties of the Visual Word Form Area. Brain 125: 1054–1069.