Brain potentials reveal how emotion filters native language access when bilinguals read words in their second language.

It is now well established that reading words in a second language (L2) automatically activates native language (L1) translations in bilinguals. Although there is evidence that access to such representations is inhibited when words have a negative emotional valence, the mechanism underlying such inhibition is elusive, and it is unknown whether inhibition arises online as L2 is being processed or whether negative valence affects subsequent L1 processing. Here, we recorded event-related brain potentials in Chinese-English bilinguals engaged in an implicit translation-priming paradigm involving L2 (English) word pairs. Participants performed a semantic relatedness task, unaware that word pairs could conceal a sound repetition if translated into Chinese. When emotional valence was manipulated in prime position (first word), we observed form repetition priming through L1 translations for positive but not for negative words. However, when emotional valence was manipulated in target position (second word), priming occurred for both positive and negative word valences. This result begins to elucidate the mechanism by which emotion regulates language processing in bilinguals: Negative words in L2 induce a refractory period during which cross-language lexical access is blocked. These findings show that despite being neuroanatomically distinct in the human brain, emotional (limbic) regulation systems can penetrate language processing.

Using computer-based habit versus chess-based cognitive remediation training as add-on therapy to modify the imbalance between habitual behavior and cognitive control in tobacco use disorder: protocol of a randomized controlled, fMRI study.

BACKGROUND: Although the vast majority of smokers are aware of the enormous preventable health hazards caused by smoking, only a small percentage of smokers manage to remain abstinent in the long term. One possible explanation for this discrepancy lies in the inflexibility of addictive behavior and associated disadvantageous decision-making. According to a dual-process theory of decision-making, two distinct decision systems can be identified. One slow deliberate system based on desirable expectations of outcome value described as goal-directed behavior and a fast reflexive system based on habitual instrumental behavior and driven by reinforcement experienced in the past. In the course of addiction development, an imbalance occurs between habitual behavior and goal-directed. The present study aims to investigate the modifiability of the balance between habitual and goal-directed behavior at the neurobiological and behavioral level in smokers using two different novel add-on therapies. We hypothesize that both interventions change the balance between goal-directed and habitual behavior, but by different mechanisms. Whereas a cognitive remediation treatment should directly improve cognitive control, in contrast an implicit priming task should affect the early processing and the emotional valence of smoking and smoking cues. METHODS: We will conduct a randomized controlled study in treatment-seeking individuals with tobacco use disorder applying either chess-based cognitive remediation training (N = 30) or implicit computer-based habit-modifying training (N = 30) as add on therapy compared to the standard smoking cessation group therapy (N = 30) only. We will address neurobiological and neuropsychological correlates associated with craving, reward devaluation, cue reactivity and attentional bias. In addition, various effects of treatment and prediction of treatment outcome will be examined using behavioral and neural measures. DISCUSSION: The present study will apply different examination methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, neuropsychological tests, and self-report before and after the interventions. This allows the identification of intervention-specific mechanisms and therefore potential neurobiology-based specific treatment targets for individuals with Tobacco Use Disorder. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registered at clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03764969 (05 December 2018).

An implicit priming intervention alters brain and behavioral responses to high-calorie foods: a randomized controlled study.

BACKGROUND: Conditioned food cues (e.g., smell, sight) can affect intake of foods associated with those cues, regardless of homeostatic need. As such, altering automatic associations with food cues could support weight loss or maintenance efforts by affecting the salience of those cues and the effort required to resist consumption. OBJECTIVES: This study investigated neuronal and behavioral effects of an implicit priming (IP) intervention, in which negatively valenced images were paired with high-calorie foods and positively valenced images with low-calorie foods. Priming images were presented immediately before food images, but below conscious perception (20 ms). We hypothesized that this evaluative conditioning approach could alter food cue responses by modifying affective associations. METHODS: The final sample included 41 adults with BMI ≥25 kg/m2 (n = 22, active IP; n = 19, control IP). In control IP, food images were primed with neutral, scrambled images. Participants completed a visual food cue task during fMRI, both before and after IP. To determine the replicability of prior behavioral findings, food image ratings were completed before and after IP as a secondary outcome. RESULTS: In a whole-brain analysis, reduced dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) response to high-calorie foods was observed after active compared with control IP (t = 4.93, P = 0.033). With a region of interest analysis, reduced response to high-calorie foods in active compared with control IP was also observed in the striatum (t = 2.40, P = 0.009) and insula (t = 2.38, P = 0.010). Active compared with control IP was associated with reduced high-calorie food ratings (F = 4.70, P = 0.038). CONCLUSIONS: Reduced insula and striatum response to high-calorie foods after active compared with control IP suggests effectiveness of IP in altering food cue salience. Reduced dlPFC response to high-calorie foods after active compared with control IP may reflect fewer attentional resources being directed to those images and reduced engagement of inhibitory processes.This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02347527.

Inefficient Attentional Control Explains Verbal-Memory Deficits Among Military Veterans With Posttraumatic Reexperiencing Symptoms.

Among individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), verbal learning and memory are areas of weakness compared with other cognitive domains (e.g., visuospatial memory). In this study, previously deployed military veterans completed clinical assessments of word memory and vocabulary (n = 243) and a laboratory task measuring encoding, free recall, repetition priming, and recognition of words (n = 147). Impaired verbal memory was selectively related to reexperiencing symptoms of PTSD but was not associated with other symptom groupings or blast-induced traumatic brain injury. Implicit priming of response times following word repetition was also unrelated to clinical symptoms. Instead, slowed response times during encoding explained associations between reexperiencing and memory performance. These findings are consistent with alterations in attentional control explaining PTSD-related verbal-memory deficits. Such findings have implications for understanding trauma-focused psychotherapy and recovery, which may depend on efficient attentional processing of words to alter posttraumatic reexperiencing symptoms.

Electrophysiological Differentiation of the Effects of Stress and Accent on Lexical Integration in Highly Fluent Bilinguals.

Individuals who acquire a second language (L2) after infancy often retain features of their native language (L1) accent. Cross-language priming studies have shown negative effects of L1 accent on L2 comprehension, but the role of specific speech features, such as lexical stress, is mostly unknown. Here, we investigate whether lexical stress and accent differently modulate semantic processing and cross-language lexical activation in Welsh-English bilinguals, given that English and Welsh differ substantially in terms of stress realisation. In an L2 cross-modal priming paradigm, we manipulated the stress pattern and accent of spoken primes, whilst participants made semantic relatedness judgments on visual word targets. Event-related brain potentials revealed a main effect of stress on target integration, such that stimuli with stress patterns compatible with either the L1 or L2 required less processing effort than stimuli with stress incompatible with both Welsh and English. An independent cross-language phonological overlap manipulation revealed an interaction between accent and L1 access. Interestingly, although it increased processing effort, incorrect stress did not significantly modulate semantic priming effects or covert access to L1 phonological representations. Our results are consistent with the concept of language-specific stress templates, and suggest that accent and lexical stress affect speech comprehension mechanisms differentially.

On Empirical Methodology, Constraints, and Hierarchy in Artificial Grammar Learning.

This paper considers the AGL literature from a psycholinguistic perspective. It first presents a taxonomy of the experimental familiarization test procedures used, which is followed by a consideration of shortcomings and potential improvements of the empirical methodology. It then turns to reconsidering the issue of grammar learning from the point of view of acquiring constraints, instead of the traditional AGL approach in terms of acquiring sets of rewrite rules. This is, in particular, a natural way of handling long-distance dependences. The final section addresses an underdeveloped issue in the AGL literature, namely how to detect latent hierarchical structure in AGL response patterns.

Internet Use Influences Self-Related Process: Evidence From Behavior and ERPs.

The present study aimed to examine whether a self-related stimulus produces a self-related process bias between pathological-tendency Internet users and ordinary Internet users. Participants were asked to judge the color of the target stimulus' frame (Internet pictures) in an implicit priming task, which enclosed the prime of self/other related words and the target of the online image in sequence. Results from Experiment 1 showed that response time (RT) in the self-related condition was significantly longer than that of the other related condition. Further analysis showed that RT in the self-related condition was significantly longer than that under the other related conditions for pathological-tendency Internet users but not for ordinary Internet users. In Experiment 2, behavior results demonstrated that RT under the self-related condition was significantly longer than that in the other-related condition for both groups, and the RT was shorter for pathological-tendency Internet users than that of the ordinary Internet users. Moreover, ERP data showed that the N2 amplitude was larger in the self-related condition than that of other related conditions for pathological-tendency Internet users but not for ordinary Internet users. The amplitudes of late positive component (LPC) was smaller in the self-related condition than those of the other related conditions. Hence, the Internet use influenced the inhibition control in self-unrelated stimuli and automatically retrieved the self-related stimuli.

Harnessing the power of disgust: a randomized trial to reduce high-calorie food appeal through implicit priming.

BACKGROUND: In our increasingly obesogenic environment, in which high-calorie convenience foods are readily available, food choices can drastically affect weight and overall health. Learned food preferences, which are developed through repeated pairings with positively and negatively valenced stimuli, can contribute to obesity susceptibility if positive attitudes toward high-calorie foods are developed. Thus, the modification of automatic associations with food may be a viable strategy to promote healthier eating behaviors. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we investigated the ability of an implicit priming (IP) intervention to alter responses to visual food cues by using an evaluative conditioning approach. The main objective was to implicitly (i.e., below conscious perception) associate disgust with high-calorie foods with the aim of reducing liking of these foods. DESIGN: Participants were randomly assigned to active or control IP. In active IP (n = 22), high-calorie food images were implicitly primed with negatively valenced images, and low-calorie food images were implicitly primed with positively valenced images. In control IP (n = 20), all food images were primed with neutral images of fixation crosses. Food images were rated on the desire to eat immediately before and after IP. RESULTS: A significant main effect of calorie (high compared with low; P < 0.001) and a significant calorie-by-group (active compared with control) interaction (P = 0.025) were observed. Post hoc tests identified a significantly greater high-calorie rating decline after active IP than after control IP (P = 0.036). Furthermore, there was significantly greater change in high-calorie ratings than in low-calorie ratings in the active group (P = 0.001). Active IP effects extended to high-calorie foods not specifically included in the intervention, which suggested an effect generalization. Moreover, a greater change in high-calorie ratings than in low-calorie ratings persisted 3-5 d after active IP (P < 0.007), which suggested lasting effects. CONCLUSION: This study provides initial evidence that IP can be used to alter high-calorie food preferences, which could promote healthier eating habits.