Key Laboratory of Language and Cultural Computing of Ministry of Education, Northwest Minzu University, Lanzhou.
Neurocognitive Laboratory for Linguistics and Semiotics, College of Literature and Journalism, Sichuan University.
Neuroreport. 2023 Jun 7;34(10):521-525. doi: 10.1097/WNR.0000000000001918. Epub 2023 May 20.
In modern society, visual symbols such as logos, icons, and letters have become essential for communication and cognition, playing a crucial role in daily life. This study focuses on app icons, a frequently encountered type of symbol, and aims to investigate the neural mechanisms involved in their recognition. Specifically, our objective is to identify the timing and location of brain activity associated with this process. We presented participants with familiar and unfamiliar app icons and asked them to perform a repetition detection task while recording the event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by these stimuli. Statistical analysis revealed a significant difference in the ERPs between familiar and unfamiliar icons, occurring around 220 ms in the parietooccipital scalp region. The source analysis indicated that this ERP difference originated in the ventral occipitotemporal cortex, specifically the fusiform gyrus. These findings suggest that the recognition of familiar app icons results in the activation of the ventral occipitotemporal cortex approximately 220 ms after exposure. Additionally, our findings, in conjunction with previous research on visual word recognition, suggest that the lexical orthographic processing of visual words is dependent on general visual processing mechanisms that are also involved in the recognition of familiar app icons. In essence, the ventral occipitotemporal cortex likely plays a crucial role in memorizing and recognizing visual symbols and objects, including familiar visual words.
在现代社会中，视觉符号，如标志、图标和字母，已成为沟通和认知的必需品，在日常生活中发挥着至关重要的作用。本研究聚焦于应用程序图标这一常见的符号类型，旨在探究其识别所涉及的神经机制。具体而言，我们的目标是确定与这一过程相关的大脑活动的时间和位置。我们向参与者展示了熟悉和不熟悉的应用程序图标，并要求他们在执行重复检测任务的同时记录这些刺激引发的事件相关电位（ERP）。统计分析显示，熟悉和不熟悉图标的 ERP 之间存在显著差异，这种差异出现在顶枕部头皮区域的 220ms 左右。源分析表明，这种 ERP 差异起源于腹侧枕颞叶皮层，特别是梭状回。这些发现表明，在暴露后大约 220ms，熟悉的应用程序图标的识别会激活腹侧枕颞叶皮层。此外，我们的发现与视觉单词识别的先前研究相结合，表明视觉单词的词汇正字法加工依赖于一般视觉处理机制，这些机制也参与了熟悉的应用程序图标的识别。本质上，腹侧枕颞叶皮层可能在记忆和识别视觉符号和对象方面发挥着至关重要的作用，包括熟悉的视觉单词。
