Adults, but not children, show a differential N170 response to typical versus reversed letters¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r1 · q3
Currency · newest study 2014 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2019: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q3 i? The N170 group x condition interaction was significant; adults showed a more negative-going wave for reversed than typical letters, whereas children's conditions did not differ significantly. → Blackburne LK 2014

Evidence¶

Blackburne LK 2014¶

Blackburne LK, Eddy MD, Kalra P, Yee D, Sinha P, Gabrieli JDE. (2014) Neural Correlates of Letter Reversal in Children and Adults. PLoS ONE 9(5): e98386. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098386

q3 · i? · causal · r1

ERP letter reversal task (12 adults, 12 children), N170 measured at occipito-temporal electrode sites. The group x condition interaction was significant (F(1,22) = 5.15, p = .03); follow-ups showed the adult condition effect (F(1,11) = 11.44, p = .006) and no significant child difference. No standardized effect size is reported here.

"The N170 in adults was characterized by a more negative going wave for reversed letters than typical letters across the posterior electrodes (main effect of condition: F(1,11) = 11.44, p = .006, gp2 =. 5 1 ) , whereas in the children the reversed and typical letter conditions did not differ significantly in amplitude (F ,0.41, p..5)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• The N170 reversed-minus-typical amplitude difference correlates with the VWFA reversed-minus-typical activation difference across participants, but not within either group — related
• N170 peak latency is later in children than adults, and only adults show a latency difference between reversed and typical letters — related
• Adults, but not children, show a P1 ERP amplitude difference between reversed and typical letters during early visual processing — related
• Adults show significantly greater whole-brain fMRI activation than children for reversed versus typical letters, including left ventral visual stream and bilateral parietal cortices — related
• Children show greater activation for typical than reversed letters in left inferior parietal lobule, left superior temporal gyrus, and early visual regions — the opposite of the adult pattern — related