Event-Related Potentials in Complex and Simple Words-Pseudowords Aloud Reading Task

Pseudowords (PW) are invented or possible words (W) that do not really exist. They are a tool for assessing speech and learning disorders in various clinical applications, including research for children, youth, and older adults. This paper analyzes electroencephalographic (EEG) signals from a dry-EEG system during a 15-by-15 words/pseudowords aloud reading (WPWAR) task in a group of forty-four healthy volunteers. The N400 event-related potential (ERP) component and its power spectrum density (PSD) were analyzed in W and PW with different syllable lengths within the 200-600 ms time window. Preliminary results from the N400 component for W and PW of 3 and 4 syllables confirmed the semantic functions of the left prefrontal and right temporal cortices and the involvement of the right prefrontal and the left temporal cortices in incongruous and divergent processes. This opens the way for the potential application of PW length modulation as a marker for a clinical assessment process, offering a bridging investigation of ageing decline through executive dysfunction evaluation.