Spoken words affect visual object recognition via the modulation of alpha and beta oscillations
Hearing spoken words can enhance the recognition of visual object categories. Yet, the mechanisms that underpin this facilitation are incompletely understood. Recent proposals suggest that words can alter visual processes by activating category-specific representations in sensory regions. Here, we t...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-04-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2025.1467249/full |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849744661615214592 |
|---|---|
| author | Piermatteo Morucci Piermatteo Morucci Francesco Giannelli Francesco Giannelli Craig G. Richter Nicola Molinaro Nicola Molinaro |
| author_facet | Piermatteo Morucci Piermatteo Morucci Francesco Giannelli Francesco Giannelli Craig G. Richter Nicola Molinaro Nicola Molinaro |
| author_sort | Piermatteo Morucci |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Hearing spoken words can enhance the recognition of visual object categories. Yet, the mechanisms that underpin this facilitation are incompletely understood. Recent proposals suggest that words can alter visual processes by activating category-specific representations in sensory regions. Here, we tested the hypothesis that neural oscillations serve as a mechanism to activate language-generated visual representations. Participants performed a cue-picture matching task where cues were either spoken words, in their native or second language, or natural sounds, while their EEG and reaction times were recorded. Behaviorally, we found that images cued by words were recognized faster than those cued by natural sounds. This indicates that language activates more accurate semantic representations compared to natural sounds. A time-frequency analysis of cue-target intervals revealed that this label-advantage effect was associated with enhanced power in posterior alpha (9–11 Hz) and beta oscillations (17–19 Hz), both of which were larger when the image was preceded by a word compared to a natural sound. These results suggest that alpha and beta rhythms may play distinct functional roles to support language-mediated visual object recognition: alpha might function to amplify sensory representations in posterior regions, while beta may (re)activate the network states elicited by the auditory cue. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-29c48d885446432c8a60f2f8237de34e |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1662-453X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj-art-29c48d885446432c8a60f2f8237de34e2025-08-20T03:10:13ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2025-04-011910.3389/fnins.2025.14672491467249Spoken words affect visual object recognition via the modulation of alpha and beta oscillationsPiermatteo Morucci0Piermatteo Morucci1Francesco Giannelli2Francesco Giannelli3Craig G. Richter4Nicola Molinaro5Nicola Molinaro6Department of Basic Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, SwitzerlandBasque Center on Cognition Brain and Language (BCBL), University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, San Sebastian, SpainCognition and Brain Plasticity Unit, IDIBELL, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, SpainDepartment of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, SpainBasque Center on Cognition Brain and Language (BCBL), University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, San Sebastian, SpainBasque Center on Cognition Brain and Language (BCBL), University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, San Sebastian, SpainIkerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, SpainHearing spoken words can enhance the recognition of visual object categories. Yet, the mechanisms that underpin this facilitation are incompletely understood. Recent proposals suggest that words can alter visual processes by activating category-specific representations in sensory regions. Here, we tested the hypothesis that neural oscillations serve as a mechanism to activate language-generated visual representations. Participants performed a cue-picture matching task where cues were either spoken words, in their native or second language, or natural sounds, while their EEG and reaction times were recorded. Behaviorally, we found that images cued by words were recognized faster than those cued by natural sounds. This indicates that language activates more accurate semantic representations compared to natural sounds. A time-frequency analysis of cue-target intervals revealed that this label-advantage effect was associated with enhanced power in posterior alpha (9–11 Hz) and beta oscillations (17–19 Hz), both of which were larger when the image was preceded by a word compared to a natural sound. These results suggest that alpha and beta rhythms may play distinct functional roles to support language-mediated visual object recognition: alpha might function to amplify sensory representations in posterior regions, while beta may (re)activate the network states elicited by the auditory cue.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2025.1467249/fullneural oscillationsconceptscategorizationobject recognitionelectrophysiologybilingualism |
| spellingShingle | Piermatteo Morucci Piermatteo Morucci Francesco Giannelli Francesco Giannelli Craig G. Richter Nicola Molinaro Nicola Molinaro Spoken words affect visual object recognition via the modulation of alpha and beta oscillations Frontiers in Neuroscience neural oscillations concepts categorization object recognition electrophysiology bilingualism |
| title | Spoken words affect visual object recognition via the modulation of alpha and beta oscillations |
| title_full | Spoken words affect visual object recognition via the modulation of alpha and beta oscillations |
| title_fullStr | Spoken words affect visual object recognition via the modulation of alpha and beta oscillations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spoken words affect visual object recognition via the modulation of alpha and beta oscillations |
| title_short | Spoken words affect visual object recognition via the modulation of alpha and beta oscillations |
| title_sort | spoken words affect visual object recognition via the modulation of alpha and beta oscillations |
| topic | neural oscillations concepts categorization object recognition electrophysiology bilingualism |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2025.1467249/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT piermatteomorucci spokenwordsaffectvisualobjectrecognitionviathemodulationofalphaandbetaoscillations AT piermatteomorucci spokenwordsaffectvisualobjectrecognitionviathemodulationofalphaandbetaoscillations AT francescogiannelli spokenwordsaffectvisualobjectrecognitionviathemodulationofalphaandbetaoscillations AT francescogiannelli spokenwordsaffectvisualobjectrecognitionviathemodulationofalphaandbetaoscillations AT craiggrichter spokenwordsaffectvisualobjectrecognitionviathemodulationofalphaandbetaoscillations AT nicolamolinaro spokenwordsaffectvisualobjectrecognitionviathemodulationofalphaandbetaoscillations AT nicolamolinaro spokenwordsaffectvisualobjectrecognitionviathemodulationofalphaandbetaoscillations |