Convolutional networks can model the functional modulation of the MEG responses associated with feed-forward processes during visual word recognition

Traditional models of reading lack a realistic simulation of the early visual processing stages, taking input in the form of letter banks and predefined line segments, making them unsuitable for modeling early brain responses. We used variations of the VGG-11 convolutional neural network (CNN) to cr...

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Main Authors: Marijn van Vliet, Oona Rinkinen, Takao Shimizu, Anni-Mari Niskanen, Barry Devereux, Riitta Salmelin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 2025-05-01
Series:eLife
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Online Access:https://elifesciences.org/articles/96217
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author Marijn van Vliet
Oona Rinkinen
Takao Shimizu
Anni-Mari Niskanen
Barry Devereux
Riitta Salmelin
author_facet Marijn van Vliet
Oona Rinkinen
Takao Shimizu
Anni-Mari Niskanen
Barry Devereux
Riitta Salmelin
author_sort Marijn van Vliet
collection DOAJ
description Traditional models of reading lack a realistic simulation of the early visual processing stages, taking input in the form of letter banks and predefined line segments, making them unsuitable for modeling early brain responses. We used variations of the VGG-11 convolutional neural network (CNN) to create models of visual word recognition that starts from the pixel-level and performs the macro-scale computations needed for the detection and segmentation of letter shapes to word-form identification of large vocabulary of 10k Finnish words, regardless of letter size, shape, or rotation. The models were evaluated based on an existing magnetoencephalography (MEG) study where participants viewed regular words, pseudowords, noise-embedded words, symbol strings, and consonant strings. The original images used in the study were presented to the models and the activity in the layers was compared to MEG evoked response amplitudes. Through a few alterations to make the network more biologically plausible, we found an CNN architecture that can correctly simulate the behavior of three prominent responses, namely the type I (early visual response), type II (the ‘letter string’ response), and the N400m. In conclusion, starting a model of reading with convolution-and-pooling steps enables the flexibility and realism crucial for a direct model-to-brain comparison.
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spelling doaj-art-951fe2ab7eb44df0895aed5d97f71b932025-08-20T02:31:11ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2025-05-011310.7554/eLife.96217Convolutional networks can model the functional modulation of the MEG responses associated with feed-forward processes during visual word recognitionMarijn van Vliet0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6537-6899Oona Rinkinen1Takao Shimizu2Anni-Mari Niskanen3Barry Devereux4Riitta Salmelin5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2499-193XDepartment of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, FinlandDepartment of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, FinlandDepartment of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, FinlandDepartment of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, FinlandSchool of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, United KingdomDepartment of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland; Aalto NeuroImaging, Aalto University, Espo, FinlandTraditional models of reading lack a realistic simulation of the early visual processing stages, taking input in the form of letter banks and predefined line segments, making them unsuitable for modeling early brain responses. We used variations of the VGG-11 convolutional neural network (CNN) to create models of visual word recognition that starts from the pixel-level and performs the macro-scale computations needed for the detection and segmentation of letter shapes to word-form identification of large vocabulary of 10k Finnish words, regardless of letter size, shape, or rotation. The models were evaluated based on an existing magnetoencephalography (MEG) study where participants viewed regular words, pseudowords, noise-embedded words, symbol strings, and consonant strings. The original images used in the study were presented to the models and the activity in the layers was compared to MEG evoked response amplitudes. Through a few alterations to make the network more biologically plausible, we found an CNN architecture that can correctly simulate the behavior of three prominent responses, namely the type I (early visual response), type II (the ‘letter string’ response), and the N400m. In conclusion, starting a model of reading with convolution-and-pooling steps enables the flexibility and realism crucial for a direct model-to-brain comparison.https://elifesciences.org/articles/96217computational modelingmagnetoencephalographyreadingevoked potentials
spellingShingle Marijn van Vliet
Oona Rinkinen
Takao Shimizu
Anni-Mari Niskanen
Barry Devereux
Riitta Salmelin
Convolutional networks can model the functional modulation of the MEG responses associated with feed-forward processes during visual word recognition
eLife
computational modeling
magnetoencephalography
reading
evoked potentials
title Convolutional networks can model the functional modulation of the MEG responses associated with feed-forward processes during visual word recognition
title_full Convolutional networks can model the functional modulation of the MEG responses associated with feed-forward processes during visual word recognition
title_fullStr Convolutional networks can model the functional modulation of the MEG responses associated with feed-forward processes during visual word recognition
title_full_unstemmed Convolutional networks can model the functional modulation of the MEG responses associated with feed-forward processes during visual word recognition
title_short Convolutional networks can model the functional modulation of the MEG responses associated with feed-forward processes during visual word recognition
title_sort convolutional networks can model the functional modulation of the meg responses associated with feed forward processes during visual word recognition
topic computational modeling
magnetoencephalography
reading
evoked potentials
url https://elifesciences.org/articles/96217
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AT oonarinkinen convolutionalnetworkscanmodelthefunctionalmodulationofthemegresponsesassociatedwithfeedforwardprocessesduringvisualwordrecognition
AT takaoshimizu convolutionalnetworkscanmodelthefunctionalmodulationofthemegresponsesassociatedwithfeedforwardprocessesduringvisualwordrecognition
AT annimariniskanen convolutionalnetworkscanmodelthefunctionalmodulationofthemegresponsesassociatedwithfeedforwardprocessesduringvisualwordrecognition
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AT riittasalmelin convolutionalnetworkscanmodelthefunctionalmodulationofthemegresponsesassociatedwithfeedforwardprocessesduringvisualwordrecognition