Biomedical subjects

J Rayman

Publications and source records attributed to J Rayman.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1999

Individual differences in the hemispheric specialization of dual route variables.

The dual route model suggests that reading of letter strings can occur through both a lexical and a nonlexical route. Hemispheric specialization of these routes has also been posited, suggesting that the left hemisphere has both lexical and nonlexical routes while the right hemisphere has only a lexical route. However, some recent data conflict with this hemispheric dual route model, suggesting that both hemispheres may have access to both routes. The purpose of the present study was to investigate individual differences in the hemispheric specialization of these routes and to determine whether these group differences in their specialization might explain conflicts in the literature. The effect of four individual difference factors was explored: handedness, biological sex, menstrual stage (i.e., fluctuations in estrogen), and self-rated degree of masculinity (i.e., sexual attribution). We looked at the interaction of these individual differences with the following dual route variables: (i) string length, (ii) word frequency, (iii) regularity of grapheme-phoneme correspondences of words, and (iv) the interaction of frequency and regularity using a bilateral lexical decision task. We observed that sex, menstrual stage, and masculinity each affected hemispheric specialization of the dual route variables, but did so in different ways. We posit that both hemispheres have orthographical (lexical) access as well as phonological (nonlexical) access to words. Further, we suggest that the presence of phonological processing in the right hemisphere depends on available resources and the strategies used, which are subject to individual differences.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Does the previous trial affect lateralized lexical decision?

We investigated the effect of previous trial variables on performance in the current trial in a lexical decision task with unilateral presentation of one letter string or bilateral simultaneous presentation of two different letter strings, one cued to be processed (target) and the other uncued, to be ignored (distractor). The variables included correctness of the previous trial, visual hemifield and wordness of the previous trial, and presentation mode of the previous trial (unilateral or bilateral). An incorrect response on the previous trial enhanced the accuracy in the current trial only in the left visual field (LVF). A previous LVF target produced faster correct responses to LVF targets in the current trial and LVF word recognition was more accurate when the previous LVF target was a word rather than a nonword. Target processing in the current trial was not inhibited or facilitated if the target belonged to the same response category as the unattended stimulus in the previous trial (absence of "negative priming'). Taken together, our data suggest that previous trial effects in lateralized lexical decision are stronger for word decisions in the LVF, and may account for the inconsistency of the wordness effect in the LVF across different lateralized lexical decision experiments. Our data also suggest that behavioral laterality experiments are well advised to use random sequences that change across subjects in order to minimize previous trial effects.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Multiple simultaneous stimulus presentation facilitates lexical processing.

Bilateral presentation of two copies of the same word leads to faster lexical decisions compared to unilateral presentation alone (bilateral gain). This has implications for theories of interhemispheric interaction, because it suggests that, under certain conditions, both hemispheres cooperate rather than inhibit each other or act independently. Experiment 1 confirmed that the bilateral gain is word-specific and does not occur for pseudowords. Whereas the bilateral gain proved to be present for words of different word frequencies, results of Experiment 2 suggest that it is slightly stronger for high-frequency words compared to words of lower frequencies. Experiment 3 revealed that higher numbers of stimuli (two versus four copies of the same word/pseudoword) presented at the same time lead to an additional improvement of word processing. These results support a neurobiological model of word representation assuming that words are cortically represented in widely distributed interhemispheric cell assemblies. Summation of activity in such assemblies leads to faster and more reliable ignition of the network.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Interhemispheric cooperation during lexical processing is mediated by the corpus callosum: evidence from the split-brain.

If two copies of a meaningful word are tachistoscopically presented simultaneously in both visual half-fields of normal subjects the word will be processed more rapidly and more accurately compared to unilateral presentation (bilateral gain). The word-specific bilateral gain may be due to excitatory transcallosal connections within interhemispheric cell assemblies corresponding to words. In this case, the bilateral gain should be absent in split-brain patients. L.B., a split-brain patient, performed a lexical decision task with words and non-words presented in the left visual field, the right visual field, or in both visual fields simultaneously. As predicted, bilateral presentations did not improve performance compared to unilateral presentation in the right visual field. This result suggests that transcallosal connections play a significant role in lexical processing.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Rhyming and the right hemisphere.

Subjects determined whether two successively presented and orthographically different words rhymed with each other. The first word was presented at fixation and the second was presented either to the left or to the right of fixation, either alone (unilateral presentation) or accompanied by a distractor word in the other visual hemifield (bilateral presentation). Subjects were more accurate when the words did not rhyme, when presentation was unilateral, and when the target was flashed to the right visual hemifield. It was predicted that bilateral presentation would produce interference when information from both visual fields was processed by one hemisphere (callosal relay), but not when each of the two hemispheres performed a task independently (direct access). That is, callosal relay tasks should show greater laterality effects with bilateral presentations, whereas direct access tasks should show similar laterality effects with both bilateral and unilateral presentations. Greater laterality effects were observed for bilaterally presented rhyming words, but nonrhyming words showed similar laterality effects for both bilateral and unilateral presentations. These results suggest that judgment of nonrhyming words can be performed by either hemisphere, but that judgment of rhyming words requires callosal relay to the left hemisphere. The absence of a visual field difference with nonrhyming word pairs suggests further that judgment of nonrhyming word pairs may be accomplished by the right hemisphere when presentation is to the left visual field.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Ofloxacin once daily versus twice daily in community-acquired pneumonia and acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis. A randomized multicenter study.

Eighty-two patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) or acute exacerbation (AE) of chronic bronchitis were randomized to receive ofloxacin (OFL) 400 mg twice daily (39 patients) versus 400 mg once daily (43 patients) orally. Cure rates showed no statistically significant difference (90.1 vs. 94.6%), but more patients receiving 800 mg/day had side effects. Thus, the once daily administration of OFL is equally effective and safer than 400 mg twice daily to treat CAP or AE chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, especially in countries with higher pneumococcal and Haemophilus influenzae resistance in community practice.

Adult↗