Novel visual word learning tracked with FPVS-EEG

Recently frequency tagging with EEG recordings proved efficient to measure the neural basis of visual word recognition. Here we investigate the emergence of neural representations for novel words acquired with orthographic and semantic learning methods. We used fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS) displaying pseudowords at 10 Hz with deviant words every 5 stimuli, to test 32 adults before and after a learning task of 32 rare unknown French words (16 with each method). EEG results show a significant learning effect, with larger word-selective responses over the left occipital-temporal cortex at post-test with both methods. Moreover, behavioral lexical decision data reveal significant increases in reaction times for novel words’ lexical neighbors and for 1-letter close pseudo-words, suggesting competition effects arising with new lexicalizations. However contrary to our expectations, those effects seem stronger for the orthographic method. This might indicate that the semantic method, implemented here by simultaneous image and word presentation during learning, drags the participant’s attention away from the orthographic form. Our findings open new perspectives to track novel word learning using EEG.