Lindsey Hasak

All Publications

• Lexical and sublexical cortical tuning for print revealed by Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials (SSVEPs) in early readers. Developmental science Wang, F., Nguyen, Q. T., Kaneshiro, B., Hasak, L., Wang, A. M., Toomarian, E. Y., Norcia, A. M., McCandliss, B. D. 2022: e13352

  Abstract

  There are multiple levels of processing relevant to reading that vary in their visual, sublexical and lexical orthographic processing demands. Segregating distinct cortical sources for each of these levels has been challenging in EEG studies of early readers. To address this challenge, we applied recent advances in analyzing high-density EEG using Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials (SSVEPs) via data-driven Reliable Components Analysis (RCA) in a group of early readers spanning from kindergarten to second grade. Three controlled stimulus contrasts-familiar words versus unfamiliar pseudofonts, familiar words versus pseudowords, and pseudowords versus nonwords-were used to isolate coarse print tuning, lexical processing, and sublexical orthography-related processing, respectively. First, three overlapping yet distinct neural sources-left vOT, dorsal parietal, and primary visual cortex were revealed underlying coarse print tuning. Second, we segregated distinct cortical sources for the other two levels of processing: lexical fine tuning over occipito-tempopral/parietal regions; sublexical orthographic fine tuning over left occipital regions. Finally, exploratory group analyses based on children's reading fluency suggested that coarse print tuning emerges early even in children with limited reading knowledge, while sublexical and higher-level lexical processing emerge only in children with sufficient reading knowledge. Cognitive processes underlying coarse print tuning, sublexical, and lexical fine tuning were examined in beginning readers. Three overlapping yet distinct neural sources-left ventral occipito-temporal (vOT), left temporo-parietal, and primary visual cortex-were revealed underlying coarse print tuning. Responses to sublexical orthographic fine tuning were found over left occipital regions, while responses to higher-level linguistic fine tuning were found over occipito- temporal/parietal regions. Exploratory group analyses suggested that coarse print tuning emerges in children with limited reading knowledge, while sublexical and higher-level linguistic fine tuning effects emerge in children with sufficient reading knowledge. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

  View details for DOI 10.1111/desc.13352

  View details for PubMedID 36413170

• Negative Impacts of Pandemic Induced At-Home Remote Learning Can Be Mitigated by Parental Involvement FRONTIERS IN EDUCATION Guillaume, M., Toomarian, E. Y., Van Rinsveld, A., Baskin-Sommers, A., Dick, A., Dowling, G. J., Gonzalez, M., Hasak, L., Lisdahl, K. M., Marshall, A. T., Nguyen, Q. H., Pelham, W. E., Pillai, C., Sheth, C., Wang, A. M., Tapert, S. F., McCandliss, B. D. 2022; 7

  View details for DOI 10.3389/feduc.2022.804191

  View details for Web of Science ID 000778123600001

• Distinct neural sources underlying visual word form processing as revealed by steady state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP). Scientific reports Wang, F., Kaneshiro, B., Strauber, C. B., Hasak, L., Nguyen, Q. T., Yakovleva, A., Vildavski, V. Y., Norcia, A. M., McCandliss, B. D. 2021; 11 (1): 18229

  Abstract

  EEG has been central to investigations of the time course of various neural functions underpinning visual word recognition. Recently the steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) paradigm has been increasingly adopted for word recognition studies due to its high signal-to-noise ratio. Such studies, however, have been typically framed around a single source in the left ventral occipitotemporal cortex (vOT). Here, we combine SSVEP recorded from 16 adult native English speakers with a data-driven spatial filtering approach-Reliable Components Analysis (RCA)-to elucidate distinct functional sources with overlapping yet separable time courses and topographies that emerge when contrasting words with pseudofont visual controls. The first component topography was maximal over left vOT regions with a shorter latency (approximately 180 ms). A second component was maximal over more dorsal parietal regions with a longer latency (approximately 260 ms). Both components consistently emerged across a range of parameter manipulations including changes in the spatial overlap between successive stimuli, and changes in both base and deviation frequency. We then contrasted word-in-nonword and word-in-pseudoword to test the hierarchical processing mechanisms underlying visual word recognition. Results suggest that these hierarchical contrasts fail to evoke a unitary component that might be reasonably associated with lexical access.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41598-021-95627-x

  View details for PubMedID 34521874