A label isn't just a label: Brief training leads to label-dependent visuo-cortical processing in adults

The current study examines the extent to which hearing individual-level names (e.g., Jimmy) and category-level labels (e.g., Hitchel) paired with novel objects impacts neural responses across a brief (6 min) learning period. Event-related Potentials (ERPs) were recorded while adult participants (n = 44) viewed and heard exemplars of two different species of named novel objects. ERPs were examined for each labeling condition and compared across the first and second half of the learning trials (∼3 min/half). Mean amplitude decreased for the P1 and increased for the N170 from the first to the second half of trials. The decrease in P1 was right lateralized. In addition, the P1 amplitude recorded over right occipitotemporal regions was greater than left occipitotemporal areas, but only for objects paired with individual-level labels. Category-level labels did not show regional P1 differences. The N250 component was greatest over the right occipitotemporal region and was enhanced for objects labeled with individual-level relative to category-level names during the second half of trials. Overall, these findings highlight the unfolding of label-dependent visual processing across a short training period in adults. The results suggest that linguistic labels have an important, top-down impact, on visual processing and that label specificity shapes visuo-cortical responses within a 6-min learning period.