The neural time course of self-oriented pointing and labeling in visual processing.
Spencer D Kelly1, Dylan Vlasak1, Binghui Tang1
1Center for Language and Brain, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Colgate University.
Brain and Language
|March 10, 2026
Summary
Pointing and labeling for oneself have distinct neurocognitive effects. Early processing shows interaction, while later stages are more influenced by labeling, impacting object perception.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psycholinguistics
- Human Behavior
Background:
- Pointing and labeling are typically viewed as communicative actions.
- Their cognitive impact when performed for self-regulation is less understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neurocognitive consequences of self-directed pointing and labeling.
- To examine how these actions influence subsequent object processing.
Main Methods:
- A priming task involving encoding color primes via pointing, labeling, or both.
- Electroencephalography (EEG) recording to analyze event-related potentials (ERPs).
- Participants judged target object color category congruence after prime encoding.
Main Results:
- Early ERPs (P1) showed pointing had a greater effect than labeling, with a non-additive interaction in the combined condition.
- Later ERPs revealed pointing elicited a larger P2 and smaller late negativity than labeling.
- The combined condition's later ERPs resembled labeling more than pointing.
Conclusions:
- Self-directed pointing and labeling exert distinct, non-additive influences on cognitive processing.
- Early perceptual-attentional stages show graded interaction between pointing and labeling.
- Later perceptual and conceptual object processing are increasingly shaped by labeling behaviors.
