The Event Related Potential Profiling of Consonants and Vowels Across Rule Learning Task Through Auditory Stimuli

Abstract The hypotheses that “consonants are preferentially used during lexical access” and “vowels trigger a response associated with learning rules of abstraction during the neural processing of language in a rule learning task” were evaluated and assessed by analysing patterned Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) [of early component(P50), mismatched negativity (MMN) and N400 waveforms] on presentation of trisyllabic auditory non-sense word stimuli of three consonant-vowel transitions (CVCVCV) rule in an oddball paradigm. The three stimuli engaged in the present study included standard stimuli of ABB rule (applicable on vowels in vowel condition and on consonants in consonant condition) and two deviant stimuli types were constructed of novel phonemes namely, phoneme deviant with same ABB rule but different phonemes and rule deviant of ABA exemplar along with different phonemes. The ERP response triggered by violation of rule implemented over consonants (across phoneme and rule deviant stimuli archetypal linguistics constructions) exhibited significant change in ERP profiling in amplitude and latency, when evaluated comparatively with that of standard stimuli and vowel condition generated significant ERP changes in both amplitude and latency only on rule deviant epitome (vis-à-vis standard stimuli). Such a selective and differential neural dynamical response in ERP profiles posits the fundamental underpinnings of unitary primal signatural constituents of neurolinguistics namely, vowels and consonants, with vowels initiating the process of abstraction of principle rule associated with neural processing of language and consonants commencing the process of lexicon access.