| Abstract: | The work is aimed at the study of ERPs to visually presented verbal stimuli in the examination stress condition. EEG was recorded while participants made a decision whether or not visually presented words were related to a given category. Three types of stimuli were presented: familiar words related and unrelated to the given category, and unfamiliar words. Components N170, P170 and N400 of the ERP to familiar words unrelated to the given category and unfamiliar words were higher in the stress condition than in a usual experimental situation. Component P600 was higher in the stress condition for all types of stimuli. It was suggested that enhanced N170/P170 and N400 components reflect changes in the cognitive functions ofword processing, whereas the increase in P600 is related to nonspecific arousal in the stress condition. |
