Electrophysiological correlates of visually processing subject's own name

We investigated the electrophysiological correlates of the processing of subject's own name (SON) in comparison to familiar and unfamiliar names in the Chinese language. The three types of names were the deviants in an oddball paradigm among lexical and non-lexical phrases. All items consisted of three characters, and the non-lexical items were the targets. All names caused a clear N170 component of identical size which we take as a correlate of structural encoding. Only SON elicited a large N250 component, reflecting attentional capturing of SON. Additionally, SON caused a larger but later peaking P300 than the other two name stimuli which we interpret as a correlate of access to self-reference information.

Research highlights
► Visual presentation of SON elicited larger N250 amplitude than both familiar and unfamiliar name.
► SON also elicited larger P300 amplitude than other name stimuli.
► SON elicited the largest N250 amplitude in the left region sites.
► SON elicited the largest P300 amplitude in the right region sites.
► In the early stage of SON processing the left brain is dominant, but in the later stage the right brain is dominant.