Features of Perception of a Person’s Own Name Compared to the Perception of Names with Similar and Different Sounds: Analysis of Event-Related Potentials

In recent years, there has been an increased interest in how a person distinguishes his own name from other stimuli. In large part this interest is determined by the intensive development of a personalized approach in medicine, psychology, and rehabilitation. The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of a person’s perception of his own name in comparison with stimuli of similar and different sounds based on an analysis of the bioelectrical activity of the brain. The study involved 29 healthy volunteers aged 18 to 48 years who had common Russian names and identified themselves with short forms of these names, which had a similar syllabic structure. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in response to a proper name, a similar-sounding name, a similar-sounding word, a different-sounding name, and a Chukchi word. When analyzing the data, an estimate of the amplitude of the induced response was used and a factor analysis was performed. Two time intervals were identified in the ERP in which differences were manifested in response to different types of stimuli. The first complex corresponded to peaks N100 and P200 and the first syllable of stimuli. The second complex corresponded to a negative peak at an interval of 400–600 ms from the beginning of the stimulus delivery, or the second syllable. Factor analysis performed at the two identified intervals showed the presence of three factors associated with different groups of electrodes. The data obtained by the method of factor analysis allow us to conclude that the perception of one’s own name occurs in several stages, the first of which corresponds to the allocation of the first syllable, and the final, to the assessment of the entire word (name). It can be assumed that several functional systems are involved in the perception of one’s own name and ensure the maintenance of wakefulness, attention, perception of auditory, and speech information.