How the brain encodes the order of letters in a printed word: The SERIOL model and selective literature review

This paper describes a novel theoretical framework of how the position of a letter within a string is encoded, the SERIOL model (sequential encoding r egulated by inputs to oscillations within letter units). Letter order is re presented by a temporal activation pattern across letter units, as is consi stent with current theories of information coding based on the precise timi ng of neural spikes. The framework specifies how this pattern is invoked vi a an activation gradient that interacts with subthreshold oscillations and how it is decoded via contextual units that activate word units. Using math ematical modeling, this theoretical framework is shown to account for the e xperimental data from a wide variety of string-processing studies, includin g hemispheric asymmetries, the optimal viewing position, and positional pri ming effects.