The learning of new words is a challenge that accompanies human beings throughout the entire life span. Although the main electrophysiological markers of word learning have already been described, little is known about the performance-dependent neural machinery underlying this exceptional human faculty. Furthermore, it is currently unknown how word learning abilities are related to verbal memory capacity, auditory attention functions, phonetic discrimination skills, and musicality. Accordingly, we used EEG and examined 40 individuals, who were assigned to two groups (low [LPs] and high performers [HPs]) based on a median split of word learning performance, while they completed a phonetic-based word learning task. Furthermore, we collected behavioral data during an attentive listening and a phonetic discrimination task with the same stimuli to address relationships between auditory attention and phonetic discrimination skills, word learning performance, and musicality. The phonetic-based word learning task, which also included a nonlearning control condition, was sensitive enough to segregate learning-specific and unspecific N200/N400 manifestations along the anterior–posterior topographical axis. Notably, HPs exhibited enhanced verbal memory capacity and we also revealed a performance-dependent spatial N400 pattern, with maximal amplitudes at posterior electrodes in HPs and central maxima in LPs. Furthermore, phonetic-based word learning performance correlated with verbal memory capacity and phonetic discrimination skills, whereas the latter was related to musicality. This experimental approach clearly highlights the multifaceted dimensions of phonetic-based word learning and is helpful to disentangle learning-specific and unspecific ERPs.

新词的学习是伴随人类一生的挑战。尽管已经描述了单词学习的主要电生理标记，但人们对这种特殊的人类能力背后的依赖于表现的神经机制知之甚少。此外，目前尚不清楚单词学习能力如何与语言记忆能力、听觉注意力功能、语音辨别能力和音乐性相关。因此，我们使用 EEG 并检查了 40 个人，他们根据单词学习表现的中位数分配到两组（低 [LP] 和高性能 [HP]），同时他们完成了基于语音的单词学习任务。此外，我们在具有相同刺激的专心聆听和语音辨别任务期间收集了行为数据，以解决听觉注意力与语音辨别技能、单词学习表现和音乐性之间的关系。基于语音的单词学习任务，也包括非学习控制条件，足够敏感，可以沿前后地形轴分离学习特异性和非特异性 N200/N400 表现。值得注意的是，HPs 表现出增强的语言记忆能力，我们还揭示了一种依赖于性能的空间 N400 模式，在 HPs 的后电极处具有最大振幅，在 LPs 中具有中央最大值。此外，基于语音的单词学习表现与语言记忆能力和语音辨别能力相关，而后者与音乐性相关。