An exploratory analysis of head-tilting in dogs

AbstractLittle is known about head-tilts in dogs. Based on previous investigations on the head turning and the lateralised brain pattern of human speech processing in dogs, we hypothesised that head-tilts may be related to increased attention and could be explained by lateralised mental functions. We observed 40 dogs during object-label knowledge tests and analysed head-tilts occurring while listening to humans requesting verbally to fetch a familiar toy. Our results indicate that only dogs that had learned the name of the objects tilted their heads frequently. Besides, the side of the tilt was stable across several months and tests. Thus, we suggest a relationship between head-tilting and processing relevant, meaningful stimuli.

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Dealing with imperfections in human speech communication with advanced speech processing techniques

ISSCS 2011 - International Symposium on Signals, Circuits and Systems ◽

10.1109/isscs.2011.5978726 ◽

2011 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Tan Lee ◽

P. C. Ching

Keyword(s):

Speech Processing ◽

Speech Communication ◽

Human Speech ◽

Processing Techniques

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Patterns of evolution in human speech processing and animal communication

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x98481172 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

pp. 282-283

Author(s):

Michael J. Ryan ◽

Nicole M. Kime ◽

Gil G. Rosenthal

Keyword(s):

Sexual Selection ◽

Speech Processing ◽

Communication Systems ◽

Animal Communication ◽

Low Noise ◽

Communication Signals ◽

Human Speech ◽

Strong Selection ◽

Processing Data ◽

Receiver System

We consider Sussman et al.'s suggestion that auditory biases for processing low-noise relationships among pairs of acoustic variables is a preadaptation for human speech processing. Data from other animal communication systems, especially those involving sexual selection, also suggest that neural biases in the receiver system can generate strong selection on the form of communication signals.

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Human speech model based on information separation and its application to speech processing

2010 7th International Symposium on Chinese Spoken Language Processing ◽

10.1109/iscslp.2010.5684477 ◽

2010 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nobuaki Minematsu

Keyword(s):

Speech Processing ◽

Human Speech ◽

Model Based ◽

Information Separation ◽

Speech Model

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Scaling and universality in the human voice

Journal of The Royal Society Interface ◽

10.1098/rsif.2014.1344 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 12 (105) ◽

pp. 20141344 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Jordi Luque ◽

Bartolo Luque ◽

Lucas Lacasa

Keyword(s):

Speech Production ◽

Power Law ◽

Speech Processing ◽

Speech Synthesis ◽

Deterministic Chaos ◽

Scale Invariant ◽

Human Capabilities ◽

Human Speech ◽

Temporal Correlations ◽

Low Dimensional

Speech is a distinctive complex feature of human capabilities. In order to understand the physics underlying speech production, in this work, we empirically analyse the statistics of large human speech datasets ranging several languages. We first show that during speech, the energy is unevenly released and power-law distributed, reporting a universal robust Gutenberg–Richter-like law in speech. We further show that such ‘earthquakes in speech’ show temporal correlations, as the interevent statistics are again power-law distributed. As this feature takes place in the intraphoneme range, we conjecture that the process responsible for this complex phenomenon is not cognitive, but it resides in the physiological (mechanical) mechanisms of speech production. Moreover, we show that these waiting time distributions are scale invariant under a renormalization group transformation, suggesting that the process of speech generation is indeed operating close to a critical point. These results are put in contrast with current paradigms in speech processing, which point towards low dimensional deterministic chaos as the origin of nonlinear traits in speech fluctuations. As these latter fluctuations are indeed the aspects that humanize synthetic speech, these findings may have an impact in future speech synthesis technologies. Results are robust and independent of the communication language or the number of speakers, pointing towards a universal pattern and yet another hint of complexity in human speech.

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Revealing the dual streams of speech processing

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1614038114 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 113 (52) ◽

pp. 15108-15113 ◽

Cited By ~ 47

Author(s):

Julius Fridriksson ◽

Grigori Yourganov ◽

Leonardo Bonilha ◽

Alexandra Basilakos ◽

Dirk-Bart Den Ouden ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Speech Processing ◽

Large Scale ◽

A Priori ◽

Dorsal Stream ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Ventral Stream ◽

Complete Agreement ◽

Human Speech ◽

Lexical Semantic ◽

Data Driven Approach

Several dual route models of human speech processing have been proposed suggesting a large-scale anatomical division between cortical regions that support motor–phonological aspects vs. lexical–semantic aspects of speech processing. However, to date, there is no complete agreement on what areas subserve each route or the nature of interactions across these routes that enables human speech processing. Relying on an extensive behavioral and neuroimaging assessment of a large sample of stroke survivors, we used a data-driven approach using principal components analysis of lesion-symptom mapping to identify brain regions crucial for performance on clusters of behavioral tasks without a priori separation into task types. Distinct anatomical boundaries were revealed between a dorsal frontoparietal stream and a ventral temporal–frontal stream associated with separate components. Collapsing over the tasks primarily supported by these streams, we characterize the dorsal stream as a form-to-articulation pathway and the ventral stream as a form-to-meaning pathway. This characterization of the division in the data reflects both the overlap between tasks supported by the two streams as well as the observation that there is a bias for phonological production tasks supported by the dorsal stream and lexical–semantic comprehension tasks supported by the ventral stream. As such, our findings show a division between two processing routes that underlie human speech processing and provide an empirical foundation for studying potential computational differences that distinguish between the two routes.

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of The hierarchical cortical organization of human speech processing.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.727692323.793550757 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Andrew King

Keyword(s):

Speech Processing ◽

Human Speech ◽

Cortical Organization

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Affective State and Voice: Reproducibility and Sensitivity of Speech Parameters

Methods of Information in Medicine ◽

10.1055/s-0038-1635518 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 27 (02) ◽

pp. 87-96 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

H. H. Stassen ◽

G. Bomben

Keyword(s):

Speech Processing ◽

Affective State ◽

Repeated Measurements ◽

Time Duration ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Substantial Impact ◽

Human Speech ◽

Adaptive Procedures ◽

Nonverbal Information ◽

The Stability

SummaryIn 1986, we started an extensive investigation into the nonverbal information transmitted in human speech. As part of this investigation, we had designed a study of healthy subjects -stratified according to sex, age and education - in order to gain valuable insights into the “typical” nonverbal activities of a speaker. The specific design of this study with 3 different types of texts and 2 repeated measurements at an interval of 14 days was used to test the stability of speech parameters over time as well as their sensitivity to form and content of text. In a first approach, we directed our efforts towards a set of major scalar quantities which earlier investigators had described as playing a key role in modelling affect in terms of directly measurable speech parameters.Based on a sample of 97 persons and with the help of a fully computerized digital approach to speech processing, we found that the four major speech parameters “mean vocal pitch”, “time duration of pauses”, “time duration of utterances”, and “energy” are sufficiently reproducible under constant experimental conditions, whereas some significant differences showed up with regard to the sensitivity of these parameters to form and content of the spoken text. No substantial impact originated from the external factors sex, age and education, except for the tonal shift of one octave between males and females.On the other hand, the overwhelming variety of individual voice patterns obviously excludes any simple model (which applies in general) of the nonverbal component of human speech. However, our analyses offered some important clues as to how appropriate models may be derived by means of adaptive procedures.

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