scholarly journals Elevated physiological arousal is associated with larger but more variable neural responses to small acoustic change in children during a passive auditory attention task

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 100612 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.V. Wass ◽  
K. Daubney ◽  
J. Golan ◽  
F. Logan ◽  
E. Kushnerenko
Keyword(s):  
Physiological Arousal ◽  
Auditory Attention ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Attention Task

Finding a Link between Selective Auditory Attention and Reading Problems in Young Children: A Preliminary Investigation

1994 ◽  
Vol 78 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1153-1154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire F. Taub ◽  
Elaine Fine ◽  
Rochelle S. Cherry
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Preliminary Investigation ◽  
Auditory Attention ◽  
Reading Problems ◽  
Attention Task

Data from 3 boys indicate that a selective auditory attention task may be useful in identifying prereading children who are at risk for learning disabilities.

scholarly journals Global Effects of Feature-based Attention Depend on Surprise

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cooper A. Smout ◽  
Marta I. Garrido ◽  
Jason B. Mattingley
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Information ◽  
Focus Of Attention ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Visual Modality ◽  
Recent Theory ◽  
Prediction Errors ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Feature Based ◽  
Task Irrelevant

AbstractRecent studies have shown that prediction and attention can interact under various circumstances, suggesting that the two processes are based on interdependent neural mechanisms. In the visual modality, attention can be deployed to the location of a task-relevant stimulus (‘spatial attention’) or to a specific feature of the stimulus, such as colour or shape, irrespective of its location (‘feature-based attention’). Here we asked whether predictive processes are influenced by feature-based attention outside the current spatial focus of attention. Across two experiments, we recorded neural activity with electroencephalography (EEG) as human observers performed a feature-based attention task at fixation and ignored a stream of peripheral stimuli with predictable or surprising features. Central targets were defined by a single feature (colour or orientation) and differed in salience across the two experiments. Task-irrelevant peripheral patterns usually comprised one particular conjunction of features (standards), but occasionally deviated in one or both features (deviants). Consistent with previous studies, we found reliable effects of feature-based attention and prediction on neural responses to task-irrelevant patterns in both experiments. Crucially, we observed an interaction between prediction and feature-based attention in both experiments: the neural effect of feature-based attention was larger for surprising patterns than it was for predicted patterns. These findings suggest that global effects of feature-based attention depend on surprise, and are consistent with the idea that attention optimises the precision of predictions by modulating the gain of prediction errors.Significance StatementTwo principal mechanisms facilitate the efficient processing of sensory information: prediction uses prior information to guide the interpretation of sensory events, whereas attention biases the processing of these events according to their behavioural relevance. A recent theory proposes to reconcile attention and prediction under a unifying framework, casting attention as a ‘precision optimisation’ mechanism that enhances the gain of prediction errors. Crucially, this theory suggests that attention and prediction interact to modulate neural responses, but this hypothesis remains to be tested with respect to feature-based attention mechanisms outside the spatial focus of attention. Here we show that global effects of feature-based attention are enhanced when stimuli possess surprising features, suggesting that feature-based attention and prediction are interdependent neural mechanisms.

Developmental Differences in Visual and Auditory Attention: a Cross-Sectional Study

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Günther ◽  
Kerstin Konrad ◽  
Joachim Häusler ◽  
Hafida Saghraoui ◽  
Klaus Willmes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Auditory Attention ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Performance Variables ◽  
Attention Tasks

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to compare performance on visual and auditory attention tasks along with the developmental trajectories of these systems. Participants between 7 and 77 years of age were examined: 490 subjects (229 males and 261 females) completed the visual and auditory part of a focused-attention task, and 688 subjects (320 males and 368 females) were tested with an alertness task in the two different modalities. Shorter reaction times were observed in the visual condition compared to the auditory condition. This difference was particularly large for children and for the more complex, focused-attention task. However, the gap between the two modalities decreased with age, resulting in significant interaction effects between age and modality for both attention tasks. Attentional performance increased with age, and maximum performance was achieved in early adulthood. For nearly all performance variables, no decrease could be detected with increasing age. In addition, the results of a principal components analysis suggest that, independent of modality, all alertness variables load on one component, whereas the performance variables of the visual and the auditory focused-attention task load on two separate components. Thus, our data suggest that visual and auditory attention rely on distinct attentional systems within the selectivity domain of attention and have distinct developmental trajectories.

Modulation of Auditory Attention by Training

2013 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Soveri ◽  
Jussi Tallus ◽  
Matti Laine ◽  
Lars Nyberg ◽  
Lars Bäckman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Control ◽  
Response Shift ◽  
Healthy Adults ◽  
Auditory Attention ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Auditory Space ◽  
Attentional Deficits ◽  
Auditory Spatial Attention ◽  
Accuracy Rates

We studied the effects of training on auditory attention in healthy adults with a speech perception task involving dichotically presented syllables. Training involved bottom-up manipulation (facilitating responses from the harder-to-report left ear through a decrease of right-ear stimulus intensity), top-down manipulation (focusing attention on the left-ear stimuli through instruction), or their combination. The results showed significant training-related effects for top-down training. These effects were evident as higher overall accuracy rates in the forced-left dichotic listening (DL) condition that sets demands on attentional control, as well as a response shift toward left-sided reports in the standard DL task. Moreover, a transfer effect was observed in an untrained auditory-spatial attention task involving bilateral stimulation where top-down training led to a relatively stronger focus on left-sided stimuli. Our results indicate that training of attentional control can modulate the allocation of attention in the auditory space in adults. Malleability of auditory attention in healthy adults raises the issue of potential training gains in individuals with attentional deficits.

An Auditory Attention Task: A Note on the Processing of Verbal Information

1994 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 563-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Linde
Keyword(s):  
Beneficial Effect ◽  
Auditory Attention ◽  
The Other ◽  
Training Effect ◽  
Spatial Relationships ◽  
Verbal Information ◽  
Spatial Order ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Normal Sleep ◽  
General Training

On an auditory attention task subjects were required to reproduce spatial relationships between letters from auditorily presented verbal information containing the prepositions “before” or “after.” It was assumed that propositions containing “after” induce a conflict between temporal, and semantically implied, spatial order between letters. Data from 36 subjects showing that propositions with “after” are more difficult to process are presented. A significant, general training effect appeared. 200 mg caffeine had a certain beneficial effect on performance of 18 subjects who had been awake for about 22 hours and were tested at 6 a.m.; however, the beneficial effect was not related to amount of conflict but concerned items without and with conflict. On the other hand, the effect of caffeine for 18 subjects tested at 4 p.m. after normal sleep was slightly negative.

Auditory Processing and Cluttering in Young Children

2000 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 631-639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon W. Blood ◽  
Ingrid M. Blood ◽  
Glen Tellis
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Dichotic Listening ◽  
Auditory Attention ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Speech Task ◽  
Compressed Speech ◽  
Control Subjects ◽  
Dichotic Listening Task ◽  
Listening Task

This study examined the differences among scores on four tests of auditory processing of 6 children who clutter and 6 control subjects matched for age. sex, and grade. Scores on a consonant-vowel dichotic listening task indicated that directing the attention of the attended ear improved the percentage of correct responses for both groups of children. Those who clutter, however, showed a greater percentage of change during the directed right and left ear conditions. Cluttering children performed poorer on right and left competing conditions of the Staggered Spondaic Word Test. No differences were found between groups for the auditory attention task and the time-compressed speech task. Implications for processing of dichotic stimuli and diagnosis of children who clutter are discussed.

scholarly journals Irrelevant Predictions: Distractor Rhythmicity Modulates Neural Encoding in Auditory Cortex

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (11) ◽  
pp. 5792-5805 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiri Makov ◽  
Elana Zion Golumbic
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Auditory Cortex ◽  
Sensory Response ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Neural Encoding ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Baseline Activity ◽  
Temporal Predictability ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Predictive Processes

Abstract Dynamic attending theory suggests that predicting the timing of upcoming sounds can assist in focusing attention toward them. However, whether similar predictive processes are also applied to background noises and assist in guiding attention “away” from potential distractors, remains an open question. Here we address this question by manipulating the temporal predictability of distractor sounds in a dichotic listening selective attention task. We tested the influence of distractors’ temporal predictability on performance and on the neural encoding of sounds, by comparing the effects of Rhythmic versus Nonrhythmic distractors. Using magnetoencephalography we found that, indeed, the neural responses to both attended and distractor sounds were affected by distractors’ rhythmicity. Baseline activity preceding the onset of Rhythmic distractor sounds was enhanced relative to nonrhythmic distractor sounds, and sensory response to them was suppressed. Moreover, detection of nonmasked targets improved when distractors were Rhythmic, an effect accompanied by stronger lateralization of the neural responses to attended sounds to contralateral auditory cortex. These combined behavioral and neural results suggest that not only are temporal predictions formed for task-irrelevant sounds, but that these predictions bear functional significance for promoting selective attention and reducing distractibility.

scholarly journals Sensorineural hearing loss degrades behavioral and physiological measures of human spatial selective auditory attention

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (14) ◽  
pp. E3286-E3295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lengshi Dai ◽  
Virginia Best ◽  
Barbara G. Shinn-Cunningham
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Selective Attention ◽  
Sensorineural Hearing Loss ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Auditory Attention ◽  
Sensorineural Hearing ◽  
Spatial Cues ◽  
Attentional Modulation ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Cortical Responses

Listeners with sensorineural hearing loss often have trouble understanding speech amid other voices. While poor spatial hearing is often implicated, direct evidence is weak; moreover, studies suggest that reduced audibility and degraded spectrotemporal coding may explain such problems. We hypothesized that poor spatial acuity leads to difficulty deploying selective attention, which normally filters out distracting sounds. In listeners with normal hearing, selective attention causes changes in the neural responses evoked by competing sounds, which can be used to quantify the effectiveness of attentional control. Here, we used behavior and electroencephalography to explore whether control of selective auditory attention is degraded in hearing-impaired (HI) listeners. Normal-hearing (NH) and HI listeners identified a simple melody presented simultaneously with two competing melodies, each simulated from different lateral angles. We quantified performance and attentional modulation of cortical responses evoked by these competing streams. Compared with NH listeners, HI listeners had poorer sensitivity to spatial cues, performed more poorly on the selective attention task, and showed less robust attentional modulation of cortical responses. Moreover, across NH and HI individuals, these measures were correlated. While both groups showed cortical suppression of distracting streams, this modulation was weaker in HI listeners, especially when attending to a target at midline, surrounded by competing streams. These findings suggest that hearing loss interferes with the ability to filter out sound sources based on location, contributing to communication difficulties in social situations. These findings also have implications for technologies aiming to use neural signals to guide hearing aid processing.

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