Native and nonnative processing of Japanese pitch accent

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 623-641 ◽  
Author(s):  
XIANGHUA WU ◽  
JUNG-YUEH TU ◽  
YUE WANG
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Pitch Accent ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Hemisphere Dominance ◽  
Nonnative Listeners ◽  
Prosodic Processing ◽  
Japanese Pitch Accent

ABSTRACTThe theoretical framework of this study is based on the prevalent debate of whether prosodic processing is influenced by higher level linguistic-specific circuits or reflects lower level encoding of physical properties. Using the dichotic listening technique, the study investigates the hemispheric processing of Japanese pitch accent by native Japanese listeners and two groups of nonnative listeners with no prior pitch accent experience but differing in their native language experience with linguistic pitch: native listeners of Mandarin (a tone language with higher linguistic functional use of pitch) and native listeners of English (a stress language with lower functional use of pitch). The overall results reveal that, for both native and nonnative listeners, the processing of Japanese pitch accent is less lateralized (compared to lexical tone processing, which has been found to be a left hemisphere property). However, detailed analysis with individual pitch accents across groups shows a right hemisphere preference for processing the high–accent–low (H*L) pattern, a left hemisphere preference for LH*, and no hemisphere dominance for LH, indicating a significant reliance on the acoustic cues. These patterns are particularly prominent with the English listeners who are least experienced with linguistic pitch. Together, the findings suggest an interplay of linguistic and acoustic aspects in the processing of Japanese pitch accent by native and nonnative listeners.

scholarly journals The role of linguistic experience in the hemispheric processing of lexical tone

2004 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
YUE WANG ◽  
DAWN M. BEHNE ◽  
ALLARD JONGMAN ◽  
JOAN A. SERENO
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Hemispheric Lateralization ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Hemispheric Processing ◽  
Linguistic Experience ◽  
Hemisphere Dominance ◽  
Ear Advantage ◽  
Nonnative Listeners ◽  
Mandarin Tone

This study investigated hemispheric lateralization of Mandarin tone. Four groups of listeners were examined: native Mandarin listeners, English–Mandarin bilinguals, Norwegian listeners with experience with Norwegian tone, and American listeners with no tone experience. Tone pairs were dichotically presented and listeners identified which tone they heard in each ear. For the Mandarin listeners, 57% of the total errors occurred in the left ear, indicating a right-ear (left-hemisphere) advantage. The English–Mandarin bilinguals exhibited nativelike patterns, with 56% left-ear errors. However, no ear advantage was found for the Norwegian or American listeners (48 and 47% left-ear errors, respectively). Results indicate left-hemisphere dominance of Mandarin tone by native and proficient bilingual listeners, whereas nonnative listeners show no evidence of lateralization, regardless of their familiarity with lexical tone.

scholarly journals Cerebral Lateralization of Frontal Lobe Language Processes and Lateralization of the Posterior Visual Word Processing System

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 672-681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qing Cai ◽  
Michal Lavidor ◽  
Marc Brysbaert ◽  
Yves Paulignan ◽  
Tatjana A. Nazir
Keyword(s):  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Alternative Hypothesis ◽  
Visual Word ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Hemisphere Dominance ◽  
Visual Word Processing

The brain areas involved in visual word processing rapidly become lateralized to the left cerebral hemisphere. It is often assumed this is because, in the vast majority of people, cortical structures underlying language production are lateralized to the left hemisphere. An alternative hypothesis, however, might be that the early stages of visual word processing are lateralized to the left hemisphere because of intrinsic hemispheric differences in processing low-level visual information as required for distinguishing fine-grained visual forms such as letters. If the alternative hypothesis was correct, we would expect posterior occipito-temporal processing stages still to be lateralized to the left hemisphere for participants with right hemisphere dominance for the frontal lobe processes involved in language production. By analyzing event-related potentials of native readers of French with either left hemisphere or right hemisphere dominance for language production (determined using a verb generation task), we were able to show that the posterior occipito-temporal areas involved in visual word processing are lateralized to the same hemisphere as language production. This finding could suggest top-down influences in the development of posterior visual word processing areas.

Homotopic organization of essential language sites in right and bilateral cerebral hemispheric dominance

2011 ◽  
Vol 114 (4) ◽  
pp. 893-902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward F. Chang ◽  
Doris D. Wang ◽  
David W. Perry ◽  
Nicholas M. Barbaro ◽  
Mitchel S. Berger
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
General Pattern ◽  
Hemispheric Dominance ◽  
Precentral Gyrus ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Speech Mapping ◽  
Hemisphere Dominance

Object Language dominance in the right hemisphere is rare. Therefore, the organization of essential language sites in the dominant right hemisphere is unclear, especially compared with cases involving the more prevalent left dominant hemisphere. Methods The authors reviewed the medical records of 15 patients who underwent awake craniotomy for tumor or epilepsy surgery and speech mapping of right hemisphere perisylvian language areas at the University of California, San Francisco. All patients were determined to have either complete right-sided or bilateral language dominance by preoperative Wada testing. Results All patients but one were left-handed. Of more than 331 total stimulation sites, 27 total sites were identified as essential for language function (14 sites for speech arrest/anarthria; 12 for anomia; and 1 for alexia). While significant interindividual variability was observed, the general pattern of language organization was similar to classic descriptions of frontal language production and posterior temporal language integration for the left hemisphere. Speech arrest sites were clustered in the ventral precentral gyrus and pars opercularis. Anomia sites were more widely distributed, but were focused in the posterior superior and middle temporal gyri as well as the inferior parietal gyrus. One alexia site was found over the superior temporal gyrus. Face sensory and motor cortical sites were also identified along the ventral sensorimotor strip. The prevalence and specificity of essential language sites were greater in unilateral right hemisphere–dominant patients, compared with those with bilateral dominance by Wada testing. Conclusions The authors' results suggest that the organization of language in right hemisphere dominance mirrors that of left hemisphere dominance. Awake speech mapping is a safe and reliable surgical adjunct in these rare clinical cases and should be done in the setting of right hemisphere dominance to avoid preventable postoperative aphasia.

Functional Hemispheric Asymmetry and Belief in ESP: Towards a “Neuropsychology of Belief”

1993 ◽  
Vol 77 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1299-1308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Brugger ◽  
Alex Gamma ◽  
René Muri ◽  
Markus Schafer ◽  
Kirsten I. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Visual Field ◽  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Hemispheric Asymmetry ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Right Visual Field ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Verbal Tasks ◽  
Hemisphere Dominance ◽  
The Right

30 right-handed subjects were given a lateralized tachistoscopic lexical-decision task. Subjects' belief in extrasensory perception (ESP) was assessed with a single six-point scale; 16 subjects were designated as believers in ESP and 14 subjects as nonbelievers. Believers in ESP did not exhibit a hemispheric asymmetry for the task while nonbelievers exhibited the expected right visual-field/left-hemisphere dominance documented in the literature. Believers' lack of asymmetry was not caused by an impaired left-hemisphere performance but rather by a significantly enhanced lexical-decision accuracy in the left visual field/right hemisphere compared to nonbelievers. These results are compatible with previous studies indicating a correlation between belief in ESP and a bias for right-hemisphere processing. Moreover, the results are relevant for a discussion of an association between paranormal beliefs and schizotypy: highly schizotypal individuals are not only particularly prone to believe in ESP but are also known to show an attenuation of hemispheric asymmetries in lateralized verbal tasks due to an enhanced contribution of the right hemisphere. We suggest that the neurological basis of delusion-like beliefs may involve a release of right-hemisphere function from left-hemisphere control and sketch the focus of research for a future “neuropsychology of belief.”

scholarly journals Development of Hemispheric Specialization for Lexical Pitch–Accent in Japanese Infants

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 2503-2513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yutaka Sato ◽  
Yuko Sogabe ◽  
Reiko Mazuka
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Pitch Accent ◽  
Pitch Change ◽  
Perceptual Change ◽  
Brain Responses ◽  
Functional Lateralization ◽  
Hemisphere Dominance ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
Japanese Infants

Infants' speech perception abilities change through the first year of life, from broad sensitivity to a wide range of speech contrasts to becoming more finely attuned to their native language. What remains unclear, however, is how this perceptual change relates to brain responses to native language contrasts in terms of the functional specialization of the left and right hemispheres. Here, to elucidate the developmental changes in functional lateralization accompanying this perceptual change, we conducted two experiments on Japanese infants using Japanese lexical pitch–accent, which changes word meanings with the pitch pattern within words. In the first behavioral experiment, using visual habituation, we confirmed that infants at both 4 and 10 months have sensitivities to the lexical pitch–accent pattern change embedded in disyllabic words. In the second experiment, near-infrared spectroscopy was used to measure cortical hemodynamic responses in the left and right hemispheres to the same lexical pitch–accent pattern changes and their pure tone counterparts. We found that brain responses to the pitch change within words differed between 4- and 10-month-old infants in terms of functional lateralization: Left hemisphere dominance for the perception of the pitch change embedded in words was seen only in the 10-month-olds. These results suggest that the perceptual change in Japanese lexical pitch–accent may be related to a shift in functional lateralization from bilateral to left hemisphere dominance.

scholarly journals FACTORS INFLUENCING SENSITIVITY TO LEXICAL TONE IN AN ARTIFICIAL LANGUAGE

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 335-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine L. Caldwell-Harris ◽  
Alia Lancaster ◽  
D. Robert Ladd ◽  
Dan Dediu ◽  
Morten H. Christiansen
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Artificial Language ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Artificial Language Learning ◽  
Minimal Pairs ◽  
Predictor Of Success

This study examined whether musical training, ethnicity, and experience with a natural tone language influenced sensitivity to tone while listening to an artificial tone language. The language was designed with three tones, modeled after level-tone African languages. Participants listened to a 15-min random concatenation of six 3-syllable words. Sensitivity to tone was assessed using minimal pairs differing only in one syllable (nonword task: e.g., to-kà-su compared to ca-fí-to) or only in tone (tone task: e.g., to-kà-su compared to to-ká-su). Proficiency in an East Asian heritage language was the strongest predictor of success on the tone task. Asians without tone language experience were no better than other ethnic groups. We conclude by considering implications for research on second language learning, especially as approached through artificial language learning.

Effects of acoustic and linguistic experience on Japanese pitch accent processing

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 931-946 ◽  
Author(s):  
XIANGHUA WU ◽  
SAYA KAWASE ◽  
YUE WANG
Keyword(s):  
English Learners ◽  
Dichotic Listening ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Pitch Accent ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Hemispheric Processing ◽  
L2 Learning ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Japanese Pitch Accent

This study investigated the effects of L2 learning experience in relation to L1 background on hemispheric processing of Japanese pitch accent. Native Mandarin Chinese (tonal L1) and English (non-tonal L1) learners of Japanese were tested using dichotic listening. These listener groups were compared with those recruited in Wu, Tu & Wang (2012), including native Mandarin and English listeners without Japanese experience and native Japanese listeners. Results revealed an overall right-hemisphere preference across groups, suggesting acoustically oriented processing. Individual pitch accent patterns also revealed pattern-specific laterality differences, further reflecting acoustic-level processing. However, listener group differences indicated L1 effects, with the Chinese but not English listeners approximating the Japanese patterns. Furthermore, English learners but not naïve listeners exhibited a shift towards the native direction, revealing effects of L2 learning. These findings imply integrated effects of acoustic and linguistic aspects on Japanese pitch accent processing as a function of L1 and L2 experience.

scholarly journals Combination of absolute pitch and tone language experience enhances lexical tone perception

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Akshay R. Maggu ◽  
Joseph C. Y. Lau ◽  
Mary M. Y. Waye ◽  
Patrick C. M. Wong
Keyword(s):  
Categorical Perception ◽  
Absolute Pitch ◽  
Common Mechanism ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Frequency Following Response ◽  
Tone Perception ◽  
Response Measures

AbstractAbsolute pitch (AP), a unique ability to name or produce pitch without any reference, is known to be influenced by genetic and cultural factors. AP and tone language experience are both known to promote lexical tone perception. However, the effects of the combination of AP and tone language experience on lexical tone perception are currently not known. In the current study, using behavioral (Categorical Perception) and electrophysiological (Frequency Following Response) measures, we investigated the effect of the combination of AP and tone language experience on lexical tone perception. We found that the Cantonese speakers with AP outperformed the Cantonese speakers without AP on Categorical Perception and Frequency Following Responses of lexical tones, suggesting an additive effect due to the combination of AP and tone language experience. These findings suggest a role of basic sensory pre-attentive auditory processes towards pitch encoding in AP. Further, these findings imply a common mechanism underlying pitch encoding in AP and tone language perception.

scholarly journals Left Hemisphere Dominance for Negative Facial Expressions: The Influence of Task

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Darcy Burgund
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expression ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Detection Task ◽  
Emotional Expressions ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Identification Task ◽  
Hemisphere Dominance ◽  
Expression Processing

Major theories of hemisphere asymmetries in facial expression processing predict right hemisphere dominance for negative facial expressions of disgust, fear, and sadness, however, some studies observe left hemisphere dominance for one or more of these expressions. Research suggests that tasks requiring the identification of six basic emotional facial expressions (angry, disgusted, fearful, happy, sad, and surprised) are more likely to produce left hemisphere involvement than tasks that do not require expression identification. The present research investigated this possibility in two experiments that presented six basic emotional facial expressions to the right or left hemisphere using a divided-visual field paradigm. In Experiment 1, participants identified emotional expressions by pushing a key corresponding to one of six labels. In Experiment 2, participants detected emotional expressions by pushing a key corresponding to whether an expression was emotional or not. In line with predictions, fearful facial expressions exhibited a left hemisphere advantage during the identification task but not during the detection task. In contrast to predictions, sad expressions exhibited a left hemisphere advantage during both identification and detection tasks. In addition, happy facial expressions exhibited a left hemisphere advantage during the detection task but not during the identification task. Only angry facial expressions exhibited a right hemisphere advantage, and this was only observed when data from both experiments were combined. Together, results highlight the influence of task demands on hemisphere asymmetries in facial expression processing and suggest a greater role for the left hemisphere in negative expressions than predicted by previous theories.

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