scholarly journals Distracting Linguistic Information Impairs Neural Entrainment to Attended Speech

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bohan Dai ◽  
James M. McQueen ◽  
René Terporten ◽  
Peter Hagoort ◽  
Anne Kösem
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Speech Comprehension ◽  
Clear Speech ◽  
Noisy Environments ◽  
Linguistic Processing ◽  
Linguistic Information ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Neural Entrainment ◽  
Intelligible Speech

AbstractListening to speech is difficult in noisy environments, and is even harder when the interfering noise consists of intelligible speech as compared to non-intelligible sounds. This suggests that the ignored speech is not fully ignored, and that competing linguistic information interferes with the neural processing of target speech. We tested this hypothesis using magnetoencephalography (MEG) while participants listened to target clear speech in the presence of distracting noise-vocoded signals. Crucially, the noise vocoded distractors were initially unintelligible but were perceived as intelligible speech after a small training session. We compared participants’ performance in the speech-in-noise task before and after training, and neural entrainment to both target and distracting speech. The comprehension of the target clear speech was reduced in the presence of intelligible distractors as compared to when they were unintelligible. The neural entrainment to target speech in the delta range (1–4 Hz) reduced in strength in the presence of an intelligible distractor. In contrast, neural entrainment to distracting signals was not significantly modulated by intelligibility. These results support and extend previous findings, showing, first, that the masking effects of distracting speech originate from the degradation of the linguistic representation of target speech, and second, that delta entrainment reflects linguistic processing of speech.Significance StatementComprehension of speech in noisy environments is impaired due to interference from background sounds. The magnitude of interference depends on the intelligibility of the distracting speech signals. In a magnetoencephalography experiment with a highly-controlled training paradigm, we show that the linguistic information of distracting speech imposes higher-order interference on the processing of the target speech, as indexed by a decline of comprehension of target speech and a reduction of delta entrainment to target speech. This work demonstrates the importance of neural oscillations for speech processing. It shows that delta oscillations reflect linguistic analysis during speech comprehension, which can critically be affected by the presence of other speech.

scholarly journals Hand-clapping to the rhythm of newly learned words improves L2 pronunciation: Evidence from training Chinese adolescents with French words

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 666-689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan Zhang ◽  
Florence Baills ◽  
Pilar Prieto
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Chinese Adolescents ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Group A ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Final Syllable ◽  
French Words

Though research has shown that rhythmic training is beneficial for phonological speech processing, little empirical work has been carried out to assess whether rhythmic training in the classroom can help to improve pronunciation in a second language. This study tests the potential benefits of hand-clapping to the rhythm of newly learned French words for the acquisition of pronunciation patterns by Chinese adolescents. In a between-subjects training experiment with a pretest/posttest design, 50 Chinese adolescents either repeated new French words while clapping out their rhythmic structure (clapping condition) or only repeated the words (non-clapping condition). Participants’ oral production before and after training was (1) perceptually rated for accentedness by two French native speakers and (2) acoustically analysed for final syllable duration. While the results showed an only near-significant improvement from pretest to posttest in accentedness ratings for the clapping group, a significant improvement was obtained for acoustic durational measures. Individual musical abilities did not interact significantly in either of the two analyses, and working memory interacted significantly only with accentedness. These results show that a short training session in which clapping is used to highlight the prosodic structure of words can help improve pronunciation in a foreign language.

scholarly journals The effect of hyperarticulation on speech comprehension under adverse listening conditions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayanthiny Kangatharan ◽  
Maria Uther ◽  
Fernand Gobet
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Acoustic Signal ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Speech Comprehension ◽  
Clear Speech ◽  
British English ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Level Information ◽  
Early Learners

AbstractComprehension assesses a listener’s ability to construe the meaning of an acoustic signal in order to be able to answer questions about its contents, while intelligibility indicates the extent to which a listener can precisely retrieve the acoustic signal. Previous comprehension studies asking listeners for sentence-level information or narrative-level information used native listeners as participants. This is the first study to look at whether clear speech properties (e.g. expanded vowel space) produce a clear speech benefit at the word level for L2 learners for speech produced in naturalistic settings. This study explored whether hyperarticulated speech was more comprehensible than non-hyperarticulated speech for both L1 British English speakers and early and late L2 British English learners in quiet and in noise. Sixteen British English listeners, 16 native Mandarin Chinese listeners as early learners of L2 and 16 native Mandarin Chinese listeners as late learners of L2 rated hyperarticulated samples versus non-hyperarticulated samples in form of words for comprehension under four listening conditions of varying white noise level (quiet or SNR levels of + 16 dB, + 12 dB or + 8 dB) (3 × 2× 4 mixed design). Mean ratings showed all three groups found hyperarticulated speech samples easier to understand than non-hyperarticulated speech at all listening conditions. Results are discussed in terms of other findings (Uther et al., 2012) that suggest that hyperarticulation may generally improve speech processing for all language groups.

scholarly journals Pushing the Envelope: Developments in Neural Entrainment to Speech and the Biological Underpinnings of Prosody Perception

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett Myers ◽  
Miriam Lense ◽  
Reyna Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Phase Locking ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Speech Comprehension ◽  
Linguistic Processing ◽  
Prosodic Cues ◽  
Electrophysiological Studies ◽  
Neural Entrainment ◽  
Stimulus Reconstruction ◽  
Neural Underpinnings ◽  
Speech Envelope

Prosodic cues in speech are indispensable for comprehending a speaker’s message, recognizing emphasis and emotion, parsing segmental units, and disambiguating syntactic structures. While it is commonly accepted that prosody provides a fundamental service to higher-level features of speech, the neural underpinnings of prosody processing are not clearly defined in the cognitive neuroscience literature. Many recent electrophysiological studies have examined speech comprehension by measuring neural entrainment to the speech amplitude envelope, using a variety of methods including phase-locking algorithms and stimulus reconstruction. Here we review recent evidence for neural tracking of the speech envelope and demonstrate the importance of prosodic contributions to the neural tracking of speech. Prosodic cues may offer a foundation for supporting neural synchronization to the speech envelope, which scaffolds linguistic processing. We argue that prosody has an inherent role in speech perception, and future research should fill the gap in our knowledge of how prosody contributes to speech envelope entrainment.

scholarly journals The Acute Effects of a Swimming Session on the Shoulder Rotators Strength and Balance of Age Group Swimmers

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (15) ◽  
pp. 8109
Author(s):  
Nuno Batalha ◽  
Jose A. Parraca ◽  
Daniel A. Marinho ◽  
Ana Conceição ◽  
Hugo Louro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Acute Effects ◽  
Muscle Strengthening ◽  
Repeated Measures Design ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Shoulder Strength ◽  
Isometric Torque ◽  
Gender Specific

The purpose of this study was to analyze the acute effects of a standardized water training session on the shoulder rotators strength and balance in age group swimmers, in order to understand whether a muscle-strengthening workout immediately after the water training is appropriate. A repeated measures design was implemented with two measurements performed before and after a standardized swim session. 127 participants were assembled in male (n = 72; age: 16.28 ± 1.55 years, height: 174.15 ± 7.89 cm, weight: 63.97 ± 6.51 kg) and female (n = 55; age: 15.29 ± 1.28 years, height: 163.03 ± 7.19 cm, weight: 52.72 ± 5.48 kg) cohorts. The isometric torque of the shoulder internal (IR) and external (ER) rotators, as well as the ER/IR ratios, were assessed using a hand-held dynamometer. Paired sample t-tests and effect sizes (Cohen’s d) were used (p ≤ 0.05). No significant differences were found on the shoulder rotators strength or balance in males after training. Females exhibited unchanged strength values after practice, but there was a considerable decrease in the shoulder rotators balance of the non-dominant limb (p < 0.01 d = 0.366). This indicates that a single practice seems not to affect the shoulders strength and balance of adolescent swimmers, but this can be a gender specific phenomenon. While muscle-strengthening workout after the water session may be appropriate for males, it can be questionable regarding females. Swimming coaches should regularly assess shoulder strength levels in order to individually identify swimmers who may or may not be able to practice muscle strengthening after the water training.

scholarly journals PETTLEP imagery and tennis service performance: an applied investigation

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nafih Cherappurath ◽  
Masilamani Elayaraja ◽  
Dilshith A. Kabeer ◽  
Amila Anjum ◽  
Paris Vogazianos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Age Groups ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
Service Performance ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Specific Training ◽  
Tennis Players ◽  
Imagery Training ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Junior Tennis

AbstractTennis is one of the most popular and widely played sports enjoyed by players of different age groups and genders as a profession as well as a mode of recreation. A novel method, PETTLEP imagery combines both conventional and non-conventional style of training of an athlete and improves one’s performance. This study aimed to analyze the tennis service performance of junior tennis players based on PETTLEP imagery training. Forty-four junior male tennis players (Mage=13.22 years, SD=0.42) were selected for the study. The investigator handed over the MIQ-R questionnaire to all the participants in which they scored 16 and above points as per previous research. The participants were equally divided (n=11) into three experimental groups (E1, E2, and E3) and a control group. The service performance outcomes of all the players were compared before and after a training session. The three experimental groups were assigned with service-specific training, service-specific training combined with PETTLEP imagery training, and PETTLEP imagery training alone, respectively, for three days per week for 12 weeks. They were tested on their service accuracy based on the International tennis number (ITN) manual on-court assessment test. The data were assessed for normality and analyzed using non-parametric methods to reveal main effects (each training method alone) as well as to calculate the combined effect of PETTLEP and service-specific training. Certain significant improvements in tennis service were observed with service-specific training alone. Though it marginally outperformed the PETTLEP imagery method, the most improved services were observed with both PETTLEP and service-specific training utilized together. This implies an additive effect when both methods are used together.

Knowledge and Skills of Lay Participants Training with Basic Life Support Program in Case of Cardiac Arrest

2021 ◽  
Vol 104 (Suppl. 1) ◽  
pp. S44-S48
Keyword(s):  
Cardiac Arrest ◽  
Training Program ◽  
Basic Life Support ◽  
Life Support ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Smartphone Application ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Lay People ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Hospital Cardiac Arrest

Background: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is an important cause that leads to hospital admission and death. Improving lay people’s knowledge and skills in basic life support (BLS) may lead to reduced death associated with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. “BLS NU KKU” is a BLS training program developed from up-to-date literature as a smartphone application used to train lay people in the community. Objective: To evaluate BLS-related knowledge and skills of participants before and after BLS training. Materials and Methods: A one group pretest-posttest design was used to implement the present study in Khon Kaen, Thailand. Participants were 350 individuals age 18 and older. An 8-hour BLS training session was offered to 10 groups of 35 participants over the period of 10 months between November 2018 and August 2019. Self-administered questionnaires were used to assess BLS knowledge and Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills. Results: The mean score for BLS-related knowledge significantly increased after the BLS training (mean = 15.05, SD = 2.51) compared to the scores before the training (mean = 10.47, SD = 3.43) (p<0.05). BLS skills improved from 0% to 100% (p<0.001) will all skills rated with mostly “excellent” and “good”. Satisfaction with the training program was also rated mostly with “excellent” and “good”. Conclusion: The BLS training program effectively improved participants’ knowledge and skills for basic life support. This program should be disseminated to train lay people in other settings. Keywords: Basic life support, Cardiac arrest, Mobile application

scholarly journals Musculoskeletal Outcomes from Chronic High-Speed, High-Impulse Resistance Exercise

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (10) ◽  
pp. 791-801 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Caruso ◽  
Michael Voor ◽  
Jason Jaggers ◽  
T. Symons ◽  
Jeremy Stith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Loading ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Type I Collagen ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Knee Extension ◽  
Type I ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Force Peak ◽  
Blood Marker ◽  
Hip Extension

AbstractWhile bones and muscles adapt to mechanical loading, it appears that very specific types of stimuli must be applied to achieve osteogenesis. Our study assessed musculoskeletal outcomes to 30 training sessions on an Inertial Exercise Trainer (Newnan, GA). Subjects (n=13) performed workouts with their left leg, while their right served as an untreated control. Workouts entailed three 60-s sets each of knee extension, hip extension and calf press exercises, separated by 90-s rests. Before and after the 30 training sessions, subjects underwent strength tests (knee and ankle extensors of both legs), DEXA scans (hip, knee and ankles of both legs), and blood draws. After 30 training sessions 2×2 ANOVAs showed left leg peak torques rose significantly. 2×2 ANCOVAs, with bone scan area as a covariate, showed significant left leg calcaneal bone mineral content (+29%) and density (+33%) increases after 30 training sessions. A significant decline in C-terminal telopeptides of type I collagen, a blood marker of bone resorption, also occurred after 30 training sessions. The Inertial Exercise Trainer’s large volume of training session repetitions elicited high peak force, peak acceleration and impulses that likely provided a mechanical loading stimulus that evoked calcaneal accretion.

scholarly journals The voice quality of sports coaches

Logopedija ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anđela Bučević ◽  
Ana Bonetti ◽  
Luka Bonetti
Keyword(s):  
Voice Quality ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Acoustic Method ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Sports Coaches ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Female Coaches

The aim of this research paper was to examine the voice quality of sports coaches using the objective (acoustic) method. A total of 28 sports coaches (mean age 28.58, SD=5.08), from the City of Zagreb participated in this research. Recordings of the phonation of the vowel /a/ before and after one training session were obtained and analyzed using the PRAAT Program. Mean, minimal and maximal values of fundamental frequency, shimmer, jitter and harmonics-to-noise ratio were observed. The statistical analyses showed no statistically significant difference in acoustic voice quality of male and female coaches before and after the training session, or between male and female coaches. However, intra-individual differences among participants were observed, which may be significant in terms of their potential to affect the quality of their voices in the future.

Hydration Status in Adolescent Judo Athletes Before and After Training in the Heat

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita M. Rivera-Brown ◽  
Roberto A. De Félix-Dávila
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Sodium Concentration ◽  
High Heat ◽  
The Body ◽  
Hydration Status ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Judo Athletes ◽  
Sweat Sodium

Adolescent judo athletes who train in tropical climates may be in a persistent state of dehydration because they frequently restrict fluids during daily training sessions to maintain or reduce their body weight and are not given enough opportunities to drink.Purpose:Determine the body hydration status of adolescent judo athletes before, immediately after, and 24 h after (24H) a training session and document sweat Na+ loss and symptoms of dehydration.Methods:Body mass and urine color and specific gravity (USG) were measured before, after, and 24 h after a training session in a high-heat-stress environment (29.5 ± 1.0°C; 77.7 ± 6.1% RH) in 24 adolescent athletes. Sweat sodium loss was also determined. A comparison was made between mid-pubertal (MP) and late pubertal (LP) subjects.Results:The majority of the subjects started training with a significant level of dehydration. During the training session, MP subjects lost 1.3 ± 0.8% of their pretraining body mass whereas LP subjects lost 1.9 ± 0.5% (P < .05). Sweat sodium concentration was 44.5 ± 23.3 mmol/L. Fluid intake from a water fountain was minimal. Subjects reported symptoms of dehydration during the session, which in some cases persisted throughout the night and the next day. The 24H USG was 1.028 ± 0.004 and 1.027 ± 0.005 g/mL for MP and LP, respectively.Conclusions:Adolescent judo athletes arrive to practice with a fluid deficit, do not drink enough during training, and experience symptoms of dehydration, which may compromise the quality of training and general well-being.

How bilinguals listen in noise: linguistic and non-linguistic factors

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 834-843 ◽  
Author(s):  
JENNIFER KRIZMAN ◽  
ANN R. BRADLOW ◽  
SILVIA SIU-YIN LAM ◽  
NINA KRAUS
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Perception ◽  
Target Stimulus ◽  
Linguistic Meaning ◽  
Linguistic Processing ◽  
Linguistic Information ◽  
Speech In Noise ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Performance Differences ◽  
Processing Demands ◽  
Processing Differences

Bilinguals are known to perform worse than monolinguals on speech-in-noise tests. However, the mechanisms underlying this difference are unclear. By varying the amount of linguistic information available in the target stimulus across five auditory-perception-in-noise tasks, we tested if differences in language-independent (sensory/cognitive) or language-dependent (extracting linguistic meaning) processing could account for this disadvantage. We hypothesized that language-dependent processing differences underlie the bilingual disadvantage and predicted that it would manifest on perception-in-noise tasks that use linguistic stimuli. We found that performance differences between bilinguals and monolinguals varied with the linguistic processing demands of each task: early, high-proficiency, Spanish–English bilingual adolescents performed worse than English monolingual adolescents when perceiving sentences, similarly when perceiving words, and better when perceiving tones in noise. This pattern suggests that bottlenecks in language-dependent processing underlie the bilingual disadvantage while language-independent perception-in-noise processes are enhanced.

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