scholarly journals Implicit temporal predictability biases slow oscillatory phase in auditory cortex and enhances pitch discrimination sensitivity

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie K. Herbst ◽  
Jonas Obleser
Keyword(s):  
Target Tone ◽  
Pitch Discrimination ◽  
Neural Oscillations ◽  
Phase Reset ◽  
Standard Tone ◽  
Input Structure ◽  
Oscillatory Phase ◽  
Temporal Predictability ◽  
Delta Oscillations

AbstractCan human listeners use strictly implicit temporal contingencies in auditory input to form temporal predictions, and if so, how are these predictions represented endogenously? To assess this question, we implicitly manipulated foreperiods in an auditory pitch discrimination task. Unbeknownst to participants, the pitch of the standard tone could either be deterministically predictive of the onset of the target tone, or convey no predictive information. Both conditions were presented interleaved in one stream, and separated by variable inter-stimulus intervals such that there was no dominant stimulus rhythm throughout. Even though participants were unaware of the implicit temporal contingencies, pitch discrimination sensitivity (i.e. the slope of the psychometric function) increased when the onset of the target tone was predictable in time (N = 49). Concurrently recorded EEG data (N = 24) revealed that standard tones which initiated temporal predictions evoked a more negative N1 component than non-predictive standards, and were followed by an increase in delta power during the foreperiod. Furthermore, the phase angle of delta oscillations (1–3Hz) evoked by the standard tone predicted pitch discrimination sensitivity at the target tone (1.75 s later on average), which suggests that temporal predictions can be initiated by an optimized delta phase reset. In sum, we show that auditory perception benefits from implicit temporal contingencies, and provide evidence for a role of slow neural oscillations in the endogenous representation of temporal predictions, in absence of exogenously driven entrainment to rhythmic input.Significance StatementTemporal contingencies are ubiquitous in sensory environments, especially in the auditory domain, and have been shown to facilitate perception and action. Yet, how these contingencies in exogenous inputs are transformed into an endogenous representation of temporal predictions is not known. Here, we implicitly induced temporal predictability in the absence of a rhythmic input structure, that is without exogenously driven entrainment of neural oscillations. Our results show that even implicit and non-rhythmic temporal predictions are extracted and used by human observers, underlining the role of timing in sensory processing. Furthermore, our EEG results point towards an instrumental role of delta oscillations in initiating temporal predictions by an optimized phase reset in response to a temporally predictive cue.

The Role of Low-frequency Neural Oscillations in Speech Processing: Revisiting Delta Entrainment

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 1205-1215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor J. Boucher ◽  
Annie C. Gilbert ◽  
Boutheina Jemel
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Phase Coherence ◽  
Theta Oscillations ◽  
Neural Oscillations ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
Low Frequency Oscillations ◽  
Temporal Grouping ◽  
Delta Oscillations

Studies that use measures of cerebro-acoustic coherence have shown that theta oscillations (3–10 Hz) entrain to syllable-size modulations in the energy envelope of speech. This entrainment creates sensory windows in processing acoustic cues. Recent reports submit that delta oscillations (<3 Hz) can be entrained by nonsensory content units like phrases and serve to process meaning—though such views face fundamental problems. Other studies suggest that delta underlies a sensory chunking linked to the processing of sequential attributes of speech sounds. This chunking associated with the “focus of attention” is commonly manifested by the temporal grouping of items in sequence recall. Similar grouping in speech may entrain delta. We investigate this view by examining how low-frequency oscillations entrain to three types of stimuli (tones, nonsense syllables, and utterances) having similar timing, pitch, and energy contours. Entrainment was indexed by “intertrial phase coherence” in the EEGs of 18 listeners. The results show that theta oscillations at central sites entrain to syllable-size elements in speech and tones. However, delta oscillations at frontotemporal sites specifically entrain to temporal groups in both meaningful utterances and meaningless syllables, which indicates that delta may support but does not directly bear on a processing of content. The findings overall suggest that, although theta entrainment relates to a processing of acoustic attributes, delta entrainment links to a sensory chunking that relates to a processing of properties of articulated sounds. The results also show that measures of intertrial phase coherence can be better suited than cerebro-acoustic coherence in revealing delta entrainment.

scholarly journals Dissociable oscillatory networks support gain and loss processing in human orbitofrontal cortex

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio Saez ◽  
Jack Lin ◽  
Edward Chang ◽  
Josef Parvizi ◽  
Robert T. Knight ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Activity ◽  
Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Neural Oscillations ◽  
Beta Band ◽  
Neuronal Ensembles ◽  
Gain And Loss

AbstractHuman neuroimaging and animal studies have linked neural activity in orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) to valuation of positive and negative outcomes. Additional evidence shows that neural oscillations, representing the coordinated activity of neuronal ensembles, support information processing in both animal and human prefrontal regions. However, the role of OFC neural oscillations in reward-processing in humans remains unknown, partly due to the difficulty of recording oscillatory neural activity from deep brain regions. Here, we examined the role of OFC neural oscillations (<30Hz) in reward processing by combining intracranial OFC recordings with a gambling task in which patients made economic decisions under uncertainty. Our results show that power in different oscillatory bands are associated with distinct components of reward evaluation. Specifically, we observed a double dissociation, with a selective theta band oscillation increase in response to monetary gains and a beta band increase in response to losses. These effects were interleaved across OFC in overlapping networks and were accompanied by increases in oscillatory coherence between OFC electrode sites in theta and beta band during gain and loss processing, respectively. These results provide evidence that gain and loss processing in human OFC are supported by distinct low-frequency oscillations in networks, and provide evidence that participating neuronal ensembles are organized functionally through oscillatory coherence, rather than local anatomical segregation.

scholarly journals Neuronal response variability as a product of divisive normalization; neurobiological implications at a macroscale level

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Kathy L. Ruddy ◽  
David M. Cole ◽  
Colin Simon ◽  
Marc T. Bächinger
Keyword(s):  
Potential Role ◽  
Neuronal Response ◽  
Quantitative Model ◽  
Response Variability ◽  
Sensory Cortex ◽  
Neural Oscillations ◽  
Neural Encoding ◽  
Approach Response ◽  
Divisive Normalization

The occurrence of neuronal spikes recorded directly from sensory cortex is highly irregular within and between presentations of an invariant stimulus. The traditional solution has been to average responses across many trials. However, with this approach, response variability is downplayed as noise, so it is assumed that statistically controlling it will reveal the brain’s true response to a stimulus. A mounting body of evidence suggests that this approach is inadequate. For example, experiments show that response variability itself varies as a function of stimulus dimensions like contrast and state dimensions like attention. In other words, response variability has structure, is therefore potentially informative and should be incorporated into models which try to explain neural encoding. In this article we provide commentary on a recently published study by Coen-Cagli and Solomon that incorporates spike variability in a quantitative model, by explaining it as a function of divisive normalization. We consider the potential role of neural oscillations in this process as a potential bridge between the current microscale findings and response variability at the mesoscale/macroscale level.

scholarly journals The relationship between pitch discrimination and Romanian students’ spelling performance

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-240
Author(s):  
Dacian Dorin Dolean
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Musical Instrument ◽  
Pitch Discrimination ◽  
Discrimination Ability ◽  
Spelling Performance ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition ◽  
Spelling Ability ◽  
Performance Ability

Abstract Previous studies have shown that music can have a positive impact on phonological awareness and on foreign language acquisition. The present research investigates specifically the role of pitch discrimination ability in native and foreign language spelling performance. Two groups of elementary school children were selected based on their pitch discrimination abilities (high and low). Their spelling performance in their native and a foreign (fictional) language was assessed. The results indicate that pitch discrimination ability can be linked to spelling ability in both the native and a foreign language. They also suggest that studying a musical instrument might predict enhanced spelling performance ability

Role of Neuronal Synchrony in the Generation of Evoked EEG/MEG Responses

2010 ◽  
Vol 104 (6) ◽  
pp. 3557-3567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bartosz Telenczuk ◽  
Vadim V. Nikulin ◽  
Gabriel Curio
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Activity ◽  
The Other ◽  
Smooth Transition ◽  
Evoked Responses ◽  
Phase Reset ◽  
Neuronal Synchrony ◽  
Energy Models ◽  
Precise Knowledge ◽  
Generation Mechanisms

Evoked EEG/MEG responses are a primary real-time measure of perceptual and cognitive activity in the human brain, but their neuronal generator mechanisms are not yet fully understood. Arguments have been put forward in favor of either “phase-reset” of ongoing oscillations or “added-energy” models. Instead of advocating for one or the other model, here we show theoretically that the differentiation between these two generation mechanisms might not be possible if based solely on macroscopic EEG/MEG recordings. Using mathematical modeling, we show that a simultaneous phase reset of multiple oscillating neuronal (microscopic) sources contributing to EEG/MEG can produce evoked responses in agreement with both, the “added-energy” and the “phase-reset” model. We observe a smooth transition between the two models by just varying the strength of synchronization between the multiple microscopic sources. Consequently, because precise knowledge about the strength of microscopic ensemble synchronization is commonly not available in noninvasive EEG/MEG studies, they cannot, in principle, differentiate between the two mechanisms for macroscopic-evoked responses.

scholarly journals Pitch discrimination interference: The role of ear of entry and of octave similarity

2009 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 324-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hedwig E. Gockel ◽  
Ervin R. Hafter ◽  
Brian C. J. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Pitch Discrimination

scholarly journals The Functional Role of Neural Oscillations in Non-Verbal Emotional Communication

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley E. Symons ◽  
Wael El-Deredy ◽  
Michael Schwartze ◽  
Sonja A. Kotz
Keyword(s):  
Functional Role ◽  
Neural Oscillations ◽  
Emotional Communication

Neural Activity in Primate Caudate Nucleus Associated With Pro- and Antisaccades

2009 ◽  
Vol 102 (4) ◽  
pp. 2334-2341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen A. Ford ◽  
Stefan Everling
Keyword(s):  
Caudate Nucleus ◽  
Discharge Rate ◽  
Indirect Pathway ◽  
Behavioral Context ◽  
Firing Rates ◽  
Neuronal Populations ◽  
Input Structure ◽  
Flexible Behavior ◽  
Two Populations

The basal ganglia (BG) play a central role in movement and it has been demonstrated that the discharge rate of neurons in these structures are modulated by the behavioral context of a given task. Here we used the antisaccade task, in which a saccade toward a flashed visual stimulus must be inhibited in favor of a saccade to the opposite location, to investigate the role of the caudate nucleus, a major input structure of the BG, in flexible behavior. In this study, we recorded extracellular neuronal activity while monkeys performed pro- and antisaccade trials. We identified two populations of neurons: those that preferred contralateral saccades (CSNs) and those that preferred ipsilateral saccades (ISNs). CSNs increased their firing rates for prosaccades, but not for antisaccades, and ISNs increased their firing rates for antisaccades, but not for prosaccades. We propose a model in which CSNs project to the direct BG pathway, facilitating saccades, and ISNs project to the indirect pathway, suppressing saccades. This model suggests one possible mechanism by which these neuronal populations could be modulating activity in the superior colliculus.

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