scholarly journals Individual listening success explained by synergistic interaction of two distinct neural filters

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Tune ◽  
Lorenz Fiedler ◽  
Mohsen Alavash ◽  
Jonas Obleser
Keyword(s):  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Synergistic Interaction ◽  
Speech Comprehension ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Dichotic Listening Task ◽  
Neurophysiological Studies ◽  
Cortical Responses ◽  
Neural Filter ◽  
Listening Task ◽  
Speech Tracking

AbstractSuccessful speech comprehension requires the listener to differentiate relevant from irrelevant sounds. Recent neurophysiological studies have typically addressed one of two candidate neural filter solutions for this problem: the selective neural tracking of speech in auditory cortex via the modulation of phase-locked cortical responses, or the suppression of irrelevant inputs via alpha power modulations in parieto-occipital cortex. However, empirical evidence on their relationship and direct relevance to behavior is scarce. Here, a large, age-varying sample (N=76, 39–70 years) underwent a challenging dichotic listening task. Irrespective of listeners’ age, measures of behavioral performance, neural speech tracking, and alpha power lateralization all increased in response to spatial-attention cues. Under most challenging conditions, individual listening success was predicted best by the synergistic interaction of these two distinct neural filter strategies. Trial-by-trial fluctuations of lateralized alpha power and ignored-speech tracking did not co-vary, which demonstrates two neurobiologically distinct filter mechanisms.

scholarly journals Neural attentional-filter mechanisms of listening success in middle-aged and older individuals

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Tune ◽  
Mohsen Alavash ◽  
Lorenz Fiedler ◽  
Jonas Obleser
Keyword(s):  
Ageing Population ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Single Trial ◽  
Neural Filter ◽  
Information Research ◽  
Behavioural Performance ◽  
Neural Marker ◽  
Attentional Filter ◽  
Speech Tracking

AbstractSuccessful listening crucially depends on intact attentional filters that separate relevant from irrelevant information. Research into their neurobiological implementation has focused on two potential auditory filter strategies: the lateralization of alpha power and selective neural speech tracking. However, the functional interplay of the two neural filter strategies and their potency to index listening success in an ageing population remains unclear. Using electroencephalography and a dual-talker task in a representative sample of listeners (N = 155; age=39–80 years), we here demonstrate an often-missed link from single-trial behavioural outcomes back to trial-by-trial changes in neural attentional filtering. First, we observe preserved attentional–cue-driven modulation of both neural filters across chronological age and hearing levels. Second, neural filter states vary independently of one another, demonstrating complementary neurobiological solutions of spatial selective attention. Stronger neural speech tracking but not alpha lateralization boosts trial-to-trial behavioural performance. Our results highlight the translational potential of neural speech tracking as an individualized neural marker of adaptive listening behaviour.

scholarly journals The impact of neural attentional filters on listening behavior in a large cohort of aging individuals

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Tune ◽  
Mohsen Alavash ◽  
Lorenz Fiedler ◽  
Jonas Obleser
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Outcomes ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Neural Filter ◽  
Information Research ◽  
Listening Behavior ◽  
Neural Marker ◽  
Functional Relevance ◽  
Attentional Filter ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Speech Tracking

AbstractSuccessful listening crucially depends on intact attentional filters that separate relevant from irrelevant information. Research into their neurobiological implementation has focused on one of two auditory filter strategies: the lateralization of alpha power and selective neural speech tracking. However, the functional interplay of the two neural filter strategies and their potency to index listening success in an aging population remains unclear. Using electroencephalography and a dual-talker task in a representative sample of aging listeners (N=155; age=39–80 years), we here demonstrate an often-missed link from single-trial behavioral outcomes back to trial-by-trial changes in neural attentional filtering. First, we observed preserved attentional– cue-driven modulation of both neural filters across chronological age and hearing levels. Second, neural filter states varied independently of one another, demonstrating a functional trade-off between distinct neurobiological attentional filter mechanisms. Stronger neural speech tracking but not alpha lateralization boosted trial-to-trial behavioral performance. Our results highlight the translational potential of neural speech tracking as an individualized neural marker of adaptive listening behavior.Significance statementSuccessful listening requires a form of attentional filtering into behaviorally relevant and irrelevant acoustic information. Most previous studies have focused on one of two candidate neural filter strategies: the lateralization of alpha power and selective neural speech tracking. Closing the gap between hitherto separate lines of research, we used electroencephalography and a dual-talker task in a large sample of aging listeners to directly probe the functional relevance of state- and trait-level changes in these neural filter strategies to listening success. We demonstrate the co-existence of largely independent neural filters that establish alternating regimes of strong alpha lateralization versus neural speech tracking. Additionally, our results emphasize the utility of neural speech tracking over alpha lateralization as a potential neural marker of an individual’s adaptive listening behavior.

Creativity and Attention: Insights From the Dichotic Listening Task

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oshin A. Vartanian ◽  
Colin Martindale ◽  
Jessica Matthews ◽  
Jonna M. Kwiatkowski
Keyword(s):  
Dichotic Listening ◽  
Dichotic Listening Task ◽  
Listening Task

Previously reward-associated sounds interfere with goal-directed auditory processing

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182199003
Author(s):  
Andy J Kim ◽  
David S Lee ◽  
Brian A Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Visual Processing ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Dichotic Listening ◽  
Auditory Information ◽  
Correct Identification ◽  
Subsequent Test ◽  
Dichotic Listening Task ◽  
Listening Task ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Visual Domain

Previously reward-associated stimuli have consistently been shown to involuntarily capture attention in the visual domain. Although previously reward-associated but currently task-irrelevant sounds have also been shown to interfere with visual processing, it remains unclear whether such stimuli can interfere with the processing of task-relevant auditory information. To address this question, we modified a dichotic listening task to measure interference from task-irrelevant but previously reward-associated sounds. In a training phase, participants were simultaneously presented with a spoken letter and number in different auditory streams and learned to associate the correct identification of each of three letters with high, low, and no monetary reward, respectively. In a subsequent test phase, participants were again presented with the same auditory stimuli but were instead instructed to report the number while ignoring spoken letters. In both the training and test phases, response time measures demonstrated that attention was biased in favour of the auditory stimulus associated with high value. Our findings demonstrate that attention can be biased towards learned reward cues in the auditory domain, interfering with goal-directed auditory processing.

Responses of Stuttering and Non-Stuttering Children to a Dichotic Listening Task

1974 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 263-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Gruber ◽  
R. L. Powell
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
School Children ◽  
Dichotic Listening ◽  
Cerebral Dominance ◽  
Dichotic Listening Task ◽  
Listening Task

Performance on a dichotic listening task of 28 normally speaking and 28 stuttering elementary and high school children showed no significant inter-ear differences. These results do not support the idea that stuttering results from lack of cerebral dominance for speech.

scholarly journals Neural markers of speech comprehension: measuring EEG tracking of linguistic speech representations, controlling the speech acoustics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlies Gillis ◽  
Jonas Vanthornhout ◽  
Jonathan Z Simon ◽  
Tom Francart ◽  
Christian Brodbeck
Keyword(s):  
Word Frequency ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Speech Comprehension ◽  
Speech Acoustics ◽  
Brain Responses ◽  
Cortical Responses ◽  
Linguistic Representations ◽  
Acoustic Processing

When listening to speech, brain responses time-lock to acoustic events in the stimulus. Recent studies have also reported that cortical responses track linguistic representations of speech. However, tracking of these representations is often described without controlling for acoustic properties. Therefore, the response to these linguistic representations might reflect unaccounted acoustic processing rather than language processing. Here we tested several recently proposed linguistic representations, using audiobook speech, while controlling for acoustic and other linguistic representations. Indeed, some of these linguistic representations were not significantly tracked after controlling for acoustic properties. However, phoneme surprisal, cohort entropy, word surprisal and word frequency were significantly tracked over and beyond acoustic properties. Additionally, these linguistic representations are tracked similarly across different stories, spoken by different readers. Together, this suggests that these representations characterize processing of the linguistic content of speech and might allow a behaviour-free evaluation of the speech intelligibility.

scholarly journals M187. A MULTIMODAL, NEUROIMAGING STUDY OF TDCS MECHANISMS RELATED TO AUDITORY VERBAL HALLUCINATIONS IN HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S207-S207
Author(s):  
Marquardt Lynn ◽  
Isabella Kusztrits ◽  
Alexander R Craven ◽  
Kenneth Hugdahl ◽  
Karsten Specht ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electric Field ◽  
Mr Spectroscopy ◽  
Dichotic Listening ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Auditory Verbal Hallucinations ◽  
Sham Stimulation ◽  
Dichotic Listening Task ◽  
Listening Task

Abstract Background Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a brain stimulation method which is growing in popularity in both research and clinical settings, especially as a treatment of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) in patients with schizophrenia. However, the underlying neural mechanisms of this tDCS treatment are poorly understood. Current AVH models propose that AVH arise from hyperactivation in the left temporo parietal (LTPC), causing AVH, and from hypoactivation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDLPFC), leading to diminished control over AVH. We aimed to “mimic” this hyper-/hypoactivation pattern in healthy individuals with tDCS by placing the excitatory anode above the LTPC and the inhibitory cathode over the LDLPFC and then to study the effects of tDCS on these brain areas. Previous studies examined either brain activation, neurochemistry, or behavior, with other electrode montages, but few looked at those aspects together. The present study therefore examined tDCS effects with fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), MR spectroscopy, behavioral tasks and simulation of the electric field in a multimodal approach. We hypothesized that tDCS would (a) lead to similar behavioral deficits in healthy individuals as in schizophrenia patients and (b) induce changes in the stimulated areas on neurotransmitter and functional activation level. Methods Thirty-two healthy participants (18 males, mean age=26 yrs) were tested twice, ca. one week apart, with either real or sham (control) 2mA tDCS for 20 min while in a GE 750, 3T MRI scanner. The order of real/sham stimulation was counterbalanced in a double-blind design. During fMRI, participants completed a dichotic listening task in a block design, in order to measure behavior and brain activation changes. Before and after fMRI/tDCS, MR spectroscopy was carried out in two voxels placed under the electrodes. The data was analyzed with repeated measures ANOVAs. After data-collection, the structural T1 sequence was used to simulate the electric field of tDCS stimulation. Results Glx (Glutamate and glutamine combined) showed a trend (F(1,31)=3.35, p=.077, η2p=.098) to increase after tDCS stimulation compared to before, however this was not electrode specific. Neither fMRI, nor the dichotic listening task (all F≤1.64, p≥.203, η2p≤.052) showed any stimulation specific differences between real and sham stimulation. The tDCS simulation revealed large individual differences in the electric field induced. Discussion In the present study, tDCS seemed to have little effect on the measured brain parameters and little validation for the AVH model was found. The mechanisms of tDCS and how it affects the underlying brain tissue are poorly understood and seem to be affected by different stimulation parameters like stimulation duration, current strength and electrode montage. To use tDCS most effectively in schizophrenia research and treatment of auditory hallucinations, it should be validated with a multitude of methods, similar to the approach described here.

scholarly journals Modular reconfiguration of an auditory control brain network supports adaptive listening behavior

2018 ◽  
Vol 116 (2) ◽  
pp. 660-669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohsen Alavash ◽  
Sarah Tune ◽  
Jonas Obleser
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Brain Network ◽  
Control Network ◽  
Speech Comprehension ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Auditory Spatial Attention ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Listening Task

Speech comprehension in noisy, multitalker situations poses a challenge. Successful behavioral adaptation to a listening challenge often requires stronger engagement of auditory spatial attention and context-dependent semantic predictions. Human listeners differ substantially in the degree to which they adapt behaviorally and can listen successfully under such circumstances. How cortical networks embody this adaptation, particularly at the individual level, is currently unknown. We here explain this adaptation from reconfiguration of brain networks for a challenging listening task (i.e., a linguistic variant of the Posner paradigm with concurrent speech) in an age-varying sample of n = 49 healthy adults undergoing resting-state and task fMRI. We here provide evidence for the hypothesis that more successful listeners exhibit stronger task-specific reconfiguration (hence, better adaptation) of brain networks. From rest to task, brain networks become reconfigured toward more localized cortical processing characterized by higher topological segregation. This reconfiguration is dominated by the functional division of an auditory and a cingulo-opercular module and the emergence of a conjoined auditory and ventral attention module along bilateral middle and posterior temporal cortices. Supporting our hypothesis, the degree to which modularity of this frontotemporal auditory control network is increased relative to resting state predicts individuals’ listening success in states of divided and selective attention. Our findings elucidate how fine-tuned cortical communication dynamics shape selection and comprehension of speech. Our results highlight modularity of the auditory control network as a key organizational principle in cortical implementation of auditory spatial attention in challenging listening situations.

Dichotic Perception and Memory Following Electroconvulsive Treatment for Depression

1990 ◽  
Vol 157 (3) ◽  
pp. 366-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl M. Williams ◽  
William G. Iacono ◽  
Ronald A. Remick ◽  
Patrick Greenwood
Keyword(s):  
Dichotic Listening ◽  
Neuropsychological Functioning ◽  
Electroconvulsive Treatment ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
Dichotic Listening Task ◽  
Additional Group ◽  
History Of ◽  
Listening Ability ◽  
Listening Task ◽  
Normal Controls

Verbal and visuospatial memory and dichotic listening performance were examined in 15 acutely depressed patients with no history of ECT, 17 depressed patients currently in remission, 15 remitted depressed patients who had received ECT six months or more in the past, and 20 normal controls. The neuropsychological functioning of an additional group of 10 acutely depressed patients was also studied before and two weeks after ECT. The results revealed some evidence of logical and autobiographical memory impairment two weeks following ECT, but no evidence that ECT impaired dichotic listening ability. Rather, a normalisation of hemispheric laterality was apparent on the dichotic listening task following ECT and the concomitant relief from depression. There was also no evidence of cognitive dysfunction on any task in individuals who were tested six months or more following their last ECT treatment.

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