scholarly journals Perception of rhythmic speech is modulated by focal bilateral tACS

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benedikt Zoefel ◽  
Isobella Allard ◽  
Megha Anil ◽  
Matthew H Davis
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Stream Segregation ◽  
Causal Role ◽  
Oscillatory Activity ◽  
Auditory Stream Segregation ◽  
Neural Entrainment ◽  
Actual Speech ◽  
Speech Presentation

AbstractSeveral recent studies have used transcranial alternating stimulation (tACS) to demonstrate a causal role of neural oscillatory activity in speech processing. In particular, it has been shown that the ability to understand speech in a multi-speaker scenario or background noise depends on the timing of speech presentation relative to simultaneously applied tACS. However, it is possible that tACS did not change actual speech perception but rather auditory stream segregation. In this study, we tested whether the phase relation between tACS and the rhythm of degraded words, presented in silence, modulates word report accuracy. We found strong evidence for a tACS-induced modulation of speech perception, but only if the stimulation was applied bilaterally using ring electrodes (not for unilateral left hemisphere stimulation with square electrodes). These results were only obtained when data was analyzed using a statistical approach that was identified as optimal in a previous simulation study. The effect was driven by a phasic disruption of word report scores. Our results suggest a causal role of neural entrainment for speech perception and emphasize the importance of optimizing stimulation protocols and statistical approaches for brain stimulation research.

scholarly journals Perception of Rhythmic Speech Is Modulated by Focal Bilateral Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benedikt Zoefel ◽  
Isobella Allard ◽  
Megha Anil ◽  
Matthew H. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Alternating Current ◽  
Stream Segregation ◽  
Causal Role ◽  
Oscillatory Activity ◽  
Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation ◽  
Neural Entrainment ◽  
Actual Speech

Several recent studies have used transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) to demonstrate a causal role of neural oscillatory activity in speech processing. In particular, it has been shown that the ability to understand speech in a multi-speaker scenario or background noise depends on the timing of speech presentation relative to simultaneously applied tACS. However, it is possible that tACS did not change actual speech perception but rather auditory stream segregation. In this study, we tested whether the phase relation between tACS and the rhythm of degraded words, presented in silence, modulates word report accuracy. We found strong evidence for a tACS-induced modulation of speech perception, but only if the stimulation was applied bilaterally using ring electrodes (not for unilateral left hemisphere stimulation with square electrodes). These results were only obtained when data were analyzed using a statistical approach that was identified as optimal in a previous simulation study. The effect was driven by a phasic disruption of word report scores. Our results suggest a causal role of neural entrainment for speech perception and emphasize the importance of optimizing stimulation protocols and statistical approaches for brain stimulation research.

The role of temporal integration in auditory stream segregation.

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (11) ◽  
pp. 1683-1693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Júlia Simon ◽  
István Winkler
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Integration ◽  
Stream Segregation ◽  
Auditory Stream ◽  
Auditory Stream Segregation

scholarly journals Binding Mechanisms in Visual Perception and Their Link With Neural Oscillations: A Review of Evidence From tACS

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Ghiani ◽  
Marcello Maniglia ◽  
Luca Battaglini ◽  
David Melcher ◽  
Luca Ronconi
Keyword(s):  
Visual Perception ◽  
Feature Binding ◽  
Causal Role ◽  
Oscillatory Activity ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Brain Oscillations ◽  
Temporal Binding ◽  
Neurophysiological Studies ◽  
Binding Mechanisms

Neurophysiological studies in humans employing magneto- (MEG) and electro- (EEG) encephalography increasingly suggest that oscillatory rhythmic activity of the brain may be a core mechanism for binding sensory information across space, time, and object features to generate a unified perceptual representation. To distinguish whether oscillatory activity is causally related to binding processes or whether, on the contrary, it is a mere epiphenomenon, one possibility is to employ neuromodulatory techniques such as transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS). tACS has seen a rising interest due to its ability to modulate brain oscillations in a frequency-dependent manner. In the present review, we critically summarize current tACS evidence for a causal role of oscillatory activity in spatial, temporal, and feature binding in the context of visual perception. For temporal binding, the emerging picture supports a causal link with the power and the frequency of occipital alpha rhythms (8–12 Hz); however, there is no consistent evidence on the causal role of the phase of occipital tACS. For feature binding, the only study available showed a modulation by occipital alpha tACS. The majority of studies that successfully modulated oscillatory activity and behavioral performance in spatial binding targeted parietal areas, with the main rhythms causally linked being the theta (~7 Hz) and beta (~18 Hz) frequency bands. On the other hand, spatio-temporal binding has been directly modulated by parieto-occipital gamma (~40–60 Hz) and alpha (10 Hz) tACS, suggesting a potential role of cross-frequency coupling when binding across space and time. Nonetheless, negative or partial results have also been observed, suggesting methodological limitations that should be addressed in future research. Overall, the emerging picture seems to support a causal role of brain oscillations in binding processes and, consequently, a certain degree of plasticity for shaping binding mechanisms in visual perception, which, if proved to have long lasting effects, can find applications in different clinical populations.

scholarly journals Role of predictability of sequence in auditory stream segregation

1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 384-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn French-St. George ◽  
Albert S. Bregman
Keyword(s):  
Stream Segregation ◽  
Auditory Stream ◽  
Auditory Stream Segregation

scholarly journals Speech perception under the tent: A domain-general predictive role for the cerebellum

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy I Skipper ◽  
Daniel R Lamett
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Predictive Processing ◽  
General Mechanism ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Production Studies ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Predictive Role ◽  
Meta Analyses

AbstractThe role of the cerebellum in speech perception remains a mystery. Given its uniform architecture, we tested the hypothesis that it implements a domain-general predictive mechanism whose role in speech processing is determined by connectivity. We used standard and coactivation neuroimaging meta-analyses of speech perception studies without motor responses, with (n = 72) or without (n = 92) cerebellum activity. We compared these to speech production studies (n = 175). Results show multiple, distinct regions of perception- and production-related activity throughout the cerebellum with some overlap. Each task had distinct patterns of cortico-cerebellar connectivity. Perception regions/connections were associated with task-related terms mined from thousands of neuroimaging studies that were neither speech nor domain-specific but were prediction related. Finally, when the cerebellum was active, there was less cortical activity compared to when it was inactive, a marker of predictive processing. Results suggest that the cerebellum implements a domain-general mechanism related to prediction during passive speech perception.

scholarly journals Probing the causal role of prestimulus interregional synchrony for perceptual integration via tACS

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolandas Stonkus ◽  
Verena Braun ◽  
Jess Kerlin ◽  
Gregor Volberg ◽  
Simon Hanslmayr
Keyword(s):  
Specific Activity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Causal Role ◽  
Oscillatory Activity ◽  
Perceptual Integration ◽  
After Effects ◽  
Activity Phase ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation

The phase of prestimulus oscillations at 7-10 Hz has been shown to modulate perception of briefly presented visual stimuli. Specifically, a recent combined EEG-fMRI study suggested that a prestimulus oscillation at around 7 Hz represents open and closed windows for perceptual integration by modulating connectivity between lower order occipital and higher order parietal brain regions. We here utilized brief event-related transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) to specifically modulate this prestimulus 7 Hz oscillation, and the synchrony between parietal and occipital brain regions. To this end we tested for a causal role of this particular prestimulus oscillation for perceptual integration. The EEG was acquired at the same time allowing us to investigate frequency specific after effects phase-locked to stimulation offset. On a behavioural level our results suggest that the tACS did modulate perceptual integration, however, in an unexpected manner. On an electrophysiological level our results suggest that brief tACS does induce oscillatory entrainment, as visible in frequency specific activity phase-locked to stimulation offset. Together, our results do not strongly support a causal role of prestimulus 7 Hz oscillations for perceptual integration. However, our results suggest that brief tACS is capable of modulating oscillatory activity in a temporally sensitive manner.

scholarly journals The role of perceived source location in auditory stream segregation: Separation affects sound organization, common fate does not

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement 2) ◽  
pp. 55-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamás M. Bőhm ◽  
Lidia Shestopalova ◽  
Alexandra Bendixen ◽  
Andreas G. Andreou ◽  
Julius Georgiou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Source Location ◽  
Stream Segregation ◽  
Auditory Stream ◽  
Common Fate ◽  
Auditory Stream Segregation

The effects of speech processing units on auditory stream segregation and selective attention in a multi-talker (cocktail party) situation

Cortex ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 130 ◽  
pp. 387-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigitta Tóth ◽  
Ferenc Honbolygó ◽  
Orsolya Szalárdy ◽  
Gábor Orosz ◽  
Dávid Farkas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Stream Segregation ◽  
Cocktail Party ◽  
Auditory Stream ◽  
Auditory Stream Segregation

The role of spectral and periodicity cues in auditory stream segregation, measured using a temporal discrimination task

1999 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 938-945 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joyce Vliegen ◽  
Brian C. J. Moore ◽  
Andrew J. Oxenham
Keyword(s):  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Temporal Discrimination ◽  
Stream Segregation ◽  
Auditory Stream ◽  
Auditory Stream Segregation

scholarly journals Neural entrainment determines the words we hear

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Kösem ◽  
Hans Rutger Bosker ◽  
Atsuko Takashima ◽  
Antje Meyer ◽  
Ole Jensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Acoustic Signals ◽  
Speech Analysis ◽  
Neural Dynamics ◽  
Neural Oscillations ◽  
Neural Entrainment ◽  
Perceived Duration

ABSTRACTLow-frequency neural entrainment to rhythmic input has been hypothesized as a canonical mechanism that shapes sensory perception in time. Neural entrainment is deemed particularly relevant for speech analysis, as it would contribute to the extraction of discrete linguistic elements from continuous acoustic signals. Yet, its causal influence in speech perception has been difficult to establish. Here, we provide evidence that oscillations build temporal predictions about the duration of speech tokens that directly influence perception. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we studied neural dynamics during listening to sentences that changed in speech rate. We observed neural entrainment to preceding speech rhythms persisting for several cycles after the change in rate. The sustained entrainment was associated with changes in the perceived duration of the last word’s vowel, resulting in the perception of words with radically different meanings. These findings support oscillatory models of speech processing, suggesting that neural oscillations actively shape speech perception.

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