Newborn Infants Detect Cues of Concurrent Sound Segregation

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Bendixen ◽  
Gábor P. Háden ◽  
Renáta Németh ◽  
Dávid Farkas ◽  
Miklós Török ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Newborn Infants ◽  
Random Order ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Veridical Perception ◽  
Sound Sources ◽  
Perceptual Object ◽  
Delayed Onset ◽  
Sound Segregation ◽  
Complex Tones

Separating concurrent sounds is fundamental for a veridical perception of one's auditory surroundings. Sound components that are harmonically related and start at the same time are usually grouped into a common perceptual object, whereas components that are not in harmonic relation or have different onset times are more likely to be perceived in terms of separate objects. Here we tested whether neonates are able to pick up the cues supporting this sound organization principle. We presented newborn infants with a series of complex tones with their harmonics in tune (creating the percept of a unitary sound object) and with manipulated variants, which gave the impression of two concurrently active sound sources. The manipulated variant had either one mistuned partial (single-cue condition) or the onset of this mistuned partial was also delayed (double-cue condition). Tuned and manipulated sounds were presented in random order with equal probabilities. Recording the neonates' electroencephalographic responses allowed us to evaluate their processing of the sounds. Results show that, in both conditions, mistuned sounds elicited a negative displacement of the event-related potential (ERP) relative to tuned sounds from 360 to 400 ms after sound onset. The mistuning-related ERP component resembles the object-related negativity (ORN) component in adults, which is associated with concurrent sound segregation. Delayed onset additionally led to a negative displacement from 160 to 200 ms, which was probably more related to the physical parameters of the sounds than to their perceptual segregation. The elicitation of an ORN-like response in newborn infants suggests that neonates possess the basic capabilities of segregating concurrent sounds by detecting inharmonic relations between the co-occurring sounds.

scholarly journals Separate Neural Processing of Timbre Dimensions in Auditory Sensory Memory

2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 1959-1972 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Caclin ◽  
Elvira Brattico ◽  
Mari Tervaniemi ◽  
Risto Näätänen ◽  
Dominique Morlet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Sensory Memory ◽  
Sound Sources ◽  
Auditory Event ◽  
Auditory Sensory Memory ◽  
Complex Tones ◽  
Dipole Modeling ◽  
Sound Sequence ◽  
Perceptual Attribute

Timbre is a multidimensional perceptual attribute of complex tones that characterizes the identity of a sound source. Our study explores the representation in auditory sensory memory of three timbre dimensions (acoustically related to attack time, spectral centroid, and spectrum fine structure), using the mismatch negativity (MMN) component of the auditory event-related potential. MMN is elicited by a discriminable change in a sound sequence and reflects the detection of the discrepancy between the current stimulus and traces in auditory sensory memory. The stimuli used in the present study were carefully controlled synthetic tones. MMNs were recorded after changes along each of the three timbre dimensions and their combinations. Additivity of unidimensional MMNs and dipole modeling results suggest partially separate MMN generators for different timbre dimensions, reflecting their mainly separate processing in auditory sensory memory. The results expand to timbre dimensions a property of separation of the representation in sensory memory that has already been reported between basic perceptual attributes (pitch, loudness, duration, and location) of sound sources.

Input to Verbal Working Memory

2004 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 231-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Jacobsen ◽  
Erich Schröger
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Auditory Sensory Memory ◽  
Complex Tones ◽  
Informational Basis

Abstract. Working memory uses central sound representations as an informational basis. The central sound representation is the temporally and feature-integrated mental representation that corresponds to phenomenal perception. It is used in (higher-order) mental operations and stored in long-term memory. In the bottom-up processing path, the central sound representation can be probed at the level of auditory sensory memory with the mismatch negativity (MMN) of the event-related potential. The present paper reviews a newly developed MMN paradigm to tap into the processing of speech sound representations. Preattentive vowel categorization based on F1-F2 formant information occurs in speech sounds and complex tones even under conditions of high variability of the auditory input. However, an additional experiment demonstrated the limits of the preattentive categorization of language-relevant information. It tested whether the system categorizes complex tones containing the F1 and F2 formant components of the vowel /a/ differently than six sounds with nonlanguage-like F1-F2 combinations. From the absence of an MMN in this experiment, it is concluded that no adequate vowel representation was constructed. This shows limitations of the capability of preattentive vowel categorization.

Anthropometric Design of A Personal Hygiene Center

1981 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 488-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don A. Zabcik
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
General Public ◽  
Random Order ◽  
Design Analysis ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Personal Hygiene ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Optimum Level ◽  
Functional Abilities

A study was conducted to investigate the dimensional design of the personal hygiene center: the bathtub. The study determined an optimum level of four basic bathtub parameters, consisting of the bathtub basin length, the rim width, the rim height, and the backrest angle. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of these four physical parameters on safe bathtub usage for the general public. Sixty-four volunteer subjects participated in the study. Each subject was presented four bathtub configurations in random order. Anthropometric dimensions and subjective questionnaires were compiled and evaluated for all subjects. Known anthropometry requirements and functional abilities were combined with the experimental results to arrive at a proposed bathtub design. Analysis revealed preferred dimension for the four parameters, as a function of age, weight, and height. Bimodal preferences supported a proposed bathtub design that would accommodate various methods of bathtub ingress and egress. Finally, incorporating various human factors principles, design parameters were recommended for designing future bathtub structures.

scholarly journals Revealing the effect of rounded noise protection screens with finite sound insulation on an acoustic field around linear sound sources

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (5 (109)) ◽  
pp. 16-22
Author(s):  
Vitalii Didkovskyi ◽  
Vitaly Zaets ◽  
Svetlana Kotenko
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Field ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
The Body ◽  
Sound Insulation ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Algebraic Equations ◽  
Sound Sources ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Screen Model

This paper reports studying the reduction of traffic noise by rounded noise protection screens with finite sound insulation, that is, those that can pass sound. Almost all models of acoustic screens, which are examined by analytical methods, are either direct or such that disregard the passage of sound through the screen, that is, it is assumed that the screen sound insulation is non-finite. This approach made it possible to solve the problem for a simplified model analytically but made it impossible to analyze the required sound insulation of noise protection screens. In the current paper, the problem of investigating an acoustic field around the screen whose sound insulation is finite has been stated, that is, it was taken into consideration that a sound wave propagates through the body of the screen. In addition, a given problem considers a rounded screen, rather than vertical, which is also used in different countries. Such a problem was solved by the method of partial domains. This method has made it possible to strictly analytically build a solution to the problem by simplifying it to solving an infinite system of algebraic equations, which was solved by the method of reduction. The screen model was set by the values of the density and speed of sound in the screen material. This approach has made it possible to change the acoustic impedance of the screen material and thereby change the sound insulation of the screen. That has made it possible to quantify the effect of screen sound insulation on its effectiveness. It has been shown that the efficiency of noise protection screens with finite sound insulation is approaching the efficiency of acoustically rigid screens, provided that the screen's natural sound insulation is 13–15 dB greater than the estimated efficiency of the rigid screen. The study results could make it possible to more accurately assess the effectiveness of noise protection screens. Determining the screen acoustic efficiency would make it possible to set requirements for its sound insulation characteristics. That could make it possible to select the designs of noise protection screens with minimal physical parameters, such as thickness, weight, etc.

scholarly journals Metafora ruchu i jej urzeczywistnienie w muzyce przestrzennej XX wieku

2020 ◽  
pp. 177-196
Author(s):  
Karolina Dąbek
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Edmund Husserl ◽  
The Body ◽  
Internal Space ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Sound Sources ◽  
Actual Performance ◽  
Language And Music ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Physical Level

The Metaphor of Movement and Its Materialisation in the Spatial Music of the 20th Century The article concerns the issue of experiencing spatial music. While discussing movement and space in music, Bohdan Pociej draws attention to two types of the spatiality of a musical work: the “inner” and “outer” spatiality. The first one comes from the nature of the sound material and the interaction of elements, it stays in the sphere of impressions, metaphors. The second one involves the physical parameters and the actual performance of the piece. The author notes that the works of composers of the 20th century tend to break through from the internal space, transforming it into the external one. The issue of the body as a centre is present in the works of Edmund Husserl, Yi-Fu Tuan, Edward Hall, and others. The metaphor of movement – concerning language and music – has become the subject of cognitive science. In the context of spatial music, the metaphorical level is combined with the physical level. During the performance of a composition, the listener may be have various relations with sound sources but always locates them concerning the location of their own body, which they treat as the centre. The two basic types of outer spatiality – the perspective of the observer and the perspective of the participant – correspond to the types of understanding of the metaphor of movement in music (internal spatiality) proposed by Steve Larson and Mark Johnson.

Nasal Respiratory Support and Tachypnea and Oral Feeding in Full-Term Newborn Lambs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Alain ◽  
Nathalie Samson ◽  
Charlène Nadeau ◽  
Jean-François Beaudoin ◽  
Camille Lienhart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Models ◽  
Newborn Infants ◽  
Blood Gases ◽  
Random Order ◽  
Oral Feeding ◽  
Respiratory Support ◽  
Arterial Blood ◽  
Nasal Cannulae ◽  
Pressure Cuff ◽  
Different Types

Newborn infants with respiratory difficulties frequently require nasal respiratory support such as nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) or high-flow nasal cannulae (HFNC). Oral feeding of these infants under nasal respiratory support remains controversial out of fear of aspiration and cardiorespiratory events. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the safety of oral feeding under different types of nasal respiratory support in newborn lambs without or with tachypnea. Eight lambs aged 4 to 5 days were instrumented to record sucking, swallowing, respiration, ECG, oxygen saturation, and arterial blood gases. Each lamb was given two bottles of 30 mL of milk with a pause of 30 s under videofluoroscopy in four conditions [no respiratory support, nCPAP 6 cmH2O, HFNC 7 L/min, HFNCCPAP (= HFNC 7 L/min + CPAP 6 cmH2O)] administered in random order. The study was conducted in random order over two days, with or without standardized tachypnea induced by thoracic compression with a blood pressure cuff. Generalized linear mixed models were used to compare the four nasal respiratory supports in terms of safety (cardiorespiratory events and aspiration), sucking-swallowing-breathing coordination, and efficacy of oral feeding. Results reveal that no nasal respiratory support impaired the safety of oral feeding. Most of the few laryngeal penetrations we observed occurred with HFNCCPAP. Nasal CPAP modified sucking-swallowing-breathing coordination, whereas the efficiency of oral feeding decreased under HFNCCPAP. Results were similar with or without tachypnea. In conclusion, oral feeding under nasal respiratory support is generally safe in a term lamb, even with tachypnea.

Evidence from Audition

2019 ◽  
pp. 117-130
Author(s):  
Dale Purves
Keyword(s):  
Visual System ◽  
Human Visual System ◽  
Sensory Systems ◽  
Neural Systems ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Visual Psychophysics ◽  
Sound Sources ◽  
The World

The reason for using vision as an example in the previous three chapters is that more is known about the human visual system and visual psychophysics than about other neural systems. But this choice begs the question of whether other systems corroborate the evidence drawn from vision. Is the same empirical strategy used in other sensory systems to contend with the same problem (i.e., the inability of animals to measure the actual properties of the world)? Based on accumulated anatomical, physiological, and psychophysical information, audition is the best bet in addressing this question in another modality. This chapter examines whether the perception of sound can also be explained empirically as a way to deal with a world in which the physical parameters of sound sources can’t be apprehended.

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