Cross-domain Effects of Music and Language Experience on the Representation of Pitch in the Human Auditory Brainstem

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 425-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavin M. Bidelman ◽  
Jackson T. Gandour ◽  
Ananthanarayan Krishnan
Keyword(s):  
Neural Plasticity ◽  
Auditory Brainstem ◽  
Tracking Accuracy ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Musical Note ◽  
Pitch Interval ◽  
Musical Scale ◽  
Pitch Tracking ◽  
Music And Language ◽  
Pitch Patterns

Neural encoding of pitch in the auditory brainstem is known to be shaped by long-term experience with language or music, implying that early sensory processing is subject to experience-dependent neural plasticity. In language, pitch patterns consist of sequences of continuous, curvilinear contours; in music, pitch patterns consist of relatively discrete, stair-stepped sequences of notes. The primary aim was to determine the influence of domain-specific experience (language vs. music) on the encoding of pitch in the brainstem. Frequency-following responses were recorded from the brainstem in native Chinese, English amateur musicians, and English nonmusicians in response to iterated rippled noise homologues of a musical pitch interval (major third; M3) and a lexical tone (Mandarin tone 2; T2) from the music and language domains, respectively. Pitch-tracking accuracy (whole contour) and pitch strength (50 msec sections) were computed from the brainstem responses using autocorrelation algorithms. Pitch-tracking accuracy was higher in the Chinese and musicians than in the nonmusicians across domains. Pitch strength was more robust across sections in musicians than in nonmusicians regardless of domain. In contrast, the Chinese showed larger pitch strength, relative to nonmusicians, only in those sections of T2 with rapid changes in pitch. Interestingly, musicians exhibited greater pitch strength than the Chinese in one section of M3, corresponding to the onset of the second musical note, and two sections within T2, corresponding to a note along the diatonic musical scale. We infer that experience-dependent plasticity of brainstem responses is shaped by the relative saliency of acoustic dimensions underlying the pitch patterns associated with a particular domain.

scholarly journals Experience-dependent Enhancement of Linguistic Pitch Representation in the Brainstem Is Not Specific to a Speech Context

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1092-1105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ananthanarayan Krishnan ◽  
Jayaganesh Swaminathan ◽  
Jackson T. Gandour
Keyword(s):  
Neural Plasticity ◽  
Temporal Correlation ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Tracking Accuracy ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Pitch Tracking ◽  
Enhanced Sensitivity ◽  
Analysis Scheme ◽  
English Group ◽  
Chinese Group

Neural representation of pitch is influenced by lifelong experiences with music and language at both cortical and subcortical levels of processing. The aim of this article is to determine whether neural plasticity for pitch representation at the level of the brainstem is dependent upon specific dimensions of pitch contours that commonly occur as part of a native listener's language experience. Brainstem frequency following responses (FFRs) were recorded from Chinese and English participants in response to four Mandarin tonal contours presented in a nonspeech context in the form of iterated rippled noise. Pitch strength (whole contour, 250 msec; 40-msec segments) and pitch-tracking accuracy (whole contour) were extracted from the FFRs using autocorrelation algorithms. Narrow band spectrograms were used to extract spectral information. Results showed that the Chinese group exhibits smoother pitch tracking than the English group in three out of the four tones. Moreover, cross-language comparisons of pitch strength of 40-msec segments revealed that the Chinese group exhibits more robust pitch representation of those segments containing rapidly changing pitch movements across all four tones. FFR spectral data were complementary showing that the Chinese group exhibits stronger representation of multiple pitch-relevant harmonics relative to the English group across all four tones. These findings support the view that at early preattentive stages of subcortical processing, neural mechanisms underlying pitch representation are shaped by particular dimensions of the auditory stream rather than speech per se. Adopting a temporal correlation analysis scheme for pitch encoding, we propose that long-term experience sharpens the tuning characteristics of neurons along the pitch axis with enhanced sensitivity to linguistically relevant variations in pitch.

scholarly journals Plasticity in the Adult Human Auditory Brainstem following Short-term Linguistic Training

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 1892-1902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy H. Song ◽  
Erika Skoe ◽  
Patrick C. M. Wong ◽  
Nina Kraus
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Auditory Pathway ◽  
Auditory Brainstem ◽  
Pitch Contour ◽  
Tracking Accuracy ◽  
Subcortical Structures ◽  
Complex Sounds ◽  
Pitch Tracking ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Pitch Patterns

Peripheral and central structures along the auditory pathway contribute to speech processing and learning. However, because speech requires the use of functionally and acoustically complex sounds which necessitates high sensory and cognitive demands, long-term exposure and experience using these sounds is often attributed to the neocortex with little emphasis placed on subcortical structures. The present study examines changes in the auditory brainstem, specifically the frequency following response (FFR), as native English-speaking adults learn to incorporate foreign speech sounds (lexical pitch patterns) in word identification. The FFR presumably originates from the auditory midbrain and can be elicited preattentively. We measured FFRs to the trained pitch patterns before and after training. Measures of pitch tracking were then derived from the FFR signals. We found increased accuracy in pitch tracking after training, including a decrease in the number of pitch-tracking errors and a refinement in the energy devoted to encoding pitch. Most interestingly, this change in pitch-tracking accuracy only occurred in the most acoustically complex pitch contour (dipping contour), which is also the least familiar to our English-speaking subjects. These results not only demonstrate the contribution of the brainstem in language learning and its plasticity in adulthood but also demonstrate the specificity of this contribution (i.e., changes in encoding only occur in specific, least familiar stimuli, not all stimuli). Our findings complement existing data showing cortical changes after second-language learning, and are consistent with models suggesting that brainstem changes resulting from perceptual learning are most apparent when acuity in encoding is most needed.

scholarly journals Language experience during the sensitive period narrows infants’ sensory speech encoding----music intervention reverse it

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Christina Zhao ◽  
Fernando Llanos ◽  
Bharath Chandrasekaran ◽  
Patricia K. Kuhl
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Auditory Pathway ◽  
Sensitive Period ◽  
Music Intervention ◽  
Tracking Accuracy ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Pitch Tracking ◽  
Speech Encoding ◽  
Sensory Encoding

The sensitive period for phonetic learning (6~12 months), evidenced by increases in native and declines in nonnative speech processing, represents an early milestone in language acquisition. We examined the extent that sensory encoding of speech is altered by experience during this period by testing two hypotheses: 1) early sensory encoding of nonnative speech declines as infants gain native-language experience, and 2) music intervention reverses this decline. We longitudinally measured the frequency-following response (FFR), a robust indicator of early sensory encoding along the auditory pathway, to a Mandarin lexical tone in 7- and 11-months-old monolingual English-learning infants. Infants received music intervention (music-intervention group) or no intervention (language-experience group) randomly between FFR recordings. The language-experience group exhibited the expected decline in FFR pitch-tracking accuracy to the Mandarin tone while the music-intervention group did not. Our results support both hypotheses and demonstrate that both language and music experience alter infants’ speech encoding.

scholarly journals The role of the auditory brainstem in processing linguistically-relevant pitch patterns

2009 ◽  
Vol 110 (3) ◽  
pp. 135-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ananthanarayan Krishnan ◽  
Jackson T. Gandour
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Brainstem ◽  
Pitch Patterns

scholarly journals Design and Kinematic Evaluation of a Novel Joint-Specific Play Controller: Application for Wrist and Forearm Therapy

2015 ◽  
Vol 95 (7) ◽  
pp. 1061-1066 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph J. Crisco ◽  
Joel B. Schwartz ◽  
Bethany Wilcox ◽  
Laura Costa ◽  
Karen Kerman
Keyword(s):  
Neural Plasticity ◽  
Exercise Program ◽  
Computer Game ◽  
Health Benefit ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Wrist Flexion ◽  
Tracking Accuracy ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Flexion Extension ◽  
Kinematic Evaluation

Background The wrist extensors and flexors are profoundly affected in most children with hemiparetic cerebral palsy (CP) and are the major target of physical therapists' and occupational therapists' efforts to restore useful hand functions. A limitation of any therapeutic or exercise program can be the level of the child's engagement or adherence. The proposed approach capitalizes on the primary learning avenue for children: toy play. Objective This study aimed to develop and evaluate the measurement accuracy of innovative, motion-specific play controllers that are engaging rehabilitative devices for enhancing therapy and promoting neural plasticity and functional recovery in children with CP. Design Design objectives of the play controller included a cost-effective, home-based supplement to physical therapy, the ability to calibrate the controller so that play can be accomplished with any active range of motion, and the capability of logging play activity and wrist motion over week-long periods. Methods Accuracy of the play controller in measuring wrist flexion-extension was evaluated in 6 children who were developing in a typical manner, using optical motion capture of the wrist and forearm as the gold standard. Results The error of the play controller was estimated at approximately 5 degrees in both maximum wrist flexion and extension. Limitations Measurements were taken during a laboratory session, with children without CP, and no toy or computer game was interfaced with the play controller. Therefore, the potential engagement of the proposed approach for therapy remains to be evaluated. Conclusions This study presented the concept, development, and wrist tracking accuracy of an inexpensive approach to extremity therapy that may have a health benefit for children with hemiparesis, and potentially for patients of any age with a wide range of extremity neuromotor impairments.

scholarly journals Stability and plasticity in neural encoding of linguistically relevant pitch patterns

2017 ◽  
Vol 117 (3) ◽  
pp. 1409-1424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zilong Xie ◽  
Rachel Reetzke ◽  
Bharath Chandrasekaran
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Developmental Differences ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Neural Ensembles ◽  
Adolescents And Adults ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Pitch Patterns ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Mandarin Tones

While lifelong language experience modulates subcortical encoding of pitch patterns, there is emerging evidence that short-term training introduced in adulthood also shapes subcortical pitch encoding. Here we use a cross-language design to examine the stability of language experience-dependent subcortical plasticity over multiple days. We then examine the extent to which behavioral relevance induced by sound-to-category training leads to plastic changes in subcortical pitch encoding in adulthood relative to adolescence, a period of ongoing maturation of subcortical and cortical auditory processing. Frequency-following responses (FFRs), which reflect phase-locked activity from subcortical neural ensembles, were elicited while participants passively listened to pitch patterns reflective of Mandarin tones. In experiment 1, FFRs were recorded across three consecutive days from native Chinese-speaking ( n = 10) and English-speaking ( n = 10) adults. In experiment 2, FFRs were recorded from native English-speaking adolescents ( n = 20) and adults ( n = 15) before, during, and immediately after a session of sound-to-category training, as well as a day after training ceased. Experiment 1 demonstrated the stability of language experience-dependent subcortical plasticity in pitch encoding across multiple days of passive exposure to linguistic pitch patterns. In contrast, experiment 2 revealed an enhancement in subcortical pitch encoding that emerged a day after the sound-to-category training, with some developmental differences observed. Taken together, these findings suggest that behavioral relevance is a critical component for the observation of plasticity in the subcortical encoding of pitch.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We examine the timescale of experience-dependent auditory plasticity to linguistically relevant pitch patterns. We find extreme stability in lifelong experience-dependent plasticity. We further demonstrate that subcortical function in adolescents and adults is modulated by a single session of sound-to-category training. Our results suggest that behavioral relevance is a necessary ingredient for neural changes in pitch encoding to be observed throughout human development. These findings contribute to the neurophysiological understanding of long- and short-term experience-dependent modulation of pitch.

scholarly journals Key Challenges and Future Directions When Running Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) Research Protocols with Newborns: A Music and Language EEG Feasibility Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1562
Author(s):  
Efthymios Papatzikis ◽  
Mahmoud Elhalik ◽  
Shannaiah Aubrey Mae Inocencio ◽  
Maria Agapaki ◽  
Rosari Naveena Selvan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Brainstem Response ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Feasibility Studies ◽  
Auditory Brainstem ◽  
Term Infants ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Music And Language ◽  
Brainstem Response ◽  
Early Developmental ◽  
The Brain

Although many musical intervention studies exist in the wider framework of neuroscience and psychology, the preliminary importance of feasibility studies is rarely discussed. Adding to this fact the limited research existing on the therapeutic and restorative potential of music exposure during early developmental periods, pushed us to concentrate on investigating newborns’ perception of music and its impact on the brain. Here, we explore the feasibility of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) approach when measuring and comparing the neurophysiological perception of music versus language on the brainstem of newborns using auditory brainstem response (ABR). Twenty-five healthy full-term infants were recruited, eight of which were measured within their first 10 days postpartum. The evaluation of the study’s feasibility appealed to five main objectives that essentially answer the question: Can our protocol work? Each objective proposes questions based on Orsmond and Cohn’s guiding framework, designed to assess, and assist feasibility in understanding barriers toward a study’s success. Our results justify that newborns are well capable of undergoing the study and given meticulous considerations and improvements on the intervention resources. The procedure’s communication and technical obstacles are resoluble. Moreover, assimilation of external factors to adapt, such as the culture variation and the ABR protocol implementation are necessary. The study was well received in the selected region (Middle East), and the recording procedure showed potential outcomes for a comprehensive RCT.

scholarly journals Perception of Speech in Noise: Neural Correlates

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (9) ◽  
pp. 2268-2279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy H. Song ◽  
Erika Skoe ◽  
Karen Banai ◽  
Nina Kraus
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Background Noise ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Auditory Brainstem ◽  
Auditory Brainstem Responses ◽  
Auditory Information ◽  
Neural Encoding ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Speech In Noise ◽  
Perceptual Abilities

The presence of irrelevant auditory information (other talkers, environmental noises) presents a major challenge to listening to speech. The fundamental frequency (F0) of the target speaker is thought to provide an important cue for the extraction of the speaker's voice from background noise, but little is known about the relationship between speech-in-noise (SIN) perceptual ability and neural encoding of the F0. Motivated by recent findings that music and language experience enhance brainstem representation of sound, we examined the hypothesis that brainstem encoding of the F0 is diminished to a greater degree by background noise in people with poorer perceptual abilities in noise. To this end, we measured speech-evoked auditory brainstem responses to /da/ in quiet and two multitalker babble conditions (two-talker and six-talker) in native English-speaking young adults who ranged in their ability to perceive and recall SIN. Listeners who were poorer performers on a standardized SIN measure demonstrated greater susceptibility to the degradative effects of noise on the neural encoding of the F0. Particularly diminished was their phase-locked activity to the fundamental frequency in the portion of the syllable known to be most vulnerable to perceptual disruption (i.e., the formant transition period). Our findings suggest that the subcortical representation of the F0 in noise contributes to the perception of speech in noisy conditions.

scholarly journals Redefining bilingualism as a spectrum of experiences that differentially affects brain structure and function

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (15) ◽  
pp. 7565-7574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent DeLuca ◽  
Jason Rothman ◽  
Ellen Bialystok ◽  
Christos Pliatsikas
Keyword(s):  
Neural Plasticity ◽  
Brain Structure ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Combined Effects ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Social Settings ◽  
Brain Structure And Function ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Brain

Learning and using an additional language is shown to have an impact on the structure and function of the brain, including in regions involved in cognitive control and the connections between them. However, the available evidence remains variable in terms of the localization, extent, and trajectory of these effects. Variability likely stems from the fact that bilingualism has been routinely operationalized as a categorical variable (bilingual/monolingual), whereas it is a complex and dynamic experience with a number of potentially deterministic factors affecting neural plasticity. Here we present a study investigating the combined effects of experience-based factors (EBFs) in bilingual language use on brain structure and functional connectivity. EBFs include an array of measures of everyday usage of a second language in different types of immersive settings (e.g., amount of use in social settings). Analyses reveal specific adaptations in the brain, both structural and functional, correlated to individual EBFs and their combined effects. Taken together, the data show that the brain adapts to be maximally efficient in the processing and control of two languages, although modulated ultimately by individual language experience.

scholarly journals Transient Conductive Hearing Loss Regulates Cross-Modal VGLUT Expression in the Cochlear Nucleus of C57BL/6 Mice

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takaomi Kurioka ◽  
Sachiyo Mogi ◽  
Taku Yamashita
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Cell Size ◽  
Neural Plasticity ◽  
Cochlear Nucleus ◽  
Conductive Hearing Loss ◽  
Auditory Brainstem ◽  
Nerve Fibers ◽  
Sound Levels ◽  
Brainstem Response ◽  
Conductive Hearing

Auditory nerve fibers synapse onto the cochlear nucleus (CN) and are labeled using the vesicular glutamate transporter-1 (VGLUT-1), whereas non-auditory inputs are labeled using the VGLUT-2. However, the underlying regulatory mechanism of VGLUT expression in the CN remains unknown. We examined whether a sound level decrease, without primary neural damage, induces cellular and VGLUT expression change in the CN, and examined the potential for neural plasticity of the CN using unilateral conductive hearing loss models. We inserted earplugs in 8-week-old mice unilaterally for 4 weeks and subsequently removed them for another 4 weeks. Although the threshold of an auditory brainstem response significantly increased across all tested frequencies following earplug insertion, it completely recovered after earplug removal. Auditory deprivation had no significant impact on spiral ganglion and ventral CN (VCN) neurons’ survival. Conversely, although the cell size and VGLUT-1 expression in the VCN significantly decreased after earplug insertion, VGLUT-2 expression in the granule cell lamina significantly increased. These cell sizes decreased and the alterations in VGLUT-1 and -2 expression almost completely recovered at 1 month after earplug removal. Our results suggested that the cell size and VGLUT expression in the CN have a neuroplasticity capacity, which is regulated by increases and decreases in sound levels. Restoration of the sound levels might partly prevent cell size decrease and maintain VGLUT expression in the CN.

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