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 Early Development of Neural Speech Encoding Depends on Age but not Native Language Status: Evidence from Lexical Tone

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-59
Author(s):  
Nikolay Novitskiy ◽  
Akshay R Maggu ◽  
Ching Man Lai ◽  
Peggy H Y Chan ◽  
Kay H Y Wong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Auditory Pathway ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Speech Encoding ◽  
Early Language Development ◽  
Long Latency ◽  
Language Environment

Abstract We investigated the development of early-latency and long-latency brain responses to native and non-native speech to shed light on the neurophysiological underpinnings of perceptual narrowing and early language development. Specifically, we postulated a two-level process to explain the decrease in sensitivity to non-native phonemes towards the end of infancy. Neurons at the earlier stages of the ascending auditory pathway mature rapidly during infancy facilitating the encoding of both native and non-native sounds. This growth enables neurons at the later stages of the auditory pathway to assign phonological status to speech according to the infant’s native language environment. To test this hypothesis, we collected early- latency and long-latency neural responses to native and non-native lexical tones from 85 Cantoneselearning children aged between 23 days and 24 months and 16 days. As expected, a broad range of presumably subcortical early-latency neural encoding measures grew rapidly and substantially during the first two years for both native and non-native tones. By contrast, longlatency cortical electrophysiological changes occurred on a much slower scale and showed sensitivity to nativeness at around six months. Our study provided a comprehensive understanding of early language development by revealing the complementary roles of earlier and later stages of speech processing in the developing brain.

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 Musical intervention enhances infants’ neural processing of temporal structure in music and speech

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (19) ◽  
pp. 5212-5217 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Christina Zhao ◽  
Patricia K. Kuhl
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
Structure Learning ◽  
Temporal Structure ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Oddball Paradigm ◽  
Neural Processing ◽  
Music Intervention ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Structure Information ◽  
Young Infants

Individuals with music training in early childhood show enhanced processing of musical sounds, an effect that generalizes to speech processing. However, the conclusions drawn from previous studies are limited due to the possible confounds of predisposition and other factors affecting musicians and nonmusicians. We used a randomized design to test the effects of a laboratory-controlled music intervention on young infants’ neural processing of music and speech. Nine-month-old infants were randomly assigned to music (intervention) or play (control) activities for 12 sessions. The intervention targeted temporal structure learning using triple meter in music (e.g., waltz), which is difficult for infants, and it incorporated key characteristics of typical infant music classes to maximize learning (e.g., multimodal, social, and repetitive experiences). Controls had similar multimodal, social, repetitive play, but without music. Upon completion, infants’ neural processing of temporal structure was tested in both music (tones in triple meter) and speech (foreign syllable structure). Infants’ neural processing was quantified by the mismatch response (MMR) measured with a traditional oddball paradigm using magnetoencephalography (MEG). The intervention group exhibited significantly larger MMRs in response to music temporal structure violations in both auditory and prefrontal cortical regions. Identical results were obtained for temporal structure changes in speech. The intervention thus enhanced temporal structure processing not only in music, but also in speech, at 9 mo of age. We argue that the intervention enhanced infants’ ability to extract temporal structure information and to predict future events in time, a skill affecting both music and speech processing.

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.

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.

TERAPI MUSIK DAN TINGKAT KECEMASAN PASIEN PREOPERASI

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Wenny Savitri ◽  
Nani Fidayanti ◽  
Paulus Subiyanto
Keyword(s):  
Music Therapy ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Complementary Therapy ◽  
T Test ◽  
Anxiety Level ◽  
Preoperative Anxiety ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Music Intervention ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Anxiety Levels

Background: Surgery is one of medical interventions which can cause fear, anxiety, and stressed because of its effects toward the integrity of body and soul. Nurses have significant roles in any preoperative care which is helping patients to decrease preoperative anxiety by using complementary therapy. The use of music therapy as one of the complementary therapies is not common in Indonesia. Therefore, scientific studies to prove the role of this therapy to decrease the level of anxiety of pre-operative patients is needed. Objective: To investigate the effects of music therapy in reducing anxiety levels of preoperative patients. Methods: A quasy experimental study with pre-test and post-test design with control group was applied to 50 respondents from medical ward in Panembahan Senopati Hospital of Yogyakarta who met the inclusion criteria.Dara were then analyzed by using t-test statistical analysis. Results: The control group showed the increased value of anxiety level of0.8 without music intervention (t= - 1503, df = 24, p<.05), whereas the intervention group showed the decreased value of anxiety level of -5.52 (t=5.081, df=24, p<.05). Meanwhile the independent t-test results for both groups showed a significant difference between group (t= 3,373, df=48, p<.05). Conclusion: Music therapy has significant effect in reducing preoperative anxiety levels of patients. Keywords: anxiety, preoperative, music therapy

scholarly journals Group-based music intervention in Parkinson’s disease – findings from a mixed-methods study

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 533-544
Author(s):  
Petra Pohl ◽  
Ewa Wressle ◽  
Fredrik Lundin ◽  
Paul Enthoven ◽  
Nil Dizdar
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Freezing Of Gait ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Music Intervention ◽  
Post Intervention

Objective: To evaluate a group-based music intervention in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Design: Parallel group randomized controlled trial with qualitative triangulation. Setting: Neurorehabilitation in primary care. Subjects: Forty-six patients with Parkinson’s disease were randomized into intervention group ( n = 26), which received training with the music-based intervention, and control group ( n = 20) without training. Interventions: The intervention was delivered twice weekly for 12 weeks. Main measures: Primary outcome was Timed-Up-and-Go subtracting serial 7’s (dual-task ability). Secondary outcomes were cognition, balance, concerns about falling, freezing of gait, and quality of life. All outcomes were evaluated at baseline, post-intervention, and three months post-intervention. Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with the intervention group and with the delivering physiotherapists. Results: No between-group differences were observed for dual-task ability. Between-group differences were observed for Falls Efficacy Scale (mean difference (MD) = 6.5 points; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 3.0 to 10.0, P = 0.001) and for Parkinson Disease Questionnaire-39 items (MD = 8.3; 95% CI = 2.7 to 13.8, P = 0.005) when compared to the control group post-intervention, but these were not maintained at three months post-intervention. Three themes were derived from the interviews: Expectations versus Results, Perspectives on Treatment Contents, and Key Factors for Success. Conclusion: Patient-reported outcomes and interviews suggest that the group-based music intervention adds value to mood, alertness, and quality of life in patients with Parkinson’s disease. The study does not support the efficacy in producing immediate or lasting gains in dual-tasking, cognition, balance, or freezing of gait.

scholarly journals Rhythmic grouping biases in simultaneous bilinguals

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 1070-1081 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Boll-Avetisyan ◽  
Anjali Bhatara ◽  
Annika Unger ◽  
Thierry Nazzi ◽  
Barbara Höhle
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
Model Fitting ◽  
Bimodal Distribution ◽  
Individual Performance ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Language Context

AbstractThis study provides a novel approach for testing the universality of perceptual biases by looking at speech processing in simultaneous bilingual adults learning two languages that support the maintenance of this bias to different degrees. Specifically, we investigated the Iambic/Trochaic Law, an assumed universal grouping bias, in simultaneous French–German bilinguals, presenting them with streams of syllables varying in intensity, duration or neither and asking them whether they perceived them as strong-weak or weak-strong groupings. Results showed robust, consistent grouping preferences. A comparison to monolinguals from previous studies revealed that they pattern with German-speaking monolinguals, and differ from French-speaking monolinguals. The distribution of simultaneous bilinguals' individual performance was best explained by a model fitting a unimodal (not bimodal) distribution, failing to support two subgroups of language dominance. Moreover, neither language experience nor language context predicted their performance. These findings suggest a special role for universal biases in simultaneous bilinguals.

Exponential Modeling of Frequency-Following Responses in American Neonates and Adults

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (02) ◽  
pp. 125-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fuh-Cherng Jeng ◽  
Brandie Nance ◽  
Karen Montgomery-Reagan ◽  
Chia-Der Lin
Keyword(s):  
Time Constant ◽  
Curve Fitting ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Phase Locking ◽  
Pitch Contour ◽  
Frequency Error ◽  
Tracking Accuracy ◽  
Exponential Curve ◽  
Adult Participants ◽  
Fitting Model

AbstractThe scalp-recorded frequency-following response (FFR) has been widely accepted in assessing the brain’s processing of speech stimuli for people who speak tonal and nontonal languages. Characteristics of scalp-recorded FFRs with increasing number of sweeps have been delineated through the use of an exponential curve-fitting model in Chinese adults; however, characteristics of speech processing for people who speak a nontonal language remain unclear.This study had two specific aims. The first was to examine the characteristics of speech processing in neonates and adults who speak a nontonal language, to evaluate the goodness of fit of an exponential model on neonatal and adult FFRs, and to determine the differences, if any, between the two groups of participants. The second aim was to assess effective recording parameters for American neonates and adults.This investigation employed a prospective between-subject study design.A total of 12 American neonates (1–3 days old) and 12 American adults (24.1 ± 2.5 yr old) were recruited. Each neonate passed an automated hearing screening at birth and all adult participants had normal hearing and were native English speakers.The English vowel /i/ with a rising pitch contour (117–166 Hz) was used to elicit the FFR. A total of 8,000 accepted sweeps were recorded from each participant. Three objective indices (Frequency Error, Tracking Accuracy, and Pitch Strength) were computed to estimate the frequency-tracking acuity and neural phase-locking magnitude when progressively more sweeps were included in the averaged waveform. For each objective index, the FFR trends were fit to an exponential curve-fitting model that included estimates of asymptotic amplitude, noise amplitude, and a time constant.Significant differences were observed between groups for Frequency Error, Tracking Accuracy, and Pitch Strength of the FFR trends. The adult participants had significantly smaller Frequency Error (p < 0.001), better Tracking Accuracy (p = 0.001), and larger Pitch Strength (p = 0.003) values than the neonate participants. The adult participants also demonstrated a faster rate of improvement (i.e., a smaller time constant) in all three objective indices compared to the neonate participants. The smaller time constants observed in adults indicate that a larger number of sweeps will be needed to adequately assess the FFR for neonates. Furthermore, the exponential curve-fitting model provided a good fit to the FFR trends with increasing number of sweeps for American neonates (mean r 2 = 0.89) and adults (mean r 2 = 0.96).Significant differences were noted between the neonatal and adult participants for Frequency Error, Tracking Accuracy, and Pitch Strength. These differences have important clinical implications in determining when to stop a recording and the number of sweeps needed to adequately assess the frequency-encoding acuity and neural phase-locking magnitude in neonates and adults. These findings lay an important foundation for establishing a normative database for American neonates and adults, and may prove to be useful in the development of diagnostic and therapeutic paradigms for neonates and adults who speak a nontonal language.

scholarly journals Music intervention affects the quality of life on Alzheimer’s disease: a meta-analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lingyan Zuo ◽  
Fengting Zhu ◽  
Rui Wang ◽  
Hongyan Shuai ◽  
Xin Yu
Keyword(s):  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Controlled Study ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Music Intervention ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Review Question ◽  
Intervention Modality ◽  
The Impact

Review question / Objective: Inclusion criteria: population: 1) A randomized controlled study on the impact of music intervention on the QOL of patients with AD; 2) The participants in this study is patients with AD; 3) There is no significant difference among age, gender and education background in sorted groups before analysis which make these groups comparable; intervention: 1)Intervention Modality Music-based intervention; comparison: 1) All data were sorted into two groups: the music intervention group and the control group without any music intervention; outcome: 1) The indicators evaluated in the literature included the score of QOL-AD or WHOQOL-BERF scale, at least one of the two scales summarized in selected publications; language: 1) Only articles published in English and Chinese were considered. Exclusion criteria: 1) The participants were not diagnosed with AD; 2) Non-musical intervention;3) Non-RCTs; 4) No specific values for outcome variables; 5) Articles lacking original data; 6) Repeat published reports; 7) Full text could not be obtained.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document