scholarly journals Neural detection of changes in amplitude rise time in infancy.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Áine Ní Choisdealbha ◽  
Adam Attaheri ◽  
Sinead Rocha ◽  
Perrine Brusini ◽  
Sheila Flanagan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
Rise Time ◽  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Neural Processing ◽  
Amplitude Envelope ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
Perceptual Sensitivity ◽  
Language Difficulties ◽  
Neural Entrainment ◽  
First Time

Amplitude rise times play a crucial role in the perception of rhythm in speech, and reduced perceptual sensitivity to differences in rise time is related to developmental language difficulties. Amplitude rise times also play a mechanistic role in neural entrainment to the speech amplitude envelope. Using an ERP paradigm, here we examined for the first time whether infants at the ages of seven and eleven months exhibit an auditory mismatch response to changes in the rise times of simple repeating auditory stimuli. We found that infants exhibited a mismatch response to the oddball rise time that was more positive at seven than eleven months of age. At eleven months, there was a left-lateralised shift to a mismatch negativity. Infants’ ability to detect changes in rise time was generally robust, with a range of oddball stimuli with different rise times each eliciting a mismatch response from 85% of infants. A lateralised effect indicated that the size of the mismatch response varied as the change in rise time became easier to detect. The mismatch response to the different rise time oddballs also stabilised as infants got older. The results indicate that neural processing of changes in rise time develops early in life, supporting the possibility that early speech processing is facilitated by neural sensitivity to these acoustic cues to rhythm.

Weighting of Amplitude and Formant Rise Time Cues by School-Aged Children: A Mismatch Negativity Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 1322-1333
Author(s):  
Varghese Peter ◽  
Marina Kalashnikova ◽  
Denis Burnham
Keyword(s):  
Rise Time ◽  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Standard Stimulus ◽  
Oddball Paradigm ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Deviant Stimulus ◽  
Cue Weighting ◽  
School Aged Children ◽  
Optimal Weights

Purpose An important skill in the development of speech perception is to apply optimal weights to acoustic cues so that phonemic information is recovered from speech with minimum effort. Here, we investigated the development of acoustic cue weighting of amplitude rise time (ART) and formant rise time (FRT) cues in children as measured by mismatch negativity (MMN). Method Twelve adults and 36 children aged 6–12 years listened to a /ba/–/wa/ contrast in an oddball paradigm in which the standard stimulus had the ART and FRT cues of /ba/. In different blocks, the deviant stimulus had either the ART or FRT cues of /wa/. Results The results revealed that children younger than 10 years were sensitive to both ART and FRT cues whereas 10- to 12-year-old children and adults were sensitive only to FRT cues. Moreover, children younger than 10 years generated a positive mismatch response, whereas older children and adults generated MMN. Conclusion These results suggest that preattentive adultlike weighting of ART and FRT cues is attained only by 10 years of age and accompanies the change from mismatch response to the more mature MMN response. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.6207608

scholarly journals Automaticity of speech processing in early bilingual adults and children

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 429-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hia Datta ◽  
Arild Hestvik ◽  
Nancy Vidal ◽  
Carol Tessel ◽  
Miwako Hisagi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Change Detection ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Neural Processing ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Processing Negativity ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Phoneme Discrimination ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Early Acquisition

We examine whether early acquisition of a second language (L2) leads to native-like neural processing of phonemic contrasts that are absent in the L1. Four groups (adult and child monolingual speakers of English; adult and child early bilingual speakers of English and Spanish, exposed to both languages before 5 years of age) participated in a study comparing the English /ɪ/ - /ε/ contrast. Neural measures of automatic change detection (Mismatch Negativity, MMN) and attention (Processing Negativity, PN and Late Negativity, LN) were measured by varying whether participants tracked the stimulus stream or not. We observed no effect of bilingualism on the MMN, but adult bilinguals differed significantly from adult monolinguals on neural indices of attention. The child bilinguals were indistinguishable from their monolingual peers. This suggest that learning a L2 before five years of age leads to native-like phoneme discrimination, but bilinguals develop increased attentional sensitivity to speech sounds.

scholarly journals Domain-relevant auditory expertise modulates the additivity of neural mismatch responses in humans

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Chr. Hansen ◽  
Andreas Højlund ◽  
Cecilie Møller ◽  
Marcus Pearce ◽  
Peter Vuust
Keyword(s):  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Predictive Processing ◽  
Neural Processing ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
Acoustic Features

AbstractIt is unknown whether domain-relevant expertise is associated with more independent or more dependent predictive processing of acoustic features. Here, mismatch negativity (MMNm) was recorded with magnetoencephalography (MEG) from 25 musicians and 25 non-musicians, exposed to complex musical multi-feature and simple oddball control paradigms. Deviants differed in frequency (F), intensity (I), perceived location (L), or any combination of these (FI, IL, LF, FIL). Neural processing overlap was assessed through MMNm additivity by comparing double- and triple-deviant MMNms (“empirical”) to summed constituent single-deviant MMNms (“modelled”). Significantly greater subadditivity was present in musicians compared to non-musicians, specifically for frequency-related deviants in complex contexts. Despite using identical sounds, expertise effects were absent from the simple paradigm. This novel finding supports thedependent processing hypothesiswhereby experts recruit overlapping neural resources facilitating more integrative representations of domain-relevant stimuli. Such specialized predictive processing may enable experts such as musicians to capitalise on complex acoustic cues.

Musical Experience Shapes Neural Processing

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-86
Author(s):  
Wido Nager ◽  
Tilla Franke ◽  
Tobias Wagner-Altendorf ◽  
Eckart Altenmüller ◽  
Thomas F. Münte
Keyword(s):  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Pure Tone ◽  
Musical Instrument ◽  
Active Listening ◽  
Musical Experience ◽  
Neural Processing ◽  
Neural Adaptations

Abstract. Playing a musical instrument professionally has been shown to lead to structural and functional neural adaptations, making musicians valuable subjects for neuroplasticity research. Here, we follow the hypothesis that specific musical demands further shape neural processing. To test this assumption, we subjected groups of professional drummers, professional woodwind players, and nonmusicians to pure tone sequences and drum sequences in which infrequent anticipations of tones or drum beats had been inserted. Passively listening to these sequences elicited a mismatch negativity to the temporally deviant stimuli which was greater in the musicians for tone series and particularly large for drummers for drum sequences. In active listening conditions drummers more accurately and more quickly detected temporally deviant stimuli.

scholarly journals Observations of X-rays from Laboratory Sparks in Air at Atmospheric Pressure under Negative Switching Impulse Voltages

Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahbubur Rahman ◽  
Pasan Hettiarachchi ◽  
Vernon Cooray ◽  
Joseph Dwyer ◽  
Vladimir Rakov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rise Time ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
Opposite Polarity ◽  
X Rays ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Impulse Voltage ◽  
First Time ◽  
Switching Impulses ◽  
Low Rate

We present observations of X-rays from laboratory sparks created in the air at atmospheric pressure by applying an impulse voltage with long (250 µs) rise-time. X-ray production in 35 and 46 cm gaps for three different electrode configurations was studied. The results demonstrate, for the first time, the production of X-rays in gaps subjected to switching impulses. The low rate of rise of the voltage in switching impulses does not significantly reduce the production of X-rays. Additionally, the timing of the X-ray occurrence suggests the possibility that the mechanism of X-ray production by sparks is related to the collision of streamers of opposite polarity.

scholarly journals Biasing the Perception of Spoken Words with Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 1428-1437
Author(s):  
Anne Kösem ◽  
Hans Rutger Bosker ◽  
Ole Jensen ◽  
Peter Hagoort ◽  
Lars Riecke
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
Alternating Current ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Word Perception ◽  
Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation ◽  
Neural Entrainment ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Auditory Cortices ◽  
Speech Segments ◽  
The Impact

Recent neuroimaging evidence suggests that the frequency of entrained oscillations in auditory cortices influences the perceived duration of speech segments, impacting word perception [Kösem, A., Bosker, H. R., Takashima, A., Meyer, A., Jensen, O., & Hagoort, P. Neural entrainment determines the words we hear. Current Biology, 28, 2867–2875, 2018]. We further tested the causal influence of neural entrainment frequency during speech processing, by manipulating entrainment with continuous transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) at distinct oscillatory frequencies (3 and 5.5 Hz) above the auditory cortices. Dutch participants listened to speech and were asked to report their percept of a target Dutch word, which contained a vowel with an ambiguous duration. Target words were presented either in isolation (first experiment) or at the end of spoken sentences (second experiment). We predicted that the tACS frequency would influence neural entrainment and therewith how speech is perceptually sampled, leading to a perceptual overestimation or underestimation of the vowel's duration. Whereas results from Experiment 1 did not confirm this prediction, results from Experiment 2 suggested a small effect of tACS frequency on target word perception: Faster tACS leads to more long-vowel word percepts, in line with the previous neuroimaging findings. Importantly, the difference in word perception induced by the different tACS frequencies was significantly larger in Experiment 1 versus Experiment 2, suggesting that the impact of tACS is dependent on the sensory context. tACS may have a stronger effect on spoken word perception when the words are presented in continuous speech as compared to when they are isolated, potentially because prior (stimulus-induced) entrainment of brain oscillations might be a prerequisite for tACS to be effective.

The Role of Low-frequency Neural Oscillations in Speech Processing: Revisiting Delta Entrainment

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 1205-1215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor J. Boucher ◽  
Annie C. Gilbert ◽  
Boutheina Jemel
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Phase Coherence ◽  
Theta Oscillations ◽  
Neural Oscillations ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
Low Frequency Oscillations ◽  
Temporal Grouping ◽  
Delta Oscillations

Studies that use measures of cerebro-acoustic coherence have shown that theta oscillations (3–10 Hz) entrain to syllable-size modulations in the energy envelope of speech. This entrainment creates sensory windows in processing acoustic cues. Recent reports submit that delta oscillations (<3 Hz) can be entrained by nonsensory content units like phrases and serve to process meaning—though such views face fundamental problems. Other studies suggest that delta underlies a sensory chunking linked to the processing of sequential attributes of speech sounds. This chunking associated with the “focus of attention” is commonly manifested by the temporal grouping of items in sequence recall. Similar grouping in speech may entrain delta. We investigate this view by examining how low-frequency oscillations entrain to three types of stimuli (tones, nonsense syllables, and utterances) having similar timing, pitch, and energy contours. Entrainment was indexed by “intertrial phase coherence” in the EEGs of 18 listeners. The results show that theta oscillations at central sites entrain to syllable-size elements in speech and tones. However, delta oscillations at frontotemporal sites specifically entrain to temporal groups in both meaningful utterances and meaningless syllables, which indicates that delta may support but does not directly bear on a processing of content. The findings overall suggest that, although theta entrainment relates to a processing of acoustic attributes, delta entrainment links to a sensory chunking that relates to a processing of properties of articulated sounds. The results also show that measures of intertrial phase coherence can be better suited than cerebro-acoustic coherence in revealing delta entrainment.

scholarly journals Humans rely on the same rules to assess emotional valence and intensity in conspecific and dog vocalizations

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 20130926 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamás Faragó ◽  
Attila Andics ◽  
Viktor Devecseri ◽  
Anna Kis ◽  
Márta Gácsi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Valence ◽  
Emotional Content ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
Acoustic Features ◽  
Acoustical Parameters ◽  
Intensity Perception ◽  
First Time ◽  
Vocal Expressions

Humans excel at assessing conspecific emotional valence and intensity, based solely on non-verbal vocal bursts that are also common in other mammals. It is not known, however, whether human listeners rely on similar acoustic cues to assess emotional content in conspecific and heterospecific vocalizations, and which acoustical parameters affect their performance. Here, for the first time, we directly compared the emotional valence and intensity perception of dog and human non-verbal vocalizations. We revealed similar relationships between acoustic features and emotional valence and intensity ratings of human and dog vocalizations: those with shorter call lengths were rated as more positive, whereas those with a higher pitch were rated as more intense. Our findings demonstrate that humans rate conspecific emotional vocalizations along basic acoustic rules, and that they apply similar rules when processing dog vocal expressions. This suggests that humans may utilize similar mental mechanisms for recognizing human and heterospecific vocal emotions.

scholarly journals Contrast sensitivity and behavioural evidence for lateral inhibition in octopus

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 20190134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Nahmad-Rohen ◽  
Misha Vorobyev
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Frequency ◽  
Contrast Sensitivity ◽  
Lateral Inhibition ◽  
Neural Processing ◽  
Visual Systems ◽  
Maximum Value ◽  
Fixation Reflex ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Behavioural Evidence

Behavioural contrast sensitivity in Octopus tetricus was measured in the range of 0.05–12 cycles per degree (cpd) using a fixation reflex. We show that the contrast sensitivity reaches its maximum (between 1 and 4%) at 0.3 cpd, and decreases to approximately half of the maximum value at the lowest spatial frequency. Reduction of sensitivity at low spatial frequency is a signature of lateral inhibition in visual systems. In vertebrates and insects, lateral inhibition helps to overcome the bottleneck of encoding information into spikes. In octopus, photoreceptors generate spikes themselves and are directly connected to the brain through their axons. Therefore, the neural processing occurring in the octopus brain cannot help overcome the bottleneck of encoding information into spikes. We conclude that, in octopus, either the lateral inhibition occurs in the brain after information has been encoded into spikes, or photoreceptors inhibit each other. This is the first time behavioural contrast sensitivity has been measured in a cephalopod.

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