scholarly journals Neural Representation of the English Vowel Feature [High]: Evidence From /ε/ vs. /ɪ/

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan H. Yu ◽  
Valerie L. Shafer
Keyword(s):  
Amplitude Modulation ◽  
Speech Processing ◽  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Order Effect ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Oddball Paradigm ◽  
Prototype Model ◽  
Deviant Stimulus ◽  
Processing Asymmetries

Many studies have observed modulation of the amplitude of the neural index mismatch negativity (MMN) related to which member of a phoneme contrast [phoneme A, phoneme B] serves as the frequent (standard) and which serves as the infrequent (deviant) stimulus (i.e., AAAB vs. BBBA) in an oddball paradigm. Explanations for this amplitude modulation range from acoustic to linguistic factors. We tested whether exchanging the role of the mid vowel /ε/ vs. high vowel /ɪ/ of English modulated MMN amplitude and whether the pattern of modulation was compatible with an underspecification account, in which the underspecified height values are [−high] and [−low]. MMN was larger for /ε/ as the deviant, but only when compared across conditions to itself as the standard. For the within-condition comparison, MMN was larger to /ɪ/ deviant minus /ε/ standard than to the reverse. A condition order effect was also observed. MMN amplitude was smaller to the deviant stimulus if it had previously served as the standard. In addition, the amplitudes of late discriminative negativity (LDN) showed similar asymmetry. LDN was larger for deviant /ε/ than deviant /ɪ/ when compared to themselves as the standard. These findings were compatible with an underspecification account, but also with other accounts, such as the Natural Referent Vowel model and a prototype model; we also suggest that non-linguistic factors need to be carefully considered as additional sources of speech processing asymmetries.

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 Evidence for the role of German final devoicing in pre-attentive speech processing: a mismatch negativity study

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hubert Truckenbrodt ◽  
Johanna Steinberg ◽  
Thomas K. Jacobsen ◽  
Thomas Jacobsen
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
Mismatch Negativity

Is There a Mismatch Negativity Analogue in the Olfactory Event-Related Potential?

1999 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerstin Krauel ◽  
Philipp Schott ◽  
Bernfried Sojka ◽  
Bettina M. Pause ◽  
Roman Ferstl
Keyword(s):  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Standard Stimulus ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Oddball Paradigm ◽  
Distractor Task ◽  
Deviant Stimulus ◽  
Negative Deflection ◽  
Odor Quality ◽  
Acoustic Stimuli ◽  
Male Subjects

Abstract The mismatch negativity (MMN) is thought to indicate automatic stimulus discrimination in response to acoustic stimuli. In the present study six male subjects were presented with the odors linalool and eugenol within a passive oddball-paradigm. The subjects were instructed to ignore the odors and concentrate on an auditory distractor task. In two sessions each odor served once as the standard stimulus and once as the deviant stimulus. Both odors when presented as deviants led to a negative deflection of the olfactory event-related potential (OERP) between 500-600 ms. After 600 ms the waveforms in response to the deviants were differentially influenced by odor quality. Although the present study should be understood as exploratory, the results suggest the existence of an early mismatch detector in the olfactory modality independent of attention and odor quality.

scholarly journals Poorer auditory sensitivity is related to stronger visual enhancement of the human auditory mismatch negativity (MMNm)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilie Møller ◽  
Andreas Højlund ◽  
Klaus B. Bærentsen ◽  
Niels Chr. Hansen ◽  
Joshua C. Skewes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Multisensory Processing ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Pitch Discrimination ◽  
Oddball Paradigm ◽  
Visual Enhancement ◽  
Complementary Role ◽  
Multisensory Information

AbstractMultisensory processing facilitates perception of our everyday environment and becomes particularly important when sensory information is degraded or close to the discrimination threshold. Here, we used magnetoencephalography and an audiovisual oddball paradigm to assess the complementary role of visual information in subtle pitch discrimination at the neural level of participants with varying levels of pitch discrimination abilities, i.e., musicians and nonmusicians. The amplitude of the auditory mismatch negativity (MMNm) served as an index of sensitivity. The gain in amplitude resulting from compatible audiovisual information was larger in participants whose MMNm amplitude was smaller in the condition deviating only in the auditory dimension, in accordance with the multisensory principle of inverse effectiveness. These findings show that discrimination of even a sensory-specific feature as pitch is facilitated by multisensory information at a pre-attentive level, and they highlight the importance of considering inter-individual differences in uni-sensory abilities when assessing multisensory processing.

Investigating the Role of Familiar Face and Voice Cues in Speech Processing in Noise

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeesun Kim ◽  
Sonya Karisma ◽  
Vincent Aubanel ◽  
Chris Davis
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
Familiar Face

scholarly journals A LONGITUDINAL INVESTIGATION OF EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT AUDITORY PROCESSING IN L2 SEGMENTAL AND SUPRASEGMENTAL ACQUISITION

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Hui Sun ◽  
Kazuya Saito ◽  
Adam Tierney
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
First Language ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Immersion Experience ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Processing Ability ◽  
Speech Learning

Abstract Precise auditory perception at a subcortical level (neural representation and encoding of sound) has been suggested as a form of implicit L2 aptitude in naturalistic settings. Emerging evidence suggests that such implicit aptitude explains some variance in L2 speech perception and production among adult learners with different first language backgrounds and immersion experience. By examining 46 Chinese learners of English, the current study longitudinally investigated the extent to which explicit and implicit auditory processing ability could predict L2 segmental and prosody acquisition over a 5-month early immersion. According to the results, participants’ L2 gains were associated with more explicit and integrative auditory processing ability (remembering and reproducing music sequences), while the role of implicit, preconscious perception appeared to be negligible at the initial stage of postpubertal L2 speech learning.

scholarly journals Statistical Speech Segmentation in Tone Languages: The Role of Lexical Tones

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Gómez ◽  
Peggy Mok ◽  
Mikhail Ordin ◽  
Jacques Mehler ◽  
Marina Nespor
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
Additional Data ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Speech Segmentation ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Tone Languages ◽  
Transitional Probabilities ◽  
Lexical Processes

Research has demonstrated distinct roles for consonants and vowels in speech processing. For example, consonants have been shown to support lexical processes, such as the segmentation of speech based on transitional probabilities (TPs), more effectively than vowels. Theory and data so far, however, have considered only non-tone languages, that is to say, languages that lack contrastive lexical tones. In the present work, we provide a first investigation of the role of consonants and vowels in statistical speech segmentation by native speakers of Cantonese, as well as assessing how tones modulate the processing of vowels. Results show that Cantonese speakers are unable to use statistical cues carried by consonants for segmentation, but they can use cues carried by vowels. This difference becomes more evident when considering tone-bearing vowels. Additional data from speakers of Russian and Mandarin suggest that the ability of Cantonese speakers to segment streams with statistical cues carried by tone-bearing vowels extends to other tone languages, but is much reduced in speakers of non-tone languages.

The Neurophysiological Basis of the Auditory Continuity Illusion: A Mismatch Negativity Study

2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 747-758 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christophe Micheyl ◽  
Robert P. Carlyon ◽  
Yury Shtyrov ◽  
Olaf Hauk ◽  
Tara Dodson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Sudden Change ◽  
Frequency Region ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Oddball Paradigm ◽  
Standard Type ◽  
Upper Limit ◽  
Noise Frequency ◽  
Filtered Noise ◽  
Neurophysiological Basis

A sound turned off for a short moment can be perceived as continuous if the silent gap is filled with noise. The neural mechanisms underlying this “continuity illusion” were investigated using the mismatch negativity (MMN), an eventrelated potential reflecting the perception of a sudden change in an otherwise regular stimulus sequence. The MMN was recorded in four conditions using an oddball paradigm. The standards consisted of 500-Hz, 120-msec tone pips that were either physically continuous (Condition 1) or were interrupted by a 40-msec silent gap (Condition 2). The deviants consisted of the interrupted tone, but with the silent gap filled by a burst of bandpass-filtered noise. The noise either occupied the same frequency region as the tone and elicited the continuity illusion (Conditions 1a and 2a), or occupied a remote frequency region and did not elicit the illusion (Conditions 1b and 2b). We predicted that, if the continuity illusion is determined before MMN generation, then, other things being equal, the MMN should be larger in conditions where the deviants are perceived as continuous and the standards as interrupted or vice versa, than when both were perceived as continuous or both interrupted. Consistent with this prediction, we observed an interaction between standard type and noise frequency region, with the MMN being larger in Condition 1a than in Condition 1b, but smaller in Condition 2a than in Condition 2b. Because the subjects were instructed to ignore the tones and watch a silent movie during the recordings, the results indicate that the continuity illusion can occur outside the focus of attention. Furthermore, the latency of the MMN (less than approximately 200 msec postdeviance onset) places an upper limit on the stage of neural processing responsible for the illusion.

Prosody in Automatic Speech Processing

2020 ◽  
pp. 632-645
Author(s):  
Anton Batliner ◽  
Bernd Möbius
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Short History ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Dialogue Acts ◽  
Semantics And Pragmatics ◽  
Different Types ◽  
History Of

Automatic speech processing (ASP) is understood as covering word recognition, the processing of higher linguistic components (syntax, semantics, and pragmatics), and the processing of computational paralinguistics (CP), which deals with speaker states and traits. This chapter attempts to track the role of prosody in ASP from the word level up to CP. A short history of the field from 1980 to 2020 distinguishes the early years (until 2000)—when the prosodic contribution to the modelling of linguistic phenomena, such as accents, boundaries, syntax, semantics, and dialogue acts, was the focus—from the later years, when the focus shifted to paralinguistics; prosody ceased to be visible. Different types of predictor variables are addressed, among them high-performance power features as well as leverage features, which can also be employed in teaching and therapy.

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