1
|
Samoylov I, Arcara G, Buyanova I, Davydova E, Pereverzeva D, Sorokin A, Tyushkevich S, Mamokhina U, Danilina K, Dragoy O, Arutiunian V. Altered neural synchronization in response to 2 Hz amplitude-modulated tones in the auditory cortex of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An MEG study. Int J Psychophysiol 2024; 203:112405. [PMID: 39053734 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2024.112405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2024] [Revised: 05/13/2024] [Accepted: 07/17/2024] [Indexed: 07/27/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Some studies have hypothesized that atypical neural synchronization at the delta frequency band in the auditory cortex is associated with phonological and language skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but it is still poorly understood. This study investigated this neural activity and addressed the relationships between auditory response and behavioral measures of children with ASD. METHODS We used magnetoencephalography and individual brain models to investigate 2 Hz Auditory Steady-State Response (ASSR) in 20 primary-school-aged children with ASD and 20 age-matched typically developing (TD) controls. RESULTS First, we found a between-group difference in the localization of the auditory response, so as the topology of 2 Hz ASSR was more superior and posterior in TD children when comparing to children with ASD. Second, the power of 2 Hz ASSR was reduced in the ASD group. Finally, we observed a significant association between the amplitude of neural response and language skills in children with ASD. CONCLUSIONS The study provided the evidence of reduced neural response in children with ASD and its relation to language skills. SIGNIFICANCE These findings may inform future interventions targeting auditory and language impairments in ASD population.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ilya Samoylov
- Center for Language and Brain, HSE University, Moscow, Russia.
| | | | - Irina Buyanova
- Center for Language and Brain, HSE University, Moscow, Russia; University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Elizaveta Davydova
- Federal Resource Center for ASD, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia; Chair of Differential Psychology and Psychophysiology, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia
| | - Darya Pereverzeva
- Federal Resource Center for ASD, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexander Sorokin
- Federal Resource Center for ASD, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia; Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Svetlana Tyushkevich
- Federal Resource Center for ASD, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia
| | - Uliana Mamokhina
- Federal Resource Center for ASD, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia
| | - Kamilla Danilina
- Federal Resource Center for ASD, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia; Scientific Research and Practical Center for Pediatric Psychoneurology, Moscow, Russia
| | - Olga Dragoy
- Center for Language and Brain, HSE University, Moscow, Russia; Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Vardan Arutiunian
- Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Issa MF, Khan I, Ruzzoli M, Molinaro N, Lizarazu M. On the speech envelope in the cortical tracking of speech. Neuroimage 2024; 297:120675. [PMID: 38885886 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Revised: 06/05/2024] [Accepted: 06/06/2024] [Indexed: 06/20/2024] Open
Abstract
The synchronization between the speech envelope and neural activity in auditory regions, referred to as cortical tracking of speech (CTS), plays a key role in speech processing. The method selected for extracting the envelope is a crucial step in CTS measurement, and the absence of a consensus on best practices among the various methods can influence analysis outcomes and interpretation. Here, we systematically compare five standard envelope extraction methods the absolute value of Hilbert transform (absHilbert), gammatone filterbanks, heuristic approach, Bark scale, and vocalic energy), analyzing their impact on the CTS. We present performance metrics for each method based on the recording of brain activity from participants listening to speech in clear and noisy conditions, utilizing intracranial EEG, MEG and EEG data. As expected, we observed significant CTS in temporal brain regions below 10 Hz across all datasets, regardless of the extraction methods. In general, the gammatone filterbanks approach consistently demonstrated superior performance compared to other methods. Results from our study can guide scientists in the field to make informed decisions about the optimal analysis to extract the CTS, contributing to advancing the understanding of the neuronal mechanisms implicated in CTS.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mohamed F Issa
- BCBL, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, San Sebastian, Spain; Department of Scientific Computing, Faculty of Computers and Artificial Intelligence, Benha University, Benha, Egypt.
| | - Izhar Khan
- BCBL, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, San Sebastian, Spain
| | - Manuela Ruzzoli
- BCBL, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, San Sebastian, Spain; Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Nicola Molinaro
- BCBL, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, San Sebastian, Spain; Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Mikel Lizarazu
- BCBL, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, San Sebastian, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Do J, James O, Kim YJ. Choice-dependent delta-band neural trajectory during semantic category decision making in the human brain. iScience 2024; 27:110173. [PMID: 39040068 PMCID: PMC11260863 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2023] [Revised: 04/15/2024] [Accepted: 05/31/2024] [Indexed: 07/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Recent human brain imaging studies have identified widely distributed cortical areas that represent information about the meaning of language. Yet, the dynamic nature of widespread neural activity as a correlate of the semantic information processing remains poorly explored. Our state space analysis of electroencephalograms (EEGs) recorded during semantic match-to-category task show that depending on the semantic category and decision path chosen by participants, whole-brain delta-band dynamics follow distinct trajectories that are correlated with participants' response time on a trial-by-trial basis. Especially, the proximity of the neural trajectory to category decision-specific region in the state space was predictive of participants' decision-making reaction times. We also found that posterolateral regions primarily encoded word categories while postero-central regions encoded category decisions. Our results demonstrate the role of neural dynamics embedded in the evolving multivariate delta-band activity patterns in processing the semantic relatedness of words and the semantic category-based decision-making.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jongrok Do
- Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon 34126, Republic of Korea
| | - Oliver James
- Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon 34126, Republic of Korea
| | - Yee-Joon Kim
- Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon 34126, Republic of Korea
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Pérez-Navarro J, Klimovich-Gray A, Lizarazu M, Piazza G, Molinaro N, Lallier M. Early language experience modulates the tradeoff between acoustic-temporal and lexico-semantic cortical tracking of speech. iScience 2024; 27:110247. [PMID: 39006483 PMCID: PMC11246002 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2023] [Revised: 03/14/2024] [Accepted: 06/07/2024] [Indexed: 07/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Cortical tracking of speech is relevant for the development of speech perception skills. However, no study to date has explored whether and how cortical tracking of speech is shaped by accumulated language experience, the central question of this study. In 35 bilingual children (6-year-old) with considerably bigger experience in one language, we collected electroencephalography data while they listened to continuous speech in their two languages. Cortical tracking of speech was assessed at acoustic-temporal and lexico-semantic levels. Children showed more robust acoustic-temporal tracking in the least experienced language, and more sensitive cortical tracking of semantic information in the most experienced language. Additionally, and only for the most experienced language, acoustic-temporal tracking was specifically linked to phonological abilities, and lexico-semantic tracking to vocabulary knowledge. Our results indicate that accumulated linguistic experience is a relevant maturational factor for the cortical tracking of speech at different levels during early language acquisition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jose Pérez-Navarro
- Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), 20009 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
| | | | - Mikel Lizarazu
- Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), 20009 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
| | - Giorgio Piazza
- Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), 20009 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
| | - Nicola Molinaro
- Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), 20009 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, 48009 Bilbao, Spain
| | - Marie Lallier
- Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), 20009 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Ortiz-Barajas MC. Predicting language outcome at birth. Front Hum Neurosci 2024; 18:1370572. [PMID: 39036813 PMCID: PMC11258996 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1370572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2024] [Accepted: 06/11/2024] [Indexed: 07/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Even though most children acquire language effortlessly, not all do. Nowadays, language disorders are difficult to diagnose before 3-4 years of age, because diagnosis relies on behavioral criteria difficult to obtain early in life. Using electroencephalography, I investigated whether differences in newborns' neural activity when listening to sentences in their native language (French) and a rhythmically different unfamiliar language (English) relate to measures of later language development at 12 and 18 months. Here I show that activation differences in the theta band at birth predict language comprehension abilities at 12 and 18 months. These findings suggest that a neural measure of language discrimination at birth could be used in the early identification of infants at risk of developmental language disorders.
Collapse
|
6
|
Gallego-Molina NJ, Ortiz A, Arco JE, Martinez-Murcia FJ, Woo WL. Unraveling Brain Synchronisation Dynamics by Explainable Neural Networks using EEG Signals: Application to Dyslexia Diagnosis. Interdiscip Sci 2024:10.1007/s12539-024-00634-x. [PMID: 38954232 DOI: 10.1007/s12539-024-00634-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Revised: 04/11/2024] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024]
Abstract
The electrical activity of the neural processes involved in cognitive functions is captured in EEG signals, allowing the exploration of the integration and coordination of neuronal oscillations across multiple spatiotemporal scales. We have proposed a novel approach that combines the transformation of EEG signal into image sequences, considering cross-frequency phase synchronisation (CFS) dynamics involved in low-level auditory processing, with the development of a two-stage deep learning model for the detection of developmental dyslexia (DD). This deep learning model exploits spatial and temporal information preserved in the image sequences to find discriminative patterns of phase synchronisation over time achieving a balanced accuracy of up to 83%. This result supports the existence of differential brain synchronisation dynamics between typical and dyslexic seven-year-old readers. Furthermore, we have obtained interpretable representations using a novel feature mask to link the most relevant regions during classification with the cognitive processes attributed to normal reading and those corresponding to compensatory mechanisms found in dyslexia.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicolás J Gallego-Molina
- Communications Engineering Department, University of Málaga, 29004, Málaga, Spain.
- Andalusian Research Institute in Data, Science and Computational Intelligence, 18010, Granada, Spain.
| | - Andrés Ortiz
- Communications Engineering Department, University of Málaga, 29004, Málaga, Spain
- Andalusian Research Institute in Data, Science and Computational Intelligence, 18010, Granada, Spain
| | - Juan E Arco
- Communications Engineering Department, University of Málaga, 29004, Málaga, Spain
- Department of Signal Theory, Networking and Communications, University of Granada, 18010, Granada, Spain
- Andalusian Research Institute in Data, Science and Computational Intelligence, 18010, Granada, Spain
| | - Francisco J Martinez-Murcia
- Department of Signal Theory, Networking and Communications, University of Granada, 18010, Granada, Spain
- Andalusian Research Institute in Data, Science and Computational Intelligence, 18010, Granada, Spain
- Research Centre for Information and Communication Technologies (CITIC-UGR), University of Granada, 18010, Granada, Spain
| | - Wai Lok Woo
- Department of Computer and Information Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Araújo J, Simons BD, Peter V, Mandke K, Kalashnikova M, Macfarlane A, Gabrielczyk F, Wilson A, Di Liberto GM, Burnham D, Goswami U. Atypical low-frequency cortical encoding of speech identifies children with developmental dyslexia. Front Hum Neurosci 2024; 18:1403677. [PMID: 38911229 PMCID: PMC11190370 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1403677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2024] [Accepted: 05/23/2024] [Indexed: 06/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Slow cortical oscillations play a crucial role in processing the speech amplitude envelope, which is perceived atypically by children with developmental dyslexia. Here we use electroencephalography (EEG) recorded during natural speech listening to identify neural processing patterns involving slow oscillations that may characterize children with dyslexia. In a story listening paradigm, we find that atypical power dynamics and phase-amplitude coupling between delta and theta oscillations characterize dyslexic versus other child control groups (typically-developing controls, other language disorder controls). We further isolate EEG common spatial patterns (CSP) during speech listening across delta and theta oscillations that identify dyslexic children. A linear classifier using four delta-band CSP variables predicted dyslexia status (0.77 AUC). Crucially, these spatial patterns also identified children with dyslexia when applied to EEG measured during a rhythmic syllable processing task. This transfer effect (i.e., the ability to use neural features derived from a story listening task as input features to a classifier based on a rhythmic syllable task) is consistent with a core developmental deficit in neural processing of speech rhythm. The findings are suggestive of distinct atypical neurocognitive speech encoding mechanisms underlying dyslexia, which could be targeted by novel interventions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- João Araújo
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Benjamin D. Simons
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- The Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Varghese Peter
- School of Health, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD, Australia
| | - Kanad Mandke
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Marina Kalashnikova
- Basque Center on Cognition, Brain, and Language, San Sebastian, Spain
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Annabel Macfarlane
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Fiona Gabrielczyk
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Angela Wilson
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Giovanni M. Di Liberto
- ADAPT Centre, School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College, The University of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College, The University of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Denis Burnham
- MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour, and Development, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Usha Goswami
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Ding R, Ten Oever S, Martin AE. Delta-band Activity Underlies Referential Meaning Representation during Pronoun Resolution. J Cogn Neurosci 2024; 36:1472-1492. [PMID: 38652108 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_02163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/25/2024]
Abstract
Human language offers a variety of ways to create meaning, one of which is referring to entities, objects, or events in the world. One such meaning maker is understanding to whom or to what a pronoun in a discourse refers to. To understand a pronoun, the brain must access matching entities or concepts that have been encoded in memory from previous linguistic context. Models of language processing propose that internally stored linguistic concepts, accessed via exogenous cues such as phonological input of a word, are represented as (a)synchronous activities across a population of neurons active at specific frequency bands. Converging evidence suggests that delta band activity (1-3 Hz) is involved in temporal and representational integration during sentence processing. Moreover, recent advances in the neurobiology of memory suggest that recollection engages neural dynamics similar to those which occurred during memory encoding. Integrating from these two research lines, we here tested the hypothesis that neural dynamic patterns, especially in delta frequency range, underlying referential meaning representation, would be reinstated during pronoun resolution. By leveraging neural decoding techniques (i.e., representational similarity analysis) on a magnetoencephalogram data set acquired during a naturalistic story-listening task, we provide evidence that delta-band activity underlies referential meaning representation. Our findings suggest that, during spoken language comprehension, endogenous linguistic representations such as referential concepts may be proactively retrieved and represented via activation of their underlying dynamic neural patterns.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rong Ding
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Sanne Ten Oever
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Radboud University Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Andrea E Martin
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Radboud University Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Nora A, Rinkinen O, Renvall H, Service E, Arkkila E, Smolander S, Laasonen M, Salmelin R. Impaired Cortical Tracking of Speech in Children with Developmental Language Disorder. J Neurosci 2024; 44:e2048232024. [PMID: 38589232 PMCID: PMC11140678 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2048-23.2024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Revised: 03/25/2024] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/10/2024] Open
Abstract
In developmental language disorder (DLD), learning to comprehend and express oneself with spoken language is impaired, but the reason for this remains unknown. Using millisecond-scale magnetoencephalography recordings combined with machine learning models, we investigated whether the possible neural basis of this disruption lies in poor cortical tracking of speech. The stimuli were common spoken Finnish words (e.g., dog, car, hammer) and sounds with corresponding meanings (e.g., dog bark, car engine, hammering). In both children with DLD (10 boys and 7 girls) and typically developing (TD) control children (14 boys and 3 girls), aged 10-15 years, the cortical activation to spoken words was best modeled as time-locked to the unfolding speech input at ∼100 ms latency between sound and cortical activation. Amplitude envelope (amplitude changes) and spectrogram (detailed time-varying spectral content) of the spoken words, but not other sounds, were very successfully decoded based on time-locked brain responses in bilateral temporal areas; based on the cortical responses, the models could tell at ∼75-85% accuracy which of the two sounds had been presented to the participant. However, the cortical representation of the amplitude envelope information was poorer in children with DLD compared with TD children at longer latencies (at ∼200-300 ms lag). We interpret this effect as reflecting poorer retention of acoustic-phonetic information in short-term memory. This impaired tracking could potentially affect the processing and learning of words as well as continuous speech. The present results offer an explanation for the problems in language comprehension and acquisition in DLD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anni Nora
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo FI-00076, Finland
- Aalto NeuroImaging (ANI), Aalto University, Espoo FI-00076, Finland
| | - Oona Rinkinen
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo FI-00076, Finland
- Aalto NeuroImaging (ANI), Aalto University, Espoo FI-00076, Finland
| | - Hanna Renvall
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo FI-00076, Finland
- Aalto NeuroImaging (ANI), Aalto University, Espoo FI-00076, Finland
- BioMag Laboratory, HUS Diagnostic Center, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki FI-00029, Finland
| | - Elisabet Service
- Department of Linguistics and Languages, Centre for Advanced Research in Experimental and Applied Linguistics (ARiEAL), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L8, Canada
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki FI-00014, Finland
| | - Eva Arkkila
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Phoniatrics, Head and Neck Center, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki FI-00014, Finland
| | - Sini Smolander
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Phoniatrics, Head and Neck Center, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki FI-00014, Finland
- Research Unit of Logopedics, University of Oulu, Oulu FI-90014, Finland
- Department of Logopedics, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu FI-80101, Finland
| | - Marja Laasonen
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Phoniatrics, Head and Neck Center, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki FI-00014, Finland
- Department of Logopedics, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu FI-80101, Finland
| | - Riitta Salmelin
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo FI-00076, Finland
- Aalto NeuroImaging (ANI), Aalto University, Espoo FI-00076, Finland
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Keshavarzi M, Mandke K, Macfarlane A, Parvez L, Gabrielczyk F, Wilson A, Goswami U. Atypical beta-band effects in children with dyslexia in response to rhythmic audio-visual speech. Clin Neurophysiol 2024; 160:47-55. [PMID: 38387402 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2024.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Revised: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Previous studies have reported atypical delta phase in children with dyslexia, and that delta phase modulates the amplitude of the beta-band response via delta-beta phase-amplitude coupling (PAC). Accordingly, the atypical delta-band effects in children with dyslexia may imply related atypical beta-band effects, particularly regarding delta-beta PAC. Our primary objective was to explore beta-band oscillations in children with and without dyslexia, to explore potentially atypical effects in the beta band in dyslexic children. METHODS We collected EEG data during a rhythmic speech paradigm from 51 children (21 control; 30 dyslexia). We then assessed beta-band phase entrainment, beta-band angular velocity, beta-band power responses and delta-beta PAC. RESULTS We found significant beta-band phase entrainment for control children but not for dyslexic children. Furthermore, children with dyslexia exhibited significantly faster beta-band angular velocity and significantly greater beta-band power. Delta-beta PAC was comparable in both groups. CONCLUSION Atypical beta-band effects were observed in children with dyslexia. However, delta-beta PAC was comparable in both dyslexic and control children. SIGNIFICANCE These findings offer further insights into the neurophysiological basis of atypical rhythmic speech processing by children with dyslexia, suggesting the involvement of a wide range of frequency bands.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mahmoud Keshavarzi
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom.
| | - Kanad Mandke
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| | - Annabel Macfarlane
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| | - Lyla Parvez
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| | - Fiona Gabrielczyk
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| | - Angela Wilson
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| | - Usha Goswami
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Keshavarzi M, Choisdealbha ÁN, Attaheri A, Rocha S, Brusini P, Gibbon S, Boutris P, Mead N, Olawole-Scott H, Ahmed H, Flanagan S, Mandke K, Goswami U. Decoding speech information from EEG data with 4-, 7- and 11-month-old infants: Using convolutional neural network, mutual information-based and backward linear models. J Neurosci Methods 2024; 403:110036. [PMID: 38128783 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2023.110036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Revised: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Computational models that successfully decode neural activity into speech are increasing in the adult literature, with convolutional neural networks (CNNs), backward linear models, and mutual information (MI) models all being applied to neural data in relation to speech input. This is not the case in the infant literature. NEW METHOD Three different computational models, two novel for infants, were applied to decode low-frequency speech envelope information. Previously-employed backward linear models were compared to novel CNN and MI-based models. Fifty infants provided EEG recordings when aged 4, 7, and 11 months, while listening passively to natural speech (sung or chanted nursery rhymes) presented by video with a female singer. RESULTS Each model computed speech information for these nursery rhymes in two different low-frequency bands, delta and theta, thought to provide different types of linguistic information. All three models demonstrated significant levels of performance for delta-band neural activity from 4 months of age, with two of three models also showing significant performance for theta-band activity. All models also demonstrated higher accuracy for the delta-band neural responses. None of the models showed developmental (age-related) effects. COMPARISONS WITH EXISTING METHODS The data demonstrate that the choice of algorithm used to decode speech envelope information from neural activity in the infant brain determines the developmental conclusions that can be drawn. CONCLUSIONS The modelling shows that better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each modelling approach is fundamental to improving our understanding of how the human brain builds a language system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mahmoud Keshavarzi
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK.
| | - Áine Ní Choisdealbha
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Adam Attaheri
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Sinead Rocha
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Perrine Brusini
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Samuel Gibbon
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Panagiotis Boutris
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Natasha Mead
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Helen Olawole-Scott
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Henna Ahmed
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Sheila Flanagan
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Kanad Mandke
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Usha Goswami
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Schwarz J, Lizarazu M, Lallier M, Klimovich-Gray A. Phonological deficits in dyslexia impede lexical processing of spoken words: Linking behavioural and MEG data. Cortex 2024; 171:204-222. [PMID: 38029653 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2023] [Revised: 07/07/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
Phonological difficulties have been identified as a core deficit in developmental dyslexia, yet everyday speech comprehension, which relies on phonological processing, is seemingly unaffected. This raises the question as to how dyslexic readers process spoken words to achieve normal word comprehension. Here we establish a link between neural correlates of lexical and sublexical processing in auditory words and behaviourally measured phonological deficits using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Spatiotemporally resolved cortical responses to phonological and lexico-semantic information were computed with the event-related regression technique (Hauk et al., 2009) and correlated with dyslexic and non-dyslexic subjects' phonological skills. We found that phonological deficits reduced cortical responses to both phonological and lexico-semantic information (phonological neighbours and word frequency). Individuals with lower phonological skills - independent of dyslexia diagnosis - showed weaker neural responses to phonological neighbourhood information in both hemispheres 200-500 ms after word onset and reduced sensitivity to written and spoken word frequency between 200 and 650 ms. Dyslexic readers showed weaker responses to written word frequency in particular compared to the control group, pointing towards an additional effect of print exposure on auditory word processing. Source space analysis localised phonological and lexico-semantic effect peaks to the left superior temporal gyrus, a key area that has been related to core deficits in dyslexia across a range of neuroimaging studies. The results provide comprehensive evidence that phonological deficits impact both sublexical and lexical stages of spoken word processing and that these deficits cannot be fully compensated through neural re-organization of lexical-distributional information at the single word level. Theoretical and practical implications for typical readers, dyslexic readers, and readers with developmental language disorder are discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Mikel Lizarazu
- Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), Donostia, San Sebastian, Spain
| | - Marie Lallier
- Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), Donostia, San Sebastian, Spain
| | | |
Collapse
|
13
|
Lasnick OHM, Hoeft F. Sensory temporal sampling in time: an integrated model of the TSF and neural noise hypothesis as an etiological pathway for dyslexia. Front Hum Neurosci 2024; 17:1294941. [PMID: 38234592 PMCID: PMC10792016 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1294941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Much progress has been made in research on the causal mechanisms of developmental dyslexia. In recent years, the "temporal sampling" account of dyslexia has evolved considerably, with contributions from neurogenetics and novel imaging methods resulting in a much more complex etiological view of the disorder. The original temporal sampling framework implicates disrupted neural entrainment to speech as a causal factor for atypical phonological representations. Yet, empirical findings have not provided clear evidence of a low-level etiology for this endophenotype. In contrast, the neural noise hypothesis presents a theoretical view of the manifestation of dyslexia from the level of genes to behavior. However, its relative novelty (published in 2017) means that empirical research focused on specific predictions is sparse. The current paper reviews dyslexia research using a dual framework from the temporal sampling and neural noise hypotheses and discusses the complementary nature of these two views of dyslexia. We present an argument for an integrated model of sensory temporal sampling as an etiological pathway for dyslexia. Finally, we conclude with a brief discussion of outstanding questions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Oliver H. M. Lasnick
- brainLENS Laboratory, Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, United States
| | | |
Collapse
|
14
|
Guerra G, Tierney A, Tijms J, Vaessen A, Bonte M, Dick F. Attentional modulation of neural sound tracking in children with and without dyslexia. Dev Sci 2024; 27:e13420. [PMID: 37350014 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2022] [Revised: 04/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/24/2023]
Abstract
Auditory selective attention forms an important foundation of children's learning by enabling the prioritisation and encoding of relevant stimuli. It may also influence reading development, which relies on metalinguistic skills including the awareness of the sound structure of spoken language. Reports of attentional impairments and speech perception difficulties in noisy environments in dyslexic readers are also suggestive of the putative contribution of auditory attention to reading development. To date, it is unclear whether non-speech selective attention and its underlying neural mechanisms are impaired in children with dyslexia and to which extent these deficits relate to individual reading and speech perception abilities in suboptimal listening conditions. In this EEG study, we assessed non-speech sustained auditory selective attention in 106 7-to-12-year-old children with and without dyslexia. Children attended to one of two tone streams, detecting occasional sequence repeats in the attended stream, and performed a speech-in-speech perception task. Results show that when children directed their attention to one stream, inter-trial-phase-coherence at the attended rate increased in fronto-central sites; this, in turn, was associated with better target detection. Behavioural and neural indices of attention did not systematically differ as a function of dyslexia diagnosis. However, behavioural indices of attention did explain individual differences in reading fluency and speech-in-speech perception abilities: both these skills were impaired in dyslexic readers. Taken together, our results show that children with dyslexia do not show group-level auditory attention deficits but these deficits may represent a risk for developing reading impairments and problems with speech perception in complex acoustic environments. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Non-speech sustained auditory selective attention modulates EEG phase coherence in children with/without dyslexia Children with dyslexia show difficulties in speech-in-speech perception Attention relates to dyslexic readers' speech-in-speech perception and reading skills Dyslexia diagnosis is not linked to behavioural/EEG indices of auditory attention.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Giada Guerra
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, UK
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center and Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Adam Tierney
- Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, UK
| | - Jurgen Tijms
- RID, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Rudolf Berlin Center, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | | | - Milene Bonte
- Maastricht Brain Imaging Center and Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Frederic Dick
- Division of Psychology & Language Sciences, UCL, London, UK
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Keshavarzi M, Di Liberto GM, Gabrielczyk F, Wilson A, Macfarlane A, Goswami U. Atypical speech production of multisyllabic words and phrases by children with developmental dyslexia. Dev Sci 2024; 27:e13428. [PMID: 37381667 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2022] [Revised: 05/20/2023] [Accepted: 06/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/30/2023]
Abstract
The prevalent "core phonological deficit" model of dyslexia proposes that the reading and spelling difficulties characterizing affected children stem from prior developmental difficulties in processing speech sound structure, for example, perceiving and identifying syllable stress patterns, syllables, rhymes and phonemes. Yet spoken word production appears normal. This suggests an unexpected disconnect between speech input and speech output processes. Here we investigated the output side of this disconnect from a speech rhythm perspective by measuring the speech amplitude envelope (AE) of multisyllabic spoken phrases. The speech AE contains crucial information regarding stress patterns, speech rate, tonal contrasts and intonational information. We created a novel computerized speech copying task in which participants copied aloud familiar spoken targets like "Aladdin." Seventy-five children with and without dyslexia were tested, some of whom were also receiving an oral intervention designed to enhance multi-syllabic processing. Similarity of the child's productions to the target AE was computed using correlation and mutual information metrics. Similarity of pitch contour, another acoustic cue to speech rhythm, was used for control analyses. Children with dyslexia were significantly worse at producing the multi-syllabic targets as indexed by both similarity metrics for computing the AE. However, children with dyslexia were not different from control children in producing pitch contours. Accordingly, the spoken production of multisyllabic phrases by children with dyslexia is atypical regarding the AE. Children with dyslexia may not appear to listeners to exhibit speech production difficulties because their pitch contours are intact. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Speech production of syllable stress patterns is atypical in children with dyslexia. Children with dyslexia are significantly worse at producing the amplitude envelope of multi-syllabic targets compared to both age-matched and reading-level-matched control children. No group differences were found for pitch contour production between children with dyslexia and age-matched control children. It may be difficult to detect speech output problems in dyslexia as pitch contours are relatively accurate.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mahmoud Keshavarzi
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Giovanni M Di Liberto
- School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Fiona Gabrielczyk
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Angela Wilson
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Annabel Macfarlane
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Usha Goswami
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Schmidt F, Chen Y, Keitel A, Rösch S, Hannemann R, Serman M, Hauswald A, Weisz N. Neural speech tracking shifts from the syllabic to the modulation rate of speech as intelligibility decreases. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14362. [PMID: 37350379 PMCID: PMC10909526 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Revised: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/24/2023]
Abstract
The most prominent acoustic features in speech are intensity modulations, represented by the amplitude envelope of speech. Synchronization of neural activity with these modulations supports speech comprehension. As the acoustic modulation of speech is related to the production of syllables, investigations of neural speech tracking commonly do not distinguish between lower-level acoustic (envelope modulation) and higher-level linguistic (syllable rate) information. Here we manipulated speech intelligibility using noise-vocoded speech and investigated the spectral dynamics of neural speech processing, across two studies at cortical and subcortical levels of the auditory hierarchy, using magnetoencephalography. Overall, cortical regions mostly track the syllable rate, whereas subcortical regions track the acoustic envelope. Furthermore, with less intelligible speech, tracking of the modulation rate becomes more dominant. Our study highlights the importance of distinguishing between envelope modulation and syllable rate and provides novel possibilities to better understand differences between auditory processing and speech/language processing disorders.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fabian Schmidt
- Center for Cognitive NeuroscienceUniversity of SalzburgSalzburgAustria
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of SalzburgSalzburgAustria
| | - Ya‐Ping Chen
- Center for Cognitive NeuroscienceUniversity of SalzburgSalzburgAustria
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of SalzburgSalzburgAustria
| | - Anne Keitel
- Psychology, School of Social SciencesUniversity of DundeeDundeeUK
| | - Sebastian Rösch
- Department of OtorhinolaryngologyParacelsus Medical UniversitySalzburgAustria
| | | | - Maja Serman
- Audiological Research UnitSivantos GmbHErlangenGermany
| | - Anne Hauswald
- Center for Cognitive NeuroscienceUniversity of SalzburgSalzburgAustria
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of SalzburgSalzburgAustria
| | - Nathan Weisz
- Center for Cognitive NeuroscienceUniversity of SalzburgSalzburgAustria
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of SalzburgSalzburgAustria
- Neuroscience Institute, Christian Doppler University Hospital, Paracelsus Medical UniversitySalzburgAustria
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Mandke K, Flanagan S, Macfarlane A, Feltham G, Gabrielczyk F, Wilson AM, Gross J, Goswami U. Neural responses to natural and enhanced speech edges in children with and without dyslexia. Front Hum Neurosci 2023; 17:1200950. [PMID: 37841072 PMCID: PMC10571917 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1200950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2023] [Accepted: 08/31/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Sensory-neural studies indicate that children with developmental dyslexia show impairments in processing acoustic speech envelope information. Prior studies suggest that this arises in part from reduced sensory sensitivity to amplitude rise times (ARTs or speech "edges") in the envelope, accompanied by less accurate neural encoding of low-frequency envelope information. Accordingly, enhancing these characteristics of the speech envelope may enhance neural speech processing in children with dyslexia. Here we applied an envelope modulation enhancement (EME) algorithm to a 10-min story read in child-directed speech (CDS), enhancing ARTs and also enhancing low-frequency envelope information. We compared neural speech processing (as measured using MEG) for the EME story with the same story read in natural CDS for 9-year-old children with and without dyslexia. The EME story affected neural processing in the power domain for children with dyslexia, particularly in the delta band (0.5-4 Hz) in the superior temporal gyrus. This may suggest that prolonged experience with EME speech could ameliorate some of the impairments shown in natural speech processing by children with dyslexia.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kanad Mandke
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Sheila Flanagan
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Annabel Macfarlane
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Georgia Feltham
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Fiona Gabrielczyk
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Angela M. Wilson
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Joachim Gross
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Usha Goswami
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Li KE, Dimitrijevic A, Gordon KA, Pang EW, Greiner HM, Kadis DS. Age-related increases in right hemisphere support for prosodic processing in children. Sci Rep 2023; 13:15849. [PMID: 37740012 PMCID: PMC10516972 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-43027-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 09/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Language comprehension is a complex process involving an extensive brain network. Brain regions responsible for prosodic processing have been studied in adults; however, much less is known about the neural bases of prosodic processing in children. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we mapped regions supporting speech envelope tracking (a marker of prosodic processing) in 80 typically developing children, ages 4-18 years, completing a stories listening paradigm. Neuromagnetic signals coherent with the speech envelope were localized using dynamic imaging of coherent sources (DICS). Across the group, we observed coherence in bilateral perisylvian cortex. We observed age-related increases in coherence to the speech envelope in the right superior temporal gyrus (r = 0.31, df = 78, p = 0.0047) and primary auditory cortex (r = 0.27, df = 78, p = 0.016); age-related decreases in coherence to the speech envelope were observed in the left superior temporal gyrus (r = - 0.25, df = 78, p = 0.026). This pattern may indicate a refinement of the networks responsible for prosodic processing during development, where language areas in the right hemisphere become increasingly specialized for prosodic processing. Altogether, these results reveal a distinct neurodevelopmental trajectory for the processing of prosodic cues, highlighting the presence of supportive language functions in the right hemisphere. Findings from this dataset of typically developing children may serve as a potential reference timeline for assessing children with neurodevelopmental hearing and speech disorders.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kristen E Li
- Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Neurosciences and Mental Health, Hospital for Sick Children, 686 Bay Street, Toronto, ON, M5G 0A4, Canada
| | - Andrew Dimitrijevic
- Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Otolaryngology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Otolaryngology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Karen A Gordon
- Neurosciences and Mental Health, Hospital for Sick Children, 686 Bay Street, Toronto, ON, M5G 0A4, Canada
- Department of Otolaryngology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Elizabeth W Pang
- Neurosciences and Mental Health, Hospital for Sick Children, 686 Bay Street, Toronto, ON, M5G 0A4, Canada
- Division of Neurology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Hansel M Greiner
- Division of Neurology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Darren S Kadis
- Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Neurosciences and Mental Health, Hospital for Sick Children, 686 Bay Street, Toronto, ON, M5G 0A4, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Cainelli E, Vedovelli L, Carretti B, Bisiacchi P. EEG correlates of developmental dyslexia: a systematic review. ANNALS OF DYSLEXIA 2023; 73:184-213. [PMID: 36417146 PMCID: PMC10247570 DOI: 10.1007/s11881-022-00273-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Dyslexia is one of the most studied learning disorders. Despite this, its biological basis and main causes are still not fully understood. Electroencephalography (EEG) could be a powerful tool in identifying the underlying mechanisms, but knowledge of the EEG correlates of developmental dyslexia (DD) remains elusive. We aimed to systematically review the evidence on EEG correlates of DD and establish their quality. In July 2021, we carried out an online search of the PubMed and Scopus databases to identify published articles on EEG correlates in children with dyslexia aged 6 to 12 years without comorbidities. We follow the PRISMA guidelines and assess the quality using the Appraisal Tool questionnaire. Our final analysis included 49 studies (14% high quality, 63% medium, 20% low, and 2% very low). Studies differed greatly in methodology, making a summary of their results challenging. However, some points came to light. Even at rest, children with dyslexia and children in the control group exhibited differences in several EEG measures, particularly in theta and alpha frequencies; these frequencies appear to be associated with learning performance. During reading-related tasks, the differences between dyslexic and control children seem more localized in the left temporoparietal sites. The EEG activity of children with dyslexia and children in the control group differed in many aspects, both at rest and during reading-related tasks. Our data are compatible with neuroimaging studies in the same diagnostic group and expand the literature by offering new insights into functional significance.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Cainelli
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia, 8, 35133, Padua, Italy.
| | - Luca Vedovelli
- Unit of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Public Health, Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular Sciences, and Public Health, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
| | - Barbara Carretti
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia, 8, 35133, Padua, Italy
| | - Patrizia Bisiacchi
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia, 8, 35133, Padua, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Centre, PNC, Padua, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Van Hirtum T, Somers B, Verschueren E, Dieudonné B, Francart T. Delta-band neural envelope tracking predicts speech intelligibility in noise in preschoolers. Hear Res 2023; 434:108785. [PMID: 37172414 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2023.108785] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Revised: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 05/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Behavioral tests are currently the gold standard in measuring speech intelligibility. However, these tests can be difficult to administer in young children due to factors such as motivation, linguistic knowledge and cognitive skills. It has been shown that measures of neural envelope tracking can be used to predict speech intelligibility and overcome these issues. However, its potential as an objective measure for speech intelligibility in noise remains to be investigated in preschool children. Here, we evaluated neural envelope tracking as a function of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in 14 5-year-old children. We examined EEG responses to natural, continuous speech presented at different SNRs ranging from -8 (very difficult) to 8 dB SNR (very easy). As expected delta band (0.5-4 Hz) tracking increased with increasing stimulus SNR. However, this increase was not strictly monotonic as neural tracking reached a plateau between 0 and 4 dB SNR, similarly to the behavioral speech intelligibility outcomes. These findings indicate that neural tracking in the delta band remains stable, as long as the acoustical degradation of the speech signal does not reflect significant changes in speech intelligibility. Theta band tracking (4-8 Hz), on the other hand, was found to be drastically reduced and more easily affected by noise in children, making it less reliable as a measure of speech intelligibility. By contrast, neural envelope tracking in the delta band was directly associated with behavioral measures of speech intelligibility. This suggests that neural envelope tracking in the delta band is a valuable tool for evaluating speech-in-noise intelligibility in preschoolers, highlighting its potential as an objective measure of speech in difficult-to-test populations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tilde Van Hirtum
- KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Herestraat 49 bus 721, Leuven 3000, Belgium.
| | - Ben Somers
- KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Herestraat 49 bus 721, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Eline Verschueren
- KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Herestraat 49 bus 721, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Benjamin Dieudonné
- KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Herestraat 49 bus 721, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Tom Francart
- KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Herestraat 49 bus 721, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Acoustic correlates of the syllabic rhythm of speech: Modulation spectrum or local features of the temporal envelope. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 147:105111. [PMID: 36822385 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Revised: 12/04/2022] [Accepted: 02/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023]
Abstract
The syllable is a perceptually salient unit in speech. Since both the syllable and its acoustic correlate, i.e., the speech envelope, have a preferred range of rhythmicity between 4 and 8 Hz, it is hypothesized that theta-band neural oscillations play a major role in extracting syllables based on the envelope. A literature survey, however, reveals inconsistent evidence about the relationship between speech envelope and syllables, and the current study revisits this question by analyzing large speech corpora. It is shown that the center frequency of speech envelope, characterized by the modulation spectrum, reliably correlates with the rate of syllables only when the analysis is pooled over minutes of speech recordings. In contrast, in the time domain, a component of the speech envelope is reliably phase-locked to syllable onsets. Based on a speaker-independent model, the timing of syllable onsets explains about 24% variance of the speech envelope. These results indicate that local features in the speech envelope, instead of the modulation spectrum, are a more reliable acoustic correlate of syllables.
Collapse
|
22
|
Klimovich-Gray A, Di Liberto G, Amoruso L, Barrena A, Agirre E, Molinaro N. Increased top-down semantic processing in natural speech linked to better reading in dyslexia. Neuroimage 2023; 273:120072. [PMID: 37004829 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2022] [Revised: 03/12/2023] [Accepted: 03/30/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Early research proposed that individuals with developmental dyslexia use contextual information to facilitate lexical access and compensate for phonological deficits. Yet at present there is no corroborating neuro-cognitive evidence. We explored this with a novel combination of magnetoencephalography (MEG), neural encoding and grey matter volume analyses. We analysed MEG data from 41 adult native Spanish speakers (14 with dyslexic symptoms) who passively listened to naturalistic sentences. We used multivariate Temporal Response Function analysis to capture online cortical tracking of both auditory (speech envelope) and contextual information. To compute contextual information tracking we used word-level Semantic Surprisal derived using a Transformer Neural Network language model. We related online information tracking to participants' reading scores and grey matter volumes within the reading-linked cortical network. We found that right hemisphere envelope tracking was related to better phonological decoding (pseudoword reading) for both groups, with dyslexic readers performing worse overall at this task. Consistently, grey matter volume in the superior temporal and bilateral inferior frontal areas increased with better envelope tracking abilities. Critically, for dyslexic readers only, stronger Semantic Surprisal tracking in the right hemisphere was related to better word reading. These findings further support the notion of a speech envelope tracking deficit in dyslexia and provide novel evidence for top-down semantic compensatory mechanisms.
Collapse
|
23
|
Van Herck S, Economou M, Vanden Bempt F, Glatz T, Ghesquière P, Vandermosten M, Wouters J. Neural synchronization and intervention in pre-readers who later on develop dyslexia. Eur J Neurosci 2023; 57:547-567. [PMID: 36518008 PMCID: PMC10108076 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2022] [Revised: 11/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
A growing number of studies has investigated temporal processing deficits in dyslexia. These studies largely focus on neural synchronization to speech. However, the importance of rise times for neural synchronization is often overlooked. Furthermore, targeted interventions, phonics-based and auditory, are being developed, but little is known about their impact. The current study investigated the impact of a 12-week tablet-based intervention. Children at risk for dyslexia received phonics-based training, either with (n = 31) or without (n = 31) auditory training, or engaged in active control training (n = 29). Additionally, neural synchronization and processing of rise times was longitudinally investigated in children with dyslexia (n = 26) and typical readers (n = 52) from pre-reading (5 years) to beginning reading age (7 years). The three time points in the longitudinal study correspond to intervention pre-test, post-test and consolidation, approximately 1 year after completing the intervention. At each time point neural synchronization was measured to sinusoidal stimuli and pulsatile stimuli with shortened rise times at syllable (4 Hz) and phoneme rates (20 Hz). Our results revealed no impact on neural synchronization at syllable and phoneme rate of the phonics-based and auditory training. However, we did reveal atypical hemispheric specialization at both syllable and phoneme rates in children with dyslexia. This was detected even before the onset of reading acquisition, pointing towards a possible causal rather than consequential mechanism in dyslexia. This study contributes to our understanding of the temporal processing deficits underlying the development of dyslexia, but also shows that the development of targeted interventions is still a work in progress.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shauni Van Herck
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of NeurosciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational SciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Brain InstituteKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Maria Economou
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of NeurosciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational SciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Brain InstituteKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Child & Youth Institute (L‐C&Y)KU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Femke Vanden Bempt
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of NeurosciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational SciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Brain InstituteKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Child & Youth Institute (L‐C&Y)KU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Toivo Glatz
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of NeurosciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Institute of Public HealthCharité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt‐Universität zu BerlinBerlinGermany
| | - Pol Ghesquière
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational SciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Brain InstituteKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Child & Youth Institute (L‐C&Y)KU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Maaike Vandermosten
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of NeurosciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Brain InstituteKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Child & Youth Institute (L‐C&Y)KU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Jan Wouters
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of NeurosciencesKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Leuven Brain InstituteKU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Peter V, Goswami U, Burnham D, Kalashnikova M. Impaired neural entrainment to low frequency amplitude modulations in English-speaking children with dyslexia or dyslexia and DLD. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2023; 236:105217. [PMID: 36529116 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2022.105217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2021] [Revised: 08/19/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Neural synchronization to amplitude-modulated noise at three frequencies (2 Hz, 5 Hz, 8 Hz) thought to be important for syllable perception was investigated in English-speaking school-aged children. The theoretically-important delta-band (∼2Hz, stressed syllable level) was included along with two syllable-level rates. The auditory steady state response (ASSR) was recorded using EEG in 36 7-to-12-year-old children. Half of the sample had either dyslexia or dyslexia and DLD (developmental language disorder). In comparison to typically-developing children, children with dyslexia or with dyslexia and DLD showed reduced ASSRs for 2 Hz stimulation but similar ASSRs at 5 Hz and 8 Hz. These novel data for English ASSRs converge with prior data suggesting that children with dyslexia have atypical synchrony between brain oscillations and incoming auditory stimulation at ∼ 2 Hz, the rate of stressed syllable production across languages. This atypical synchronization likely impairs speech processing, phonological processing, and possibly syntactic processing, as predicted by Temporal Sampling theory.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Varghese Peter
- MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Australia; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia
| | - Usha Goswami
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, UK
| | - Denis Burnham
- MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Australia
| | - Marina Kalashnikova
- MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Australia; BCBL. Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, Spain; Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain.
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Niesen M, Bourguignon M, Bertels J, Vander Ghinst M, Wens V, Goldman S, De Tiège X. Cortical tracking of lexical speech units in a multi-talker background is immature in school-aged children. Neuroimage 2023; 265:119770. [PMID: 36462732 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2022] [Revised: 11/09/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Children have more difficulty perceiving speech in noise than adults. Whether this difficulty relates to an immature processing of prosodic or linguistic elements of the attended speech is still unclear. To address the impact of noise on linguistic processing per se, we assessed how babble noise impacts the cortical tracking of intelligible speech devoid of prosody in school-aged children and adults. Twenty adults and twenty children (7-9 years) listened to synthesized French monosyllabic words presented at 2.5 Hz, either randomly or in 4-word hierarchical structures wherein 2 words formed a phrase at 1.25 Hz, and 2 phrases formed a sentence at 0.625 Hz, with or without babble noise. Neuromagnetic responses to words, phrases and sentences were identified and source-localized. Children and adults displayed significant cortical tracking of words in all conditions, and of phrases and sentences only when words formed meaningful sentences. In children compared with adults, the cortical tracking was lower for all linguistic units in conditions without noise. In the presence of noise, the cortical tracking was similarly reduced for sentence units in both groups, but remained stable for phrase units. Critically, when there was noise, adults increased the cortical tracking of monosyllabic words in the inferior frontal gyri and supratemporal auditory cortices but children did not. This study demonstrates that the difficulties of school-aged children in understanding speech in a multi-talker background might be partly due to an immature tracking of lexical but not supra-lexical linguistic units.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maxime Niesen
- Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), UNI - ULB Neurosciences Institute, Laboratoire de Neuroanatomie et de Neuroimagerie translationnelles (LN2T), 1070 Brussels, Belgium; Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Hôpital Universitaire de Bruxelles (HUB), CUB Hôpital Erasme, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, 1070 Brussels, Belgium.
| | - Mathieu Bourguignon
- Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), UNI - ULB Neurosciences Institute, Laboratoire de Neuroanatomie et de Neuroimagerie translationnelles (LN2T), 1070 Brussels, Belgium; Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, 1070 Brussels, Belgium.; BCBL, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, 20009 San Sebastian, Spain
| | - Julie Bertels
- Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), UNI - ULB Neurosciences Institute, Laboratoire de Neuroanatomie et de Neuroimagerie translationnelles (LN2T), 1070 Brussels, Belgium; Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Cognition and Computation group, ULBabyLab - Consciousness, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Marc Vander Ghinst
- Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), UNI - ULB Neurosciences Institute, Laboratoire de Neuroanatomie et de Neuroimagerie translationnelles (LN2T), 1070 Brussels, Belgium; Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Hôpital Universitaire de Bruxelles (HUB), CUB Hôpital Erasme, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, 1070 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Vincent Wens
- Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), UNI - ULB Neurosciences Institute, Laboratoire de Neuroanatomie et de Neuroimagerie translationnelles (LN2T), 1070 Brussels, Belgium; Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Hôpital Universitaire de Bruxelles (HUB), CUB Hôpital Erasme, Department of translational Neuroimaging, 1070 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Serge Goldman
- Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), UNI - ULB Neurosciences Institute, Laboratoire de Neuroanatomie et de Neuroimagerie translationnelles (LN2T), 1070 Brussels, Belgium; Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Hôpital Universitaire de Bruxelles (HUB), CUB Hôpital Erasme, Department of Nuclear Medicine, 1070 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Xavier De Tiège
- Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), UNI - ULB Neurosciences Institute, Laboratoire de Neuroanatomie et de Neuroimagerie translationnelles (LN2T), 1070 Brussels, Belgium; Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Hôpital Universitaire de Bruxelles (HUB), CUB Hôpital Erasme, Department of translational Neuroimaging, 1070 Brussels, Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Pastore A, Tomassini A, Delis I, Dolfini E, Fadiga L, D'Ausilio A. Speech listening entails neural encoding of invisible articulatory features. Neuroimage 2022; 264:119724. [PMID: 36328272 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Revised: 09/28/2022] [Accepted: 10/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Speech processing entails a complex interplay between bottom-up and top-down computations. The former is reflected in the neural entrainment to the quasi-rhythmic properties of speech acoustics while the latter is supposed to guide the selection of the most relevant input subspace. Top-down signals are believed to originate mainly from motor regions, yet similar activities have been shown to tune attentional cycles also for simpler, non-speech stimuli. Here we examined whether, during speech listening, the brain reconstructs articulatory patterns associated to speech production. We measured electroencephalographic (EEG) data while participants listened to sentences during the production of which articulatory kinematics of lips, jaws and tongue were also recorded (via Electro-Magnetic Articulography, EMA). We captured the patterns of articulatory coordination through Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and used Partial Information Decomposition (PID) to identify whether the speech envelope and each of the kinematic components provided unique, synergistic and/or redundant information regarding the EEG signals. Interestingly, tongue movements contain both unique as well as synergistic information with the envelope that are encoded in the listener's brain activity. This demonstrates that during speech listening the brain retrieves highly specific and unique motor information that is never accessible through vision, thus leveraging audio-motor maps that arise most likely from the acquisition of speech production during development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A Pastore
- Center for Translational Neurophysiology of Speech and Communication, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Ferrara, Italy; Department of Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, Università di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
| | - A Tomassini
- Center for Translational Neurophysiology of Speech and Communication, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Ferrara, Italy
| | - I Delis
- School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| | - E Dolfini
- Center for Translational Neurophysiology of Speech and Communication, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Ferrara, Italy; Department of Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, Università di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - L Fadiga
- Center for Translational Neurophysiology of Speech and Communication, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Ferrara, Italy; Department of Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, Università di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - A D'Ausilio
- Center for Translational Neurophysiology of Speech and Communication, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Ferrara, Italy; Department of Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, Università di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Neurodevelopmental oscillatory basis of speech processing in noise. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2022; 59:101181. [PMID: 36549148 PMCID: PMC9792357 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2022.101181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2022] [Revised: 10/31/2022] [Accepted: 11/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans' extraordinary ability to understand speech in noise relies on multiple processes that develop with age. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we characterize the underlying neuromaturational basis by quantifying how cortical oscillations in 144 participants (aged 5-27 years) track phrasal and syllabic structures in connected speech mixed with different types of noise. While the extraction of prosodic cues from clear speech was stable during development, its maintenance in a multi-talker background matured rapidly up to age 9 and was associated with speech comprehension. Furthermore, while the extraction of subtler information provided by syllables matured at age 9, its maintenance in noisy backgrounds progressively matured until adulthood. Altogether, these results highlight distinct behaviorally relevant maturational trajectories for the neuronal signatures of speech perception. In accordance with grain-size proposals, neuromaturational milestones are reached increasingly late for linguistic units of decreasing size, with further delays incurred by noise.
Collapse
|
28
|
Vanden Bempt F, Van Herck S, Economou M, Vanderauwera J, Vandermosten M, Wouters J, Ghesquière P. Speech perception deficits and the effect of envelope-enhanced story listening combined with phonics intervention in pre-readers at risk for dyslexia. Front Psychol 2022; 13:1021767. [PMID: 36389538 PMCID: PMC9650384 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1021767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2022] [Accepted: 10/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Developmental dyslexia is considered to be most effectively addressed with preventive phonics-based interventions, including grapheme-phoneme coupling and blending exercises. These intervention types require intact speech perception abilities, given their large focus on exercises with auditorily presented phonemes. Yet some children with (a risk for) dyslexia experience problems in this domain due to a poorer sensitivity to rise times, i.e., rhythmic acoustic cues present in the speech envelope. As a result, the often subtle speech perception problems could potentially constrain an optimal response to phonics-based interventions in at-risk children. The current study therefore aimed (1) to extend existing research by examining the presence of potential speech perception deficits in pre-readers at cognitive risk for dyslexia when compared to typically developing peers and (2) to explore the added value of a preventive auditory intervention for at-risk pre-readers, targeting rise time sensitivity, on speech perception and other reading-related skills. To obtain the first research objective, we longitudinally compared speech-in-noise perception between 28 5-year-old pre-readers with and 30 peers without a cognitive risk for dyslexia during the second half of the third year of kindergarten. The second research objective was addressed by exploring growth in speech perception and other reading-related skills in an independent sample of 62 at-risk 5-year-old pre-readers who all combined a 12-week preventive phonics-based intervention (GraphoGame-Flemish) with an auditory story listening intervention. In half of the sample, story recordings contained artificially enhanced rise times (GG-FL_EE group, n = 31), while in the other half, stories remained unprocessed (GG-FL_NE group, n = 31; Clinical Trial Number S60962-https://www.uzleuven.be/nl/clinical-trial-center). Results revealed a slower speech-in-noise perception growth in the at-risk compared to the non-at-risk group, due to an emerged deficit at the end of kindergarten. Concerning the auditory intervention effects, both intervention groups showed equal growth in speech-in-noise perception and other reading-related skills, suggesting no boost of envelope-enhanced story listening on top of the effect of combining GraphoGame-Flemish with listening to unprocessed stories. These findings thus provide evidence for a link between speech perception problems and dyslexia, yet do not support the potential of the auditory intervention in its current form.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Femke Vanden Bempt
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Shauni Van Herck
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Maria Economou
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jolijn Vanderauwera
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
- Institute of Neuroscience, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Maaike Vandermosten
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jan Wouters
- Research Group ExpORL, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Pol Ghesquière
- Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Cantiani C, Dondena C, Molteni M, Riva V, Piazza C. Synchronizing with the rhythm: Infant neural entrainment to complex musical and speech stimuli. Front Psychol 2022; 13:944670. [PMID: 36337544 PMCID: PMC9635850 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.944670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Neural entrainment is defined as the process whereby brain activity, and more specifically neuronal oscillations measured by EEG, synchronize with exogenous stimulus rhythms. Despite the importance that neural oscillations have assumed in recent years in the field of auditory neuroscience and speech perception, in human infants the oscillatory brain rhythms and their synchronization with complex auditory exogenous rhythms are still relatively unexplored. In the present study, we investigate infant neural entrainment to complex non-speech (musical) and speech rhythmic stimuli; we provide a developmental analysis to explore potential similarities and differences between infants' and adults' ability to entrain to the stimuli; and we analyze the associations between infants' neural entrainment measures and the concurrent level of development. 25 8-month-old infants were included in the study. Their EEG signals were recorded while they passively listened to non-speech and speech rhythmic stimuli modulated at different rates. In addition, Bayley Scales were administered to all infants to assess their cognitive, language, and social-emotional development. Neural entrainment to the incoming rhythms was measured in the form of peaks emerging from the EEG spectrum at frequencies corresponding to the rhythm envelope. Analyses of the EEG spectrum revealed clear responses above the noise floor at frequencies corresponding to the rhythm envelope, suggesting that - similarly to adults - infants at 8 months of age were capable of entraining to the incoming complex auditory rhythms. Infants' measures of neural entrainment were associated with concurrent measures of cognitive and social-emotional development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Cantiani
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Lecco, Italy
| | - Chiara Dondena
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Lecco, Italy
| | - Massimo Molteni
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Lecco, Italy
| | - Valentina Riva
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Lecco, Italy
| | - Caterina Piazza
- Bioengineering Lab, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Lecco, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Menn KH, Ward EK, Braukmann R, van den Boomen C, Buitelaar J, Hunnius S, Snijders TM. Neural Tracking in Infancy Predicts Language Development in Children With and Without Family History of Autism. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2022; 3:495-514. [PMID: 37216063 PMCID: PMC10158647 DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2021] [Accepted: 05/16/2022] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
During speech processing, neural activity in non-autistic adults and infants tracks the speech envelope. Recent research in adults indicates that this neural tracking relates to linguistic knowledge and may be reduced in autism. Such reduced tracking, if present already in infancy, could impede language development. In the current study, we focused on children with a family history of autism, who often show a delay in first language acquisition. We investigated whether differences in tracking of sung nursery rhymes during infancy relate to language development and autism symptoms in childhood. We assessed speech-brain coherence at either 10 or 14 months of age in a total of 22 infants with high likelihood of autism due to family history and 19 infants without family history of autism. We analyzed the relationship between speech-brain coherence in these infants and their vocabulary at 24 months as well as autism symptoms at 36 months. Our results showed significant speech-brain coherence in the 10- and 14-month-old infants. We found no evidence for a relationship between speech-brain coherence and later autism symptoms. Importantly, speech-brain coherence in the stressed syllable rate (1-3 Hz) predicted later vocabulary. Follow-up analyses showed evidence for a relationship between tracking and vocabulary only in 10-month-olds but not in 14-month-olds and indicated possible differences between the likelihood groups. Thus, early tracking of sung nursery rhymes is related to language development in childhood.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Katharina H. Menn
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- Research Group Language Cycles, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School on Neuroscience of Communication: Function, Structure, and Plasticity, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Emma K. Ward
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Ricarda Braukmann
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Carlijn van den Boomen
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Jan Buitelaar
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Sabine Hunnius
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Tineke M. Snijders
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Cognitive Neuropsychology Department, Tilburg University
| |
Collapse
|
31
|
Goswami U. Language acquisition and speech rhythm patterns: an auditory neuroscience perspective. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:211855. [PMID: 35911192 PMCID: PMC9326295 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2021] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
All human infants acquire language, but their brains do not know which language/s to prepare for. This observation suggests that there are fundamental components of the speech signal that contribute to building a language system, and fundamental neural processing mechanisms that use these components, which are shared across languages. Equally, disorders of language acquisition are found across all languages, with the most prevalent being developmental language disorder (approx. 7% prevalence), where oral language comprehension and production is atypical, and developmental dyslexia (approx. 7% prevalence), where written language acquisition is atypical. Recent advances in auditory neuroscience, along with advances in modelling the speech signal from an amplitude modulation (AM, intensity or energy change) perspective, have increased our understanding of both language acquisition and these developmental disorders. Speech rhythm patterns turn out to be fundamental to both sensory and neural linguistic processing. The rhythmic routines typical of childcare in many cultures, the parental practice of singing lullabies to infants, and the ubiquitous presence of BabyTalk (infant-directed speech) all enhance the fundamental AM components that contribute to building a linguistic brain.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Usha Goswami
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Gnanateja GN, Devaraju DS, Heyne M, Quique YM, Sitek KR, Tardif MC, Tessmer R, Dial HR. On the Role of Neural Oscillations Across Timescales in Speech and Music Processing. Front Comput Neurosci 2022; 16:872093. [PMID: 35814348 PMCID: PMC9260496 DOI: 10.3389/fncom.2022.872093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
This mini review is aimed at a clinician-scientist seeking to understand the role of oscillations in neural processing and their functional relevance in speech and music perception. We present an overview of neural oscillations, methods used to study them, and their functional relevance with respect to music processing, aging, hearing loss, and disorders affecting speech and language. We first review the oscillatory frequency bands and their associations with speech and music processing. Next we describe commonly used metrics for quantifying neural oscillations, briefly touching upon the still-debated mechanisms underpinning oscillatory alignment. Following this, we highlight key findings from research on neural oscillations in speech and music perception, as well as contributions of this work to our understanding of disordered perception in clinical populations. Finally, we conclude with a look toward the future of oscillatory research in speech and music perception, including promising methods and potential avenues for future work. We note that the intention of this mini review is not to systematically review all literature on cortical tracking of speech and music. Rather, we seek to provide the clinician-scientist with foundational information that can be used to evaluate and design research studies targeting the functional role of oscillations in speech and music processing in typical and clinical populations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- G. Nike Gnanateja
- Department of Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Dhatri S. Devaraju
- Department of Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Matthias Heyne
- Department of Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Yina M. Quique
- Center for Education in Health Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Kevin R. Sitek
- Department of Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Monique C. Tardif
- Department of Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Rachel Tessmer
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States
| | - Heather R. Dial
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
Keshavarzi M, Mandke K, Macfarlane A, Parvez L, Gabrielczyk F, Wilson A, Goswami U. Atypical delta-band phase consistency and atypical preferred phase in children with dyslexia during neural entrainment to rhythmic audio-visual speech. Neuroimage Clin 2022; 35:103054. [PMID: 35642984 PMCID: PMC9136320 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2021] [Revised: 04/13/2022] [Accepted: 05/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Children with and without dyslexia showed consistent phase entrainment. Dyslexic children had significantly reduced delta band phase consistency. Dyslexic children had a different preferred phase in delta compared to controls. The dyslexic brain showed faster pre-stimulus delta band angular velocity.
According to the sensory-neural Temporal Sampling theory of developmental dyslexia, neural sampling of auditory information at slow rates (<10 Hz, related to speech rhythm) is atypical in dyslexic individuals, particularly in the delta band (0.5–4 Hz). Here we examine the underlying neural mechanisms related to atypical sampling using a simple repetitive speech paradigm. Fifty-one children (21 control children [15M, 6F] and 30 children with dyslexia [16M, 14F]) aged 9 years with or without developmental dyslexia watched and listened as a ‘talking head’ repeated the syllable “ba” every 500 ms, while EEG was recorded. Occasionally a syllable was “out of time”, with a temporal delay calibrated individually and adaptively for each child so that it was detected around 79.4% of the time by a button press. Phase consistency in the delta (rate of stimulus delivery), theta (speech-related) and alpha (control) bands was evaluated for each child and each group. Significant phase consistency was found for both groups in the delta and theta bands, demonstrating neural entrainment, but not the alpha band. However, the children with dyslexia showed a different preferred phase and significantly reduced phase consistency compared to control children, in the delta band only. Analysis of pre- and post-stimulus angular velocity of group preferred phases revealed that the children in the dyslexic group showed an atypical response in the delta band only. The delta-band pre-stimulus angular velocity (−130 ms to 0 ms) for the dyslexic group appeared to be significantly faster compared to the control group. It is concluded that neural responding to simple beat-based stimuli may provide a unique neural marker of developmental dyslexia. The automatic nature of this neural response may enable new tools for diagnosis, as well as opening new avenues for remediation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mahmoud Keshavarzi
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom.
| | - Kanad Mandke
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| | - Annabel Macfarlane
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| | - Lyla Parvez
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| | - Fiona Gabrielczyk
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| | - Angela Wilson
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| | - Usha Goswami
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Wei Y, Hancock R, Mozeiko J, Large EW. The relationship between entrainment dynamics and reading fluency assessed by sensorimotor perturbation. Exp Brain Res 2022; 240:1775-1790. [PMID: 35507069 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-022-06369-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2022] [Accepted: 04/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
A consistent relationship has been found between rhythmic processing and reading skills. Impairment of the ability to entrain movements to an auditory rhythm in clinical populations with language-related deficits, such as children with developmental dyslexia, has been found in both behavioral and neural studies. In this study, we explored the relationship between rhythmic entrainment, behavioral synchronization, reading fluency, and reading comprehension in neurotypical English- and Mandarin-speaking adults. First, we examined entrainment stability by asking participants to coordinate taps with an auditory metronome in which unpredictable perturbations were introduced to disrupt entrainment. Next, we assessed behavioral synchronization by asking participants to coordinate taps with the syllables they produced while reading sentences as naturally as possible (tap to syllable task). Finally, we measured reading fluency and reading comprehension for native English and native Mandarin speakers. Stability of entrainment correlated strongly with tap to syllable task performance and with reading fluency, and both findings generalized across English and Mandarin speakers.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yi Wei
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA.
- Brain Imaging Research Center, University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA.
- The Connecticut Institute for the Brain and Cognitive Sciences of University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA.
| | - Roeland Hancock
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA
- Brain Imaging Research Center, University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA
- The Connecticut Institute for the Brain and Cognitive Sciences of University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA
| | - Jennifer Mozeiko
- Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA
| | - Edward W Large
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA
- Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA
- Brain Imaging Research Center, University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA
- The Connecticut Institute for the Brain and Cognitive Sciences of University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA
| |
Collapse
|
35
|
Attaheri A, Panayiotou D, Phillips A, Ní Choisdealbha Á, Di Liberto GM, Rocha S, Brusini P, Mead N, Flanagan S, Olawole-Scott H, Goswami U. Cortical Tracking of Sung Speech in Adults vs Infants: A Developmental Analysis. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:842447. [PMID: 35495026 PMCID: PMC9039340 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.842447] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2021] [Accepted: 02/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Here we duplicate a neural tracking paradigm, previously published with infants (aged 4 to 11 months), with adult participants, in order to explore potential developmental similarities and differences in entrainment. Adults listened and watched passively as nursery rhymes were sung or chanted in infant-directed speech. Whole-head EEG (128 channels) was recorded, and cortical tracking of the sung speech in the delta (0.5–4 Hz), theta (4–8 Hz) and alpha (8–12 Hz) frequency bands was computed using linear decoders (multivariate Temporal Response Function models, mTRFs). Phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) was also computed to assess whether delta and theta phases temporally organize higher-frequency amplitudes for adults in the same pattern as found in the infant brain. Similar to previous infant participants, the adults showed significant cortical tracking of the sung speech in both delta and theta bands. However, the frequencies associated with peaks in stimulus-induced spectral power (PSD) in the two populations were different. PAC was also different in the adults compared to the infants. PAC was stronger for theta- versus delta- driven coupling in adults but was equal for delta- versus theta-driven coupling in infants. Adults also showed a stimulus-induced increase in low alpha power that was absent in infants. This may suggest adult recruitment of other cognitive processes, possibly related to comprehension or attention. The comparative data suggest that while infant and adult brains utilize essentially the same cortical mechanisms to track linguistic input, the operation of and interplay between these mechanisms may change with age and language experience.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adam Attaheri
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- *Correspondence: Adam Attaheri,
| | - Dimitris Panayiotou
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Alessia Phillips
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Áine Ní Choisdealbha
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Giovanni M. Di Liberto
- School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
- Laboratoire des Systèmes Perceptifs, UMR 8248, CNRS, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Paris, France
| | - Sinead Rocha
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Perrine Brusini
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Natasha Mead
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Sheila Flanagan
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Helen Olawole-Scott
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Usha Goswami
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Mandke K, Flanagan S, Macfarlane A, Gabrielczyk F, Wilson A, Gross J, Goswami U. Neural sampling of the speech signal at different timescales by children with dyslexia. Neuroimage 2022; 253:119077. [PMID: 35278708 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2021] [Revised: 01/15/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Phonological difficulties characterize individuals with dyslexia across languages. Currently debated is whether these difficulties arise from atypical neural sampling of (or entrainment to) auditory information in speech at slow rates (<10 Hz, related to speech rhythm), faster rates, or neither. MEG studies with adults suggest that atypical sampling in dyslexia affects faster modulations in the neurophysiological gamma band, related to phoneme-level representation. However, dyslexic adults have had years of reduced experience in converting graphemes to phonemes, which could itself cause atypical gamma-band activity. The present study was designed to identify specific linguistic timescales at which English children with dyslexia may show atypical entrainment. Adopting a developmental focus, we hypothesized that children with dyslexia would show atypical entrainment to the prosodic and syllable-level information that is exaggerated in infant-directed speech and carried primarily by amplitude modulations <10 Hz. MEG was recorded in a naturalistic story-listening paradigm. The modulation bands related to different types of linguistic information were derived directly from the speech materials, and lagged coherence at multiple temporal rates spanning 0.9-40 Hz was computed. Group differences in lagged speech-brain coherence between children with dyslexia and control children were most marked in neurophysiological bands corresponding to stress and syllable-level information (<5 Hz in our materials), and phoneme-level information (12-40 Hz). Functional connectivity analyses showed network differences between groups in both hemispheres, with dyslexic children showing significantly reduced global network efficiency. Global network efficiency correlated with dyslexic children's oral language development and with control children's reading development. These developmental data suggest that dyslexia is characterized by atypical neural sampling of auditory information at slower rates. They also throw new light on the nature of the gamma band temporal sampling differences reported in MEG dyslexia studies with adults.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kanad Mandke
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom.
| | - Sheila Flanagan
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| | - Annabel Macfarlane
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| | - Fiona Gabrielczyk
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| | - Angela Wilson
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| | - Joachim Gross
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Usha Goswami
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Destoky F, Bertels J, Niesen M, Wens V, Vander Ghinst M, Rovai A, Trotta N, Lallier M, De Tiège X, Bourguignon M. The role of reading experience in atypical cortical tracking of speech and speech-in-noise in dyslexia. Neuroimage 2022; 253:119061. [PMID: 35259526 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Revised: 02/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Dyslexia is a frequent developmental disorder in which reading acquisition is delayed and that is usually associated with difficulties understanding speech in noise. At the neuronal level, children with dyslexia were reported to display abnormal cortical tracking of speech (CTS) at phrasal rate. Here, we aimed to determine if abnormal tracking relates to reduced reading experience, and if it is modulated by the severity of dyslexia or the presence of acoustic noise. We included 26 school-age children with dyslexia, 26 age-matched controls and 26 reading-level matched controls. All were native French speakers. Children's brain activity was recorded with magnetoencephalography while they listened to continuous speech in noiseless and multiple noise conditions. CTS values were compared between groups, conditions and hemispheres, and also within groups, between children with mild and severe dyslexia. Syllabic CTS was significantly reduced in the right superior temporal gyrus in children with dyslexia compared with controls matched for age but not for reading level. Severe dyslexia was characterized by lower rapid automatized naming (RAN) abilities compared with mild dyslexia, and phrasal CTS lateralized to the right hemisphere in children with mild dyslexia and all control groups but not in children with severe dyslexia. Finally, an alteration in phrasal CTS was uncovered in children with dyslexia compared with age-matched controls in babble noise conditions but not in other less challenging listening conditions (non-speech noise or noiseless conditions); no such effect was seen in comparison with reading-level matched controls. Overall, our results confirmed the finding of altered neuronal basis of speech perception in noiseless and babble noise conditions in dyslexia compared with age-matched peers. However, the absence of alteration in comparison with reading-level matched controls demonstrates that such alterations are associated with reduced reading level, suggesting they are merely driven by reduced reading experience rather than a cause of dyslexia. Finally, our result of altered hemispheric lateralization of phrasal CTS in relation with altered RAN abilities in severe dyslexia is in line with a temporal sampling deficit of speech at phrasal rate in dyslexia.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Florian Destoky
- Laboratoire de Neuroanatomie et Neuroimagerie translationnelles, UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 808 Leenik Street, Brussels 1070, Belgium.
| | - Julie Bertels
- Laboratoire de Neuroanatomie et Neuroimagerie translationnelles, UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 808 Leenik Street, Brussels 1070, Belgium; Consciousness, Cognition and Computation Group, UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
| | - Maxime Niesen
- Laboratoire de Neuroanatomie et Neuroimagerie translationnelles, UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 808 Leenik Street, Brussels 1070, Belgium; Service d'ORL et de Chirurgie Cervico-Faciale, ULB-Hôpital Erasme, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels 1070, Belgium
| | - Vincent Wens
- Laboratoire de Neuroanatomie et Neuroimagerie translationnelles, UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 808 Leenik Street, Brussels 1070, Belgium; Department of Functional Neuroima ging, Service of Nuclear Medicine, CUB Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
| | - Marc Vander Ghinst
- Laboratoire de Neuroanatomie et Neuroimagerie translationnelles, UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 808 Leenik Street, Brussels 1070, Belgium; Service d'ORL et de Chirurgie Cervico-Faciale, ULB-Hôpital Erasme, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels 1070, Belgium
| | - Antonin Rovai
- Laboratoire de Neuroanatomie et Neuroimagerie translationnelles, UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 808 Leenik Street, Brussels 1070, Belgium; Department of Functional Neuroima ging, Service of Nuclear Medicine, CUB Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
| | - Nicola Trotta
- Laboratoire de Neuroanatomie et Neuroimagerie translationnelles, UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 808 Leenik Street, Brussels 1070, Belgium; Department of Functional Neuroima ging, Service of Nuclear Medicine, CUB Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
| | - Marie Lallier
- BCBL, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, San Sebastian 20009, Spain
| | - Xavier De Tiège
- Laboratoire de Neuroanatomie et Neuroimagerie translationnelles, UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 808 Leenik Street, Brussels 1070, Belgium; Department of Functional Neuroima ging, Service of Nuclear Medicine, CUB Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
| | - Mathieu Bourguignon
- Laboratoire de Neuroanatomie et Neuroimagerie translationnelles, UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 808 Leenik Street, Brussels 1070, Belgium; BCBL, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, San Sebastian 20009, Spain; Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
38
|
Gallego-Molina NJ, Ortiz A, Martínez-Murcia FJ, Formoso MA, Giménez A. Complex network modeling of EEG band coupling in dyslexia: An exploratory analysis of auditory processing and diagnosis. Knowl Based Syst 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.knosys.2021.108098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
|
39
|
Mittag M, Larson E, Taulu S, Clarke M, Kuhl PK. Reduced Theta Sampling in Infants at Risk for Dyslexia across the Sensitive Period of Native Phoneme Learning. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19031180. [PMID: 35162202 PMCID: PMC8835181 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19031180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2021] [Revised: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 01/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Research on children and adults with developmental dyslexia-a specific difficulty in learning to read and spell-suggests that phonological deficits in dyslexia are linked to basic auditory deficits in temporal sampling. However, it remains undetermined whether such deficits are already present in infancy, especially during the sensitive period when the auditory system specializes in native phoneme perception. Because dyslexia is strongly hereditary, it is possible to examine infants for early predictors of the condition before detectable symptoms emerge. This study examines low-level auditory temporal sampling in infants at risk for dyslexia across the sensitive period of native phoneme learning. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we found deficient auditory sampling at theta in at-risk infants at both 6 and 12 months, indicating atypical auditory sampling at the syllabic rate in those infants across the sensitive period for native-language phoneme learning. This interpretation is supported by our additional finding that auditory sampling at theta predicted later vocabulary comprehension, nonlinguistic communication and the ability to combine words. Our results indicate a possible early marker of risk for dyslexia.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maria Mittag
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7988, USA; (E.L.); (S.T.); (M.C.)
- Correspondence: (M.M.); (P.K.K.)
| | - Eric Larson
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7988, USA; (E.L.); (S.T.); (M.C.)
| | - Samu Taulu
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7988, USA; (E.L.); (S.T.); (M.C.)
- Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7988, USA
| | - Maggie Clarke
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7988, USA; (E.L.); (S.T.); (M.C.)
| | - Patricia K. Kuhl
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7988, USA; (E.L.); (S.T.); (M.C.)
- Correspondence: (M.M.); (P.K.K.)
| |
Collapse
|
40
|
Palana J, Schwartz S, Tager-Flusberg H. Evaluating the Use of Cortical Entrainment to Measure Atypical Speech Processing: A Systematic Review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 133:104506. [PMID: 34942267 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.12.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Revised: 12/12/2021] [Accepted: 12/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cortical entrainment has emerged as promising means for measuring continuous speech processing in young, neurotypical adults. However, its utility for capturing atypical speech processing has not been systematically reviewed. OBJECTIVES Synthesize evidence regarding the merit of measuring cortical entrainment to capture atypical speech processing and recommend avenues for future research. METHOD We systematically reviewed publications investigating entrainment to continuous speech in populations with auditory processing differences. RESULTS In the 25 publications reviewed, most studies were conducted on older and/or hearing-impaired adults, for whom slow-wave entrainment to speech was often heightened compared to controls. Research conducted on populations with neurodevelopmental disorders, in whom slow-wave entrainment was often reduced, was less common. Across publications, findings highlighted associations between cortical entrainment and speech processing performance differences. CONCLUSIONS Measures of cortical entrainment offer useful means of capturing speech processing differences and future research should leverage them more extensively when studying populations with neurodevelopmental disorders.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Palana
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, 64 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA, 02215, USA; Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston Children's Hospital, 1 Autumn Street, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
| | - Sophie Schwartz
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, 64 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
| | - Helen Tager-Flusberg
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, 64 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Attaheri A, Choisdealbha ÁN, Di Liberto GM, Rocha S, Brusini P, Mead N, Olawole-Scott H, Boutris P, Gibbon S, Williams I, Grey C, Flanagan S, Goswami U. Delta- and theta-band cortical tracking and phase-amplitude coupling to sung speech by infants. Neuroimage 2021; 247:118698. [PMID: 34798233 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Revised: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 10/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The amplitude envelope of speech carries crucial low-frequency acoustic information that assists linguistic decoding at multiple time scales. Neurophysiological signals are known to track the amplitude envelope of adult-directed speech (ADS), particularly in the theta-band. Acoustic analysis of infant-directed speech (IDS) has revealed significantly greater modulation energy than ADS in an amplitude-modulation (AM) band centred on ∼2 Hz. Accordingly, cortical tracking of IDS by delta-band neural signals may be key to language acquisition. Speech also contains acoustic information within its higher-frequency bands (beta, gamma). Adult EEG and MEG studies reveal an oscillatory hierarchy, whereby low-frequency (delta, theta) neural phase dynamics temporally organize the amplitude of high-frequency signals (phase amplitude coupling, PAC). Whilst consensus is growing around the role of PAC in the matured adult brain, its role in the development of speech processing is unexplored. Here, we examined the presence and maturation of low-frequency (<12 Hz) cortical speech tracking in infants by recording EEG longitudinally from 60 participants when aged 4-, 7- and 11- months as they listened to nursery rhymes. After establishing stimulus-related neural signals in delta and theta, cortical tracking at each age was assessed in the delta, theta and alpha [control] bands using a multivariate temporal response function (mTRF) method. Delta-beta, delta-gamma, theta-beta and theta-gamma phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) was also assessed. Significant delta and theta but not alpha tracking was found. Significant PAC was present at all ages, with both delta and theta -driven coupling observed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adam Attaheri
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3 EB, United Kingdom.
| | - Áine Ní Choisdealbha
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3 EB, United Kingdom.
| | - Giovanni M Di Liberto
- Laboratoire des Systèmes Perceptifs, UMR 8248, CNRS, France; Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL University, France; Department of Mechanical, Trinity Centre for Biomedical Engineering and Trinity Institute of Neuroscience, Manufacturing and Biomedical Engineering, Trinity College, The University of Dublin, Ireland; School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and UCD Centre for Biomedical Engineering, University College Dublin, Ireland.
| | - Sinead Rocha
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3 EB, United Kingdom.
| | - Perrine Brusini
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3 EB, United Kingdom; Institute of Population Health, Waterhouse Building, Block B, Brownlow Street, Liverpool L69 3GF, United Kingdom.
| | - Natasha Mead
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3 EB, United Kingdom.
| | - Helen Olawole-Scott
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3 EB, United Kingdom.
| | - Panagiotis Boutris
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3 EB, United Kingdom.
| | - Samuel Gibbon
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3 EB, United Kingdom.
| | - Isabel Williams
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3 EB, United Kingdom.
| | - Christina Grey
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3 EB, United Kingdom.
| | - Sheila Flanagan
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3 EB, United Kingdom.
| | - Usha Goswami
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3 EB, United Kingdom.
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
Fiveash A, Bedoin N, Gordon RL, Tillmann B. Processing rhythm in speech and music: Shared mechanisms and implications for developmental speech and language disorders. Neuropsychology 2021; 35:771-791. [PMID: 34435803 PMCID: PMC8595576 DOI: 10.1037/neu0000766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Music and speech are complex signals containing regularities in how they unfold in time. Similarities between music and speech/language in terms of their auditory features, rhythmic structure, and hierarchical structure have led to a large body of literature suggesting connections between the two domains. However, the precise underlying mechanisms behind this connection remain to be elucidated. METHOD In this theoretical review article, we synthesize previous research and present a framework of potentially shared neural mechanisms for music and speech rhythm processing. We outline structural similarities of rhythmic signals in music and speech, synthesize prominent music and speech rhythm theories, discuss impaired timing in developmental speech and language disorders, and discuss music rhythm training as an additional, potentially effective therapeutic tool to enhance speech/language processing in these disorders. RESULTS We propose the processing rhythm in speech and music (PRISM) framework, which outlines three underlying mechanisms that appear to be shared across music and speech/language processing: Precise auditory processing, synchronization/entrainment of neural oscillations to external stimuli, and sensorimotor coupling. The goal of this framework is to inform directions for future research that integrate cognitive and biological evidence for relationships between rhythm processing in music and speech. CONCLUSION The current framework can be used as a basis to investigate potential links between observed timing deficits in developmental disorders, impairments in the proposed mechanisms, and pathology-specific deficits which can be targeted in treatment and training supporting speech therapy outcomes. On these grounds, we propose future research directions and discuss implications of our framework. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Fiveash
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CRNL, CNRS, UMR5292, INSERM, U1028, F-69000, Lyon, France
- University Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Nathalie Bedoin
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CRNL, CNRS, UMR5292, INSERM, U1028, F-69000, Lyon, France
- University Lyon 1, Lyon, France
- University of Lyon 2, CNRS, UMR5596, Lyon, F-69000, France
| | - Reyna L. Gordon
- Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
- Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
- Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Barbara Tillmann
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CRNL, CNRS, UMR5292, INSERM, U1028, F-69000, Lyon, France
- University Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Formoso MA, Ortiz A, Martinez-Murcia FJ, Gallego N, Luque JL. Detecting Phase-Synchrony Connectivity Anomalies in EEG Signals. Application to Dyslexia Diagnosis. SENSORS 2021; 21:s21217061. [PMID: 34770378 PMCID: PMC8588444 DOI: 10.3390/s21217061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2021] [Revised: 10/21/2021] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Objective Dyslexia diagnosis is a challenging task, since traditional diagnosis methods are not based on biological markers but on behavioural tests. Although dyslexia diagnosis has been addressed by these tests in clinical practice, it is difficult to extract information about the brain processes involved in the different tasks and, then, to go deeper into its biological basis. Thus, the use of biomarkers can contribute not only to the diagnosis but also to a better understanding of specific learning disorders such as dyslexia. In this work, we use Electroencephalography (EEG) signals to discover differences among controls and dyslexic subjects using signal processing and artificial intelligence techniques. Specifically, we measure phase synchronization among channels, to reveal the functional brain network activated during auditory processing. On the other hand, to explore synchronicity patterns risen by low-level auditory processing, we used specific stimuli consisting in band-limited white noise, modulated in amplitude at different frequencies. The differential information contained in the functional (i.e., synchronization) network has been processed by an anomaly detection system that addresses the problem of subjects variability by an outlier-detection method based on vector quantization. The results, obtained for 7 years-old children, show that the proposed method constitutes an useful tool for clinical use, with the area under ROC curve (AUC) values up to 0.95 in differential diagnosis tasks.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marco A. Formoso
- Communications Engineering Department, University of Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain; (M.A.F.); (N.G.)
| | - Andrés Ortiz
- Communications Engineering Department, University of Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain; (M.A.F.); (N.G.)
- Andalusian Research Institute in Data Science and Computational Intelligence (DaSCI), 18014 Granada, Spain;
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +34-952133353
| | - Francisco J. Martinez-Murcia
- Andalusian Research Institute in Data Science and Computational Intelligence (DaSCI), 18014 Granada, Spain;
- Department of Signal Theory, Networking and Communications, University of Granada, 18014 Granada, Spain
| | - Nicolás Gallego
- Communications Engineering Department, University of Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain; (M.A.F.); (N.G.)
| | - Juan L. Luque
- Department of Basic Psychology, University of Malaga, 29019 Málaga, Spain;
| |
Collapse
|
44
|
Kershner JR. Multisensory deficits in dyslexia may result from a locus coeruleus attentional network dysfunction. Neuropsychologia 2021; 161:108023. [PMID: 34530025 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.108023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2021] [Revised: 08/06/2021] [Accepted: 09/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
A fundamental educational requirement of beginning reading is to learn, access, and rapidly process associations between novel visuospatial symbols and their phonological representations in speech. Children with difficulties in such cross-modal integration are often divided into dyslexia subtypes, based on whether their primary problem is with the written or spoken component of decoding. The present review suggests that starting in infancy, perceptions of audiovisual speech are integrated by mutual oscillatory phase-resetting between sensory cortices, and throughout development visual and auditory experiences are coupled into unified perceptions. Entirely separate subtypes are incompatible with this view. Visual or auditory deficits will invariably affect processing to some degree in both domains. It is suggested that poor auditory/visual integration may be diagnostic for both forms of dyslexia, stemming from an encoding weakness in the early cross-sensory binding of audiovisual speech. The review presents a model of dyslexia as a dysfunction of the large-scale ventral and dorsal attention networks controlling such binding. Excessive glutamatergic neuronal excitability of the attention networks by the Locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system may interfere with multisensory integration, with deleterious effects on the acquisition of reading by degrading graphene/phoneme conversion.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- John R Kershner
- Dept. of Applied Psychology and Human Resources University of Toronto, ON, M5S 1A1, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
Ríos-López P, Molinaro N, Bourguignon M, Lallier M. Right-hemisphere coherence to speech at pre-reading stages predicts reading performance one year later. JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/20445911.2021.1986514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Paula Ríos-López
- BCBL, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, Donostia/San Sebastian, Spain
- Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany
- Centre for Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Nicola Molinaro
- BCBL, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, Donostia/San Sebastian, Spain
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Mathieu Bourguignon
- BCBL, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, Donostia/San Sebastian, Spain
- Laboratoire de Cartographie Fonctionnelle du Cerveau, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium
| | - Marie Lallier
- BCBL, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, Donostia/San Sebastian, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
46
|
Rhythm discrimination and metronome tapping in 4-year-old children at risk for developmental dyslexia. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2021.101129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
|
47
|
Rathcke T, Lin CY. Towards a Comprehensive Account of Rhythm Processing Issues in Developmental Dyslexia. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11101303. [PMID: 34679368 PMCID: PMC8533826 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11101303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2021] [Revised: 09/17/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Developmental dyslexia is typically defined as a difficulty with an individual's command of written language, arising from deficits in phonological awareness. However, motor entrainment difficulties in non-linguistic synchronization and time-keeping tasks have also been reported. Such findings gave rise to proposals of an underlying rhythm processing deficit in dyslexia, even though to date, evidence for impaired motor entrainment with the rhythm of natural speech is rather scarce, and the role of speech rhythm in phonological awareness is unclear. The present study aimed to fill these gaps. Dyslexic adults and age-matched control participants with variable levels of previous music training completed a series of experimental tasks assessing phoneme processing, rhythm perception, and motor entrainment abilities. In a rhythm entrainment task, participants tapped along to the perceived beat of natural spoken sentences. In a phoneme processing task, participants monitored for sonorant and obstruent phonemes embedded in nonsense strings. Individual sensorimotor skills were assessed using a number of screening tests. The results lacked evidence for a motor impairment or a general motor entrainment difficulty in dyslexia, at least among adult participants of the study. Instead, the results showed that the participants' performance in the phonemic task was predictive of their performance in the rhythmic task, but not vice versa, suggesting that atypical rhythm processing in dyslexia may be the consequence, but not the cause, of dyslexic difficulties with phoneme-level encoding. No evidence for a deficit in the entrainment to the syllable rate in dyslexic adults was found. Rather, metrically weak syllables were significantly less often at the center of rhythmic attention in dyslexic adults as compared to neurotypical controls, with an increased tendency in musically trained participants. This finding could not be explained by an auditory deficit in the processing of acoustic-prosodic cues to the rhythm structure, but it is likely to be related to the well-documented auditory short-term memory issue in dyslexia.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tamara Rathcke
- Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
- Modern Languages and Linguistics, School of Cultures and Languages, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NR, UK;
- Correspondence:
| | - Chia-Yuan Lin
- Modern Languages and Linguistics, School of Cultures and Languages, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NR, UK;
- Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Health Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield HD1 3DH, UK
| |
Collapse
|
48
|
Pesnot Lerousseau J, Trébuchon A, Morillon B, Schön D. Frequency Selectivity of Persistent Cortical Oscillatory Responses to Auditory Rhythmic Stimulation. J Neurosci 2021; 41:7991-8006. [PMID: 34301825 PMCID: PMC8460151 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0213-21.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2021] [Revised: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 07/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Cortical oscillations have been proposed to play a functional role in speech and music perception, attentional selection, and working memory, via the mechanism of neural entrainment. One of the properties of neural entrainment that is often taken for granted is that its modulatory effect on ongoing oscillations outlasts rhythmic stimulation. We tested the existence of this phenomenon by studying cortical neural oscillations during and after presentation of melodic stimuli in a passive perception paradigm. Melodies were composed of ∼60 and ∼80 Hz tones embedded in a 2.5 Hz stream. Using intracranial and surface recordings in male and female humans, we reveal persistent oscillatory activity in the high-γ band in response to the tones throughout the cortex, well beyond auditory regions. By contrast, in response to the 2.5 Hz stream, no persistent activity in any frequency band was observed. We further show that our data are well captured by a model of damped harmonic oscillator and can be classified into three classes of neural dynamics, with distinct damping properties and eigenfrequencies. This model provides a mechanistic and quantitative explanation of the frequency selectivity of auditory neural entrainment in the human cortex.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT It has been proposed that the functional role of cortical oscillations is subtended by a mechanism of entrainment, the synchronization in phase or amplitude of neural oscillations to a periodic stimulation. One of the properties of neural entrainment that is often taken for granted is that its modulatory effect on ongoing oscillations outlasts rhythmic stimulation. Using intracranial and surface recordings of humans passively listening to rhythmic auditory stimuli, we reveal consistent oscillatory responses throughout the cortex, with persistent activity of high-γ oscillations. On the contrary, neural oscillations do not outlast low-frequency acoustic dynamics. We interpret our results as reflecting harmonic oscillator properties, a model ubiquitous in physics but rarely used in neuroscience.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Agnès Trébuchon
- Inserm, Inst Neurosci Syst, Aix Marseille Univ, Inserm, INS, Inst Neurosci Syst, Marseille, France
- APHM, Hôpital de la Timone, Service de Neurophysiologie Clinique, Marseille 13005, France
| | - Benjamin Morillon
- Inserm, Inst Neurosci Syst, Aix Marseille Univ, Inserm, INS, Inst Neurosci Syst, Marseille, France
| | - Daniele Schön
- Inserm, Inst Neurosci Syst, Aix Marseille Univ, Inserm, INS, Inst Neurosci Syst, Marseille, France
| |
Collapse
|
49
|
Vander Ghinst M, Bourguignon M, Wens V, Naeije G, Ducène C, Niesen M, Hassid S, Choufani G, Goldman S, De Tiège X. Inaccurate cortical tracking of speech in adults with impaired speech perception in noise. Brain Commun 2021; 3:fcab186. [PMID: 34541530 PMCID: PMC8445395 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcab186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2021] [Revised: 06/05/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Impaired speech perception in noise despite normal peripheral auditory function is a common problem in young adults. Despite a growing body of research, the pathophysiology of this impairment remains unknown. This magnetoencephalography study characterizes the cortical tracking of speech in a multi-talker background in a group of highly selected adult subjects with impaired speech perception in noise without peripheral auditory dysfunction. Magnetoencephalographic signals were recorded from 13 subjects with impaired speech perception in noise (six females, mean age: 30 years) and matched healthy subjects while they were listening to 5 different recordings of stories merged with a multi-talker background at different signal to noise ratios (No Noise, +10, +5, 0 and −5 dB). The cortical tracking of speech was quantified with coherence between magnetoencephalographic signals and the temporal envelope of (i) the global auditory scene (i.e. the attended speech stream and the multi-talker background noise), (ii) the attended speech stream only and (iii) the multi-talker background noise. Functional connectivity was then estimated between brain areas showing altered cortical tracking of speech in noise in subjects with impaired speech perception in noise and the rest of the brain. All participants demonstrated a selective cortical representation of the attended speech stream in noisy conditions, but subjects with impaired speech perception in noise displayed reduced cortical tracking of speech at the syllable rate (i.e. 4–8 Hz) in all noisy conditions. Increased functional connectivity was observed in subjects with impaired speech perception in noise in Noiseless and speech in noise conditions between supratemporal auditory cortices and left-dominant brain areas involved in semantic and attention processes. The difficulty to understand speech in a multi-talker background in subjects with impaired speech perception in noise appears to be related to an inaccurate auditory cortex tracking of speech at the syllable rate. The increased functional connectivity between supratemporal auditory cortices and language/attention-related neocortical areas probably aims at supporting speech perception and subsequent recognition in adverse auditory scenes. Overall, this study argues for a central origin of impaired speech perception in noise in the absence of any peripheral auditory dysfunction.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marc Vander Ghinst
- Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau, UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels 1070, Belgium.,Service, d'ORL et de chirurgie cervico-faciale, CUB Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels 1070, Belgium
| | - Mathieu Bourguignon
- Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau, UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels 1070, Belgium.,Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels 1070, Belgium.,Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), Donostia/San Sebastian 20009, Spain
| | - Vincent Wens
- Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau, UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels 1070, Belgium.,Clinics of Functional Neuroimaging, Service of Nuclear Medicine, CUB Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels 1070, Belgium
| | - Gilles Naeije
- Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau, UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels 1070, Belgium.,Service de Neurologie, ULB-Hôpital Erasme, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels 1070, Belgium
| | - Cecile Ducène
- Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau, UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels 1070, Belgium.,Service, d'ORL et de chirurgie cervico-faciale, CUB Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels 1070, Belgium
| | - Maxime Niesen
- Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau, UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels 1070, Belgium.,Service, d'ORL et de chirurgie cervico-faciale, CUB Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels 1070, Belgium
| | - Sergio Hassid
- Service, d'ORL et de chirurgie cervico-faciale, CUB Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels 1070, Belgium
| | - Georges Choufani
- Service, d'ORL et de chirurgie cervico-faciale, CUB Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels 1070, Belgium
| | - Serge Goldman
- Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau, UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels 1070, Belgium.,Clinics of Functional Neuroimaging, Service of Nuclear Medicine, CUB Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels 1070, Belgium
| | - Xavier De Tiège
- Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau, UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels 1070, Belgium.,Clinics of Functional Neuroimaging, Service of Nuclear Medicine, CUB Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels 1070, Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
50
|
Gibbon S, Attaheri A, Ní Choisdealbha Á, Rocha S, Brusini P, Mead N, Boutris P, Olawole-Scott H, Ahmed H, Flanagan S, Mandke K, Keshavarzi M, Goswami U. Machine learning accurately classifies neural responses to rhythmic speech vs. non-speech from 8-week-old infant EEG. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2021; 220:104968. [PMID: 34111684 PMCID: PMC8358977 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2021.104968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2020] [Revised: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 05/13/2021] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Currently there are no reliable means of identifying infants at-risk for later language disorders. Infant neural responses to rhythmic stimuli may offer a solution, as neural tracking of rhythm is atypical in children with developmental language disorders. However, infant brain recordings are noisy. As a first step to developing accurate neural biomarkers, we investigate whether infant brain responses to rhythmic stimuli can be classified reliably using EEG from 95 eight-week-old infants listening to natural stimuli (repeated syllables or drumbeats). Both Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) approaches were employed. Applied to one infant at a time, the CNN discriminated syllables from drumbeats with a mean AUC of 0.87, against two levels of noise. The SVM classified with AUC 0.95 and 0.86 respectively, showing reduced performance as noise increased. Our proof-of-concept modelling opens the way to the development of clinical biomarkers for language disorders related to rhythmic entrainment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Samuel Gibbon
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK.
| | - Adam Attaheri
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK
| | - Áine Ní Choisdealbha
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK
| | - Sinead Rocha
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK
| | - Perrine Brusini
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK
| | - Natasha Mead
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK
| | - Panagiotis Boutris
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK
| | - Helen Olawole-Scott
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK
| | - Henna Ahmed
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK
| | - Sheila Flanagan
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK
| | - Kanad Mandke
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK
| | - Mahmoud Keshavarzi
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK; Department of Bioengineering and Centre for Neurotechnology, Imperial College London, UK
| | - Usha Goswami
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK
| |
Collapse
|