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Chalas N, Meyer L, Lo CW, Park H, Kluger DS, Abbasi O, Kayser C, Nitsch R, Gross J. Dissociating prosodic from syntactic delta activity during natural speech comprehension. Curr Biol 2024; 34:3537-3549.e5. [PMID: 39047734 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.06.072] [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: 01/29/2024] [Revised: 06/24/2024] [Accepted: 06/27/2024] [Indexed: 07/27/2024]
Abstract
Decoding human speech requires the brain to segment the incoming acoustic signal into meaningful linguistic units, ranging from syllables and words to phrases. Integrating these linguistic constituents into a coherent percept sets the root of compositional meaning and hence understanding. One important cue for segmentation in natural speech is prosodic cues, such as pauses, but their interplay with higher-level linguistic processing is still unknown. Here, we dissociate the neural tracking of prosodic pauses from the segmentation of multi-word chunks using magnetoencephalography (MEG). We find that manipulating the regularity of pauses disrupts slow speech-brain tracking bilaterally in auditory areas (below 2 Hz) and in turn increases left-lateralized coherence of higher-frequency auditory activity at speech onsets (around 25-45 Hz). Critically, we also find that multi-word chunks-defined as short, coherent bundles of inter-word dependencies-are processed through the rhythmic fluctuations of low-frequency activity (below 2 Hz) bilaterally and independently of prosodic cues. Importantly, low-frequency alignment at chunk onsets increases the accuracy of an encoding model in bilateral auditory and frontal areas while controlling for the effect of acoustics. Our findings provide novel insights into the neural basis of speech perception, demonstrating that both acoustic features (prosodic cues) and abstract linguistic processing at the multi-word timescale are underpinned independently by low-frequency electrophysiological brain activity in the delta frequency range.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikos Chalas
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Otto-Creutzfeldt-Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Institute for Translational Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
| | - Lars Meyer
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Chia-Wen Lo
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Hyojin Park
- Centre for Human Brain Health (CHBH), School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Daniel S Kluger
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Otto-Creutzfeldt-Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Omid Abbasi
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Christoph Kayser
- Department for Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Biology, Bielefeld University, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Robert Nitsch
- Institute for Translational Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Joachim Gross
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Otto-Creutzfeldt-Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
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te Rietmolen N, Mercier MR, Trébuchon A, Morillon B, Schön D. Speech and music recruit frequency-specific distributed and overlapping cortical networks. eLife 2024; 13:RP94509. [PMID: 39038076 PMCID: PMC11262799 DOI: 10.7554/elife.94509] [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] [Indexed: 07/24/2024] Open
Abstract
To what extent does speech and music processing rely on domain-specific and domain-general neural networks? Using whole-brain intracranial EEG recordings in 18 epilepsy patients listening to natural, continuous speech or music, we investigated the presence of frequency-specific and network-level brain activity. We combined it with a statistical approach in which a clear operational distinction is made between shared, preferred, and domain-selective neural responses. We show that the majority of focal and network-level neural activity is shared between speech and music processing. Our data also reveal an absence of anatomical regional selectivity. Instead, domain-selective neural responses are restricted to distributed and frequency-specific coherent oscillations, typical of spectral fingerprints. Our work highlights the importance of considering natural stimuli and brain dynamics in their full complexity to map cognitive and brain functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noémie te Rietmolen
- Institute for Language, Communication, and the Brain, Aix-Marseille UniversityMarseilleFrance
- Aix Marseille Université, INSERM, INS, Institut de Neurosciences des SystèmesMarseilleFrance
| | - Manuel R Mercier
- Aix Marseille Université, INSERM, INS, Institut de Neurosciences des SystèmesMarseilleFrance
| | - Agnès Trébuchon
- Institute for Language, Communication, and the Brain, Aix-Marseille UniversityMarseilleFrance
- Aix Marseille Université, INSERM, INS, Institut de Neurosciences des SystèmesMarseilleFrance
- APHM, Hôpital de la Timone, Service de Neurophysiologie CliniqueMarseilleFrance
| | - Benjamin Morillon
- Institute for Language, Communication, and the Brain, Aix-Marseille UniversityMarseilleFrance
- Aix Marseille Université, INSERM, INS, Institut de Neurosciences des SystèmesMarseilleFrance
| | - Daniele Schön
- Institute for Language, Communication, and the Brain, Aix-Marseille UniversityMarseilleFrance
- Aix Marseille Université, INSERM, INS, Institut de Neurosciences des SystèmesMarseilleFrance
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3
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Corsini A, Tomassini A, Pastore A, Delis I, Fadiga L, D'Ausilio A. Speech perception difficulty modulates theta-band encoding of articulatory synergies. J Neurophysiol 2024; 131:480-491. [PMID: 38323331 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00388.2023] [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: 10/23/2023] [Revised: 01/04/2024] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 02/08/2024] Open
Abstract
The human brain tracks available speech acoustics and extrapolates missing information such as the speaker's articulatory patterns. However, the extent to which articulatory reconstruction supports speech perception remains unclear. This study explores the relationship between articulatory reconstruction and task difficulty. Participants listened to sentences and performed a speech-rhyming task. Real kinematic data of the speaker's vocal tract were recorded via electromagnetic articulography (EMA) and aligned to corresponding acoustic outputs. We extracted articulatory synergies from the EMA data with principal component analysis (PCA) and employed partial information decomposition (PID) to separate the electroencephalographic (EEG) encoding of acoustic and articulatory features into unique, redundant, and synergistic atoms of information. We median-split sentences into easy (ES) and hard (HS) based on participants' performance and found that greater task difficulty involved greater encoding of unique articulatory information in the theta band. We conclude that fine-grained articulatory reconstruction plays a complementary role in the encoding of speech acoustics, lending further support to the claim that motor processes support speech perception.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Top-down processes originating from the motor system contribute to speech perception through the reconstruction of the speaker's articulatory movement. This study investigates the role of such articulatory simulation under variable task difficulty. We show that more challenging listening tasks lead to increased encoding of articulatory kinematics in the theta band and suggest that, in such situations, fine-grained articulatory reconstruction complements acoustic encoding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Corsini
- Center for Translational Neurophysiology of Speech and Communication, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Ferrara, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, Università di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Alice Tomassini
- Center for Translational Neurophysiology of Speech and Communication, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Ferrara, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, Università di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Aldo Pastore
- Laboratorio NEST, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy
| | - Ioannis Delis
- School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
| | - Luciano 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
| | - Alessandro 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
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Abbasi O, Steingräber N, Chalas N, Kluger DS, Gross J. Spatiotemporal dynamics characterise spectral connectivity profiles of continuous speaking and listening. PLoS Biol 2023; 21:e3002178. [PMID: 37478152 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 07/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Speech production and perception are fundamental processes of human cognition that both rely on intricate processing mechanisms that are still poorly understood. Here, we study these processes by using magnetoencephalography (MEG) to comprehensively map connectivity of regional brain activity within the brain and to the speech envelope during continuous speaking and listening. Our results reveal not only a partly shared neural substrate for both processes but also a dissociation in space, delay, and frequency. Neural activity in motor and frontal areas is coupled to succeeding speech in delta band (1 to 3 Hz), whereas coupling in the theta range follows speech in temporal areas during speaking. Neural connectivity results showed a separation of bottom-up and top-down signalling in distinct frequency bands during speaking. Here, we show that frequency-specific connectivity channels for bottom-up and top-down signalling support continuous speaking and listening. These findings further shed light on the complex interplay between different brain regions involved in speech production and perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Omid Abbasi
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Nadine Steingräber
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Nikos Chalas
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Otto-Creutzfeldt-Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Daniel S Kluger
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Otto-Creutzfeldt-Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Joachim Gross
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Otto-Creutzfeldt-Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
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Kösem A, Dai B, McQueen JM, Hagoort P. Neural tracking of speech envelope does not unequivocally reflect intelligibility. Neuroimage 2023; 272:120040. [PMID: 36935084 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Revised: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2023] Open
Abstract
During listening, brain activity tracks the rhythmic structures of speech signals. Here, we directly dissociated the contribution of neural envelope tracking in the processing of speech acoustic cues from that related to linguistic processing. We examined the neural changes associated with the comprehension of Noise-Vocoded (NV) speech using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Participants listened to NV sentences in a 3-phase training paradigm: (1) pre-training, where NV stimuli were barely comprehended, (2) training with exposure of the original clear version of speech stimulus, and (3) post-training, where the same stimuli gained intelligibility from the training phase. Using this paradigm, we tested if the neural responses of a speech signal was modulated by its intelligibility without any change in its acoustic structure. To test the influence of spectral degradation on neural envelope tracking independently of training, participants listened to two types of NV sentences (4-band and 2-band NV speech), but were only trained to understand 4-band NV speech. Significant changes in neural tracking were observed in the delta range in relation to the acoustic degradation of speech. However, we failed to find a direct effect of intelligibility on the neural tracking of speech envelope in both theta and delta ranges, in both auditory regions-of-interest and whole-brain sensor-space analyses. This suggests that acoustics greatly influence the neural tracking response to speech envelope, and that caution needs to be taken when choosing the control signals for speech-brain tracking analyses, considering that a slight change in acoustic parameters can have strong effects on the neural tracking response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Kösem
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, 6500 AH Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), CoPhy Team, INSERM U1028, 69500 Bron, France.
| | - Bohan Dai
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, 6500 AH Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - James M McQueen
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, 6500 AH Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Peter Hagoort
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, 6500 AH Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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De Clercq P, Vanthornhout J, Vandermosten M, Francart T. Beyond linear neural envelope tracking: a mutual information approach. J Neural Eng 2023; 20. [PMID: 36812597 DOI: 10.1088/1741-2552/acbe1d] [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: 09/05/2022] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
Abstract
Objective.The human brain tracks the temporal envelope of speech, which contains essential cues for speech understanding. Linear models are the most common tool to study neural envelope tracking. However, information on how speech is processed can be lost since nonlinear relations are precluded. Analysis based on mutual information (MI), on the other hand, can detect both linear and nonlinear relations and is gradually becoming more popular in the field of neural envelope tracking. Yet, several different approaches to calculating MI are applied with no consensus on which approach to use. Furthermore, the added value of nonlinear techniques remains a subject of debate in the field. The present paper aims to resolve these open questions.Approach.We analyzed electroencephalography (EEG) data of participants listening to continuous speech and applied MI analyses and linear models.Main results.Comparing the different MI approaches, we conclude that results are most reliable and robust using the Gaussian copula approach, which first transforms the data to standard Gaussians. With this approach, the MI analysis is a valid technique for studying neural envelope tracking. Like linear models, it allows spatial and temporal interpretations of speech processing, peak latency analyses, and applications to multiple EEG channels combined. In a final analysis, we tested whether nonlinear components were present in the neural response to the envelope by first removing all linear components in the data. We robustly detected nonlinear components on the single-subject level using the MI analysis.Significance.We demonstrate that the human brain processes speech in a nonlinear way. Unlike linear models, the MI analysis detects such nonlinear relations, proving its added value to neural envelope tracking. In addition, the MI analysis retains spatial and temporal characteristics of speech processing, an advantage lost when using more complex (nonlinear) deep neural networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pieter De Clercq
- Experimental Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Department of Neurosciences, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jonas Vanthornhout
- Experimental Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Department of Neurosciences, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium
| | - Maaike Vandermosten
- Experimental Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Department of Neurosciences, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium
| | - Tom Francart
- Experimental Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Department of Neurosciences, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium
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Chalas N, Daube C, Kluger DS, Abbasi O, Nitsch R, Gross J. Speech onsets and sustained speech contribute differentially to delta and theta speech tracking in auditory cortex. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:6273-6281. [PMID: 36627246 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac502] [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: 09/15/2022] [Revised: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
When we attentively listen to an individual's speech, our brain activity dynamically aligns to the incoming acoustic input at multiple timescales. Although this systematic alignment between ongoing brain activity and speech in auditory brain areas is well established, the acoustic events that drive this phase-locking are not fully understood. Here, we use magnetoencephalographic recordings of 24 human participants (12 females) while they were listening to a 1 h story. We show that whereas speech-brain coupling is associated with sustained acoustic fluctuations in the speech envelope in the theta-frequency range (4-7 Hz), speech tracking in the low-frequency delta (below 1 Hz) was strongest around onsets of speech, like the beginning of a sentence. Crucially, delta tracking in bilateral auditory areas was not sustained after onsets, proposing a delta tracking during continuous speech perception that is driven by speech onsets. We conclude that both onsets and sustained components of speech contribute differentially to speech tracking in delta- and theta-frequency bands, orchestrating sampling of continuous speech. Thus, our results suggest a temporal dissociation of acoustically driven oscillatory activity in auditory areas during speech tracking, providing valuable implications for orchestration of speech tracking at multiple time scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikos Chalas
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Malmedyweg 15, 48149, Münster, Germany.,Otto-Creutzfeldt-Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Fliednerstr. 21, 48149 Münster, Germany.,Institute for Translational Neuroscience, University of Münster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, Geb. A9a, Münster, Germany
| | - Christoph Daube
- Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, University of Glasgow, 56-64 Hillhead Street, G12 8QB, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel S Kluger
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Malmedyweg 15, 48149, Münster, Germany.,Otto-Creutzfeldt-Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Fliednerstr. 21, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Omid Abbasi
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Malmedyweg 15, 48149, Münster, Germany
| | - Robert Nitsch
- Institute for Translational Neuroscience, University of Münster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, Geb. A9a, Münster, Germany
| | - Joachim Gross
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Malmedyweg 15, 48149, Münster, Germany.,Otto-Creutzfeldt-Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Fliednerstr. 21, 48149 Münster, Germany
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