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Szaszkó B, Habeler M, Forstinger M, Pomper U, Scheftner M, Stolte M, Grüner M, Ansorge U. 10 Hz rhythmic stimulation modulates electrophysiological, but not behavioral markers of suppression. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1376664. [PMID: 38831943 PMCID: PMC11144928 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1376664] [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: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024] Open
Abstract
We investigated the role of alpha in the suppression of attention capture by salient but to-be-suppressed (negative and nonpredictive) color cues, expecting a potential boosting effect of alpha-rhythmic entrainment on feature-specific cue suppression. We did so by presenting a rhythmically flickering visual bar of 10 Hz before the cue - either on the cue's side or opposite the cue -while an arrhythmically flickering visual bar was presented on the respective other side. We hypothesized that rhythmic entrainment at cue location could enhance the suppression of the cue. Testing 27 participants ranging from 18 to 39 years of age, we found both behavioral and electrophysiological evidence of suppression: Search times for a target at a negatively cued location were delayed relative to a target away from the cued location (inverse validity effects). In addition, an event-related potential indicative for suppression (the Distractor Positivity, Pd) was observed following rhythmic but not arrhythmic stimulation, indicating that suppression was boosted by the stimulation. This was also echoed in higher spectral power and intertrial phase coherence of EEG at rhythmically versus arrhythmically stimulated electrode sites, albeit only at the second harmonic (20 Hz), but not at the stimulation frequency. In addition, inverse validity effects were not modulated by rhythmic entrainment congruent with the cue side. Hence, we propose that rhythmic visual stimulation in the alpha range could support suppression, though behavioral evidence remains elusive, in contrast to electrophysiological findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bence Szaszkó
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Martin Habeler
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Marlene Forstinger
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ulrich Pomper
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Manuel Scheftner
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Moritz Stolte
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Markus Grüner
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ulrich Ansorge
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Vienna Cognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Research Platform Mediatised Lifeworlds, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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2
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Rotaru I, Geirnaert S, Heintz N, Van de Ryck I, Bertrand A, Francart T. What are we reallydecoding? Unveiling biases in EEG-based decoding of the spatial focus of auditory attention. J Neural Eng 2024; 21:016017. [PMID: 38266281 DOI: 10.1088/1741-2552/ad2214] [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: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2024] [Indexed: 01/26/2024]
Abstract
Objective.Spatial auditory attention decoding (Sp-AAD) refers to the task of identifying the direction of the speaker to which a person is attending in a multi-talker setting, based on the listener's neural recordings, e.g. electroencephalography (EEG). The goal of this study is to thoroughly investigate potential biases when training such Sp-AAD decoders on EEG data, particularly eye-gaze biases and latent trial-dependent confounds, which may result in Sp-AAD models that decode eye-gaze or trial-specific fingerprints rather than spatial auditory attention.Approach.We designed a two-speaker audiovisual Sp-AAD protocol in which the spatial auditory and visual attention were enforced to be either congruent or incongruent, and we recorded EEG data from sixteen participants undergoing several trials recorded at distinct timepoints. We trained a simple linear model for Sp-AAD based on common spatial patterns filters in combination with either linear discriminant analysis (LDA) or k-means clustering, and evaluated them both across- and within-trial.Main results.We found that even a simple linear Sp-AAD model is susceptible to overfitting to confounding signal patterns such as eye-gaze and trial fingerprints (e.g. due to feature shifts across trials), resulting in artificially high decoding accuracies. Furthermore, we found that changes in the EEG signal statistics across trials deteriorate the trial generalization of the classifier, even when the latter is retrained on the test trial with an unsupervised algorithm.Significance.Collectively, our findings confirm that there exist subtle biases and confounds that can strongly interfere with the decoding of spatial auditory attention from EEG. It is expected that more complicated non-linear models based on deep neural networks, which are often used for Sp-AAD, are even more vulnerable to such biases. Future work should perform experiments and model evaluations that avoid and/or control for such biases in Sp-AAD tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iustina Rotaru
- Department of Neurosciences, ExpORL, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49 bus 721, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), Stadius Center for Dynamical Systems, Signal Processing and Data Analytics, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 10, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Simon Geirnaert
- Department of Neurosciences, ExpORL, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49 bus 721, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), Stadius Center for Dynamical Systems, Signal Processing and Data Analytics, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 10, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven.AI-KU Leuven Institute for AI, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Nicolas Heintz
- Department of Neurosciences, ExpORL, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49 bus 721, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), Stadius Center for Dynamical Systems, Signal Processing and Data Analytics, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 10, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven.AI-KU Leuven Institute for AI, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Iris Van de Ryck
- Department of Neurosciences, ExpORL, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49 bus 721, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Alexander Bertrand
- Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), Stadius Center for Dynamical Systems, Signal Processing and Data Analytics, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 10, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven.AI-KU Leuven Institute for AI, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Tom Francart
- Department of Neurosciences, ExpORL, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49 bus 721, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven.AI-KU Leuven Institute for AI, Leuven, Belgium
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3
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Kobayashi K, Shiba Y, Honda S, Nakajima S, Fujii S, Mimura M, Noda Y. Short-Term Effect of Auditory Stimulation on Neural Activities: A Scoping Review of Longitudinal Electroencephalography and Magnetoencephalography Studies. Brain Sci 2024; 14:131. [PMID: 38391706 PMCID: PMC10887208 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14020131] [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: 12/03/2023] [Revised: 12/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Explored through EEG/MEG, auditory stimuli function as a suitable research probe to reveal various neural activities, including event-related potentials, brain oscillations and functional connectivity. Accumulating evidence in this field stems from studies investigating neuroplasticity induced by long-term auditory training, specifically cross-sectional studies comparing musicians and non-musicians as well as longitudinal studies with musicians. In contrast, studies that address the neural effects of short-term interventions whose duration lasts from minutes to hours are only beginning to be featured. Over the past decade, an increasing body of evidence has shown that short-term auditory interventions evoke rapid changes in neural activities, and oscillatory fluctuations can be observed even in the prestimulus period. In this scoping review, we divided the extracted neurophysiological studies into three groups to discuss neural activities with short-term auditory interventions: the pre-stimulus period, during stimulation, and a comparison of before and after stimulation. We show that oscillatory activities vary depending on the context of the stimuli and are greatly affected by the interplay of bottom-up and top-down modulational mechanisms, including attention. We conclude that the observed rapid changes in neural activitiesin the auditory cortex and the higher-order cognitive part of the brain are causally attributed to short-term auditory interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kanon Kobayashi
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan
| | - Yasushi Shiba
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan
| | - Shiori Honda
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan
| | - Shinichiro Nakajima
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan
| | - Shinya Fujii
- Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa 252-0816, Japan
| | - Masaru Mimura
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan
| | - Yoshihiro Noda
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan
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Houweling T, Becker R, Hervais-Adelman A. Elevated pre-target EEG alpha power enhances the probability of comprehending weakly noise masked words and decreases the probability of comprehending strongly masked words. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2023; 247:105356. [PMID: 37979282 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2023.105356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Revised: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 11/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/20/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Houweling
- Neurolinguistics, Department of Psychology, University of Zürich, Binzmühlestrasse 14, 8050 Zürich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zürich (ZNZ), University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
| | - Robert Becker
- Neurolinguistics, Department of Psychology, University of Zürich, Binzmühlestrasse 14, 8050 Zürich, Switzerland.
| | - Alexis Hervais-Adelman
- Neurolinguistics, Department of Psychology, University of Zürich, Binzmühlestrasse 14, 8050 Zürich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zürich (ZNZ), University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
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5
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Wang P, Limanowski J. Phasic modulation of beta power at movement-related frequencies during visuomotor conflict. J Neurophysiol 2023; 130:1367-1372. [PMID: 37877188 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00338.2023] [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: 09/06/2023] [Revised: 10/02/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Rhythmic cortical activity is thought to underlie many cognitive functions including the flexible weighting of sensory information depending on the current behavioral context. Here, we tested for potential oscillatory alignment and power modulation at behaviorally relevant frequencies in magnetoencephalography (MEG) data acquired during a virtual reality-based, rhythmic hand-target phase matching task. The task contained conditions differing in terms of visuomotor incongruence and whether or not behavior (grasping movements) had to be adapted to keep vision aligned with the target. We tested for potential oscillatory alignment with movement frequencies and cross-frequency coupling with oscillations in the alpha, beta, and gamma bands. Our results revealed local peaks at 1 Hz power, corresponding to the frequency at which hand movements alternated between open and close; thus, potentially indicating an "entrainment" of neural oscillations at key movement frequencies. We found 1 Hz power was selectively enhanced when participants needed to align incongruent vision with the target. Moreover, the phase of the "movement-entrained" 1 Hz oscillations coupled significantly with the momentary amplitude of beta band oscillations-again, this coupling was selectively enhanced when incongruent vision was task relevant. We propose that this reflected a top-down mechanism, most likely related to selective attention and rhythmic sensory sampling. Thus, phasic low-frequency (beta) power suppression likely indicated a variable (attentional) sampling of visual movement feedback; i.e., related to increased sensitivity for visually matching alternating hand movements to a phasic target at ecologically important time points, rather than continually during the grasping cycle.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Our results reveal an increased spectral power at movement frequencies in a rhythmic hand-target phase matching task under visuomotor conflict; this effect was strongest when incongruent visual movement feedback was required to guide action. Moreover, the phase of these slow frequencies coupled with the momentary power beta oscillations; again, this coupling was selectively strengthened when incongruent vision was task relevant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng Wang
- Institute of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Jakub Limanowski
- Institute of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
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6
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Wagner M, Rusiniak M, Higby E, Nourski KV. Sensory processing of native and non-native phonotactic patterns in the alpha and beta frequency bands. Neuropsychologia 2023; 189:108659. [PMID: 37579990 PMCID: PMC10602391 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108659] [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: 12/21/2022] [Revised: 08/03/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/16/2023]
Abstract
The phonotactic patterns of one's native language are established within cortical network processing during development. Sensory processing of native language phonotactic patterns established in memory may be modulated by top-down signals within the alpha and beta frequency bands. To explore sensory processing of phonotactic patterns in the alpha and beta frequency bands, electroencephalograms (EEGs) were recorded from native Polish and native English-speaking adults as they listened to spoken nonwords within same and different nonword pairs. The nonwords contained three phonological sequence onsets that occur in the Polish and English languages (/pət/, /st/, /sət/) and one onset sequence /pt/, which occurs in Polish but not in English onsets. Source localization modeling was used to transform 64-channel EEGs into brain source-level channels. Spectral power values in the low frequencies (2-29 Hz) were analyzed in response to the first nonword in nonword pairs within the context of counterbalanced listening-task conditions, which were presented on separate testing days. For the with-task listening condition, participants performed a behavioral task to the second nonword in the pairs. For the without-task condition participants were only instructed to listen to the stimuli. Thus, in the with-task condition, the first nonword served as a cue for the second nonword, the target stimulus. The results revealed decreased spectral power in the beta frequency band for the with-task condition compared to the without-task condition in response to native language phonotactic patterns. In contrast, the task-related suppression effects in response to the non-native phonotactic pattern /pt/ for the English listeners extended into the alpha frequency band. These effects were localized to source channels in left auditory cortex, the left anterior temporal cortex and the occipital pole. This exploratory study revealed a pattern of results that, if replicated, suggests that native language speech perception is supported by modulations in the alpha and beta frequency bands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica Wagner
- St. John's University, 8000 Utopia Parkway, Queens, NY, 11439, USA.
| | | | - Eve Higby
- California State University, East Bay, 25800 Carlos Bee Blvd, Hayward, CA, 94542, USA.
| | - Kirill V Nourski
- The University of Iowa, 200 Hawkins Dr., Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA.
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7
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Weise A, Hartmann T, Parmentier F, Weisz N, Ruhnau P. Involuntary shifts of spatial attention contribute to distraction-Evidence from oscillatory alpha power and reaction time data. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14353. [PMID: 37246813 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14353] [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: 07/14/2021] [Revised: 02/18/2023] [Accepted: 05/06/2023] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Imagine you are focusing on the traffic on a busy street to ride your bike safely when suddenly you hear the siren of an ambulance. This unexpected sound involuntarily captures your attention and interferes with ongoing performance. We tested whether this type of distraction involves a spatial shift of attention. We measured behavioral data and magnetoencephalographic alpha power during a cross-modal paradigm that combined an exogenous cueing task and a distraction task. In each trial, a task-irrelevant sound preceded a visual target (left or right). The sound was usually the same animal sound (i.e., standard sound). Rarely, it was replaced by an unexpected environmental sound (i.e., deviant sound). Fifty percent of the deviants occurred on the same side as the target, and 50% occurred on the opposite side. Participants responded to the location of the target. As expected, responses were slower to targets that followed a deviant compared to a standard. Crucially, this distraction effect was mitigated by the spatial relationship between the targets and the deviants: responses were faster when targets followed deviants on the same versus different side, indexing a spatial shift of attention. This was further corroborated by a posterior alpha power modulation that was higher in the hemisphere ipsilateral (vs. contralateral) to the location of the attention-capturing deviant. We suggest that this alpha power lateralization reflects a spatial attention bias. Overall, our data support the contention that spatial shifts of attention contribute to deviant distraction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annekathrin Weise
- CCNS and Division of Physiological Psychology, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Thomas Hartmann
- CCNS and Division of Physiological Psychology, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Fabrice Parmentier
- Neuropsychology & Cognition Group, Department of Psychology and Institute of Health Sciences (iUNICS), University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, Spain
- Balearic Islands Health Research Institute (IdISBa), Palma, Spain
- Department of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Nathan Weisz
- CCNS and Division of Physiological Psychology, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
- Neuroscience Institute, Christian Doppler University Hospital, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Philipp Ruhnau
- School of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK
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8
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Peng W, Zhan Y, Jin R, Lou W, Li X. Aftereffects of alpha transcranial alternating current stimulation over the primary sensorimotor cortex on cortical processing of pain. Pain 2023; 164:1280-1290. [PMID: 36607274 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002814] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
ABSTRACT Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is believed to modulate brain oscillations in a frequency-specific manner. Given the correlation between sensorimotor α-oscillations and pain perception, tACS that targets sensorimotor α-oscillations has the potential to reduce pain. Therefore, this study sought to determine the aftereffects of α-tACS over unilateral primary sensorimotor cortex (SM1) on the perceptual and neural responses to noxious painful stimulation of the contralateral hand. Using a double-blinded and sham-controlled design, 60 healthy participants were recruited to receive either α-tACS or sham stimulation of unilateral SM1 through an electrode montage in a 4 × 1 ring configuration. Neural responses to laser nociceptive stimuli were assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging immediately before and after α-tACS intervention. Perceptual reports were recorded simultaneously. Compared with sham stimulation, α-tACS attenuated bilateral SM1 responses to painful stimuli delivered to the contralateral hand. Although α-tACS did not exert direct effect on subjective pain perception, it can indirectly decrease ratings of pain perception by reducing brain activity within the targeted SM1. Moreover, α-tACS decreased the functional connectivity between the targeted SM1 and a network of regions that are crucially involved in pain processing, including the middle cingulate cortex, contralateral somatosensory cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. These results demonstrated that after α-tACS applied over the unilateral SM1 does attenuate subsequent neural processing of pain within bilateral sensorimotor regions as well as sensorimotor functional connectivity. The findings provide evidence that sensorimotor α-oscillations directly affect pain processing and support the application of sensorimotor α-tACS for inducing pain analgesia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weiwei Peng
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Yilin Zhan
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Richu Jin
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Wutao Lou
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Xiaoyun Li
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
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9
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Clements GM, Gyurkovics M, Low KA, Kramer AF, Beck DM, Fabiani M, Gratton G. Dynamics of alpha suppression index both modality specific and general attention processes. Neuroimage 2023; 270:119956. [PMID: 36863549 PMCID: PMC10037550 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.119956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2022] [Revised: 02/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/17/2023] [Indexed: 03/04/2023] Open
Abstract
EEG alpha power varies under many circumstances requiring visual attention. However, mounting evidence indicates that alpha may not only serve visual processing, but also the processing of stimuli presented in other sensory modalities, including hearing. We previously showed that alpha dynamics during an auditory task vary as a function of competition from the visual modality (Clements et al., 2022) suggesting that alpha may be engaged in multimodal processing. Here we assessed the impact of allocating attention to the visual or auditory modality on alpha dynamics at parietal and occipital electrodes, during the preparatory period of a cued-conflict task. In this task, bimodal precues indicated the modality (vision, hearing) relevant to a subsequent reaction stimulus, allowing us to assess alpha during modality-specific preparation and while switching between modalities. Alpha suppression following the precue occurred in all conditions, indicating that it may reflect general preparatory mechanisms. However, we observed a switch effect when preparing to attend to the auditory modality, in which greater alpha suppression was elicited when switching to the auditory modality compared to repeating. No switch effect was evident when preparing to attend to visual information (although robust suppression did occur in both conditions). In addition, waning alpha suppression preceded error trials, irrespective of sensory modality. These findings indicate that alpha can be used to monitor the level of preparatory attention to process both visual and auditory information, and support the emerging view that alpha band activity may index a general attention control mechanism used across modalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grace M Clements
- Psychology Department, University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, USA; Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, USA.
| | - Mate Gyurkovics
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, USA; School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of Glasgow, Scotland
| | - Kathy A Low
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, USA
| | - Arthur F Kramer
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, USA; Center for Cognitive & Brain Health, Northeastern University, USA
| | - Diane M Beck
- Psychology Department, University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, USA; Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, USA
| | - Monica Fabiani
- Psychology Department, University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, USA; Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, USA
| | - Gabriele Gratton
- Psychology Department, University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, USA; Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, USA.
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10
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Kovács P, Tóth B, Honbolygó F, Szalárdy O, Kohári A, Mády K, Magyari L, Winkler I. Speech prosody supports speaker selection and auditory stream segregation in a multi-talker situation. Brain Res 2023; 1805:148246. [PMID: 36657631 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2023.148246] [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: 09/06/2022] [Revised: 01/06/2023] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
To process speech in a multi-talker environment, listeners need to segregate the mixture of incoming speech streams and focus their attention on one of them. Potentially, speech prosody could aid the segregation of different speakers, the selection of the desired speech stream, and detecting targets within the attended stream. For testing these issues, we recorded behavioral responses and extracted event-related potentials and functional brain networks from electroencephalographic signals recorded while participants listened to two concurrent speech streams, performing a lexical detection and a recognition memory task in parallel. Prosody manipulation was applied to the attended speech stream in one group of participants and to the ignored speech stream in another group. Naturally recorded speech stimuli were either intact, synthetically F0-flattened, or prosodically suppressed by the speaker. Results show that prosody - especially the parsing cues mediated by speech rate - facilitates stream selection, while playing a smaller role in auditory stream segmentation and target detection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petra Kovács
- Department of Cognitive Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary
| | - Brigitta Tóth
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Center for Natural Sciences, Hungary.
| | - Ferenc Honbolygó
- Brain Imaging Center, Research Center for Natural Sciences, Hungary
| | - Orsolya Szalárdy
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Center for Natural Sciences, Hungary; Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Anna Kohári
- Research Group of Phonetics, Institute for General and Hungarian Linguistics, Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics, Hungary
| | - Katalin Mády
- Research Group of Phonetics, Institute for General and Hungarian Linguistics, Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics, Hungary
| | - Lilla Magyari
- Department of Social Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway; Norwegian Centre for Reading Education and Research, Faculty of Arts and Education, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
| | - István Winkler
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Center for Natural Sciences, Hungary
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11
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Köhler MHA, Weisz N. Cochlear Theta Activity Oscillates in Phase Opposition during Interaural Attention. J Cogn Neurosci 2023; 35:588-602. [PMID: 36626349 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
It is widely established that sensory perception is a rhythmic process as opposed to a continuous one. In the context of auditory perception, this effect is only established on a cortical and behavioral level. Yet, the unique architecture of the auditory sensory system allows its primary sensory cortex to modulate the processes of its sensory receptors at the cochlear level. Previously, we could demonstrate the existence of a genuine cochlear theta (∼6-Hz) rhythm that is modulated in amplitude by intermodal selective attention. As the study's paradigm was not suited to assess attentional effects on the oscillatory phase of cochlear activity, the question of whether attention can also affect the temporal organization of the cochlea's ongoing activity remained open. The present study utilizes an interaural attention paradigm to investigate ongoing otoacoustic activity during a stimulus-free cue-target interval and an omission period of the auditory target in humans. We were able to replicate the existence of the cochlear theta rhythm. Importantly, we found significant phase opposition between the two ears and attention conditions of anticipatory as well as cochlear oscillatory activity during target presentation. Yet, the amplitude was unaffected by interaural attention. These results are the first to demonstrate that intermodal and interaural attention deploy different aspects of excitation and inhibition at the first level of auditory processing. Whereas intermodal attention modulates the level of cochlear activity, interaural attention modulates the timing.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nathan Weisz
- University of Salzburg.,Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
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12
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Popov T, Gips B, Weisz N, Jensen O. Brain areas associated with visual spatial attention display topographic organization during auditory spatial attention. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:3478-3489. [PMID: 35972419 PMCID: PMC10068281 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Revised: 07/02/2022] [Accepted: 07/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Spatially selective modulation of alpha power (8-14 Hz) is a robust finding in electrophysiological studies of visual attention, and has been recently generalized to auditory spatial attention. This modulation pattern is interpreted as reflecting a top-down mechanism for suppressing distracting input from unattended directions of sound origin. The present study on auditory spatial attention extends this interpretation by demonstrating that alpha power modulation is closely linked to oculomotor action. We designed an auditory paradigm in which participants were required to attend to upcoming sounds from one of 24 loudspeakers arranged in a circular array around the head. Maintaining the location of an auditory cue was associated with a topographically modulated distribution of posterior alpha power resembling the findings known from visual attention. Multivariate analyses allowed the prediction of the sound location in the horizontal plane. Importantly, this prediction was also possible, when derived from signals capturing saccadic activity. A control experiment on auditory spatial attention confirmed that, in absence of any visual/auditory input, lateralization of alpha power is linked to the lateralized direction of gaze. Attending to an auditory target engages oculomotor and visual cortical areas in a topographic manner akin to the retinotopic organization associated with visual attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tzvetan Popov
- Methods of Plasticity Research, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, 1-80502-784644-50205-B15 2TT, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Bart Gips
- NATO Science and Technology Organization Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) La Spezia, La Spezia 19126, Italy
| | - Nathan Weisz
- Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Ole Jensen
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
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13
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Han JH, Lee J, Lee HJ. The effect of noise on the cortical activity patterns of speech processing in adults with single-sided deafness. Front Neurol 2023; 14:1054105. [PMID: 37006498 PMCID: PMC10060629 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1054105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The most common complaint in people with single-sided deafness (SSD) is difficulty in understanding speech in a noisy environment. Moreover, the neural mechanism of speech-in-noise (SiN) perception in SSD individuals is still poorly understood. In this study, we measured the cortical activity in SSD participants during a SiN task to compare with a speech-in-quiet (SiQ) task. Dipole source analysis revealed left hemispheric dominance in both left- and right-sided SSD group. Contrary to SiN listening, this hemispheric difference was not found during SiQ listening in either group. In addition, cortical activation in the right-sided SSD individuals was independent of the location of sound whereas activation sites in the left-sided SSD group were altered by the sound location. Examining the neural-behavioral relationship revealed that N1 activation is associated with the duration of deafness and the SiN perception ability of individuals with SSD. Our findings indicate that SiN listening is processed differently in the brains of left and right SSD individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ji-Hye Han
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences for Convergence Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang, Republic of Korea
- Ear and Interaction Center, Doheun Institute for Digital Innovation in Medicine (D.I.D.I.M.), Hallym University Medical Center, Anyang, Republic of Korea
| | - Jihyun Lee
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences for Convergence Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang, Republic of Korea
- Ear and Interaction Center, Doheun Institute for Digital Innovation in Medicine (D.I.D.I.M.), Hallym University Medical Center, Anyang, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyo-Jeong Lee
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences for Convergence Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang, Republic of Korea
- Ear and Interaction Center, Doheun Institute for Digital Innovation in Medicine (D.I.D.I.M.), Hallym University Medical Center, Anyang, Republic of Korea
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Hallym University College of Medicine, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea
- *Correspondence: Hyo-Jeong Lee
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14
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Elmer S, Besson M, Rodriguez-Fornells A, Giroud N. Foreign speech sound discrimination and associative word learning lead to a fast reconfiguration of resting-state networks. Neuroimage 2023; 271:120026. [PMID: 36921678 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120026] [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: 09/21/2022] [Revised: 03/09/2023] [Accepted: 03/12/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Learning new words in an unfamiliar language is a complex endeavor that requires the orchestration of multiple perceptual and cognitive functions. Although the neural mechanisms governing word learning are becoming better understood, little is known about the predictive value of resting-state (RS) metrics for foreign word discrimination and word learning attainment. In addition, it is still unknown which of the multistep processes involved in word learning have the potential to rapidly reconfigure RS networks. To address these research questions, we used electroencephalography (EEG), measured forty participants, and examined scalp-based power spectra, source-based spectral density maps and functional connectivity metrics before (RS1), in between (RS2) and after (RS3) a series of tasks which are known to facilitate the acquisition of new words in a foreign language, namely word discrimination, word-referent mapping and semantic generalization. Power spectra at the scalp level consistently revealed a reconfiguration of RS networks as a function of foreign word discrimination (RS1 vs. RS2) and word learning (RS1 vs. RS3) tasks in the delta, lower and upper alpha, and upper beta frequency ranges. Otherwise, functional reconfigurations at the source level were restricted to the theta (spectral density maps) and to the lower and upper alpha frequency bands (spectral density maps and functional connectivity). Notably, scalp RS changes related to the word discrimination tasks (difference between RS2 and RS1) correlated with word discrimination abilities (upper alpha band) and semantic generalization performance (theta and upper alpha bands), whereas functional changes related to the word learning tasks (difference between RS3 and RS1) correlated with word discrimination scores (lower alpha band). Taken together, these results highlight that foreign speech sound discrimination and word learning have the potential to rapidly reconfigure RS networks at multiple functional scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Elmer
- Department of Computational Linguistics, Computational Neuroscience of Speech & Hearing, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain; Competence center Language & Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Mireille Besson
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives, Université Publique de France, CNRS & Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France
| | - Antoni Rodriguez-Fornells
- Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain; University of Barcelona, Spain; Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Nathalie Giroud
- Department of Computational Linguistics, Computational Neuroscience of Speech & Hearing, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Center for Neuroscience Zurich, University and ETH of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Competence center Language & Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland
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15
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Herrmann B, Maess B, Henry MJ, Obleser J, Johnsrude IS. Neural signatures of task-related fluctuations in auditory attention and age-related changes. Neuroimage 2023; 268:119883. [PMID: 36657693 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.119883] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Revised: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2023] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Listening in everyday life requires attention to be deployed dynamically - when listening is expected to be difficult and when relevant information is expected to occur - to conserve mental resources. Conserving mental resources may be particularly important for older adults who often experience difficulties understanding speech. In the current study, we use electro- and magnetoencephalography to investigate the neural and behavioral mechanics of attention regulation during listening and the effects that aging has on these. We first show in younger adults (17-31 years) that neural alpha oscillatory activity indicates when in time attention is deployed (Experiment 1) and that deployment depends on listening difficulty (Experiment 2). Experiment 3 investigated age-related changes in auditory attention regulation. Middle-aged and older adults (54-72 years) show successful attention regulation but appear to utilize timing information differently compared to younger adults (20-33 years). We show a notable age-group dissociation in recruited brain regions. In younger adults, superior parietal cortex underlies alpha power during attention regulation, whereas, in middle-aged and older adults, alpha power emerges from more ventro-lateral areas (posterior temporal cortex). This difference in the sources of alpha activity between age groups only occurred during task performance and was absent during rest (Experiment S1). In sum, our study suggests that middle-aged and older adults employ different neural control strategies compared to younger adults to regulate attention in time under listening challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Björn Herrmann
- Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada; Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
| | - Burkhard Maess
- Brain Networks Group, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Molly J Henry
- Max Planck Research Group "Neural and Environmental Rhythms", Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Jonas Obleser
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Ingrid S Johnsrude
- Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada; School of Communication Sciences & Disorders, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
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16
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Foldal MD, Leske S, Blenkmann AO, Endestad T, Solbakk AK. Attentional modulation of beta-power aligns with the timing of behaviorally relevant rhythmic sounds. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:1876-1894. [PMID: 35639957 PMCID: PMC9977362 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac179] [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: 10/30/2020] [Revised: 04/05/2022] [Accepted: 04/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
It is largely unknown how attention adapts to the timing of acoustic stimuli. To address this, we investigated how hemispheric lateralization of alpha (7-13 Hz) and beta (14-24 Hz) oscillations, reflecting voluntary allocation of auditory spatial attention, is influenced by tempo and predictability of sounds. We recorded electroencephalography while healthy adults listened to rhythmic sound streams with different tempos that were presented dichotically to separate ears, thus permitting manipulation of spatial-temporal attention. Participants responded to stimulus-onset-asynchrony (SOA) deviants (-90 ms) for given tones in the attended rhythm. Rhythm predictability was controlled via the probability of SOA deviants per block. First, the results revealed hemispheric lateralization of beta-power according to attention direction, reflected as ipsilateral enhancement and contralateral suppression, which was amplified in high- relative to low-predictability conditions. Second, fluctuations in the time-resolved beta-lateralization aligned more strongly with the attended than the unattended tempo. Finally, a trend-level association was found between the degree of beta-lateralization and improved ability to distinguish between SOA-deviants in the attended versus unattended ear. Differently from previous studies, we presented continuous rhythms in which task-relevant and irrelevant stimuli had different tempo, thereby demonstrating that temporal alignment of beta-lateralization with attended sounds reflects top-down attention to sound timing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maja D Foldal
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Forskningsveien 3A, 0373 Oslo, Norway.,RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Forskningsveien 3A, 0373 Oslo, Norway
| | - Sabine Leske
- RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Forskningsveien 3A, 0373 Oslo, Norway.,Department of Musicology, University of Oslo, Sem Sælands vei 2, 0371 Oslo, Norway
| | - Alejandro O Blenkmann
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Forskningsveien 3A, 0373 Oslo, Norway.,RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Forskningsveien 3A, 0373 Oslo, Norway
| | - Tor Endestad
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Forskningsveien 3A, 0373 Oslo, Norway.,RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Forskningsveien 3A, 0373 Oslo, Norway.,Department of Neuropsychology, Helgeland Hospital, Skjervengan 17, 8657 Mosjøen, Norway
| | - Anne-Kristin Solbakk
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Forskningsveien 3A, 0373 Oslo, Norway.,RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Forskningsveien 3A, 0373 Oslo, Norway.,Department of Neuropsychology, Helgeland Hospital, Skjervengan 17, 8657 Mosjøen, Norway.,Department of Neurosurgery, Oslo University Hospital, Sognsvannsveien 20, 0372 Oslo, Norway
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17
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Getzmann S, Schneider D, Wascher E. Selective spatial attention in lateralized multi-talker speech perception: EEG correlates and the role of age. Neurobiol Aging 2023; 126:1-13. [PMID: 36881943 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2023.02.003] [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: 08/25/2022] [Revised: 02/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2023]
Abstract
Speech comprehension under dynamic cocktail party conditions requires auditory search for relevant speech content and focusing spatial attention on the target talker. Here, we investigated the development of these cognitive processes in a population of 329 participants aged 20-70 years. We used a multi-talker speech detection and perception task in which pairs of words (each consisting of a cue and a target word) were simultaneously presented from lateralized positions. Participants attended to predefined cue words and responded to the corresponding target. Task difficulty was varied by presenting cue and target stimuli at different intensity levels. Decline in performance was observed only in the oldest group (age range 53-70 years) and only in the most difficult condition. The EEG analysis of neurocognitive correlates of lateralized auditory attention and stimulus evaluation (N2ac, LPCpc, alpha power lateralization) revealed age-associated changes in focussing on and processing of task-relevant information, while no such deficits were found on early auditory search and target segregation. Irrespective of age, more challenging listening conditions were associated with an increased allocation of attentional resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephan Getzmann
- Department of Ergonomics, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at the Technical University of Dortmund (IfADo), Dortmund, Germany.
| | - Daniel Schneider
- Department of Ergonomics, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at the Technical University of Dortmund (IfADo), Dortmund, Germany
| | - Edmund Wascher
- Department of Ergonomics, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at the Technical University of Dortmund (IfADo), Dortmund, Germany
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18
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Wascher E, Reiser J, Rinkenauer G, Larrá M, Dreger FA, Schneider D, Karthaus M, Getzmann S, Gutberlet M, Arnau S. Neuroergonomics on the Go: An Evaluation of the Potential of Mobile EEG for Workplace Assessment and Design. HUMAN FACTORS 2023; 65:86-106. [PMID: 33861182 PMCID: PMC9846382 DOI: 10.1177/00187208211007707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2021] [Accepted: 03/13/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE We demonstrate and discuss the use of mobile electroencephalogram (EEG) for neuroergonomics. Both technical state of the art as well as measures and cognitive concepts are systematically addressed. BACKGROUND Modern work is increasingly characterized by information processing. Therefore, the examination of mental states, mental load, or cognitive processing during work is becoming increasingly important for ergonomics. RESULTS Mobile EEG allows to measure mental states and processes under real live conditions. It can be used for various research questions in cognitive neuroergonomics. Besides measures in the frequency domain that have a long tradition in the investigation of mental fatigue, task load, and task engagement, new approaches-like blink-evoked potentials-render event-related analyses of the EEG possible also during unrestricted behavior. CONCLUSION Mobile EEG has become a valuable tool for evaluating mental states and mental processes on a highly objective level during work. The main advantage of this technique is that working environments don't have to be changed while systematically measuring brain functions at work. Moreover, the workflow is unaffected by such neuroergonomic approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edmund Wascher
- IfADo – Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and
Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Julian Reiser
- IfADo – Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and
Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Gerhard Rinkenauer
- IfADo – Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and
Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Mauro Larrá
- IfADo – Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and
Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Felix A. Dreger
- IfADo – Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and
Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Daniel Schneider
- IfADo – Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and
Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Melanie Karthaus
- IfADo – Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and
Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Stephan Getzmann
- IfADo – Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and
Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | | | - Stefan Arnau
- IfADo – Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and
Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
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19
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Attentional capture is modulated by stimulus saliency in visual search as evidenced by event-related potentials and alpha oscillations. Atten Percept Psychophys 2022; 85:685-704. [PMID: 36525202 PMCID: PMC10066093 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-022-02629-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
AbstractThis study used a typical four-item search display to investigate top-down control over attentional capture in an additional singleton paradigm. By manipulating target and distractor color and shape, stimulus saliency relative to the remaining items was systematically varied. One group of participants discriminated the side of a dot within a salient orange target (ST group) presented with green circles (fillers) and a green diamond distractor. A second group discriminated the side of the dot within a green diamond target presented with green circle fillers and a salient orange square distractor (SD group). Results showed faster reaction times and a shorter latency of the N2pc component in the event-related potential (ERP) to the more salient targets in the ST group. Both salient and less salient distractors elicited Pd components of equal amplitude. Behaviorally, no task interference was observed with the less salient distractor, indicating the prevention of attentional capture. However, reaction times were slower in the presence of the salient distractor, which conflicts with the hypothesis that the Pd reflects proactive distractor suppression. Contrary to recent proposals that elicitation of the Pd requires competitive interactions with a target, we found a greater Pd amplitude when the distractor was presented alone. Alpha-band amplitudes decreased during target processing (event-related desynchronization), but no significant amplitude enhancement was observed at electrodes contralateral to distractors regardless of their saliency. The results demonstrate independent neural mechanisms for target and distractor processing and support the view that top-down guidance of attention can be offset (counteracted) by relative stimulus saliency.
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20
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Begau A, Klatt LI, Schneider D, Wascher E, Getzmann S. The role of informational content of visual speech in an audiovisual cocktail party: Evidence from cortical oscillations in young and old participants. Eur J Neurosci 2022; 56:5215-5234. [PMID: 36017762 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2022] [Revised: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Age-related differences in the processing of audiovisual speech in a multi-talker environment were investigated analysing event-related spectral perturbations (ERSPs), focusing on theta, alpha and beta oscillations that are assumed to reflect conflict processing, multisensory integration and attentional mechanisms, respectively. Eighteen older and 21 younger healthy adults completed a two-alternative forced-choice word discrimination task, responding to audiovisual speech stimuli. In a cocktail-party scenario with two competing talkers (located at -15° and 15° azimuth), target words (/yes/or/no/) appeared at a pre-defined (attended) position, distractor words at the other position. In two audiovisual conditions, acoustic speech was combined either with informative or uninformative visual speech. While a behavioural benefit for informative visual speech occurred for both age groups, differences between audiovisual conditions in the theta and beta band were only present for older adults. A stronger increase in theta perturbations for stimuli containing uninformative visual speech could be associated with early conflict processing, while a stronger suppression in beta perturbations for informative visual speech could be associated to audiovisual integration. Compared to the younger group, the older group showed generally stronger beta perturbations. No condition differences in the alpha band were found. Overall, the findings suggest age-related differences in audiovisual speech integration in a multi-talker environment. While the behavioural benefit of informative visual speech was unaffected by age, older adults had a stronger need for cognitive control when processing conflicting audiovisual speech input. Furthermore, mechanisms of audiovisual integration are differently activated depending on the informational content of the visual information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra Begau
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Laura-Isabelle Klatt
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Daniel Schneider
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Edmund Wascher
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Stephan Getzmann
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
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21
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Task prioritization modulates alpha, theta and beta EEG dynamics reflecting proactive cognitive control. Sci Rep 2022; 12:15072. [PMID: 36064572 PMCID: PMC9445103 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-19158-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Most neuroscientific studies investigating mental effort apply unspecific effort allocation paradigms. In contrast, the present EEG study targets specific effort allocation during task prioritization. Twenty-eight participants performed a cued number classification task during the retention interval of a working memory task including retrospective cues. One of two possible number classifications was done per trial. Each trial started with a cue indicating which of the two tasks would be more important in the upcoming trial. Subjects were told to engage in both tasks, but to concentrate on the important one. Feedback given at the end of each trial was calculated based on task performance, with scores obtained from the relevant task being tripled. Participants performed significantly better in either task when it was important compared to when not. Task prioritization modulates theta, alpha and beta oscillations, predominantly during task preparation. Multivariate pattern analysis revealed that the exact type of the two possible number classifications was decodable, however, decoding accuracy did not depend on task importance. Hemispheric alpha power asymmetries indicating attentional orienting between working memory representations also did not depend on task importance. The findings suggest that task prioritization primarily affects proactive cognitive control on a superordinate level.
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22
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Impact of Effortful Word Recognition on Supportive Neural Systems Measured by Alpha and Theta Power. Ear Hear 2022; 43:1549-1562. [DOI: 10.1097/aud.0000000000001211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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23
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Hsu YF, Hämäläinen JA. Load-dependent alpha suppression is related to working memory capacity for numbers. Brain Res 2022; 1791:147994. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2022.147994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Revised: 04/13/2022] [Accepted: 06/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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Interaction of bottom-up and top-down neural mechanisms in spatial multi-talker speech perception. Curr Biol 2022; 32:3971-3986.e4. [PMID: 35973430 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2022] [Revised: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 07/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
How the human auditory cortex represents spatially separated simultaneous talkers and how talkers' locations and voices modulate the neural representations of attended and unattended speech are unclear. Here, we measured the neural responses from electrodes implanted in neurosurgical patients as they performed single-talker and multi-talker speech perception tasks. We found that spatial separation between talkers caused a preferential encoding of the contralateral speech in Heschl's gyrus (HG), planum temporale (PT), and superior temporal gyrus (STG). Location and spectrotemporal features were encoded in different aspects of the neural response. Specifically, the talker's location changed the mean response level, whereas the talker's spectrotemporal features altered the variation of response around response's baseline. These components were differentially modulated by the attended talker's voice or location, which improved the population decoding of attended speech features. Attentional modulation due to the talker's voice only appeared in the auditory areas with longer latencies, but attentional modulation due to location was present throughout. Our results show that spatial multi-talker speech perception relies upon a separable pre-attentive neural representation, which could be further tuned by top-down attention to the location and voice of the talker.
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25
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Bai F, Meyer AS, Martin AE. Neural dynamics differentially encode phrases and sentences during spoken language comprehension. PLoS Biol 2022; 20:e3001713. [PMID: 35834569 PMCID: PMC9282610 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Human language stands out in the natural world as a biological signal that uses a structured system to combine the meanings of small linguistic units (e.g., words) into larger constituents (e.g., phrases and sentences). However, the physical dynamics of speech (or sign) do not stand in a one-to-one relationship with the meanings listeners perceive. Instead, listeners infer meaning based on their knowledge of the language. The neural readouts of the perceptual and cognitive processes underlying these inferences are still poorly understood. In the present study, we used scalp electroencephalography (EEG) to compare the neural response to phrases (e.g., the red vase) and sentences (e.g., the vase is red), which were close in semantic meaning and had been synthesized to be physically indistinguishable. Differences in structure were well captured in the reorganization of neural phase responses in delta (approximately <2 Hz) and theta bands (approximately 2 to 7 Hz),and in power and power connectivity changes in the alpha band (approximately 7.5 to 13.5 Hz). Consistent with predictions from a computational model, sentences showed more power, more power connectivity, and more phase synchronization than phrases did. Theta–gamma phase–amplitude coupling occurred, but did not differ between the syntactic structures. Spectral–temporal response function (STRF) modeling revealed different encoding states for phrases and sentences, over and above the acoustically driven neural response. Our findings provide a comprehensive description of how the brain encodes and separates linguistic structures in the dynamics of neural responses. They imply that phase synchronization and strength of connectivity are readouts for the constituent structure of language. The results provide a novel basis for future neurophysiological research on linguistic structure representation in the brain, and, together with our simulations, support time-based binding as a mechanism of structure encoding in neural dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fan Bai
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Antje S. Meyer
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Andrea E. Martin
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- * E-mail:
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Wöstmann M, Störmer VS, Obleser J, Addleman DA, Andersen SK, Gaspelin N, Geng JJ, Luck SJ, Noonan MP, Slagter HA, Theeuwes J. Ten simple rules to study distractor suppression. Prog Neurobiol 2022. [PMID: 35427732 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2022.102269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Distractor suppression refers to the ability to filter out distracting and task-irrelevant information. Distractor suppression is essential for survival and considered a key aspect of selective attention. Despite the recent and rapidly evolving literature on distractor suppression, we still know little about how the brain suppresses distracting information. What limits progress is that we lack mutually agreed upon principles of how to study the neural basis of distractor suppression and its manifestation in behavior. Here, we offer ten simple rules that we believe are fundamental when investigating distractor suppression. We provide guidelines on how to design conclusive experiments on distractor suppression (Rules 1-3), discuss different types of distractor suppression that need to be distinguished (Rules 4-6), and provide an overview of models of distractor suppression and considerations of how to evaluate distractor suppression statistically (Rules 7-10). Together, these rules provide a concise and comprehensive synopsis of promising advances in the field of distractor suppression. Following these rules will propel research on distractor suppression in important ways, not only by highlighting prominent issues to both new and more advanced researchers in the field, but also by facilitating communication between sub-disciplines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malte Wöstmann
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany; Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
| | - Viola S Störmer
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, USA.
| | - Jonas Obleser
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany; Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | | | - Søren K Andersen
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, UK; Department of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
| | - Nicholas Gaspelin
- Department of Psychology and Department of Integrative Neuroscience, Binghamton University, State University of New York, USA
| | - Joy J Geng
- Center for Mind and Brain and Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, USA
| | - Steven J Luck
- Center for Mind and Brain and Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, USA
| | | | - Heleen A Slagter
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Institute for Brain and Behavior, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Jan Theeuwes
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Institute for Brain and Behavior, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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Keitel C, Ruzzoli M, Dugué L, Busch NA, Benwell CSY. Rhythms in cognition: The evidence revisited. Eur J Neurosci 2022; 55:2991-3009. [PMID: 35696729 PMCID: PMC9544967 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2022] [Revised: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Manuela Ruzzoli
- Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), Donostia/San Sebastian, Spain.,Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Laura Dugué
- Université Paris Cité, INCC UMR 8002, CNRS, Paris, France.,Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Paris, France
| | - Niko A Busch
- Institute for Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
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28
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A neuroscience-inspired spiking neural network for EEG-based auditory spatial attention detection. Neural Netw 2022; 152:555-565. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neunet.2022.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2021] [Revised: 03/02/2022] [Accepted: 05/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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29
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Parietal but not temporoparietal alpha-tACS modulates endogenous visuospatial attention. Cortex 2022; 154:149-166. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.01.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Revised: 12/01/2021] [Accepted: 01/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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30
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Wöstmann M, Störmer VS, Obleser J, Addleman DA, Andersen SK, Gaspelin N, Geng JJ, Luck SJ, Noonan MP, Slagter HA, Theeuwes J. Ten simple rules to study distractor suppression. Prog Neurobiol 2022; 213:102269. [PMID: 35427732 PMCID: PMC9069241 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2022.102269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Revised: 03/28/2022] [Accepted: 04/04/2022] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Distractor suppression refers to the ability to filter out distracting and task-irrelevant information. Distractor suppression is essential for survival and considered a key aspect of selective attention. Despite the recent and rapidly evolving literature on distractor suppression, we still know little about how the brain suppresses distracting information. What limits progress is that we lack mutually agreed upon principles of how to study the neural basis of distractor suppression and its manifestation in behavior. Here, we offer ten simple rules that we believe are fundamental when investigating distractor suppression. We provide guidelines on how to design conclusive experiments on distractor suppression (Rules 1–3), discuss different types of distractor suppression that need to be distinguished (Rules 4–6), and provide an overview of models of distractor suppression and considerations of how to evaluate distractor suppression statistically (Rules 7–10). Together, these rules provide a concise and comprehensive synopsis of promising advances in the field of distractor suppression. Following these rules will propel research on distractor suppression in important ways, not only by highlighting prominent issues to both new and more advanced researchers in the field, but also by facilitating communication between sub-disciplines. Distractor suppression is the ability to filter out irrelevant information. At present, we know little about how the brain suppresses distraction. We offer ten rules that are fundamental when investigating distractor suppression. Following the rules will propel research and foster interaction between disciplines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malte Wöstmann
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany; Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
| | - Viola S Störmer
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, USA.
| | - Jonas Obleser
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany; Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | | | - Søren K Andersen
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, UK; Department of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
| | - Nicholas Gaspelin
- Department of Psychology and Department of Integrative Neuroscience, Binghamton University, State University of New York, USA
| | - Joy J Geng
- Center for Mind and Brain and Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, USA
| | - Steven J Luck
- Center for Mind and Brain and Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, USA
| | | | - Heleen A Slagter
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Institute for Brain and Behavior, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Jan Theeuwes
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Institute for Brain and Behavior, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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31
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Corcoran AW, Perera R, Koroma M, Kouider S, Hohwy J, Andrillon T. Expectations boost the reconstruction of auditory features from electrophysiological responses to noisy speech. Cereb Cortex 2022; 33:691-708. [PMID: 35253871 PMCID: PMC9890472 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2021] [Revised: 02/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/12/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Online speech processing imposes significant computational demands on the listening brain, the underlying mechanisms of which remain poorly understood. Here, we exploit the perceptual "pop-out" phenomenon (i.e. the dramatic improvement of speech intelligibility after receiving information about speech content) to investigate the neurophysiological effects of prior expectations on degraded speech comprehension. We recorded electroencephalography (EEG) and pupillometry from 21 adults while they rated the clarity of noise-vocoded and sine-wave synthesized sentences. Pop-out was reliably elicited following visual presentation of the corresponding written sentence, but not following incongruent or neutral text. Pop-out was associated with improved reconstruction of the acoustic stimulus envelope from low-frequency EEG activity, implying that improvements in perceptual clarity were mediated via top-down signals that enhanced the quality of cortical speech representations. Spectral analysis further revealed that pop-out was accompanied by a reduction in theta-band power, consistent with predictive coding accounts of acoustic filling-in and incremental sentence processing. Moreover, delta-band power, alpha-band power, and pupil diameter were all increased following the provision of any written sentence information, irrespective of content. Together, these findings reveal distinctive profiles of neurophysiological activity that differentiate the content-specific processes associated with degraded speech comprehension from the context-specific processes invoked under adverse listening conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew W Corcoran
- Corresponding author: Room E672, 20 Chancellors Walk, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia.
| | - Ricardo Perera
- Cognition & Philosophy Laboratory, School of Philosophical, Historical, and International Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800 Australia
| | - Matthieu Koroma
- Brain and Consciousness Group (ENS, EHESS, CNRS), Département d’Études Cognitives, École Normale Supérieure-PSL Research University, Paris 75005, France
| | - Sid Kouider
- Brain and Consciousness Group (ENS, EHESS, CNRS), Département d’Études Cognitives, École Normale Supérieure-PSL Research University, Paris 75005, France
| | - Jakob Hohwy
- Cognition & Philosophy Laboratory, School of Philosophical, Historical, and International Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800 Australia,Monash Centre for Consciousness & Contemplative Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800 Australia
| | - Thomas Andrillon
- Monash Centre for Consciousness & Contemplative Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800 Australia,Paris Brain Institute, Sorbonne Université, Inserm-CNRS, Paris 75013, France
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32
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Kemmerer SK, Sack AT, de Graaf TA, Ten Oever S, De Weerd P, Schuhmann T. Frequency-specific transcranial neuromodulation of alpha power alters visuospatial attention performance. Brain Res 2022; 1782:147834. [PMID: 35176250 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2022.147834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2021] [Revised: 01/21/2022] [Accepted: 02/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) at 10Hz has been shown to modulate spatial attention. However, the frequency-specificity and the oscillatory changes underlying this tACS effect are still largely unclear. Here, we applied high-definition tACS at individual alpha frequency (IAF), two control frequencies (IAF+/-2Hz) and sham to the left posterior parietal cortex and measured its effects on visuospatial attention performance and offline alpha power (using electroencephalography, EEG). We revealed a behavioural and electrophysiological stimulation effect relative to sham for IAF but not control frequency stimulation conditions: there was a leftward lateralization of alpha power for IAF tACS, which differed from sham for the first out of three minutes following tACS. At a high value of this EEG effect (moderation effect), we observed a leftward attention bias relative to sham. This effect was task-specific, i.e. it could be found in an endogenous attention but not in a detection task. Only in the IAF tACS condition, we also found a correlation between the magnitude of the alpha lateralization and the attentional bias effect. Our results support a functional role of alpha oscillations in visuospatial attention and the potential of tACS to modulate it. The frequency-specificity of the effects suggests that an individualization of the stimulation frequency is necessary in heterogeneous target groups with a large variation in IAF.
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Affiliation(s)
- S K Kemmerer
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, The Netherlands; Brain Imaging Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
| | - A T Sack
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, The Netherlands; Brain Imaging Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Brain + Nerve Centre, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - T A de Graaf
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, The Netherlands; Brain Imaging Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - S Ten Oever
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, The Netherlands; Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - P De Weerd
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, The Netherlands; Brain Imaging Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - T Schuhmann
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, The Netherlands; Brain Imaging Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands
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33
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Wagner M, Ortiz-Mantilla S, Rusiniak M, Benasich AA, Shafer VL, Steinschneider M. Acoustic-level and language-specific processing of native and non-native phonological sequence onsets in the low gamma and theta-frequency bands. Sci Rep 2022; 12:314. [PMID: 35013345 PMCID: PMC8748887 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-03611-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2021] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Acoustic structures associated with native-language phonological sequences are enhanced within auditory pathways for perception, although the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. To elucidate processes that facilitate perception, time-frequency (T-F) analyses of EEGs obtained from native speakers of English and Polish were conducted. Participants listened to same and different nonword pairs within counterbalanced attend and passive conditions. Nonwords contained the onsets /pt/, /pət/, /st/, and /sət/ that occur in both the Polish and English languages with the exception of /pt/, which never occurs in the English language in word onset. Measures of spectral power and inter-trial phase locking (ITPL) in the low gamma (LG) and theta-frequency bands were analyzed from two bilateral, auditory source-level channels, created through source localization modeling. Results revealed significantly larger spectral power in LG for the English listeners to the unfamiliar /pt/ onsets from the right hemisphere at early cortical stages, during the passive condition. Further, ITPL values revealed distinctive responses in high and low-theta to acoustic characteristics of the onsets, which were modulated by language exposure. These findings, language-specific processing in LG and acoustic-level and language-specific processing in theta, support the view that multi scale temporal processing in the LG and theta-frequency bands facilitates speech perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica Wagner
- St. John's University, St. John's Hall, Room 344 e1, 8000 Utopia Parkway, Queens, NY, 11439, USA.
| | | | | | | | - Valerie L Shafer
- The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, NY, 10016, USA
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34
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Su E, Cai S, Xie L, Li H, Schultz T. STAnet: A Spatiotemporal Attention Network for Decoding Auditory Spatial Attention from EEG. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 2022; 69:2233-2242. [PMID: 34982671 DOI: 10.1109/tbme.2022.3140246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Humans are able to localize the source of a sound. This enables them to direct attention to a particular speaker in a cocktail party. Psycho-acoustic studies show that the sensory cortices of the human brain respond to the location of sound sources differently, and the auditory attention itself is a dynamic and temporally based brain activity. In this work, we seek to build a computational model which uses both spatial and temporal information manifested in EEG signals for auditory spatial attention detection (ASAD). METHODS We propose an end-to-end spatiotemporal attention network, denoted as STAnet, to detect auditory spatial attention from EEG. The STAnet is designed to assign differentiated weights dynamically to EEG channels through a spatial attention mechanism, and to temporal patterns in EEG signals through a temporal attention mechanism. RESULTS We report the ASAD experiments on two publicly available datasets. The STAnet outperforms other competitive models by a large margin under various experimental conditions. Its attention decision for 1-second decision window outperforms that of the state-of-the-art techniques for 10-second decision window. Experimental results also demonstrate that the STAnet achieves competitive performance on EEG signals ranging from 64 to as few as 16 channels. CONCLUSION This study provides evidence suggesting that efficient low-density EEG online decoding is within reach. SIGNIFICANCE This study also marks an important step towards the practical implementation of ASAD in real life applications.
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35
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ElShafei HA, Orlemann C, Haegens S. The Impact of Eye Closure on Anticipatory α Activity in a Tactile Discrimination Task. eNeuro 2022; 9:ENEURO.0412-21.2021. [PMID: 34965926 PMCID: PMC8805195 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0412-21.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2021] [Revised: 11/25/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the very first observations made regarding α oscillations (8-14 Hz), is that they increase in power over posterior areas when awake participants close their eyes. Recent work, especially in the context of (spatial) attention, suggests that α activity reflects a mechanism of functional inhibition. However, it remains unclear how eye closure impacts anticipatory α modulation observed in attention paradigms, and how this affects subsequent behavioral performance. Here, we recorded magnetoencephalography (MEG) in 33 human participants performing a tactile discrimination task with their eyes open versus closed. We replicated the hallmarks of previous somatosensory spatial attention studies: α lateralization across the somatosensory cortices as well as α increase over posterior (visual) regions. Furthermore, we found that eye closure leads to (1) reduced task performance; (2) widespread increase in α power; and (3) reduced anticipatory visual α modulation (4) with no effect on somatosensory α lateralization. Regardless of whether participants had their eyes open or closed, increased visual α power and somatosensory α lateralization improved their performance. Thus, we provide evidence that eye closure does not alter the impact of anticipatory α modulations on behavioral performance. We propose there is an optimal visual α level for somatosensory task performance, which can be achieved through a combination of eye closure and top-down anticipatory attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hesham A ElShafei
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6525 EN, The Netherlands
| | - Corinne Orlemann
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6525 EN, The Netherlands
| | - Saskia Haegens
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6525 EN, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032
- Division of Systems Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032
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36
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Eckert MA, Teubner-Rhodes S, Vaden KI, Ahlstrom JB, McClaskey CM, Dubno JR. Unique patterns of hearing loss and cognition in older adults' neural responses to cues for speech recognition difficulty. Brain Struct Funct 2022; 227:203-218. [PMID: 34632538 PMCID: PMC9044122 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-021-02398-2] [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: 04/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Older adults with hearing loss experience significant difficulties understanding speech in noise, perhaps due in part to limited benefit from supporting executive functions that enable the use of environmental cues signaling changes in listening conditions. Here we examined the degree to which 41 older adults (60.56-86.25 years) exhibited cortical responses to informative listening difficulty cues that communicated the listening difficulty for each trial compared to neutral cues that were uninformative of listening difficulty. Word recognition was significantly higher for informative compared to uninformative cues in a + 10 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) condition, and response latencies were significantly shorter for informative cues in the + 10 dB SNR and the more-challenging + 2 dB SNR conditions. Informative cues were associated with elevated blood oxygenation level-dependent contrast in visual and parietal cortex. A cue-SNR interaction effect was observed in the cingulo-opercular (CO) network, such that activity only differed between SNR conditions when an informative cue was presented. That is, participants used the informative cues to prepare for changes in listening difficulty from one trial to the next. This cue-SNR interaction effect was driven by older adults with more low-frequency hearing loss and was not observed for those with more high-frequency hearing loss, poorer set-shifting task performance, and lower frontal operculum gray matter volume. These results suggest that proactive strategies for engaging CO adaptive control may be important for older adults with high-frequency hearing loss to optimize speech recognition in changing and challenging listening conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark A. Eckert
- Hearing Research Program, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Rutledge Avenue, MSC 55, Charleston, SC 29425-5500, USA
| | | | - Kenneth I. Vaden
- Hearing Research Program, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Rutledge Avenue, MSC 55, Charleston, SC 29425-5500, USA
| | - Jayne B. Ahlstrom
- Hearing Research Program, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Rutledge Avenue, MSC 55, Charleston, SC 29425-5500, USA
| | - Carolyn M. McClaskey
- Hearing Research Program, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Rutledge Avenue, MSC 55, Charleston, SC 29425-5500, USA
| | - Judy R. Dubno
- Hearing Research Program, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Rutledge Avenue, MSC 55, Charleston, SC 29425-5500, USA
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Varga NL, Manns JR. Delta-modulated cortical alpha oscillations support new knowledge generation through memory integration. Neuroimage 2021; 244:118600. [PMID: 34562576 PMCID: PMC8796818 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2021] [Revised: 08/20/2021] [Accepted: 09/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to generate new knowledge depends on integration of separate information. For example, in one episode an individual may learn that apple seeds are called pips. In a separate episode, the individual may then learn that pips contain cyanide. Integration of the related facts in memory may then support derivation of the new knowledge that apple seeds contain cyanide. Past studies show that adults form relational memories that represent the commonalities among discrete events, and that such integrated representation supports the ability to infer new knowledge. Although these integrated representations are thought to result from linking separate memories to the same neuronal ensemble, the neural mechanisms that underlie formation of such linkages are not well understood. Here we examined whether self-derivation of new, integrated knowledge was supported by oscillatory coherence, a means of linking discrete neuronal ensembles. Cortical alpha coherence was greater when adults encoded new facts that could be integrated with existing knowledge, relative to encoding unrelated facts, particularly in participants who showed better performance on the subsequent test of knowledge generation via fact integration. In high performers, posterior alpha amplitude was also modulated by delta phase, a form of cross-frequency coupling previously implicated in coordinating information stored widely throughout the cortex. Examination of the timing and topography of these respective signatures suggested that these oscillatory dynamics work in concert to encode and represent new knowledge with respect to prior knowledge that is reactivated, thus revealing fundamental mechanisms through which related memories are linked into integrated knowledge structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole L Varga
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Center for Learning and Memory, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
| | - Joseph R Manns
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
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38
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Hearing Aid Noise Reduction Lowers the Sustained Listening Effort During Continuous Speech in Noise-A Combined Pupillometry and EEG Study. Ear Hear 2021; 42:1590-1601. [PMID: 33950865 DOI: 10.1097/aud.0000000000001050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The investigation of auditory cognitive processes recently moved from strictly controlled, trial-based paradigms toward the presentation of continuous speech. This also allows the investigation of listening effort on larger time scales (i.e., sustained listening effort). Here, we investigated the modulation of sustained listening effort by a noise reduction algorithm as applied in hearing aids in a listening scenario with noisy continuous speech. The investigated directional noise reduction algorithm mainly suppresses noise from the background. DESIGN We recorded the pupil size and the EEG in 22 participants with hearing loss who listened to audio news clips in the presence of background multi-talker babble noise. We estimated how noise reduction (off, on) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR; +3 dB, +8 dB) affect pupil size and the power in the parietal EEG alpha band (i.e., parietal alpha power) as well as the behavioral performance. RESULTS Our results show that noise reduction reduces pupil size, while there was no significant effect of the SNR. It is important to note that we found interactions of SNR and noise reduction, which suggested that noise reduction reduces pupil size predominantly under the lower SNR. Parietal alpha power showed a similar yet nonsignificant pattern, with increased power under easier conditions. In line with the participants' reports that one of the two presented talkers was more intelligible, we found a reduced pupil size, increased parietal alpha power, and better performance when people listened to the more intelligible talker. CONCLUSIONS We show that the modulation of sustained listening effort (e.g., by hearing aid noise reduction) as indicated by pupil size and parietal alpha power can be studied under more ecologically valid conditions. Mainly concluded from pupil size, we demonstrate that hearing aid noise reduction lowers sustained listening effort. Our study approximates to real-world listening scenarios and evaluates the benefit of the signal processing as can be found in a modern hearing aid.
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39
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Cai S, Sun P, Schultz T, Li H. Low-Latency Auditory Spatial Attention Detection Based on Spectro-Spatial Features from EEG. ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY. IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY. ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2021; 2021:5812-5815. [PMID: 34892441 DOI: 10.1109/embc46164.2021.9630902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Detecting auditory attention based on brain signals enables many everyday applications, and serves as part of the solution to the cocktail party effect in speech processing. Several studies leverage the correlation between brain signals and auditory stimuli to detect the auditory attention of listeners. Recently, studies show that the alpha band (8-13 Hz) EEG signals enable the localization of auditory stimuli. We believe that it is possible to detect auditory spatial attention without the need of auditory stimuli as references. In this work, we firstly propose a spectro-spatial feature extraction technique to detect auditory spatial attention (left/right) based on the topographic specificity of alpha power. Experiments show that the proposed neural approach achieves 81.7% and 94.6% accuracy for 1-second and 10-second decision windows, respectively. Our comparative results show that this neural approach outperforms other competitive models by a large margin in all test cases.
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40
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Alavash M, Tune S, Obleser J. Dynamic large-scale connectivity of intrinsic cortical oscillations supports adaptive listening in challenging conditions. PLoS Biol 2021; 19:e3001410. [PMID: 34634031 PMCID: PMC8530332 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2021] [Revised: 10/21/2021] [Accepted: 09/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In multi-talker situations, individuals adapt behaviorally to this listening challenge mostly with ease, but how do brain neural networks shape this adaptation? We here establish a long-sought link between large-scale neural communications in electrophysiology and behavioral success in the control of attention in difficult listening situations. In an age-varying sample of N = 154 individuals, we find that connectivity between intrinsic neural oscillations extracted from source-reconstructed electroencephalography is regulated according to the listener's goal during a challenging dual-talker task. These dynamics occur as spatially organized modulations in power-envelope correlations of alpha and low-beta neural oscillations during approximately 2-s intervals most critical for listening behavior relative to resting-state baseline. First, left frontoparietal low-beta connectivity (16 to 24 Hz) increased during anticipation and processing of a spatial-attention cue before speech presentation. Second, posterior alpha connectivity (7 to 11 Hz) decreased during comprehension of competing speech, particularly around target-word presentation. Connectivity dynamics of these networks were predictive of individual differences in the speed and accuracy of target-word identification, respectively, but proved unconfounded by changes in neural oscillatory activity strength. Successful adaptation to a listening challenge thus latches onto two distinct yet complementary neural systems: a beta-tuned frontoparietal network enabling the flexible adaptation to attentive listening state and an alpha-tuned posterior network supporting attention to speech.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohsen Alavash
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
- Center of Brain, Behavior, and Metabolism, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
- * E-mail: (MA); (JO)
| | - Sarah Tune
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
- Center of Brain, Behavior, and Metabolism, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Jonas Obleser
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
- Center of Brain, Behavior, and Metabolism, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
- * E-mail: (MA); (JO)
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41
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De Groote E, Eqlimi E, Bockstael A, Botteldooren D, Santens P, De Letter M. Parkinson's disease affects the neural alpha oscillations associated with speech-in-noise processing. Eur J Neurosci 2021; 54:7355-7376. [PMID: 34617350 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Revised: 09/03/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Parkinson's disease (PD) has increasingly been associated with auditory dysfunction, including alterations regarding the control of auditory information processing. Although these alterations may interfere with the processing of speech in degraded listening conditions, behavioural studies have generally found preserved speech-in-noise recognition in PD. However, behavioural speech audiometry does not capture the neurophysiological mechanisms supporting speech-in-noise processing. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the neural oscillatory mechanisms associated with speech-in-noise processing in PD. Twelve persons with PD and 12 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HCs) were included in this study. Persons with PD were studied in the medication off condition. All subjects underwent an audiometric screening and performed a sentence-in-noise recognition task under simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) recording. Behavioural speech recognition scores and self-reported ratings of effort, performance, and motivation were collected. Time-frequency analysis of EEG data revealed no significant difference between persons with PD and HCs regarding delta-theta (2-8 Hz) inter-trial phase coherence to noise and sentence onset. In contrast, significantly increased alpha (8-12 Hz) power was found in persons with PD compared with HCs during the sentence-in-noise recognition task. Behaviourally, persons with PD demonstrated significantly decreased speech recognition scores, whereas no significant differences were found regarding effort, performance, and motivation ratings. These results suggest that persons with PD allocate more cognitive resources to support speech-in-noise processing. The interpretation of this finding is discussed in the context of a top-down mediated compensation mechanism for inefficient filtering and degradation of auditory input in PD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evelien De Groote
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, BrainComm Research Group, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Ehsan Eqlimi
- Department of Information Technology, WAVES Research Group, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Annelies Bockstael
- Department of Information Technology, WAVES Research Group, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Dick Botteldooren
- Department of Information Technology, WAVES Research Group, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Patrick Santens
- Department of Neurology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Miet De Letter
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, BrainComm Research Group, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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42
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Lim SJ, Carter YD, Njoroge JM, Shinn-Cunningham BG, Perrachione TK. Talker discontinuity disrupts attention to speech: Evidence from EEG and pupillometry. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2021; 221:104996. [PMID: 34358924 PMCID: PMC8515637 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2021.104996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Revised: 07/11/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Speech is processed less efficiently from discontinuous, mixed talkers than one consistent talker, but little is known about the neural mechanisms for processing talker variability. Here, we measured psychophysiological responses to talker variability using electroencephalography (EEG) and pupillometry while listeners performed a delayed recall of digit span task. Listeners heard and recalled seven-digit sequences with both talker (single- vs. mixed-talker digits) and temporal (0- vs. 500-ms inter-digit intervals) discontinuities. Talker discontinuity reduced serial recall accuracy. Both talker and temporal discontinuities elicited P3a-like neural evoked response, while rapid processing of mixed-talkers' speech led to increased phasic pupil dilation. Furthermore, mixed-talkers' speech produced less alpha oscillatory power during working memory maintenance, but not during speech encoding. Overall, these results are consistent with an auditory attention and streaming framework in which talker discontinuity leads to involuntary, stimulus-driven attentional reorientation to novel speech sources, resulting in the processing interference classically associated with talker variability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sung-Joo Lim
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Boston University, United States.
| | - Yaminah D Carter
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Boston University, United States
| | - J Michelle Njoroge
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Boston University, United States
| | | | - Tyler K Perrachione
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Boston University, United States.
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43
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Drgas S, Blaszak M, Przekoracka-Krawczyk A. The Combination of Neural Tracking and Alpha Power Lateralization for Auditory Attention Detection. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2021; 64:3603-3616. [PMID: 34403288 DOI: 10.1044/2021_jslhr-20-00608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Purpose The acoustic source that is attended to by the listener in a mixture can be identified with a certain accuracy on the basis of their neural response recorded during listening, and various phenomena may be used to detect attention. For example, neural tracking (NT) and alpha power lateralization (APL) may be utilized in order to obtain information concerning attention. However, these methods of auditory attention detection (AAD) are typically tested in different experimental setups, which makes it impossible to compare their accuracy. The aim of this study is to compare the accuracy of AAD based on NT, APL, and their combination for a dichotic natural speech listening task. Method Thirteen adult listeners were presented with dichotic speech stimuli and instructed to attend to one of them. Electroencephalogram of the subjects was continuously recorded during the experiment using a set of 32 active electrodes. The accuracy of AAD was evaluated for trial lengths of 50, 25, and 12.5 s. AAD was tested for various parameters of NT- and APL-based modules. Results The obtained results suggest that NT of natural running speech provides similar accuracy to APL. The statistically significant improvement of the accuracy of AAD using a combined method has been observed not only for the longest duration of test samples (50 s, p = .005) but also for shorter ones (25 s, p = .011). Conclusions It seems that the combination of standard NT and APL significantly increases the effectiveness of accurate identification of the traced signal perceived by a listener under dichotic conditions. It has been demonstrated that, under certain conditions, the combination of NT and APL may provide a benefit for AAD in cocktail party scenarios.
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Affiliation(s)
- Szymon Drgas
- Institute of Automation and Robotics, Poznań University of Technology, Poland
| | - Magdalena Blaszak
- Department of Medical Physics and Radiospectroscopy, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
- Vision and Neuroscience Laboratory, NanoBioMedical Centre, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
| | - Anna Przekoracka-Krawczyk
- Vision and Neuroscience Laboratory, NanoBioMedical Centre, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
- Laboratory of Vision Science and Optometry, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
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44
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Lu Y, Wang M, Yao L, Shen H, Wu W, Zhang Q, Zhang L, Chen M, Liu H, Peng R, Liu M, Chen S. Auditory attention decoding from electroencephalography based on long short-term memory networks. Biomed Signal Process Control 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bspc.2021.102966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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45
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Bonacci LM, Bressler S, Shinn-Cunningham BG. Nonspatial Features Reduce the Reliance on Sustained Spatial Auditory Attention. Ear Hear 2021; 41:1635-1647. [PMID: 33136638 PMCID: PMC9831360 DOI: 10.1097/aud.0000000000000879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Top-down spatial attention is effective at selecting a target sound from a mixture. However, nonspatial features often distinguish sources in addition to location. This study explores whether redundant nonspatial features are used to maintain selective auditory attention for a spatially defined target. DESIGN We recorded electroencephalography while subjects focused attention on one of three simultaneous melodies. In one experiment, subjects (n = 17) were given an auditory cue indicating both the location and pitch of the target melody. In a second experiment (n = 17 subjects), the cue only indicated target location, and we compared two conditions: one in which the pitch separation of competing melodies was large, and one in which this separation was small. RESULTS In both experiments, responses evoked by onsets of events in sound streams were modulated by attention, and we found no significant difference in this modulation between small and large pitch separation conditions. Therefore, the evoked response reflected that target stimuli were the focus of attention, and distractors were suppressed successfully for all experimental conditions. In all cases, parietal alpha was lateralized following the cue, but before melody onset, indicating that subjects initially focused attention in space. During the stimulus presentation, this lateralization disappeared when pitch cues were strong but remained significant when pitch cues were weak, suggesting that strong pitch cues reduced reliance on sustained spatial attention. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate that once a well-defined target stream at a known location is selected, top-down spatial attention plays a weak role in filtering out a segregated competing stream.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lia M. Bonacci
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Scott Bressler
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Barbara G. Shinn-Cunningham
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
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46
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Tune S, Alavash M, Fiedler L, Obleser J. Neural attentional-filter mechanisms of listening success in middle-aged and older individuals. Nat Commun 2021; 12:4533. [PMID: 34312388 PMCID: PMC8313676 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24771-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2020] [Accepted: 07/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Successful listening crucially depends on intact attentional filters that separate relevant from irrelevant information. Research into their neurobiological implementation has focused on two potential auditory filter strategies: the lateralization of alpha power and selective neural speech tracking. However, the functional interplay of the two neural filter strategies and their potency to index listening success in an ageing population remains unclear. Using electroencephalography and a dual-talker task in a representative sample of listeners (N = 155; age=39-80 years), we here demonstrate an often-missed link from single-trial behavioural outcomes back to trial-by-trial changes in neural attentional filtering. First, we observe preserved attentional-cue-driven modulation of both neural filters across chronological age and hearing levels. Second, neural filter states vary independently of one another, demonstrating complementary neurobiological solutions of spatial selective attention. Stronger neural speech tracking but not alpha lateralization boosts trial-to-trial behavioural performance. Our results highlight the translational potential of neural speech tracking as an individualized neural marker of adaptive listening behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Tune
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
- Center for Brain, Behavior, and Metabolism, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
| | - Mohsen Alavash
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
- Center for Brain, Behavior, and Metabolism, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Lorenz Fiedler
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
- Center for Brain, Behavior, and Metabolism, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
- Eriksholm Research Centre, Snekkersten, Denmark
| | - Jonas Obleser
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
- Center for Brain, Behavior, and Metabolism, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
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47
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Yuan P, Hu R, Zhang X, Wang Y, Jiang Y. Cortical entrainment to hierarchical contextual rhythms recomposes dynamic attending in visual perception. eLife 2021; 10:65118. [PMID: 34086558 PMCID: PMC8177885 DOI: 10.7554/elife.65118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2020] [Accepted: 05/12/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Temporal regularity is ubiquitous and essential to guiding attention and coordinating behavior within a dynamic environment. Previous researchers have modeled attention as an internal rhythm that may entrain to first-order regularity from rhythmic events to prioritize information selection at specific time points. Using the attentional blink paradigm, here we show that higher-order regularity based on rhythmic organization of contextual features (pitch, color, or motion) may serve as a temporal frame to recompose the dynamic profile of visual temporal attention. Critically, such attentional reframing effect is well predicted by cortical entrainment to the higher-order contextual structure at the delta band as well as its coupling with the stimulus-driven alpha power. These results suggest that the human brain involuntarily exploits multiscale regularities in rhythmic contexts to recompose dynamic attending in visual perception, and highlight neural entrainment as a central mechanism for optimizing our conscious experience of the world in the time dimension.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peijun Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China
| | - Ruichen Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China
| | - Xue Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China
| | - Ying Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China
| | - Yi Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China.,Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, Hefei, China
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48
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Schneider D, Herbst SK, Klatt LI, Wöstmann M. Target enhancement or distractor suppression? Functionally distinct alpha oscillations form the basis of attention. Eur J Neurosci 2021; 55:3256-3265. [PMID: 33973310 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Revised: 04/07/2021] [Accepted: 05/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Recent advances in attention research have been propelled by the debate on target enhancement versus distractor suppression. A predominant neural correlate of attention is the modulation of alpha oscillatory power (~10 Hz), which signifies shifts of attention in time, space and between sensory modalities. However, the underspecified functional role of alpha oscillations limits the progress of tracking down the neurocognitive basis of attention. In this short opinion article, we review and critically examine a synthesis of three conceptual and methodological aspects that are indispensable for a mechanistic understanding of the role of alpha oscillations for attention. (a) Precise mapping of the anatomical source and the temporal response profile of neural signals reveals distinct alpha oscillatory processes that implement facilitatory versus suppressive components of attention. (b) A testable framework enables unanimous association of alpha modulation with either target enhancement or different forms of distractor suppression (active vs. automatic). (c) Linking anatomically specified alpha oscillations to behavior reveals the causal nature of alpha oscillations for attention. The three reviewed aspects substantially enrich study design, data analysis and interpretation of results to achieve the goal of understanding how anatomically specified and functionally relevant neural oscillations contribute to the implementation of facilitatory versus suppressive components of attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Schneider
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Sophie K Herbst
- NeuroSpin, CEA, DRF/Joliot, INSERM, Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191Gif/Yvette, France
| | - Laura-Isabelle Klatt
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Malte Wöstmann
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.,Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
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49
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Vandecappelle S, Deckers L, Das N, Ansari AH, Bertrand A, Francart T. EEG-based detection of the locus of auditory attention with convolutional neural networks. eLife 2021; 10:e56481. [PMID: 33929315 PMCID: PMC8143791 DOI: 10.7554/elife.56481] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2020] [Accepted: 04/28/2021] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
In a multi-speaker scenario, the human auditory system is able to attend to one particular speaker of interest and ignore the others. It has been demonstrated that it is possible to use electroencephalography (EEG) signals to infer to which speaker someone is attending by relating the neural activity to the speech signals. However, classifying auditory attention within a short time interval remains the main challenge. We present a convolutional neural network-based approach to extract the locus of auditory attention (left/right) without knowledge of the speech envelopes. Our results show that it is possible to decode the locus of attention within 1-2 s, with a median accuracy of around 81%. These results are promising for neuro-steered noise suppression in hearing aids, in particular in scenarios where per-speaker envelopes are unavailable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Servaas Vandecappelle
- Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngologyLeuvenBelgium
- Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), Stadius Center for Dynamical Systems, Signal Processing and Data AnalyticsLeuvenBelgium
| | - Lucas Deckers
- Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngologyLeuvenBelgium
- Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), Stadius Center for Dynamical Systems, Signal Processing and Data AnalyticsLeuvenBelgium
| | - Neetha Das
- Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngologyLeuvenBelgium
- Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), Stadius Center for Dynamical Systems, Signal Processing and Data AnalyticsLeuvenBelgium
| | - Amir Hossein Ansari
- Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), Stadius Center for Dynamical Systems, Signal Processing and Data AnalyticsLeuvenBelgium
| | - Alexander Bertrand
- Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), Stadius Center for Dynamical Systems, Signal Processing and Data AnalyticsLeuvenBelgium
| | - Tom Francart
- Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngologyLeuvenBelgium
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50
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Vandecappelle S, Deckers L, Das N, Ansari AH, Bertrand A, Francart T. EEG-based detection of the locus of auditory attention with convolutional neural networks. eLife 2021; 10:56481. [PMID: 33929315 DOI: 10.1101/475673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2020] [Accepted: 04/28/2021] [Indexed: 05/27/2023] Open
Abstract
In a multi-speaker scenario, the human auditory system is able to attend to one particular speaker of interest and ignore the others. It has been demonstrated that it is possible to use electroencephalography (EEG) signals to infer to which speaker someone is attending by relating the neural activity to the speech signals. However, classifying auditory attention within a short time interval remains the main challenge. We present a convolutional neural network-based approach to extract the locus of auditory attention (left/right) without knowledge of the speech envelopes. Our results show that it is possible to decode the locus of attention within 1-2 s, with a median accuracy of around 81%. These results are promising for neuro-steered noise suppression in hearing aids, in particular in scenarios where per-speaker envelopes are unavailable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Servaas Vandecappelle
- Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), Stadius Center for Dynamical Systems, Signal Processing and Data Analytics, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Lucas Deckers
- Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), Stadius Center for Dynamical Systems, Signal Processing and Data Analytics, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Neetha Das
- Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), Stadius Center for Dynamical Systems, Signal Processing and Data Analytics, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Amir Hossein Ansari
- Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), Stadius Center for Dynamical Systems, Signal Processing and Data Analytics, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Alexander Bertrand
- Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), Stadius Center for Dynamical Systems, Signal Processing and Data Analytics, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Tom Francart
- Department of Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Leuven, Belgium
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