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Regev TI, Kim HS, Chen X, Affourtit J, Schipper AE, Bergen L, Mahowald K, Fedorenko E. High-level language brain regions process sublexical regularities. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae077. [PMID: 38494886 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae077] [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: 08/12/2023] [Revised: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/19/2024] Open
Abstract
A network of left frontal and temporal brain regions supports language processing. This "core" language network stores our knowledge of words and constructions as well as constraints on how those combine to form sentences. However, our linguistic knowledge additionally includes information about phonemes and how they combine to form phonemic clusters, syllables, and words. Are phoneme combinatorics also represented in these language regions? Across five functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments, we investigated the sensitivity of high-level language processing brain regions to sublexical linguistic regularities by examining responses to diverse nonwords-sequences of phonemes that do not constitute real words (e.g. punes, silory, flope). We establish robust responses in the language network to visually (experiment 1a, n = 605) and auditorily (experiments 1b, n = 12, and 1c, n = 13) presented nonwords. In experiment 2 (n = 16), we find stronger responses to nonwords that are more well-formed, i.e. obey the phoneme-combinatorial constraints of English. Finally, in experiment 3 (n = 14), we provide suggestive evidence that the responses in experiments 1 and 2 are not due to the activation of real words that share some phonology with the nonwords. The results suggest that sublexical regularities are stored and processed within the same fronto-temporal network that supports lexical and syntactic processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamar I Regev
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| | - Hee So Kim
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| | - Xuanyi Chen
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, United States
| | - Josef Affourtit
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| | - Abigail E Schipper
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| | - Leon Bergen
- Department of Linguistics, University of California San Diego, San Diego CA 92093, United States
| | - Kyle Mahowald
- Department of Linguistics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, United States
| | - Evelina Fedorenko
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
- The Harvard Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Boston, MA 02115, United States
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Neuromodulation: A combined-therapy protocol for speech rehabilitation in a child with cerebral palsy. J Bodyw Mov Ther 2022; 29:10-15. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2021.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2020] [Revised: 03/29/2021] [Accepted: 09/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Gow DW, Schoenhaut A, Avcu E, Ahlfors SP. Behavioral and Neurodynamic Effects of Word Learning on Phonotactic Repair. Front Psychol 2021; 12:590155. [PMID: 33776832 PMCID: PMC7987836 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.590155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2020] [Accepted: 02/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Processes governing the creation, perception and production of spoken words are sensitive to the patterns of speech sounds in the language user's lexicon. Generative linguistic theory suggests that listeners infer constraints on possible sound patterning from the lexicon and apply these constraints to all aspects of word use. In contrast, emergentist accounts suggest that these phonotactic constraints are a product of interactive associative mapping with items in the lexicon. To determine the degree to which phonotactic constraints are lexically mediated, we observed the effects of learning new words that violate English phonotactic constraints (e.g., srigin) on phonotactic perceptual repair processes in nonword consonant-consonant-vowel (CCV) stimuli (e.g., /sre/). Subjects who learned such words were less likely to "repair" illegal onset clusters (/sr/) and report them as legal ones (/∫r/). Effective connectivity analyses of MRI-constrained reconstructions of simultaneously collected magnetoencephalography (MEG) and EEG data showed that these behavioral shifts were accompanied by changes in the strength of influences of lexical areas on acoustic-phonetic areas. These results strengthen the interpretation of previous results suggesting that phonotactic constraints on perception are produced by top-down lexical influences on speech processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- David W. Gow
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
- Department of Psychology, Salem State University, Salem, MA, United States
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States
- Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Adriana Schoenhaut
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Enes Avcu
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Seppo P. Ahlfors
- Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
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Steber S, Rossi S. So young, yet so mature? Electrophysiological and vascular correlates of phonotactic processing in 18-month-olds. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2020; 43:100784. [PMID: 32510350 PMCID: PMC7184260 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2019] [Revised: 04/08/2020] [Accepted: 04/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study investigated neural correlates of implicit phonotactic processing in 18-month-old children that just reached an important step in language development: the vocabulary spurt. Pseudowords, either phonotactically legal or illegal with respect to their native language, were acoustically presented to monolingually German raised infants. Neural activity was simultaneously assessed by means of electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The former method excellently tracks fast processing mechanisms, whereas the latter reveals brain areas recruited. Results of the present study indicate that 18-month-olds recognize the linguistic properties of their native language based on phonotactics. This manifested in an increased N400 for legal compared to illegal pseudowords in the EEG conforming to adult-like mechanisms. Unfortunately, fNIRS findings did not support this discrimination ability. Possible methodological and brain maturational reasons might explain this null finding. This study provides evidence for the advantage of a multi-methodological approach in order to get a clear picture on neural language development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Steber
- ICONE - Innsbruck Cognitive Neuroscience, Department for Hearing, Speech, and Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria; Department of Psychology, University of Innsbruck, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria.
| | - Sonja Rossi
- ICONE - Innsbruck Cognitive Neuroscience, Department for Hearing, Speech, and Voice Disorders, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria.
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Wilmskoetter J, Fridriksson J, Gleichgerrcht E, Stark BC, Delgaizo J, Hickok G, Vaden KI, Hillis AE, Rorden C, Bonilha L. Neuroanatomical structures supporting lexical diversity, sophistication, and phonological word features during discourse. NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL 2019; 24:101961. [PMID: 31398554 PMCID: PMC6699249 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2019.101961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2019] [Revised: 07/15/2019] [Accepted: 07/26/2019] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Deficits in lexical retrieval are commonly observed in individuals with post-stroke aphasia. Successful lexical retrieval is related to lexical diversity, lexical sophistication, and phonological word properties; however, the crucial brain regions supporting these different features are not fully understood. We performed MRI-based lesion symptom mapping in 58 individuals with a chronic left hemisphere stroke to assess how regional damage relates to spoken discourse-extracted measures of lexical diversity, lexical sophistication, and phonological word properties. For discourse transcription and word feature analysis, we used the Computerized Language Analysis (CLAN) program, Stanford Core Natural Language Processing, Irvine Phonotactic Online Dictionary, Lexical Complexity Analyzer, and Gramulator. Lesions involving the left posterior insula and supramarginal gyri and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus were significant predictors of utterances with, on average, lower lexical diversity. Low lexical sophistication was associated with damage to the left pole of the superior temporal gyrus. Production of words with lower phonological complexity (fewer phonemes, higher phonological similarity) was associated with damage to the left supramarginal gyrus. Our findings indicate that discourse-extracted features of lexical retrieval depend on the integrity of specific brain regions involving insular and peri-Sylvian areas. The identified regions provide insight into potentially underlying mechanisms of lexically diverse, sophisticated and phonologically complex words produced during discourse. Word production in connected speech of individuals with post-stroke aphasia depends on lesion locations Low lexical diversity is linked to lesions to the left insula, supramarginal gyrus and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus Lexical sophistication is linked to lesions to the left pole of the temporal gyrus Phonological word features are linked to lesions to the left supramarginal gyrus Features of lexical retrieval in connected speech depend on the integrity of ventral and dorsal language processing streams
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Affiliation(s)
- Janina Wilmskoetter
- Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, United States of America.
| | - Julius Fridriksson
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, United States of America
| | - Ezequiel Gleichgerrcht
- Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, United States of America
| | - Brielle C Stark
- Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, United States of America; Program in Neuroscience, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, United States of America
| | - John Delgaizo
- Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, United States of America
| | - Gregory Hickok
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, United States of America
| | - Kenneth I Vaden
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, United States of America
| | - Argye E Hillis
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21287, United States of America
| | - Chris Rorden
- Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, United States of America
| | - Leonardo Bonilha
- Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, United States of America
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Moharramipour A, Mostame P, Hossein-Zadeh GA, Wheless JW, Babajani-Feremi A. Comparison of statistical tests in effective connectivity analysis of ECoG data. J Neurosci Methods 2018; 308:317-329. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2018.08.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2018] [Revised: 08/24/2018] [Accepted: 08/25/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Chiarello C, Vaden KI, Eckert MA. Orthographic influence on spoken word identification: Behavioral and fMRI evidence. Neuropsychologia 2018; 111:103-111. [PMID: 29371094 PMCID: PMC5866781 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.01.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2017] [Revised: 12/20/2017] [Accepted: 01/21/2018] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
The current study investigated behavioral and neuroimaging evidence for orthographic influences on auditory word identification. To assess such influences, the proportion of similar sounding words (i.e. phonological neighbors) that were also spelled similarly (i.e., orthographic neighbors) was computed for each auditorily presented word as the Orthographic-to-Phonological Overlap Ratio (OPOR). Speech intelligibility was manipulated by presenting monosyllabic words in multi-talker babble at two signal-to-noise ratios: + 3 and + 10 dB SNR. Identification rates were lower for high overlap words in the challenging + 3 dB SNR condition. In addition, BOLD contrast increased with OPOR at the more difficult SNR, and decreased with OPOR under more favorable SNR conditions. Both voxel-based and region of interest analyses demonstrated robust effects of OPOR in several cingulo-opercular regions. However, contrary to prior theoretical accounts, no task-related activity was observed in posterior regions associated with phonological or orthographic processing. We suggest that, when processing is difficult, orthographic-to-phonological feature overlap increases the availability of competing responses, which then requires additional support from domain general performance systems in order to produce a single response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Chiarello
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, United States.
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Ghaleh M, Skipper-Kallal LM, Xing S, Lacey E, DeWitt I, DeMarco A, Turkeltaub P. Phonotactic processing deficit following left-hemisphere stroke. Cortex 2018; 99:346-357. [PMID: 29351881 PMCID: PMC5801128 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2017] [Revised: 10/19/2017] [Accepted: 12/11/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The neural basis of speech processing is still a matter of great debate. Phonotactic knowledge-knowledge of the allowable sound combinations in a language-remains particularly understudied. The purpose of this study was to investigate the brain regions crucial to phonotactic knowledge in left-hemisphere stroke survivors. Results were compared to areas in which gray matter anatomy related to phonotactic knowledge in healthy controls. 44 patients with chronic left-hemisphere stroke, and 32 controls performed an English-likeness rating task on 60 auditory non-words of varying phonotactic regularities. They were asked to rate on a 1-5 scale, how close each non-word sounded to English. Patients' performance was compared to that of healthy controls, using mixed effects modeling. Multivariate lesion-symptom mapping and voxel-based morphometry were used to find the brain regions important for phonotactic processing in patients and controls respectively. The results showed that compared to controls, stroke survivors were less sensitive to phonotactic regularity differences. Lesion-symptom mapping demonstrated that a loss of sensitivity to phonotactic regularities was associated with lesions in left angular gyrus and posterior middle temporal gyrus. Voxel-based morphometry also revealed a positive correlation between gray matter density in left angular gyrus and sensitivity to phonotactic regularities in controls. We suggest that the angular gyrus is used to compare the incoming speech stream to internal predictions based on the frequency of sound sequences in the language derived from stored lexical representations in the posterior middle temporal gyrus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Ghaleh
- Georgetown University Medical Center, Neurology Department, Washington, DC, USA.
| | | | - Shihui Xing
- Georgetown University Medical Center, Neurology Department, Washington, DC, USA; Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Elizabeth Lacey
- Georgetown University Medical Center, Neurology Department, Washington, DC, USA; MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Iain DeWitt
- Brain Imaging and Modeling Section, NIH/NIDCD, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Andrew DeMarco
- Georgetown University Medical Center, Neurology Department, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Peter Turkeltaub
- Georgetown University Medical Center, Neurology Department, Washington, DC, USA; MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital, Washington, DC, USA.
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Perrachione TK, Ghosh SS, Ostrovskaya I, Gabrieli JDE, Kovelman I. Phonological Working Memory for Words and Nonwords in Cerebral Cortex. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2017; 60:1959-1979. [PMID: 28631005 PMCID: PMC5831089 DOI: 10.1044/2017_jslhr-l-15-0446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2015] [Revised: 05/25/2016] [Accepted: 10/27/2016] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE The primary purpose of this study was to identify the brain bases of phonological working memory (the short-term maintenance of speech sounds) using behavioral tasks analogous to clinically sensitive assessments of nonword repetition. The secondary purpose of the study was to identify how individual differences in brain activation were related to participants' nonword repetition abilities. METHOD We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure neurophysiological response during a nonword discrimination task derived from standard clinical assessments of phonological working memory. Healthy adult control participants (N = 16) discriminated pairs of real words or nonwords under varying phonological working memory load, which we manipulated by parametrically varying the number of syllables in target (non)words. Participants' cognitive and phonological abilities were also measured using standardized assessments. RESULTS Neurophysiological responses in bilateral superior temporal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, and supplementary motor area increased with greater phonological working memory load. Activation in left superior temporal gyrus during nonword discrimination correlated with participants' performance on standard clinical nonword repetition tests. CONCLUSION These results suggest that phonological working memory is related to the function of cortical structures that canonically underlie speech perception and production.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Satrajit S. Ghosh
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Irina Ostrovskaya
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - John D. E. Gabrieli
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Ioulia Kovelman
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
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Dial H, Martin R. Evaluating the relationship between sublexical and lexical processing in speech perception: Evidence from aphasia. Neuropsychologia 2017; 96:192-212. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.01.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2015] [Revised: 12/07/2016] [Accepted: 01/09/2017] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Rogers JC, Davis MH. Inferior Frontal Cortex Contributions to the Recognition of Spoken Words and Their Constituent Speech Sounds. J Cogn Neurosci 2017; 29:919-936. [PMID: 28129061 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Speech perception and comprehension are often challenged by the need to recognize speech sounds that are degraded or ambiguous. Here, we explore the cognitive and neural mechanisms involved in resolving ambiguity in the identity of speech sounds using syllables that contain ambiguous phonetic segments (e.g., intermediate sounds between /b/ and /g/ as in "blade" and "glade"). We used an audio-morphing procedure to create a large set of natural sounding minimal pairs that contain phonetically ambiguous onset or offset consonants (differing in place, manner, or voicing). These ambiguous segments occurred in different lexical contexts (i.e., in words or pseudowords, such as blade-glade or blem-glem) and in different phonological environments (i.e., with neighboring syllables that differed in lexical status, such as blouse-glouse). These stimuli allowed us to explore the impact of phonetic ambiguity on the speed and accuracy of lexical decision responses (Experiment 1), semantic categorization responses (Experiment 2), and the magnitude of BOLD fMRI responses during attentive comprehension (Experiment 3). For both behavioral and neural measures, observed effects of phonetic ambiguity were influenced by lexical context leading to slower responses and increased activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus for high-ambiguity syllables that distinguish pairs of words, but not for equivalent pseudowords. These findings suggest lexical involvement in the resolution of phonetic ambiguity. Implications for speech perception and the role of inferior frontal regions are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jack C Rogers
- MRC Cognition & Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK.,University of Birmingham
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12
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SyllabO+: A new tool to study sublexical phenomena in spoken Quebec French. Behav Res Methods 2016; 49:1852-1863. [DOI: 10.3758/s13428-016-0829-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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13
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Language Mapping Using fMRI and Direct Cortical Stimulation for Brain Tumor Surgery: The Good, the Bad, and the Questionable. Top Magn Reson Imaging 2016; 25:1-10. [PMID: 26848555 DOI: 10.1097/rmr.0000000000000074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Language functional magnetic resonance imaging for neurosurgical planning is a useful but nuanced technique. Consideration of primary and secondary language anatomy, task selection, and data analysis choices all impact interpretation. In the following chapter, we consider practical considerations and nuances alike for language functional magnetic resonance imaging in the support of and comparison with the neurosurgical gold standard, direct cortical stimulation. Pitfalls and limitations are discussed.
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Tremblay P, Deschamps I, Baroni M, Hasson U. Neural sensitivity to syllable frequency and mutual information in speech perception and production. Neuroimage 2016; 136:106-21. [PMID: 27184201 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.05.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2015] [Revised: 03/31/2016] [Accepted: 05/06/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Many factors affect our ability to decode the speech signal, including its quality, the complexity of the elements that compose it, as well as their frequency of occurrence and co-occurrence in a language. Syllable frequency effects have been described in the behavioral literature, including facilitatory effects during speech production and inhibitory effects during word recognition, but the neural mechanisms underlying these effects remain largely unknown. The objective of this study was to examine, using functional neuroimaging, the neurobiological correlates of three different distributional statistics in simple 2-syllable nonwords: the frequency of the first and second syllables, and the mutual information between the syllables. We examined these statistics during nonword perception and production using a powerful single-trial analytical approach. We found that repetition accuracy was higher for nonwords in which the frequency of the first syllable was high. In addition, brain responses to distributional statistics were widespread and almost exclusively cortical. Importantly, brain activity was modulated in a distinct manner for each statistic, with the strongest facilitatory effects associated with the frequency of the first syllable and mutual information. These findings show that distributional statistics modulate nonword perception and production. We discuss the common and unique impact of each distributional statistic on brain activity, as well as task differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pascale Tremblay
- Université Laval, Département de Réadaptation, Québec City, QC, Canada; Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire en santé mentale de Québec (CRIUSMQ), Québec City, QC, Canada.
| | - Isabelle Deschamps
- Université Laval, Département de Réadaptation, Québec City, QC, Canada; Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire en santé mentale de Québec (CRIUSMQ), Québec City, QC, Canada
| | - Marco Baroni
- Center for Mind and Brain Sciences (CIMeC), Università Degli Studi di Trento, Via delle Regole, 101, I-38060 Mattarello, TN, Italy
| | - Uri Hasson
- Center for Mind and Brain Sciences (CIMeC), Università Degli Studi di Trento, Via delle Regole, 101, I-38060 Mattarello, TN, Italy
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Schmidtke J. The Bilingual Disadvantage in Speech Understanding in Noise Is Likely a Frequency Effect Related to Reduced Language Exposure. Front Psychol 2016; 7:678. [PMID: 27242592 PMCID: PMC4865492 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00678] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2016] [Accepted: 04/22/2016] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study sought to explain why bilingual speakers are disadvantaged relative to monolingual speakers when it comes to speech understanding in noise. Exemplar models of the mental lexicon hold that each encounter with a word leaves a memory trace in long-term memory. Words that we encounter frequently will be associated with richer phonetic representations in memory and therefore recognized faster and more accurately than less frequently encountered words. Because bilinguals are exposed to each of their languages less often than monolinguals by virtue of speaking two languages, they encounter all words less frequently and may therefore have poorer phonetic representations of all words compared to monolinguals. In the present study, vocabulary size was taken as an estimate for language exposure and the prediction was made that both vocabulary size and word frequency would be associated with recognition accuracy for words presented in noise. Forty-eight early Spanish–English bilingual and 53 monolingual English young adults were tested on speech understanding in noise (SUN) ability, English oral verbal ability, verbal working memory (WM), and auditory attention. Results showed that, as a group, monolinguals recognized significantly more words than bilinguals. However, this effect was attenuated by language proficiency; higher proficiency was associated with higher accuracy on the SUN test in both groups. This suggests that greater language exposure is associated with better SUN. Word frequency modulated recognition accuracy and the difference between groups was largest for low frequency words, suggesting that the bilinguals’ insufficient exposure to these words hampered recognition. The effect of WM was not significant, likely because of its large shared variance with language proficiency. The effect of auditory attention was small but significant. These results are discussed within the Ease of Language Understanding model (Rönnberg et al., 2013), which provides a framework for explaining individual differences in SUN.
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Obrig H, Mentzel J, Rossi S. Universal and language-specific sublexical cues in speech perception: a novel electroencephalography-lesion approach. Brain 2016; 139:1800-16. [DOI: 10.1093/brain/aww077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2015] [Accepted: 02/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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Hickok G. The architecture of speech production and the role of the phoneme in speech processing. LANGUAGE AND COGNITIVE PROCESSES 2014; 29:2-20. [PMID: 24489420 PMCID: PMC3904400 DOI: 10.1080/01690965.2013.834370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Speech production has been studied within a number of traditions including linguistics, psycholinguistics, motor control, neuropsychology, and neuroscience. These traditions have had limited interaction, ostensibly because they target different levels of speech production or different dimensions such as representation, processing, or implementation. However, closer examination of reveals a substantial convergence of ideas across the traditions and recent proposals have suggested that an integrated approach may help move the field forward. The present article reviews one such attempt at integration, the state feedback control model and its descendent, the hierarchical state feedback control model. Also considered is how phoneme-level representations might fit in the context of the model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory Hickok
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, California, 92697, USA
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May PJC, Tiitinen H. Temporal binding of sound emerges out of anatomical structure and synaptic dynamics of auditory cortex. Front Comput Neurosci 2013; 7:152. [PMID: 24223549 PMCID: PMC3819594 DOI: 10.3389/fncom.2013.00152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2013] [Accepted: 10/11/2013] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to represent and recognize naturally occuring sounds such as speech depends not only on spectral analysis carried out by the subcortical auditory system but also on the ability of the cortex to bind spectral information over time. In primates, these temporal binding processes are mirrored as selective responsiveness of neurons to species-specific vocalizations. Here, we used computational modeling of auditory cortex to investigate how selectivity to spectrally and temporally complex stimuli is achieved. A set of 208 microcolumns were arranged in a serial core-belt-parabelt structure documented in both humans and animals. Stimulus material comprised multiple consonant-vowel (CV) pseudowords. Selectivity to the spectral structure of the sounds was commonly found in all regions of the model (N = 122 columns out of 208), and this selectivity was only weakly affected by manipulating the structure and dynamics of the model. In contrast, temporal binding was rarer (N = 39), found mostly in the belt and parabelt regions. Thus, the serial core-belt-parabelt structure of auditory cortex is necessary for temporal binding. Further, adaptation due to synaptic depression-rendering the cortical network malleable by stimulus history-was crucial for the emergence of neurons sensitive to the temporal structure of the stimuli. Both spectral selectivity and temporal binding required that a sufficient proportion of the columns interacted in an inhibitory manner. The model and its structural modifications had a small-world structure (i.e., columns formed clusters and were within short node-to-node distances from each other). However, simulations showed that a small-world structure is not a necessary condition for spectral selectivity and temporal binding to emerge. In summary, this study suggests that temporal binding arises out of (1) the serial structure typical to the auditory cortex, (2) synaptic adaptation, and (3) inhibitory interactions between microcolumns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick J. C. May
- Brain and Mind Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Computational Science, School of Science, Aalto University, Aalto, Finland
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Price CJ. A review and synthesis of the first 20 years of PET and fMRI studies of heard speech, spoken language and reading. Neuroimage 2012; 62:816-47. [PMID: 22584224 PMCID: PMC3398395 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.04.062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1281] [Impact Index Per Article: 106.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2011] [Revised: 04/25/2012] [Accepted: 04/30/2012] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The anatomy of language has been investigated with PET or fMRI for more than 20 years. Here I attempt to provide an overview of the brain areas associated with heard speech, speech production and reading. The conclusions of many hundreds of studies were considered, grouped according to the type of processing, and reported in the order that they were published. Many findings have been replicated time and time again leading to some consistent and undisputable conclusions. These are summarised in an anatomical model that indicates the location of the language areas and the most consistent functions that have been assigned to them. The implications for cognitive models of language processing are also considered. In particular, a distinction can be made between processes that are localized to specific structures (e.g. sensory and motor processing) and processes where specialisation arises in the distributed pattern of activation over many different areas that each participate in multiple functions. For example, phonological processing of heard speech is supported by the functional integration of auditory processing and articulation; and orthographic processing is supported by the functional integration of visual processing, articulation and semantics. Future studies will undoubtedly be able to improve the spatial precision with which functional regions can be dissociated but the greatest challenge will be to understand how different brain regions interact with one another in their attempts to comprehend and produce language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cathy J Price
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL, London WC1N 3BG, UK.
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McGettigan C, Scott SK. Cortical asymmetries in speech perception: what's wrong, what's right and what's left? Trends Cogn Sci 2012; 16:269-76. [PMID: 22521208 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2012.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2012] [Revised: 04/04/2012] [Accepted: 04/06/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Over the past 30 years hemispheric asymmetries in speech perception have been construed within a domain-general framework, according to which preferential processing of speech is due to left-lateralized, non-linguistic acoustic sensitivities. A prominent version of this argument holds that the left temporal lobe selectively processes rapid/temporal information in sound. Acoustically, this is a poor characterization of speech and there has been little empirical support for a left-hemisphere selectivity for these cues. In sharp contrast, the right temporal lobe is demonstrably sensitive to specific acoustic properties. We suggest that acoustic accounts of speech sensitivities need to be informed by the nature of the speech signal and that a simple domain-general vs. domain-specific dichotomy may be incorrect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn McGettigan
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 17 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, UK
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Vaden KI, Gebregziabher M, Kuchinsky SE, Eckert MA. Multiple imputation of missing fMRI data in whole brain analysis. Neuroimage 2012; 60:1843-55. [PMID: 22500925 PMCID: PMC3328786 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.01.123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2011] [Revised: 01/23/2012] [Accepted: 01/28/2012] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Whole brain fMRI analyses rarely include the entire brain because of missing data that result from data acquisition limits and susceptibility artifact, in particular. This missing data problem is typically addressed by omitting voxels from analysis, which may exclude brain regions that are of theoretical interest and increase the potential for Type II error at cortical boundaries or Type I error when spatial thresholds are used to establish significance. Imputation could significantly expand statistical map coverage, increase power, and enhance interpretations of fMRI results. We examined multiple imputation for group level analyses of missing fMRI data using methods that leverage the spatial information in fMRI datasets for both real and simulated data. Available case analysis, neighbor replacement, and regression based imputation approaches were compared in a general linear model framework to determine the extent to which these methods quantitatively (effect size) and qualitatively (spatial coverage) increased the sensitivity of group analyses. In both real and simulated data analysis, multiple imputation provided 1) variance that was most similar to estimates for voxels with no missing data, 2) fewer false positive errors in comparison to mean replacement, and 3) fewer false negative errors in comparison to available case analysis. Compared to the standard analysis approach of omitting voxels with missing data, imputation methods increased brain coverage in this study by 35% (from 33,323 to 45,071 voxels). In addition, multiple imputation increased the size of significant clusters by 58% and number of significant clusters across statistical thresholds, compared to the standard voxel omission approach. While neighbor replacement produced similar results, we recommend multiple imputation because it uses an informed sampling distribution to deal with missing data across subjects that can include neighbor values and other predictors. Multiple imputation is anticipated to be particularly useful for 1) large fMRI data sets with inconsistent missing voxels across subjects and 2) addressing the problem of increased artifact at ultra-high field, which significantly limit the extent of whole brain coverage and interpretations of results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth I Vaden
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, 135 Rutledge Avenue, MSC 550, Charleston, SC29425-5500, USA.
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Tavano A, Grimm S, Costa-Faidella J, Slabu L, Schröger E, Escera C. Spectrotemporal processing drives fast access to memory traces for spoken words. Neuroimage 2012; 60:2300-8. [PMID: 22387169 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.02.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2011] [Revised: 02/05/2012] [Accepted: 02/15/2012] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The Mismatch Negativity (MMN) component of the event-related potentials is generated when a detectable spectrotemporal feature of the incoming sound does not match the sensory model set up by preceding repeated stimuli. MMN is enhanced at frontocentral scalp sites for deviant words when compared to acoustically similar deviant pseudowords, suggesting that automatic access to long-term memory traces for spoken words contributes to MMN generation. Does spectrotemporal feature matching also drive automatic lexical access? To test this, we recorded human auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) to disyllabic spoken words and pseudowords within a passive oddball paradigm. We first aimed at replicating the word-related MMN enhancement effect for Spanish, thereby adding to the available cross-linguistic evidence (e.g., Finnish, English). We then probed its resilience to spectrotemporal perturbation by inserting short (20 ms) and long (120 ms) silent gaps between first and second syllables of deviant and standard stimuli. A significantly enhanced, frontocentrally distributed MMN to deviant words was found for stimuli with no gap. The long gap yielded no deviant word MMN, showing that prior expectations of word form limits in a given language influence deviance detection processes. Crucially, the insertion of a short gap suppressed deviant word MMN enhancement at frontocentral sites. We propose that spectrotemporal point-wise matching constitutes a core mechanism for fast serial computations in audition and language, bridging sensory and long-term memory systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Tavano
- BioCog - Cognitive Incl Biological Psychology, Institute for Psychology, University of Leipzig, 14-20 Seeburgstr, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
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Abstract
Speech production has been studied predominantly from within two traditions, psycholinguistics and motor control. These traditions have rarely interacted, and the resulting chasm between these approaches seems to reflect a level of analysis difference: whereas motor control is concerned with lower-level articulatory control, psycholinguistics focuses on higher-level linguistic processing. However, closer examination of both approaches reveals a substantial convergence of ideas. The goal of this article is to integrate psycholinguistic and motor control approaches to speech production. The result of this synthesis is a neuroanatomically grounded, hierarchical state feedback control model of speech production.
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Vaden KI, Kuchinsky SE, Keren NI, Harris KC, Ahlstrom JB, Dubno JR, Eckert MA. Inferior frontal sensitivity to common speech sounds is amplified by increasing word intelligibility. Neuropsychologia 2011; 49:3563-72. [PMID: 21925521 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2011] [Revised: 08/19/2011] [Accepted: 09/06/2011] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
The left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) exhibits increased responsiveness when people listen to words composed of speech sounds that frequently co-occur in the English language (Vaden, Piquado, & Hickok, 2011), termed high phonotactic frequency (Vitevitch & Luce, 1998). The current experiment aimed to further characterize the relation of phonotactic frequency to LIFG activity by manipulating word intelligibility in participants of varying age. Thirty six native English speakers, 19-79 years old (mean=50.5, sd=21.0) indicated with a button press whether they recognized 120 binaurally presented consonant-vowel-consonant words during a sparse sampling fMRI experiment (TR=8 s). Word intelligibility was manipulated by low-pass filtering (cutoff frequencies of 400 Hz, 1000 Hz, 1600 Hz, and 3150 Hz). Group analyses revealed a significant positive correlation between phonotactic frequency and LIFG activity, which was unaffected by age and hearing thresholds. A region of interest analysis revealed that the relation between phonotactic frequency and LIFG activity was significantly strengthened for the most intelligible words (low-pass cutoff at 3150 Hz). These results suggest that the responsiveness of the left inferior frontal cortex to phonotactic frequency reflects the downstream impact of word recognition rather than support of word recognition, at least when there are no speech production demands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth I Vaden
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425-5500, United States.
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