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Roark CL, Paulon G, Rebaudo G, McHaney JR, Sarkar A, Chandrasekaran B. Individual differences in working memory impact the trajectory of non-native speech category learning. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0297917. [PMID: 38857268 PMCID: PMC11164376 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 06/12/2024] Open
Abstract
What is the role of working memory over the course of non-native speech category learning? Prior work has predominantly focused on how working memory might influence learning assessed at a single timepoint. Here, we substantially extend this prior work by examining the role of working memory on speech learning performance over time (i.e., over several months) and leverage a multifaceted approach that provides key insights into how working memory influences learning accuracy, maintenance of knowledge over time, generalization ability, and decision processes. We found that the role of working memory in non-native speech learning depends on the timepoint of learning and whether individuals learned the categories at all. Among learners, across all stages of learning, working memory was associated with higher accuracy as well as faster and slightly more cautious decision making. Further, while learners and non-learners did not have substantially different working memory performance, learners had faster evidence accumulation and more cautious decision thresholds throughout all sessions. Working memory may enhance learning by facilitating rapid category acquisition in initial stages and enabling faster and slightly more careful decision-making strategies that may reduce the overall effort needed to learn. Our results have important implications for developing interventions to improve learning in naturalistic language contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Casey L. Roark
- Communication Science & Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
- Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
| | - Giorgio Paulon
- Statistics and Data Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States of America
| | - Giovanni Rebaudo
- Statistics and Data Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States of America
| | - Jacie R. McHaney
- Communication Science & Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
| | - Abhra Sarkar
- Statistics and Data Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States of America
| | - Bharath Chandrasekaran
- Communication Science & Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
- Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
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Gan Z, Zheng L, Wang S, Feng G. Distribution-dependent representations in auditory category learning and generalization. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1132570. [PMID: 37829077 PMCID: PMC10566369 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1132570] [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: 12/27/2022] [Accepted: 08/31/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023] Open
Abstract
A fundamental objective in Auditory Sciences is to understand how people learn to generalize auditory category knowledge in new situations. How we generalize to novel scenarios speaks to the nature of acquired category representations and generalization mechanisms in handling perceptual variabilities and novelty. The dual learning system (DLS) framework proposes that auditory category learning involves an explicit, hypothesis-testing learning system, which is optimal for learning rule-based (RB) categories, and an implicit, procedural-based learning system, which is optimal for learning categories requiring pre-decisional information integration (II) across acoustic dimensions. Although DLS describes distinct mechanisms of two types of category learning, it is yet clear the nature of acquired representations and how we transfer them to new contexts. Here, we conducted three experiments to examine differences between II and RB category representations by examining what acoustic and perceptual novelties and variabilities affect learners' generalization success. Learners can successfully categorize different sets of untrained sounds after only eight blocks of training for both II and RB categories. The category structures and novel contexts differentially modulated the generalization success. The II learners significantly decreased generalization performances when categorizing new items derived from an untrained perceptual area and in a context with more distributed samples. In contrast, RB learners' generalizations are resistant to changes in perceptual regions but are sensitive to changes in sound dispersity. Representational similarity modeling revealed that the generalization in the more dispersed sampling context was accomplished differently by II and RB learners. II learners increased representations of perceptual similarity and decision distance to compensate for the decreased transfer of category representations, whereas the RB learners used a more computational cost strategy by default, computing the decision-bound distance to guide generalization decisions. These results suggest that distinct representations emerged after learning the two types of category structures and using different computations and flexible mechanisms in resolving generalization challenges when facing novel perceptual variability in new contexts. These findings provide new evidence for dissociated representations of auditory categories and reveal novel generalization mechanisms in resolving variabilities to maintain perceptual constancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenzhong Gan
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Lurong Zheng
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Suiping Wang
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Gangyi Feng
- Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Brain and Mind Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China
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Gan Z, Wang S, Feng G. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data for the neural dynamics underlying the acquisition of distinct auditory categories. Data Brief 2023; 47:108972. [PMID: 36860410 PMCID: PMC9969291 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2023.108972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2022] [Revised: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 02/06/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2023] Open
Abstract
How people learn and represent auditory categories in the brain is a fundamental question in auditory neuroscience. Answering this question could provide insights into our understanding of the neurobiology of speech learning and perception. However, the neural mechanisms underlying auditory category learning are far from understood. We have revealed that the neural representations of auditory categories emerge during category training, and the type of category structures drives the emerging dynamics of the representations [1]. The dataset introduced here was derived from [1], where we collected to examine the neural dynamics underlying the acquisition of two distinct category structures: rule-based (RB) and information-integration (II) categories. Participants were trained to categorize these auditory categories with trial-by-trial corrective feedback. The functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technique was used to assess the neural dynamics related to the category learning process. Sixty adult Mandarin native speakers were recruited for the fMRI experiment. They were assigned to either the RB (n = 30, 19 females) or II (n = 30, 22 females) learning task. Each task consisted of six training blocks where each consisting of 40 trials. Spatiotemporal multivariate representational similarity analysis has been used to examine the emerging patterns of neural representations during learning [1]. This open-access dataset could potentially be reused to investigate a range of neural mechanisms (e.g., functional network organizations underlying learning of different structures of categories and neuromarkers associated with individual behavioral learning success) involved in auditory category learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenzhong Gan
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Suiping Wang
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- Corresponding authors.
| | - Gangyi Feng
- Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong SAR, China
- Brain and Mind Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong SAR, China
- Corresponding authors.
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Baese-Berk MM, Chandrasekaran B, Roark CL. The nature of non-native speech sound representations. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 152:3025. [PMID: 36456300 PMCID: PMC9671621 DOI: 10.1121/10.0015230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2022] [Revised: 10/20/2022] [Accepted: 11/01/2022] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Most current theories and models of second language speech perception are grounded in the notion that learners acquire speech sound categories in their target language. In this paper, this classic idea in speech perception is revisited, given that clear evidence for formation of such categories is lacking in previous research. To understand the debate on the nature of speech sound representations in a second language, an operational definition of "category" is presented, and the issues of categorical perception and current theories of second language learning are reviewed. Following this, behavioral and neuroimaging evidence for and against acquisition of categorical representations is described. Finally, recommendations for future work are discussed. The paper concludes with a recommendation for integration of behavioral and neuroimaging work and theory in this area.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Bharath Chandrasekaran
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
| | - Casey L Roark
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
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Meng D, Wang S, Wong PCM, Feng G. Generalizable predictive modeling of semantic processing ability from functional brain connectivity. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:4274-4292. [PMID: 35611721 PMCID: PMC9435002 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2021] [Revised: 03/11/2022] [Accepted: 05/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Semantic processing (SP) is one of the critical abilities of humans for representing and manipulating conceptual and meaningful information. Neuroimaging studies of SP typically collapse data from many subjects, but its neural organization and behavioral performance vary between individuals. It is not yet understood whether and how the individual variabilities in neural network organizations contribute to the individual differences in SP behaviors. We aim to identify the neural signatures underlying SP variabilities by analyzing functional connectivity (FC) patterns based on a large‐sample Human Connectome Project (HCP) dataset and rigorous predictive modeling. We used a two‐stage predictive modeling approach to build an internally cross‐validated model and to test the model's generalizability with unseen data from different HCP samples and other out‐of‐sample datasets. FC patterns within a putative semantic brain network were significantly predictive of individual SP scores summarized from five SP‐related behavioral tests. This cross‐validated model can be used to predict unseen HCP data. The model generalizability was enhanced in the language task compared with other tasks used during scanning and was better for females than males. The model constructed from the HCP dataset can be partially generalized to two independent cohorts that participated in different semantic tasks. FCs connecting to the Perisylvian language network show the most reliable contributions to predictive modeling and the out‐of‐sample generalization. These findings contribute to our understanding of the neural sources of individual differences in SP, which potentially lay the foundation for personalized education for healthy individuals and intervention for SP and language deficits patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danting Meng
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Suiping Wang
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
| | - Patrick C M Wong
- Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.,Brain and Mind Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Gangyi Feng
- Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.,Brain and Mind Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
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Vocal Learning and Behaviors in Birds and Human Bilinguals: Parallels, Divergences and Directions for Research. LANGUAGES 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/languages7010005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Comparisons between the communication systems of humans and animals are instrumental in contextualizing speech and language into an evolutionary and biological framework and for illuminating mechanisms of human communication. As a complement to previous work that compares developmental vocal learning and use among humans and songbirds, in this article we highlight phenomena associated with vocal learning subsequent to the development of primary vocalizations (i.e., the primary language (L1) in humans and the primary song (S1) in songbirds). By framing avian “second-song” (S2) learning and use within the human second-language (L2) context, we lay the groundwork for a scientifically-rich dialogue between disciplines. We begin by summarizing basic birdsong research, focusing on how songs are learned and on constraints on learning. We then consider commonalities in vocal learning across humans and birds, in particular the timing and neural mechanisms of learning, variability of input, and variability of outcomes. For S2 and L2 learning outcomes, we address the respective roles of age, entrenchment, and social interactions. We proceed to orient current and future birdsong inquiry around foundational features of human bilingualism: L1 effects on the L2, L1 attrition, and L1<–>L2 switching. Throughout, we highlight characteristics that are shared across species as well as the need for caution in interpreting birdsong research. Thus, from multiple instructive perspectives, our interdisciplinary dialogue sheds light on biological and experiential principles of L2 acquisition that are informed by birdsong research, and leverages well-studied characteristics of bilingualism in order to clarify, contextualize, and further explore S2 learning and use in songbirds.
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Feng G, Gan Z, Yi HG, Ell SW, Roark CL, Wang S, Wong PCM, Chandrasekaran B. Neural dynamics underlying the acquisition of distinct auditory category structures. Neuroimage 2021; 244:118565. [PMID: 34543762 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2021] [Revised: 09/05/2021] [Accepted: 09/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the multidimensional and temporally fleeting nature of auditory signals we quickly learn to assign novel sounds to behaviorally relevant categories. The neural systems underlying the learning and representation of novel auditory categories are far from understood. Current models argue for a rigid specialization of hierarchically organized core regions that are fine-tuned to extracting and mapping relevant auditory dimensions to meaningful categories. Scaffolded within a dual-learning systems approach, we test a competing hypothesis: the spatial and temporal dynamics of emerging auditory-category representations are not driven by the underlying dimensions but are constrained by category structure and learning strategies. To test these competing models, we used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to assess representational dynamics during the feedback-based acquisition of novel non-speech auditory categories with identical dimensions but differing category structures: rule-based (RB) categories, hypothesized to involve an explicit sound-to-rule mapping network, and information integration (II) based categories, involving pre-decisional integration of dimensions via a procedural-based sound-to-reward mapping network. Adults were assigned to either the RB (n = 30, 19 females) or II (n = 30, 22 females) learning tasks. Despite similar behavioral learning accuracies, learning strategies derived from computational modeling and involvements of corticostriatal systems during feedback processing differed across tasks. Spatiotemporal multivariate representational similarity analysis revealed an emerging representation within an auditory sensory-motor pathway exclusively for the II learning task, prominently involving the superior temporal gyrus (STG), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and posterior precentral gyrus. In contrast, the RB learning task yielded distributed neural representations within regions involved in cognitive-control and attentional processes that emerged at different time points of learning. Our results unequivocally demonstrate that auditory learners' neural systems are highly flexible and show distinct spatial and temporal patterns that are not dimension-specific but reflect underlying category structures and learning strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gangyi Feng
- Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong SAR, China; Brain and Mind Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong SAR, China.
| | - Zhenzhong Gan
- Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong SAR, China; Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, China, School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Han Gyol Yi
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, United States
| | - Shawn W Ell
- Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, University of Maine, 5742 Little Hall, Room 301, Orono, ME 04469-5742, United States
| | - Casey L Roark
- Department of Communication Science and Disorders, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, United States; Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, United States
| | - Suiping Wang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, China, School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Patrick C M Wong
- Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong SAR, China; Brain and Mind Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Bharath Chandrasekaran
- Department of Communication Science and Disorders, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, United States; Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, United States.
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Feng G, Ou J, Gan Z, Jia X, Meng D, Wang S, Wong PCM. Neural Fingerprints Underlying Individual Language Learning Profiles. J Neurosci 2021; 41:7372-7387. [PMID: 34301824 PMCID: PMC8412988 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0415-21.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2021] [Revised: 07/11/2021] [Accepted: 07/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Human language learning differs significantly across individuals in the process and ultimate attainment. Although decades of research exploring the neural substrates of language learning have identified distinct and overlapping neural networks subserving learning of different components, the neural mechanisms that drive the large interindividual differences are still far from being understood. Here we examine to what extent the neural dynamics of multiple brain networks in men and women across sessions of training contribute to explaining individual differences in learning multiple linguistic components (i.e., vocabulary, morphology, and phrase and sentence structures) of an artificial language in a 7 d training and imaging paradigm with functional MRI. With machine-learning and predictive modeling, neural activation patterns across training sessions were highly predictive of individual learning success profiles derived from the four components. We identified four neural learning networks (i.e., the Perisylvian, frontoparietal, salience, and default-mode networks) and examined their dynamic contributions to the learning success prediction. Moreover, the robustness of the predictions systematically changes across networks depending on specific training phases and the learning components. We further demonstrate that a subset of network nodes in the inferior frontal, insular, and frontoparietal regions increasingly represent newly acquired language knowledge, while the multivariate connectivity between these representation regions is enhanced during learning for more successful learners. These findings allow us to understand why learners differ and are the first to attribute not only the degree of success but also patterns of language learning across components, to neural fingerprints summarized from multiple neural network dynamics.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Individual differences in learning a language are widely observed not only within the same component of language but also across components. This study demonstrates that the dynamics of multiple brain networks across four imaging sessions of a 7 d artificial language training contribute to individual differences in learning-outcome profiles derived from four language components. With machine-learning predictive modeling, we identified four neural learning networks, including the Perisylvian, frontoparietal, salience, and default-mode networks, that contribute to predicting individual learning-outcome profiles and revealed language-component-general and component-specific prediction patterns across training sessions. These findings provide significant insights in understanding training-dependent neural dynamics underlying individual differences in learning success across language components.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gangyi Feng
- Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Brain and Mind Institute, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Jinghua Ou
- Department of Linguistics, University of Chicago, Chicago, 60637, Illinois
| | - Zhenzhong Gan
- Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, China; School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, 510631, China
| | - Xiaoyan Jia
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, China; School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, 510631, China
| | - Danting Meng
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, China; School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, 510631, China
| | - Suiping Wang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, China; School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, 510631, China
| | - Patrick C M Wong
- Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Brain and Mind Institute, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T, Hong Kong SAR, China
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