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Har-Shai Yahav P, Sharaabi A, Zion Golumbic E. The effect of voice familiarity on attention to speech in a cocktail party scenario. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhad475. [PMID: 38142293 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad475] [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: 09/04/2023] [Revised: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Selective attention to one speaker in multi-talker environments can be affected by the acoustic and semantic properties of speech. One highly ecological feature of speech that has the potential to assist in selective attention is voice familiarity. Here, we tested how voice familiarity interacts with selective attention by measuring the neural speech-tracking response to both target and non-target speech in a dichotic listening "Cocktail Party" paradigm. We measured Magnetoencephalography from n = 33 participants, presented with concurrent narratives in two different voices, and instructed to pay attention to one ear ("target") and ignore the other ("non-target"). Participants were familiarized with one of the voices during the week prior to the experiment, rendering this voice familiar to them. Using multivariate speech-tracking analysis we estimated the neural responses to both stimuli and replicate their well-established modulation by selective attention. Importantly, speech-tracking was also affected by voice familiarity, showing enhanced response for target speech and reduced response for non-target speech in the contra-lateral hemisphere, when these were in a familiar vs. an unfamiliar voice. These findings offer valuable insight into how voice familiarity, and by extension, auditory-semantics, interact with goal-driven attention, and facilitate perceptual organization and speech processing in noisy environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paz Har-Shai Yahav
- The Gonda Center for Multidisciplinary Brain Research, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Aviya Sharaabi
- The Gonda Center for Multidisciplinary Brain Research, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Elana Zion Golumbic
- The Gonda Center for Multidisciplinary Brain Research, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel
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Abstract
Previous studies suggest that task-irrelevant changing-state sound interferes specifically with the processing of serial order information in the focal task (e.g., serial recall from short-term memory), whereas a deviant sound in the auditory background is supposed to divert central attention, thus producing distraction in various types of cognitive tasks. Much of the evidence for this distinction rests on the observed dissociations in auditory distraction between serial and non-serial short-term memory tasks. In this study, both the changing-state effect and the deviation effect were contrasted between serial digit recall and mental arithmetic tasks. In three experiments (two conducted online), changing-state sound was found to disrupt serial recall, but it did not lead to a general decrement in performance in different mental arithmetic tasks. In contrast, a deviant voice in the stream of irrelevant speech sounds did not cause reliable distraction in serial recall and simple addition/subtraction tasks, but it did disrupt a more demanding mental arithmetic task. Specifically, the evaluation of math equations (multiplication and addition/subtraction), which was combined with a pair-associate memory task to increase the task demand, was found to be susceptible to auditory distraction in participants who did not serially rehearse the pair-associates. Together, the results support the assumption that the interference produced by changing-state sound is highly specific to tasks that require serial-order processing, whereas auditory deviants may cause attentional capture primarily in highly demanding cognitive tasks (e.g., mental arithmetic) that cannot be solved through serial rehearsal.
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Effects of temporally regular versus irregular distractors on goal-directed cognition and behavior. Sci Rep 2022; 12:10020. [PMID: 35705589 PMCID: PMC9200732 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-13211-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2022] [Accepted: 05/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Human environments comprise plenty of task-irrelevant sensory inputs, which are potentially distracting. Auditory distractors often possess an inherent temporal structure. However, it is largely unknown whether and how the temporal regularity of distractors interferes with goal-directed cognitive processes, such as working memory. Here, we tested a total sample of N = 90 participants across four working memory tasks with sequences of temporally regular versus irregular distractors. Temporal irregularity was operationalized by a final tone onset time that violated an otherwise regular tone sequence (Experiment 1), by a sequence of tones with irregular onset-to-onset delays (Experiment 2), and by sequences of speech items with irregular onset-to-onset delays (Experiments 3 and 4). Across all experiments, temporal regularity of distractors did not modulate participants’ primary performance metric, that is, accuracy in recalling items from working memory. Instead, temporal regularity of distractors modulated secondary performance metrics: for regular versus irregular distractors, recall of the first item from memory was faster (Experiment 3) and the response bias was more conservative (Experiment 4). Taken together, the present results provide evidence that the temporal regularity of task-irrelevant input does not inevitably affect the precision of memory representations (reflected in the primary performance metric accuracy) but rather the response behavior (reflected in secondary performance metrics like response speed and bias). Our findings emphasize that a comprehensive understanding of auditory distraction requires that existing models of attention include often-neglected secondary performance metrics to understand how different features of auditory distraction reach awareness and impact cognition and behavior.
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Familiarity and task context shape the use of acoustic information in voice identity perception. Cognition 2021; 215:104780. [PMID: 34298232 PMCID: PMC8381763 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2020] [Revised: 05/10/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Familiar and unfamiliar voice perception are often understood as being distinct from each other. For identity perception, theoretical work has proposed that listeners use acoustic information in different ways to perceive identity from familiar and unfamiliar voices: Unfamiliar voices are thought to be processed based on close comparisons of acoustic properties, while familiar voices are processed based on diagnostic acoustic features that activate a stored person-specific representation of that voice. To date no empirical study has directly examined whether and how familiar and unfamiliar listeners differ in their use of acoustic information for identity perception. Here, we tested this theoretical claim by linking listeners' judgements in voice identity tasks to complex acoustic representation - spectral similarity of the heard voice recordings. Participants (N = 177) who were either familiar or unfamiliar with a set of voices completed an identity discrimination task (Experiment 1) or an identity sorting task (Experiment 2). In both experiments, identity judgements for familiar and unfamiliar voices were guided by spectral similarity: Pairs of recordings with greater acoustic similarity were more likely to be perceived as belonging to the same voice identity. However, while there were no differences in how familiar and unfamiliar listeners used acoustic information for identity discrimination, differences were apparent for identity sorting. Our study therefore challenges proposals that view familiar and unfamiliar voice perception as being at all times distinct. Instead, our data suggest a critical role of the listening situation in which familiar and unfamiliar voices are evaluated, thus characterising voice identity perception as a highly dynamic process in which listeners opportunistically make use of any kind of information they can access.
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Wöstmann M, Lui TKY, Friese KH, Kreitewolf J, Naujokat M, Obleser J. The vulnerability of working memory to distraction is rhythmic. Neuropsychologia 2020; 146:107505. [PMID: 32485200 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2020] [Revised: 05/08/2020] [Accepted: 05/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Recent research posits that the cognitive system samples target stimuli in a rhythmic fashion, characterized by target detection fluctuating at frequencies of ~3-8 Hz. Besides prioritized encoding of targets, a key cognitive function is the protection of working memory from distractor intrusion. Here, we test to which degree the vulnerability of working memory to distraction is rhythmic. In an Irrelevant-Speech Task, N = 23 human participants had to retain the serial order of nine numbers in working memory while being distracted by task-irrelevant speech with variable temporal onsets. The magnitude of the distractor-evoked N1 component in the event-related potential as well as behavioural recall accuracy, both measures of memory distraction, were periodically modulated by distractor onset time in approximately 2-4 cycles per second (Hz). Critically, an underlying 2.5-Hz rhythm explained variation in both measures of distraction such that stronger phasic distractor encoding mediated lower phasic memory recall accuracy. In a behavioural follow-up experiment, we tested whether these results would replicate in a task design without rhythmic presentation of target items. Participants (N = 6 with on average >2500 trials, each) retained two line-figures in memory while being distracted by acoustic noise of varying onset across trials. In agreement with the main experiment, the temporal onset of the distractor periodically modulated memory performance. These results suggest that during working memory retention, the human cognitive system implements distractor suppression in a temporally dynamic fashion, reflected in ~400-ms long cycles of high versus low distractibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malte Wöstmann
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
| | | | | | - Jens Kreitewolf
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Malte Naujokat
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Jonas Obleser
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
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Zorzin L, Carvalho GF, Kreitewolf J, Teggi R, Pinheiro CF, Moreira JR, Dach F, Bevilaqua-Grossi D. Subdiagnosis, but not presence of vestibular symptoms, predicts balance impairment in migraine patients - a cross sectional study. J Headache Pain 2020; 21:56. [PMID: 32448118 PMCID: PMC7247141 DOI: 10.1186/s10194-020-01128-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2020] [Accepted: 05/19/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Vestibular symptoms and balance changes are common in patients with migraine, especially in the ones with aura and chronic migraine. However, it is not known if the balance changes are determined by the presence of vestibular symptoms or migraine subdiagnosis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to verify if the migraine subdiagnosis and/or the presence of vestibular symptoms can predict balance dysfunction in migraineurs. Methods The study included 49 women diagnosed with migraine with aura, 53 without aura, 51 with chronic migraine, and 54 headache-free women. All participants answered a structured questionnaire regarding migraine features and presence of vestibular symptoms, such as dizziness/vertigo. The participants performed the Modified Sensory Organization Test on an AMTI© force plate. The data were analysed using a linear mixed-effect regression model. Results The presence of vestibular symptoms did not predict postural sway, but the subdiagnosis was a significant predictor of postural sway. Migraine with aura patients exhibited more sway than migraine patients without aura when the surface was unstable. Additionally, we found high effect sizes (ES > 0.79) for postural sway differences between patients with chronic migraine or with aura compared to controls or migraine without aura, suggesting that these results are clinically relevant. Conclusions The subdiagnosis of migraine, instead of the presence of vestibular symptoms, can predict postural control impairments observed in migraineurs. This lends support to the notion that balance instability is related to the presence of aura and migraine chronicity, and that it should be considered even in patients without vestibular symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Letícia Zorzin
- Department of Health Sciences, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Av. Bandeirantes, 3900 - Vila Monte Alegre, Ribeirão Preto, SP, 14049-900, Brazil
| | - Gabriela F Carvalho
- Department of Health Sciences, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Av. Bandeirantes, 3900 - Vila Monte Alegre, Ribeirão Preto, SP, 14049-900, Brazil
| | - Jens Kreitewolf
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Roberto Teggi
- Department of Ear, Nose and Throat, San Raffaele University Hospital, Milan, Italy
| | - Carina F Pinheiro
- Department of Health Sciences, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Av. Bandeirantes, 3900 - Vila Monte Alegre, Ribeirão Preto, SP, 14049-900, Brazil
| | - Jéssica R Moreira
- Department of Health Sciences, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Av. Bandeirantes, 3900 - Vila Monte Alegre, Ribeirão Preto, SP, 14049-900, Brazil
| | - Fabíola Dach
- Department of Neurosciences and Behavioral Sciences, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Débora Bevilaqua-Grossi
- Department of Health Sciences, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Av. Bandeirantes, 3900 - Vila Monte Alegre, Ribeirão Preto, SP, 14049-900, Brazil.
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