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Chalas N, Daube C, Kluger DS, Abbasi O, Nitsch R, Gross J. Speech onsets and sustained speech contribute differentially to delta and theta speech tracking in auditory cortex. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:6273-6281. [PMID: 36627246 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2022] [Revised: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
When we attentively listen to an individual's speech, our brain activity dynamically aligns to the incoming acoustic input at multiple timescales. Although this systematic alignment between ongoing brain activity and speech in auditory brain areas is well established, the acoustic events that drive this phase-locking are not fully understood. Here, we use magnetoencephalographic recordings of 24 human participants (12 females) while they were listening to a 1 h story. We show that whereas speech-brain coupling is associated with sustained acoustic fluctuations in the speech envelope in the theta-frequency range (4-7 Hz), speech tracking in the low-frequency delta (below 1 Hz) was strongest around onsets of speech, like the beginning of a sentence. Crucially, delta tracking in bilateral auditory areas was not sustained after onsets, proposing a delta tracking during continuous speech perception that is driven by speech onsets. We conclude that both onsets and sustained components of speech contribute differentially to speech tracking in delta- and theta-frequency bands, orchestrating sampling of continuous speech. Thus, our results suggest a temporal dissociation of acoustically driven oscillatory activity in auditory areas during speech tracking, providing valuable implications for orchestration of speech tracking at multiple time scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikos Chalas
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Malmedyweg 15, 48149, Münster, Germany.,Otto-Creutzfeldt-Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Fliednerstr. 21, 48149 Münster, Germany.,Institute for Translational Neuroscience, University of Münster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, Geb. A9a, Münster, Germany
| | - Christoph Daube
- Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, University of Glasgow, 56-64 Hillhead Street, G12 8QB, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel S Kluger
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Malmedyweg 15, 48149, Münster, Germany.,Otto-Creutzfeldt-Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Fliednerstr. 21, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Omid Abbasi
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Malmedyweg 15, 48149, Münster, Germany
| | - Robert Nitsch
- Institute for Translational Neuroscience, University of Münster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, Geb. A9a, Münster, Germany
| | - Joachim Gross
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Malmedyweg 15, 48149, Münster, Germany.,Otto-Creutzfeldt-Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Fliednerstr. 21, 48149 Münster, Germany
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Lang A, Ott P, del Giudice R, Schabus M. Memory Traces Formed in Utero-Newborns' Autonomic and Neuronal Responses to Prenatal Stimuli and the Maternal Voice. Brain Sci 2020; 10:brainsci10110837. [PMID: 33187287 PMCID: PMC7697227 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci10110837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2020] [Revised: 11/03/2020] [Accepted: 11/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
In our pilot study, we exposed third-trimester fetuses, from week 34 of gestation onwards, twice daily to a maternal spoken nursery rhyme. Two and five weeks after birth, 34 newborns, who were either familiarized with rhyme stimulation in utero or stimulation naïve, were (re-)exposed to the familiar, as well as to a novel and unfamiliar, rhyme, both spoken with the maternal and an unfamiliar female voice. For the stimulation-naïve group, both rhymes were unfamiliar. During stimulus presentation, heart rate activity and high-density electroencephalography were collected and newborns’ responses during familiar and unfamiliar stimulation were analyzed. All newborns demonstrated stronger speech–brain coupling at 1 Hz during the presentation of the maternal voice vs. the unfamiliar female voice. Rhyme familiarity originating from prenatal exposure had no effect on speech–brain coupling in experimentally stimulated newborns. Furthermore, only stimulation-naïve newborns demonstrated an increase in heart rate during the presentation of the unfamiliar female voice. The results indicate prenatal familiarization to auditory speech and point to the specific significance of the maternal voice already in two- to five-week-old newborns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adelheid Lang
- Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience (CCNS), Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, 5020 Salzburg, Austria;
- Laboratory for Sleep, Cognition and Consciousness Research, University of Salzburg, 5020 Salzburg, Austria; (P.O.); (R.d.G.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +43-662-8044-5113
| | - Peter Ott
- Laboratory for Sleep, Cognition and Consciousness Research, University of Salzburg, 5020 Salzburg, Austria; (P.O.); (R.d.G.)
- Information Technology and Systems Management, Salzburg University of Applied Sciences, 5020 Salzburg, Austria
| | - Renata del Giudice
- Laboratory for Sleep, Cognition and Consciousness Research, University of Salzburg, 5020 Salzburg, Austria; (P.O.); (R.d.G.)
- Department of Mental Health, University of Milan, 20142 Milan, Italy
- San Paolo University Hospital, ASST Santi Paolo e Carlo, 20142 Milan, Italy
| | - Manuel Schabus
- Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience (CCNS), Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, 5020 Salzburg, Austria;
- Laboratory for Sleep, Cognition and Consciousness Research, University of Salzburg, 5020 Salzburg, Austria; (P.O.); (R.d.G.)
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