Auditory-Motor Control of Vocal Production during Divided Attention: Behavioral and ERP Correlates

Abstract

When people hear unexpected perturbations in auditory feedback, they produce rapid compensatory adjustments of their vocal behavior. Recent evidence has shown enhanced vocal compensations and cortical event-related potentials (ERPs) in response to attended pitch feedback perturbations, suggesting that this reflex-like behavior is influenced by selective attention. Less is known, however, about auditory-motor integration for voice control during divided attention. The present cross-modal study investigated the behavioral and ERP correlates of auditory feedback control of vocal pitch production during divided attention. During the production of sustained vowels, 32 young adults were instructed to simultaneously attend to both pitch feedback perturbations they heard and flashing red lights they saw. The presentation rate of the visual stimuli was varied to produce a low, intermediate, and high attentional load. The behavioral results showed that the low-load condition elicited significantly smaller vocal compensations for pitch perturbations than the intermediate-load and high-load conditions. As well, the cortical processing of vocal pitch feedback was also modulated as a function of divided attention. When compared to the low-load and intermediate-load conditions, the high-load condition elicited significantly larger N1 responses and smaller P2 responses to pitch perturbations. These findings provide the first neurobehavioral evidence that divided attention can modulate auditory feedback control of vocal pitch production.

Neocortical activity tracks syllable and phrasal structure of self-produced speech during reading aloud

“…Current theories of language production consider a feedback monitoring system that monitors speech output to correct errors during production (for reviews, see Hickok, 2012; Houde and Chang, 2015). Evidence about the importance of such a system comes from adaptations of the speaker’s speech output to compensate for sensory (i.e., auditory and somatosensory) feedback manipulations (Bauer et al, 2006; Burnett et al, 1998; Guo et al, 2017; Houde, 1998; Liu et al, 2018; Shiller et al, 2009; Tremblay et al, 2003). But such feedback monitoring system cannot account for extremely fast self-corrections of speech observed in humans (Blackmer and Mitton, 1991; Nozari et al, 2011), as they require extended neural processing time.…”

Attention/memory complaint is correlated with motor speech disorder in Parkinson’s disease

“…Moreover, multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed a lower educational level as an independent risk factor for PD-associated MSD. Several studies on the neural mechanisms underlying motor speech control [15, 16, 26, 27] have hypothesized that a higher educational level might play a negative role in the occurrence and aggravation of PD-associated MSD. Previous MRI examinations have shown that lesions in cognitive-relevant cortical areas, especially those closely associated with educational level within the prefrontal lobe, frequently occur in SD patients [28–30].…”

Attention/Memory Complaint is Correlated with Motor Speech Disorder in Parkinson’s Disease

“…Moreover, multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed a lower educational level as an independent risk factor for PD-associated MSD. Several studies on the neural mechanisms underlying motor speech control [15,16,26,27] have hypothesized that a higher educational level might play a negative role in the occurrence and aggravation of PD-associated MSD. Previous MRI examinations have shown that lesions in cognitiverelevant cortical areas, especially those closely associated with educational level within the prefrontal lobe, frequently occur in SD patients [28][29][30].…”