Native language shapes automatic neural processing of speech

Intartaglia, Bastien; White-Schwoch, Travis; Meunier, Christine; Roman, S.; Kraus, Nina; Schön, Daniele

doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.05.033

Cited by 17 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…According to a theoretical framework for experience-induced neural plasticity (Krishnan, Gandour and Bidelman, 2012), the experience-dependent effect at the cortical level may reflect, in part, enhanced fine-grained output from brainstem pitch mechanisms. This coordination between auditory brainstem and cortex has also been reported in studies of long-term language experience with French syllables (Intartaglia, White-Schwoch, Meunier, Roman, Kraus and Schon, 2016); and older musicians’ experience with English vowel perception (Bidelman and Alain, 2015). …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

Changes in pitch height elicit both language-universal and language-dependent changes in neural representation of pitch in the brainstem and auditory cortex

2017

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Language experience shapes encoding of pitch-relevant information at both brainstem and cortical levels of processing. Pitch height is a salient dimension that orders pitch from low to high. Herein we investigate the effects of language experience (Chinese, English) in the brainstem and cortex on i) neural responses to variations in pitch height, ii) presence of asymmetry in cortical pitch representation, and iii) patterns of relative changes in magnitude of pitch height between these two levels of brain structure. Stimuli were three nonspeech homologs of Mandarin Tone 2 varying in pitch height only. The frequency-following response (FFR) and the cortical pitch-specific response (CPR) were recorded concurrently. At the Fz-linked T7/T8 site, peak latency of Na, Pb, and Nb decreased with increasing pitch height for both groups. Peak-to-peak amplitude of Na–Pb and Pb–Nb increased with increasing pitch height across groups. A language-dependent effect was restricted to Na-Pb; the Chinese had larger amplitude than the English group. At temporal sites (T7/T8), the Chinese group had larger amplitude, as compared to English, across stimuli, but also limited to the Na-Pb component and right temporal site. In the brainstem, F0 magnitude decreased with increasing pitch height; Chinese had larger magnitude across stimuli. A comparison of CPR and FFR responses revealed distinct patterns of relative changes in magnitude common to both groups. CPR amplitude increased and FFR amplitude decreased with increasing pitch height. Experience-dependent effects on CPR components vary as a function of neural sensitivity to pitch height within a particular temporal window (Na–Pb). Differences between the auditory brainstem and cortex imply distinct neural mechanisms for pitch extraction at both levels of brain structure.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

Changes in pitch height elicit both language-universal and language-dependent changes in neural representation of pitch in the brainstem and auditory cortex

2017

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“…Taken together, findings in this early time window suggest that differences in the processing of speech-relevant auditory stimuli between bimodal and NH listeners already start at the subcortical level. In support, more efficient processing of elements for one's native tongue was evidenced physiologically already at the level of the brainstem (82,83), and Cheng et al (84) interpret this to be an indication that long-term lexical knowledge has its effect via sub-lexical processing. Therefore, the present findings indicate that efficient processing of the familiar speech elements may be weakened by prolonged hearing impairment, despite pre-implantation acoustic amplification.…”

Section: Adaptation To Bimodal Hearingmentioning

confidence: 93%

Changes in Speech-Related Brain Activity During Adaptation to Electro-Acoustic Hearing

et al. 2020

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Objectives: Hearing improves significantly with bimodal provision, i.e., a cochlear implant (CI) at one ear and a hearing aid (HA) at the other, but performance shows a high degree of variability resulting in substantial uncertainty about the performance that can be expected by the individual CI user. The objective of this study was to explore how auditory event-related potentials (AERPs) of bimodal listeners in response to spoken words approximate the electrophysiological response of normal hearing (NH) listeners. Study Design: Explorative prospective analysis during the first 6 months of bimodal listening using a within-subject repeated measures design. Setting: Academic tertiary care center. Participants: Twenty-seven adult participants with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss who received a HiRes 90K CI and continued use of a HA at the non-implanted ear. Age-matched NH listeners served as controls. Intervention: Cochlear implantation. Main Outcome Measures: Obligatory auditory evoked potentials N1 and P2, and the event-related N2 potential in response to monosyllabic words and their reversed sound traces before, as well as 3 and 6 months post-implantation. The task required word/nonword classification. Stimuli were presented within speech-modulated noise. Loudness of word/non-word signals was adjusted individually to achieve the same intelligibility across groups and assessments. Results: Intelligibility improved significantly with bimodal hearing, and the N1-P2 response approximated the morphology seen in NH with enhanced and earlier responses to the words compared to their reversals. For bimodal listeners, a prominent negative deflection was present between 370 and 570 ms post stimulus onset (N2), irrespective of stimulus type. This was absent for NH controls; hence, this response did not approximate the NH response during the study interval. N2 source localization evidenced extended activation of general cognitive areas in frontal and prefrontal brain areas in the CI group. Balkenhol et al. Adaptation to Electro-Acoustic Hearing Conclusions: Prolonged and spatially extended processing in bimodal CI users suggests employment of additional auditory-cognitive mechanisms during speech processing. This does not reduce within 6 months of bimodal experience and may be a correlate of the enhanced listening effort described by CI listeners.

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“…Since French speakers are familiar with English sounds, we chose a stimulus that is distant from the phonemic inventory of French, the English syllable [thae]—neither the consonant nor the vowel phonemes exist in French. In a previous study we compared frequency-following responses (FFR) to the syllable [thae] in American and French non-musicians 25 . Compared to French speakers, American non-musicians had more robust subcortical representations of the English phoneme [thae].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Music training enhances the automatic neural processing of foreign speech sounds

Intartaglia

White-Schwoch

Kraus

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Growing evidence shows that music and language experience affect the neural processing of speech sounds throughout the auditory system. Recent work mainly focused on the benefits induced by musical practice on the processing of native language or tonal foreign language, which rely on pitch processing. The aim of the present study was to take this research a step further by investigating the effect of music training on processing English sounds by foreign listeners. We recorded subcortical electrophysiological responses to an English syllable in three groups of participants: native speakers, non-native nonmusicians, and non-native musicians. Native speakers had enhanced neural processing of the formant frequencies of speech, compared to non-native nonmusicians, suggesting that automatic encoding of these relevant speech cues are sensitive to language experience. Most strikingly, in non-native musicians, neural responses to the formant frequencies did not differ from those of native speakers, suggesting that musical training may compensate for the lack of language experience by strengthening the neural encoding of important acoustic information. Language and music experience seem to induce a selective sensory gain along acoustic dimensions that are functionally-relevant—here, formant frequencies that are crucial for phoneme discrimination.

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Native language shapes automatic neural processing of speech

Cited by 17 publications

References 50 publications

Changes in pitch height elicit both language-universal and language-dependent changes in neural representation of pitch in the brainstem and auditory cortex

Changes in pitch height elicit both language-universal and language-dependent changes in neural representation of pitch in the brainstem and auditory cortex

Changes in Speech-Related Brain Activity During Adaptation to Electro-Acoustic Hearing

Music training enhances the automatic neural processing of foreign speech sounds

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