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A Method to Study Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed Audition
Published on: October 29, 2018
Hearing speech sounds: top-down influences on the interface between audition and speech perception
Matthew H Davis1, Ingrid S Johnsrude
1MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK. matt.davis@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk
Hearing Research
|February 24, 2007
Summary
Understanding speech perception involves automatic processes like grouping and segmentation. Top-down information flow and dual representations (auditory and motoric) are key to how we interpret spoken language.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Psycholinguistics
Background:
- Speech perception is a rapid, automatic process converting complex acoustic signals into linguistic units.
- Understanding the cognitive and neural basis of this process is crucial for fields like linguistics and neuroscience.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying speech perception.
- To explore the roles of perceptual grouping, lexical segmentation, perceptual learning, and categorical perception.
- To present evidence for interactive processes and top-down information flow in speech interpretation.
Main Methods:
- Review of perceptual evidence supporting interactive speech processing.
- Examination of cognitive and neural underpinnings, including auditory and motoric representations.
- Analysis of functional neuroimaging and comparative anatomical studies.
Main Results:
- Speech perception relies on interactive processes driven by top-down information flow.
- Two distinct representations are involved: an auditory (echoic) and a motoric/somatotopic representation.
- Neuroanatomical systems support these interactive processes and parallel representations.
Conclusions:
- Top-down interactive mechanisms within auditory networks are vital for spoken language perception.
- The interplay between auditory and motoric representations shapes how speech is understood.
- This framework explains the dynamic and context-dependent nature of speech perception.
Related Concept Videos
01:31Hearing
When we hear a sound, our nervous system is detecting sound waves—pressure waves of mechanical energy traveling through a medium. The frequency of the wave is perceived as pitch, while the amplitude is perceived as loudness.
01:21Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location
The human brain perceives pitch through two primary mechanisms reflected in place theory and frequency theory. Each mechanism describes how sound waves are interpreted as specific pitches by the brain, offering insights into the intricate processes of auditory perception.
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by identifying...
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by identifying...
01:15Auditory Pathway
Auditory pathways constitute the complex neural circuits responsible for transmitting and interpreting auditory information from the peripheral auditory system to the brain. Sound waves are initially captured by the outer ear, funneled through the ear canal, and reach the tympanic membrane (eardrum). These vibrations are transmitted via the middle ear's ossicles to the inner ear's cochlea.
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking the...
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking the...
01:13The Cochlea
The cochlea is a coiled structure in the inner ear that contains hair cells—the sensory receptors of the auditory system. Sound waves are transmitted to the cochlea by small bones attached to the eardrum called the ossicles, which vibrate the oval window that leads to the inner ear. This causes fluid in the chambers of the cochlea to move, vibrating the basilar membrane.
01:17Auditory Perception
The auditory system is essential for sound perception, utilizing various critical structures. When sound waves enter the outer ear, they travel through the ear canal and cause the eardrum to vibrate. These vibrations are then transmitted to the middle ear, where three tiny bones – the malleus, incus, and stapes – amplify the sound. This amplification is crucial, as it ensures that the sound vibrations are strong enough to be conveyed to the inner ear. These vibrations then reach the cochlea, a...
01:01Perception of Sound Waves
The human ear is not equally sensitive to all frequencies in the audible range. It may perceive sound waves with the same pressure but different frequencies as having different loudness. Moreover, the perception of sound waves depends on the health of an individual's ears, which decays with age. The health of one's ears may also be affected by regular exposure to loud noises.
The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency and the pressure amplitude of the source. Two sounds of the same frequency...
The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency and the pressure amplitude of the source. Two sounds of the same frequency...