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Published on: May 9, 2019
Sensory processing of linguistic pitch as reflected by the mismatch negativity
Bharath Chandrasekaran1, Ananthanarayan Krishnan, Jackson T Gandour
1Department of Speech Language Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2038, USA.
Objective:
To assess the extent to which acoustic and phonetic change-detection processes contribute to the mismatch negativity (MMN) to linguistic pitch contours.
Design:
MMN was elicited from Mandarin and English speakers using a passive oddball paradigm. Two oddball conditions were constructed. In one condition (T1/T2i), the Mandarin high-level tone (T1) was compared with a convex high-rising tone (inverted T2, henceforth referred to as T2i) that occurs as a contextual variant of T1 in running speech. In the other (T2/T2i), the concave high-rising tone (T2) was compared with T2i. Phonetically, T1/T2i represents a within-category contrast for native speakers, whereas T2/T2i represents a between-category contrast. The between-category pair (T2/T2i), however, is more similar acoustically than the within-category pair (T1/T2i). In an attention-demanding behavioral paradigm, the same speakers also performed an auditory discrimination task to determine the perceptual distinctiveness of the two tonal pairs.
Results:
Results revealed that the Chinese group, relative to the English, showed larger MMN responses and earlier peak latencies for both conditions, indicating experience-dependent enhancement in representing linguistically relevant pitch contours. At attentive stages of processing, however, the Chinese group was less accurate than the English in discriminating the within-category contrast (T1-T2i).
Conclusions:
These findings demonstrate that experience-dependent neural effects at early preattentive stages of processing may be driven primarily by acoustic features of pitch contours that occur in natural speech. At attentive stages of processing, perception is strongly influenced by tonal categories and their relations to one another. The MMN is a useful index for examining long-term plasticity to linguistically relevant acoustic features.
Insights
Native speakers show enhanced neural responses to linguistic pitch contours, with early processing driven by acoustic features and later processing influenced by tonal categories. Mismatch negativity (MMN) reveals long-term plasticity.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Linguistics
- Auditory Perception
Background:
- Mismatch negativity (MMN) is a neurophysiological measure reflecting automatic change detection in auditory processing.
- Linguistic pitch contours are crucial for tonal languages like Mandarin, influencing word meaning.
- The contribution of acoustic versus phonetic processing to MMN in response to linguistic pitch variations is not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of acoustic and phonetic change-detection processes in MMN elicited by linguistic pitch contours.
- To compare MMN responses to within-category and between-category tonal contrasts in Mandarin and English speakers.
- To examine the influence of linguistic experience on auditory processing at both preattentive and attentive stages.
Main Methods:
- MMN was recorded using a passive oddball paradigm with Mandarin and English speakers.
- Two conditions were used: T1/T2i (within-category contrast) and T2/T2i (between-category contrast) for Mandarin tones.
- Behavioral auditory discrimination tasks were conducted to assess perceptual distinctiveness.
Main Results:
- Mandarin speakers exhibited larger MMN amplitudes and earlier peak latencies compared to English speakers for both tonal contrasts.
- This suggests experience-dependent neural enhancement in processing linguistically relevant pitch contours in native speakers.
- In an attention-demanding task, Mandarin speakers were less accurate than English speakers in discriminating the within-category tonal contrast.
Conclusions:
- Experience-dependent neural effects in early, preattentive processing are primarily driven by acoustic features of pitch contours.
- Perception at attentive stages is significantly shaped by tonal categories and their interrelationships.
- MMN serves as a valuable index for studying long-term neural plasticity related to linguistically relevant acoustic features.
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