Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language01:10

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language

Language is a system of communication that allows the expression of thoughts, ideas, and feelings. The brain processes language in both hemispheres.
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...
Neural Circuits01:25

Neural Circuits

Neural circuits and neuronal pools are two of the main structures found in the nervous system. Neural circuits are networks of neurons that work together to carry out a specific task or process. They consist of interconnected neurons and glial cells, which provide structural and metabolic support.
Neuronal pools are collections of nerve cells with similar functions and interact through chemical and electrical signals. These pools include both interneurons (the central neural circuit nodes that...
Hearing01:31

Hearing

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.
Components of Language01:24

Components of Language

Language, whether spoken, signed, or written, consists of specific components: lexicon and grammar. The lexicon is the vocabulary of a language, comprising its words. Grammar is the set of rules used to convey meaning through the lexicon. For example, English grammar adds “-ed” to most verbs to indicate past tense. Words are formed by combining phonemes, which are the basic sound units of a language. Different languages have different sets of phonemes (e.g., “ah” vs. “eh”). Phonemes combine to...
Auditory Pathway01:15

Auditory 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...
Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location01:21

Perceiving 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...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Brain-structural differences underlying dialect competence in the bilingual network.

Scientific reports·2026
Same author

Not All Rules Are Equal: Rare Conditional Rules Shape Behaviour but Yield to Global Probability in Passive Listening.

The European journal of neuroscience·2026
Same author

Dopaminergic manipulation modulates frequency-specific EEG connectivity patterns: evidence from a single dose drug challenge study.

Frontiers in neuroscience·2026
Same author

Disrupted Frontoparietal Dynamics in Neurofibromatosis Type 1: Reduced Sensitivity and Atypical Modulation During Working Memory.

Human brain mapping·2026
Same author

Executive resources shape the impact of language predictability across the adult lifespan.

eLife·2026
Same author

Noise that knows its place.

Neuron·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 20, 2026

Foreign Accent and Forensic Speaker Identification in Voice Lineups: The Influence of Acoustic Features Based on Prosody
09:09

Foreign Accent and Forensic Speaker Identification in Voice Lineups: The Influence of Acoustic Features Based on Prosody

Published on: September 27, 2024

A sparse neural code for some speech sounds but not for others.

Mathias Scharinger1, Alexandra Bendixen, Nelson J Trujillo-Barreto

  • 1Max Planck Research Group Auditory Cognition, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany. mscharinger@cbs.mpg.de

Plos One
|July 21, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Speech sound representations are not always sparse. Deviations from less predictable coronal [t] sounds elicited stronger neural responses than from dorsal [k] sounds, challenging sparse representation theories.

More Related Videos

Memorization-Based Training and Testing Paradigm for Robust Vocal Identity Recognition in Expressive Speech Using Event-Related Potentials Analysis
05:48

Memorization-Based Training and Testing Paradigm for Robust Vocal Identity Recognition in Expressive Speech Using Event-Related Potentials Analysis

Published on: August 9, 2024

fMRI Mapping of Brain Activity Associated with the Vocal Production of Consonant and Dissonant Intervals
11:15

fMRI Mapping of Brain Activity Associated with the Vocal Production of Consonant and Dissonant Intervals

Published on: May 23, 2017

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 20, 2026

Foreign Accent and Forensic Speaker Identification in Voice Lineups: The Influence of Acoustic Features Based on Prosody
09:09

Foreign Accent and Forensic Speaker Identification in Voice Lineups: The Influence of Acoustic Features Based on Prosody

Published on: September 27, 2024

Memorization-Based Training and Testing Paradigm for Robust Vocal Identity Recognition in Expressive Speech Using Event-Related Potentials Analysis
05:48

Memorization-Based Training and Testing Paradigm for Robust Vocal Identity Recognition in Expressive Speech Using Event-Related Potentials Analysis

Published on: August 9, 2024

fMRI Mapping of Brain Activity Associated with the Vocal Production of Consonant and Dissonant Intervals
11:15

fMRI Mapping of Brain Activity Associated with the Vocal Production of Consonant and Dissonant Intervals

Published on: May 23, 2017

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Linguistics
  • Auditory Perception

Background:

  • The neural basis of speech sound representation remains debated.
  • Sparse representation theories suggest only unpredictable information is stored.
  • This study investigates the neural underpinnings of phonological sparsity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To challenge the neural foundations of sparse speech sound representations.
  • To investigate how different phonological features (coronal vs. dorsal) are represented neurally.
  • To examine the predictive coding mechanisms in auditory perception.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a passive oddball paradigm with German nouns differing in penultimate consonants ([t] vs. [k]).
  • Measured Mismatch Negativity (MMN) responses to deviant speech sounds.
  • Employed source localization to identify brain regions involved.

Main Results:

  • Both [t] to [k] and [k] to [t] changes elicited MMN responses.
  • MMN amplitude was significantly stronger for deviant [lats] (coronal) compared to deviant [laks] (dorsal).
  • Source localization indicated enhanced activity in the right superior temporal cortex for the [lats] deviant.

Conclusions:

  • Findings suggest coronal [t] sounds have sparser representations than dorsal [k] sounds.
  • This difference in sparsity influences neural predictions and MMN generation.
  • Results support neurocomputational models of speech perception incorporating sparse representations and predictive coding.