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Background Suppression and its Relation to Foreground Processing of Speech Versus Non-speech Streams
Xiaochen Zhang1, Xiaolin Li1, Jingjing Chen1
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
Neuroscience
|January 17, 2018
Summary
Background noise impacts sound perception. This study reveals that the brain actively suppresses noise during speech processing, a mechanism lateralized to the left hemisphere, enhancing target sound recognition.
Area of Science:
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Speech Processing
Background:
- Sound perception occurs amidst background noise, necessitating signal extraction and noise suppression.
- Previous research overlooked the neural encoding and suppression mechanisms of background noise during early speech processing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how the brain processes foreground auditory stimuli (speech and non-speech) in the presence of background noise.
- To analyze neural responses related to target signal processing and background noise suppression.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an oddball paradigm with speech (vowels) and non-speech (complex tones) stimuli.
- Presented stimuli with and without amplitude-modulated background noise.
- Analyzed cortical responses: mismatch negativity (MMN), N2b, P300, and auditory steady-state response (ASSR).
Main Results:
- Speech deviants elicited delayed and weaker MMN, N2b, and P300 compared to non-speech deviants.
- Background noise enhanced N2b for vowels, suggesting speech-specific attention.
- Noise suppression, measured by ASSR reduction, was left-lateralized in speech contexts and linked to N2b enhancement.
Conclusions:
- Auditory perception differences between speech and non-speech involve foreground processing and background noise suppression.
- Foreground speech processing interacts with background noise suppression, particularly in the left hemisphere.
- The brain employs distinct strategies for processing speech versus non-speech sounds in noisy environments.
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