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Exploring Relevant Features for EEG-Based Investigation of Sound Perception in Naturalistic Soundscapes
Thorge Haupt1, Marc Rosenkranz2, Martin G Bleichner1,3
1Neurophysiology of Everyday Life Group, Department of Psychology, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg 26129, Germany thorge.lars.haupt@uni-oldenburg.de.
Eneuro
|January 3, 2025
Summary
Understanding everyday sound perception requires analyzing complex acoustic features and sound onsets. This research reveals how combining detailed acoustic and discrete sound information best explains neural data in naturalistic settings.
Area of Science:
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Signal Processing
Background:
- Speech perception research is extensive, but understanding auditory perception in complex, everyday environments remains less explored.
- Identifying key features and information types for analyzing naturalistic soundscapes is crucial for advancing auditory neuroscience.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically investigate the relevance of different feature categories for explaining neural data during sound perception.
- To determine the predictive power of discrete sound-identity markers, cognitive state information, and acoustic representations (envelope, mel-spectrogram, sound onset).
Main Methods:
- Utilized electroencephalography (EEG) to record neural activity during a complex audio-visual motor task with a naturalistic soundscape.
- Employed continuous data analysis to contrast the predictive power of various feature sets on neural data.
- Focused on analyzing the contribution of discrete sound onsets, acoustic envelopes, and mel-spectrograms.
Main Results:
- A combination of detailed acoustic features and specific sound onset information explained the most neural variability.
- Established acoustic features are applicable to complex soundscapes, provided periods without sound onsets are excluded for discrete features.
- The study demonstrated the effectiveness of integrating acoustic and non-acoustic aspects for comprehensive soundscape description.
Conclusions:
- Comprehensive soundscape description, encompassing both acoustic and non-acoustic elements, is vital for understanding sound perception dynamics in complex environments.
- This approach provides a foundation for future research into naturalistic sound perception using electroencephalography.
- The findings highlight the importance of carefully selecting and analyzing features, particularly sound onsets, for robust neural data interpretation.
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