| 1. |
- Fingerhut, Andrea, et al.
(författare)
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Primary auditory cortex’s vowel representation
- 2021
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Ingår i: Proceedings of Fonetik 2021 : Lund, June 8–9, 2021 - Lund, June 8–9, 2021. - 0280-526X. ; 56, s. 33-35
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Sound frequencies are represented in the primary auditory cortex (PAC) in a tonotopic structure which can be measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). A previous study has investigated vowels[ъ]and [i]and seen a correlation between the vowels¶ activation and the activation of simple tones corresponding to the vowels¶ formant frequencies. Other vowels have not \et been studied. In this study, we are investigating [ъ],[ѓ], [i], and [u]and compared those with activation of simple tones corresponding to their formant frequencies. This is ongoing work, and only five volunteers have participated. The preliminary results vary from high correlation between areas activated to low or no correlation. More data has to be collected to draw any further conclusions.
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| 2. |
- Hjortdal, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Phonemic and subphonemic cues in prediction : Evidence from ERP, eye-tracking and Danish words with and without stødbasis
- 2021
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Ingår i: Proceedings of Fonetik 2021 : Lund, June 8–9, 2021 - Lund, June 8–9, 2021. - 0280-526X. ; 56, s. 27-32
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The brain is constantly trying to predict the future and phonological and prosodic cues are used to anticipate forthcoming information. Even cues on the subphonemic level such as vowel transitions, nasalisation and assimilation across word boundaries are useful in anticipating upcoming speech. In event-related potential (ERP) studies examining subphonemic and lexical/phonological mismatches, only the latter yielded N400 effects, an ERP component associated with lexical prediction error. The results indicate that phonetic cues are resolved prelexically. However, subphonemic cues still seem to be used in prediction as evidenced by valid cues yielding faster fixations in eye-tracking studies and invalid cues modulating P600 amplitudes, indicating structural violations and context updating.
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| 3. |
- Horne, Merle, et al.
(författare)
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Question intonation in Southern Swedish
- 2021
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Ingår i: Proceedings of Fonetik 2021 : Lund, June 8–9, 2021 - Lund, June 8–9, 2021. - 0280-526X. ; 56, s. 54-57
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Swedish has been generally assumed not to have any well-defined question intonation. However, with respect to Southern Swedish, Lindblad & Gårding (1973) present data showing final rises in polar (Y/N) questions. Gårding (1979) also assumes a broader and higher F0 range in Y/N questions than in statements, particularly on the final focussed word. The present study investigates the extent to which these question cues occur in a material involving spontaneous dialogues led by a speaker of Southern Swedish (Malmö). Results for utterances with question syntax show final rises in 16% of the Y/N questions and 3% of the Wh-questions. For utterances without question syntax, 79% were associated with final rises. Comparing F0 on the first prosodic word of questions, both Y/N-and Wh-questions showed a significantly higher F0 level (ca. 2-3 ST higher) than statements. A further comparison of the F0 level on the most prominent word following the first prosodic word in questions and statements showed that Y/N questions had a higher F0 on the most prominent word than statements. However, Wh-questions did not differ significantly from statements in that respect. Thus initial F0-level appears to be a strong prosodic cue distinguishing between questions (both Y/N questions and Wh-questions) and statements in the Southern Swedish material examined. F0 level on the most prominent word following the first prosodic word is also a reliable prosodic cue distinguishing Y/N questions from statements and Wh-questions, but not for distinguishing between Y/N questions and Wh-questions.
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| 4. |
- Roll, Mikael, et al.
(författare)
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Preface
- 2021
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Ingår i: Proceedings of Fonetik 2021 : Lund, June 8–9, 2021 - Lund, June 8–9, 2021. - 0280-526X. ; 56
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Hjortdal, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Swift Prosodic Modulation of Lexical Access : Brain Potentials From Three North Germanic Language Varieties
- 2024
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Ingår i: Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. - 1558-9102. ; 67:2, s. 400-414
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: According to most models of spoken word recognition, listeners probabilistically activate a set of lexical candidates, which is incrementally updated as the speech signal unfolds. Speech carries segmental (speech sound) as well as suprasegmental (prosodic) information. The role of the latter in spoken word recognition is less clear. We investigated how suprasegments (tone and voice quality) in three North Germanic language varieties affected lexi-cal access by scrutinizing temporally fine-grained neurophysiological effects of lexical uncertainty and information gain. Method: Three event-related potential (ERP) studies were reanalyzed. In all vari-eties investigated, suprasegments are associated with specific word endings. Swedish has two lexical “word accents” realized as pitch falls with different tim-ings across dialects. In Danish, the distinction is in voice quality. We combined pronunciation lexica and frequency lists to calculate estimates of lexical uncer-tainty about an unfolding word and information gain upon hearing a supraseg-mental cue and the segment upon which it manifests. We used single-trial mixed-effects regression models run every 4 ms. Results: Only lexical uncertainty showed solid results: a frontal effect at 150–400 ms after suprasegmental cue onset and a later posterior effect after 200 ms. While a model including only segmental information mostly performed better, it was outperformed by the suprasegmental model at 200–330 ms at frontal sites. Conclusions: The study points to suprasegmental cues contributing to lexical access over and beyond segments after around 200 ms in the North Germanic varieties investigated. Furthermore, the findings indicate that a previously reported “pre-activation negativity” predominantly reflects forward-looking processing.
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| 8. |
- Novén, Mikael, et al.
(författare)
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Cortical and white matter correlates of language-learning aptitudes
- 2021
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Ingår i: Human Brain Mapping. - : Wiley. - 1065-9471 .- 1097-0193. ; 42:15, s. 5037-5050
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- People learn new languages with varying degrees of success but what are the neuroanatomical correlates of the difference in language-learning aptitude? In this study, we set out to investigate how differences in cortical morphology and white matter microstructure correlate with aptitudes for vocabulary learning, phonetic memory, and grammatical inferencing as measured by the first-language neutral LLAMA test battery. We used ultra-high field (7T) magnetic resonance imaging to estimate the cortical thickness and surface area from sub-millimeter resolved image volumes. Further, diffusion kurtosis imaging was used to map diffusion properties related to the tissue microstructure from known language-related white matter tracts. We found a correlation between cortical surface area in the left posterior-inferior precuneus and vocabulary learning aptitude, possibly indicating a greater predisposition for storing word-figure associations. Moreover, we report negative correlations between scores for phonetic memory and axial kurtosis in left arcuate fasciculus as well as mean kurtosis, axial kurtosis, and radial kurtosis of the left superior longitudinal fasciculus III, which are tracts connecting cortical areas important for phonological working memory.
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| 9. |
- Novén, Mikael, et al.
(författare)
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Cortical thickness and surface area of left anterior temporal areas affects processing of phonological cues to morphosyntax
- 2021
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Ingår i: Brain Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-8993. ; 1750
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Lack of methods to experimentally assess the perceptual processing of sound features and allow one to measure differences in phonological proficiency has been a limitation for speech processing studies in native speakers. Tonal features associated with Swedish word-stems, word accents, which cue grammatical suffixes, constitute, however, such sound features that can be exploited to generate measures of reliance on morphosyntactically relevant phonological information during word processing. Specifically, there is a natural variance between native speakers in response time (RT) difference between phonologically valid and invalid word accent-suffix combinations that can be used to quantify perceptual phonological proficiency. This study uses ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate word accents as phonological cues to morphosyntactic meaning. The study adds to the understanding of the neural basis for both morphosyntactically relevant phonological cues by reporting correlations between differences in listeners’ RT for validly and invalidly cued suffixes and cortical thickness in left anterior and middle temporal gyrus, and the left anterior superior temporal sulcus as well as cortical surface area in the left middle and inferior temporal gyri. The cortical areas studied are known constituents of the ventral speech processing stream, necessary for word and phrase recognition.
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| 10. |
- Novén, Mikael, et al.
(författare)
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Cortical thickness of Broca's area and right homologue is related to grammar learning aptitude and pitch discrimination proficiency
- 2019
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Ingår i: Brain and Language. - : Elsevier BV. - 0093-934X. ; 188, s. 42-47
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aptitude for and proficiency in acquiring new languages varies in the human population but their neural bases are largely unknown. We investigated the influence of cortical thickness on language learning predictors measured by the LLAMA tests and a pitch-change discrimination test. The LLAMA tests are first language-independent assessments of language learning aptitude for vocabulary, phonetic working memory, sound-symbol correspondence (not used in this study), and grammatical inferencing. Pitch perception proficiency is known to predict aptitude for learning new phonology. Results show a correlation between scores in a grammatical meaning-inferencing aptitude test and cortical thickness of Broca's area (r(30) = 0.65, p = 0.0202) and other frontal areas (r(30) = 0.66, p = 0.0137). Further, a correlation was found between proficiency in discriminating pitch-change direction and cortical thickness of the right Broca homologue (r(30) = 0.57, p = 0.0006). However, no correlations were found for aptitude for vocabulary learning or phonetic working memory. Results contribute to locating cortical regions important for language-learning aptitude.
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