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The auditory system responds differently to continuous speech than to discrete sounds

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tagsja-picks, xref, question, contrarian_or_surprising, trade, corroborated, category/contrarian-or-surprising

2 min read

The auditory system responds differently to continuous speech than to discrete sounds

Evidence

Although studies based on ERPs have provided important insights on this topic, the human auditory processing mechanisms are tuned to process continuous speech and respond differently to discrete sounds (Bonte et al. 2006 ). — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4374

Electroand magnetoencephalography (EEG/MEG), as macroscopic non-invasive technologies, have the potential for further progress on this topic. Traditionally, the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) has hampered the experiments conducted with these instruments, limiting the study of speech processing to repeated presentations of simple short sounds, which elicit neural responses known as event related potentials (ERPs). Although studies based on ERPs have provided important insights on this topic, the human auditory processing mechanisms are tuned to process continuous speech and respond differently to discrete sounds (Bonte et al. 2006 ). Recent studies have provided encouraging evidence on the capability of EEG and MEG to track neural correlates of the low-frequency amplitude envelope of continuous speech (Aiken and Picton 2008 ; Lalor and Foxe 2010 ; Ding and Simon 2012 ), a finding that has proven useful for investigating the mechanisms underlying speech processing (Luo and Poeppel 2007 ) and its dependence on attention and multisensory integration (Power et al. 2012 ; Zion Golumbic et al. 2013 ). However, the causes of this envelope-tracking phenomenon remain unclear. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4374

Categorization

  • QUESTION: This challenges the validity of entire ERP experimental paradigm for understanding speech — worth chasing how exactly discrete-sound responses differ from continuous-speech ones.
  • XREF: Connects to research on envelope tracking and the controversial claims of the 2008 Lalor and ongoing work on EEG speech tracking.
  • corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4374
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