Language specificity in cortical tracking of speech rhythm at the mora, syllable, and foot levels
Abstract Recent research shows that adults’ neural oscillations track the rhythm of the speech signal. However, the extent to which this tracking is driven by the acoustics of the signal, or by language-specific processing remains unknown. Here adult native listeners of three rhythmically different...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2022-08-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-17401-x |
| _version_ | 1811315107445080064 |
|---|---|
| author | Varghese Peter Sandrien van Ommen Marina Kalashnikova Reiko Mazuka Thierry Nazzi Denis Burnham |
| author_facet | Varghese Peter Sandrien van Ommen Marina Kalashnikova Reiko Mazuka Thierry Nazzi Denis Burnham |
| author_sort | Varghese Peter |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Recent research shows that adults’ neural oscillations track the rhythm of the speech signal. However, the extent to which this tracking is driven by the acoustics of the signal, or by language-specific processing remains unknown. Here adult native listeners of three rhythmically different languages (English, French, Japanese) were compared on their cortical tracking of speech envelopes synthesized in their three native languages, which allowed for coding at each of the three language’s dominant rhythmic unit, respectively the foot (2.5 Hz), syllable (5 Hz), or mora (10 Hz) level. The three language groups were also tested with a sequence in a non-native language, Polish, and a non-speech vocoded equivalent, to investigate possible differential speech/nonspeech processing. The results first showed that cortical tracking was most prominent at 5 Hz (syllable rate) for all three groups, but the French listeners showed enhanced tracking at 5 Hz compared to the English and the Japanese groups. Second, across groups, there were no differences in responses for speech versus non-speech at 5 Hz (syllable rate), but there was better tracking for speech than for non-speech at 10 Hz (not the syllable rate). Together these results provide evidence for both language-general and language-specific influences on cortical tracking. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T11:24:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6db9111b39584c2994dae136d0b08354 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T11:24:24Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-6db9111b39584c2994dae136d0b083542022-12-22T02:48:44ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-08-0112111210.1038/s41598-022-17401-xLanguage specificity in cortical tracking of speech rhythm at the mora, syllable, and foot levelsVarghese Peter0Sandrien van Ommen1Marina Kalashnikova2Reiko Mazuka3Thierry Nazzi4Denis Burnham5MARCS Institute for Brain Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney UniversityIntegrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, CNRS-Université Paris CitéMARCS Institute for Brain Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney UniversityLaboratory for Language Development, RIKEN Center for Brain ScienceIntegrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, CNRS-Université Paris CitéMARCS Institute for Brain Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney UniversityAbstract Recent research shows that adults’ neural oscillations track the rhythm of the speech signal. However, the extent to which this tracking is driven by the acoustics of the signal, or by language-specific processing remains unknown. Here adult native listeners of three rhythmically different languages (English, French, Japanese) were compared on their cortical tracking of speech envelopes synthesized in their three native languages, which allowed for coding at each of the three language’s dominant rhythmic unit, respectively the foot (2.5 Hz), syllable (5 Hz), or mora (10 Hz) level. The three language groups were also tested with a sequence in a non-native language, Polish, and a non-speech vocoded equivalent, to investigate possible differential speech/nonspeech processing. The results first showed that cortical tracking was most prominent at 5 Hz (syllable rate) for all three groups, but the French listeners showed enhanced tracking at 5 Hz compared to the English and the Japanese groups. Second, across groups, there were no differences in responses for speech versus non-speech at 5 Hz (syllable rate), but there was better tracking for speech than for non-speech at 10 Hz (not the syllable rate). Together these results provide evidence for both language-general and language-specific influences on cortical tracking.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-17401-x |
| spellingShingle | Varghese Peter Sandrien van Ommen Marina Kalashnikova Reiko Mazuka Thierry Nazzi Denis Burnham Language specificity in cortical tracking of speech rhythm at the mora, syllable, and foot levels Scientific Reports |
| title | Language specificity in cortical tracking of speech rhythm at the mora, syllable, and foot levels |
| title_full | Language specificity in cortical tracking of speech rhythm at the mora, syllable, and foot levels |
| title_fullStr | Language specificity in cortical tracking of speech rhythm at the mora, syllable, and foot levels |
| title_full_unstemmed | Language specificity in cortical tracking of speech rhythm at the mora, syllable, and foot levels |
| title_short | Language specificity in cortical tracking of speech rhythm at the mora, syllable, and foot levels |
| title_sort | language specificity in cortical tracking of speech rhythm at the mora syllable and foot levels |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-17401-x |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT varghesepeter languagespecificityincorticaltrackingofspeechrhythmatthemorasyllableandfootlevels AT sandrienvanommen languagespecificityincorticaltrackingofspeechrhythmatthemorasyllableandfootlevels AT marinakalashnikova languagespecificityincorticaltrackingofspeechrhythmatthemorasyllableandfootlevels AT reikomazuka languagespecificityincorticaltrackingofspeechrhythmatthemorasyllableandfootlevels AT thierrynazzi languagespecificityincorticaltrackingofspeechrhythmatthemorasyllableandfootlevels AT denisburnham languagespecificityincorticaltrackingofspeechrhythmatthemorasyllableandfootlevels |