Prefrontal cortex involvement in preattentive auditory deviance detection: neuroimaging and electrophysiological evidence.

PubMed

Doeller, Christian F; Opitz, Bertram; Mecklinger, Axel; Krick, Christoph; Reith, Wolfgang; Schröger, Erich

2003-10-01

Previous electrophysiological and neuroimaging studies suggest that the mismatch negativity (MMN) is generated by a temporofrontal network subserving preattentive auditory change detection. In two experiments we employed event-related brain potentials (ERP) and event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine neural and hemodynamic activity related to deviance processing, using three types of deviant tones (small, medium, and large) in both a pitch and a space condition. In the pitch condition, hemodynamic activity in the right superior temporal gyrus (STG) increased as a function of deviance. Comparisons between small and medium and between small and large deviants revealed right prefrontal activation in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG; BA 44/45) and middle frontal gyrus (MFG; BA 46), whereas large relative to medium deviants led to left and right IFG (BA 44/45) activation. In the ERP experiment the amplitude of the early MMN (90-120 ms) increased as a function of deviance, by this paralleling the right STG activation in the fMRI experiment. A U-shaped relationship between MMN amplitude and the degree of deviance was observed in a late time window (140-170 ms) resembling the right IFG activation pattern. In a subsequent source analysis constrained by fMRI activation foci, early and late MMN activity could be modeled by dipoles placed in the STG and IFG, respectively. In the spatial condition no reliable hemodynamic activation could be observed. The MMN amplitude was substantially smaller than in the pitch condition for all three spatial deviants in the ERP experiment. In contrast to the pitch condition it increased as a function of deviance in the early and in the late time window. We argue that the right IFG mediates auditory deviance detection in case of low discriminability between a sensory memory trace and auditory input. This prefrontal mechanism might be part of top-down modulation of the deviance detection system in the STG.

Mismatch negativity results from bilateral asymmetric dipole sources in the frontal and temporal lobes.

PubMed

Jemel, Boutheina; Achenbach, Christiane; Müller, Bernhard W; Röpcke, Bernd; Oades, Robert D

2002-01-01

The event-related potential (ERP) reflecting auditory change detection (mismatch negativity, MMN) registers automatic selective processing of a deviant sound with respect to a working memory template resulting from a series of standard sounds. Controversy remains whether MMN can be generated in the frontal as well as the temporal cortex. Our aim was to see if frontal as well as temporal lobe dipoles could explain MMN recorded after pitch-deviants (Pd-MMN) and duration deviants (Dd-MMN). EEG recordings were taken from 32 sites in 14 healthy subjects during a passive 3-tone oddball presented during a simple visual discrimination and an active auditory discrimination condition. Both conditions were repeated after one month. The Pd-MMN was larger, peaked earlier and correlated better between sessions than the Dd-MMN. Two dipoles in the auditory cortex and two in the frontal lobe (left cingulate and right inferior frontal cortex) were found to be similarly placed for Pd- and Dd-MMN, and were well replicated on retest. This study confirms interactions between activity generated in the frontal and auditory temporal cortices in automatic attention-like processes that resemble initial brain imaging reports of unconscious visual change detection. The lack of interference between sessions shows that the situation is likely to be sensitive to treatment or illness effects on fronto-temporal interactions involving repeated measures.

The mismatch negativity as a measure of auditory stream segregation in a simulated "cocktail-party" scenario: effect of age.

PubMed

Getzmann, Stephan; Näätänen, Risto

2015-11-01

With age the ability to understand speech in multitalker environments usually deteriorates. The central auditory system has to perceptually segregate and group the acoustic input into sequences of distinct auditory objects. The present study used electrophysiological measures to study effects of age on auditory stream segregation in a multitalker scenario. Younger and older adults were presented with streams of short speech stimuli. When a single target stream was presented, the occurrence of a rare (deviant) syllable among a frequent (standard) syllable elicited the mismatch negativity (MMN), an electrophysiological correlate of automatic deviance detection. The presence of a second, concurrent stream consisting of the deviant syllable of the target stream reduced the MMN amplitude, especially when located nearby the target stream. The decrease in MMN amplitude indicates that the rare syllable of the target stream was less perceived as deviant, suggesting reduced stream segregation with decreasing stream distance. Moreover, the presence of a concurrent stream increased the MMN peak latency of the older group but not that of the younger group. The results provide neurophysiological evidence for the effects of concurrent speech on auditory processing in older adults, suggesting that older adults need more time for stream segregation in the presence of concurrent speech. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

P300 Event-Related Potential as an Indicator of Inattentional Deafness?

PubMed Central

Giraudet, Louise; St-Louis, Marie-Eve; Scannella, Sébastien; Causse, Mickaël

2015-01-01

An analysis of airplane accidents reveals that pilots sometimes purely fail to react to critical auditory alerts. This inability of an auditory stimulus to reach consciousness has been coined under the term of inattentional deafness. Recent data from literature tends to show that tasks involving high cognitive load consume most of the attentional capacities, leaving little or none remaining for processing any unexpected information. In addition, there is a growing body of evidence for a shared attentional capacity between vision and hearing. In this context, the abundant information in modern cockpits is likely to produce inattentional deafness. We investigated this hypothesis by combining electroencephalographic (EEG) measurements with an ecological aviation task performed under contextual variation of the cognitive load (high or low), including an alarm detection task. Two different audio tones were played: standard tones and deviant tones. Participants were instructed to ignore standard tones and to report deviant tones using a response pad. More than 31% of the deviant tones were not detected in the high load condition. Analysis of the EEG measurements showed a drastic diminution of the auditory P300 amplitude concomitant with this behavioral effect, whereas the N100 component was not affected. We suggest that these behavioral and electrophysiological results provide new insights on explaining the trend of pilots’ failure to react to critical auditory information. Relevant applications concern prevention of alarms omission, mental workload measurements and enhanced warning designs. PMID:25714746

Stimulus-specific adaptation and deviance detection in the inferior colliculus

PubMed Central

Ayala, Yaneri A.; Malmierca, Manuel S.

2013-01-01

Deviancy detection in the continuous flow of sensory information into the central nervous system is of vital importance for animals. The task requires neuronal mechanisms that allow for an efficient representation of the environment by removing statistically redundant signals. Recently, the neuronal principles of auditory deviance detection have been approached by studying the phenomenon of stimulus-specific adaptation (SSA). SSA is a reduction in the responsiveness of a neuron to a common or repetitive sound while the neuron remains highly sensitive to rare sounds (Ulanovsky et al., 2003). This phenomenon could enhance the saliency of unexpected, deviant stimuli against a background of repetitive signals. SSA shares many similarities with the evoked potential known as the “mismatch negativity,” (MMN) and it has been linked to cognitive process such as auditory memory and scene analysis (Winkler et al., 2009) as well as to behavioral habituation (Netser et al., 2011). Neurons exhibiting SSA can be found at several levels of the auditory pathway, from the inferior colliculus (IC) up to the auditory cortex (AC). In this review, we offer an account of the state-of-the art of SSA studies in the IC with the aim of contributing to the growing interest in the single-neuron electrophysiology of auditory deviance detection. The dependence of neuronal SSA on various stimulus features, e.g., probability of the deviant stimulus and repetition rate, and the roles of the AC and inhibition in shaping SSA at the level of the IC are addressed. PMID:23335883

Neural mechanisms of mismatch negativity dysfunction in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Lee, M; Sehatpour, P; Hoptman, M J; Lakatos, P; Dias, E C; Kantrowitz, J T; Martinez, A M; Javitt, D C

2017-11-01

Schizophrenia is associated with cognitive deficits that reflect impaired cortical information processing. Mismatch negativity (MMN) indexes pre-attentive information processing dysfunction at the level of primary auditory cortex. This study investigates mechanisms underlying MMN impairments in schizophrenia using event-related potential, event-related spectral decomposition (ERSP) and resting state functional connectivity (rsfcMRI) approaches. For this study, MMN data to frequency, intensity and duration-deviants were analyzed from 69 schizophrenia patients and 38 healthy controls. rsfcMRI was obtained from a subsample of 38 patients and 23 controls. As expected, schizophrenia patients showed highly significant, large effect size (P=0.0004, d=1.0) deficits in MMN generation across deviant types. In ERSP analyses, responses to deviants occurred primarily the theta (4-7 Hz) frequency range consistent with distributed corticocortical processing, whereas responses to standards occurred primarily in alpha (8-12 Hz) range consistent with known frequencies of thalamocortical activation. Independent deficits in schizophrenia were observed in both the theta response to deviants (P=0.021) and the alpha-response to standards (P=0.003). At the single-trial level, differential patterns of response were observed for frequency vs duration/intensity deviants, along with At the network level, MMN deficits engaged canonical somatomotor, ventral attention and default networks, with a differential pattern of engagement across deviant types (P<0.0001). Findings indicate that deficits in thalamocortical, as well as corticocortical, connectivity contribute to auditory dysfunction in schizophrenia. In addition, differences in ERSP and rsfcMRI profiles across deviant types suggest potential differential engagement of underlying generator mechanisms.

The role of auditory transient and deviance processing in distraction of task performance: a combined behavioral and event-related brain potential study

PubMed Central

Berti, Stefan

2013-01-01

Distraction of goal-oriented performance by a sudden change in the auditory environment is an everyday life experience. Different types of changes can be distracting, including a sudden onset of a transient sound and a slight deviation of otherwise regular auditory background stimulation. With regard to deviance detection, it is assumed that slight changes in a continuous sequence of auditory stimuli are detected by a predictive coding mechanisms and it has been demonstrated that this mechanism is capable of distracting ongoing task performance. In contrast, it is open whether transient detection—which does not rely on predictive coding mechanisms—can trigger behavioral distraction, too. In the present study, the effect of rare auditory changes on visual task performance is tested in an auditory-visual cross-modal distraction paradigm. The rare changes are either embedded within a continuous standard stimulation (triggering deviance detection) or are presented within an otherwise silent situation (triggering transient detection). In the event-related brain potentials, deviants elicited the mismatch negativity (MMN) while transients elicited an enhanced N1 component, mirroring pre-attentive change detection in both conditions but on the basis of different neuro-cognitive processes. These sensory components are followed by attention related ERP components including the P3a and the reorienting negativity (RON). This demonstrates that both types of changes trigger switches of attention. Finally, distraction of task performance is observable, too, but the impact of deviants is higher compared to transients. These findings suggest different routes of distraction allowing for the automatic processing of a wide range of potentially relevant changes in the environment as a pre-requisite for adaptive behavior. PMID:23874278

Disruption of Short-Term Memory by Changing and Deviant Sounds: Support for a Duplex-Mechanism Account of Auditory Distraction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Robert W.; Vachon, Francois; Jones, Dylan M.

2007-01-01

The disruption of short-term memory by to-be-ignored auditory sequences (the changing-state effect) has often been characterized as attentional capture by deviant events (deviation effect). However, the present study demonstrates that changing-state and deviation effects are functionally distinct forms of auditory distraction: The disruption of…

Content congruency and its interplay with temporal synchrony modulate integration between rhythmic audiovisual streams.

PubMed

Su, Yi-Huang

2014-01-01

Both lower-level stimulus factors (e.g., temporal proximity) and higher-level cognitive factors (e.g., content congruency) are known to influence multisensory integration. The former can direct attention in a converging manner, and the latter can indicate whether information from the two modalities belongs together. The present research investigated whether and how these two factors interacted in the perception of rhythmic, audiovisual (AV) streams derived from a human movement scenario. Congruency here was based on sensorimotor correspondence pertaining to rhythm perception. Participants attended to bimodal stimuli consisting of a humanlike figure moving regularly to a sequence of auditory beat, and detected a possible auditory temporal deviant. The figure moved either downwards (congruently) or upwards (incongruently) to the downbeat, while in both situations the movement was either synchronous with the beat, or lagging behind it. Greater cross-modal binding was expected to hinder deviant detection. Results revealed poorer detection for congruent than for incongruent streams, suggesting stronger integration in the former. False alarms increased in asynchronous stimuli only for congruent streams, indicating greater tendency for deviant report due to visual capture of asynchronous auditory events. In addition, a greater increase in perceived synchrony was associated with a greater reduction in false alarms for congruent streams, while the pattern was reversed for incongruent ones. These results demonstrate that content congruency as a top-down factor not only promotes integration, but also modulates bottom-up effects of synchrony. Results are also discussed regarding how theories of integration and attentional entrainment may be combined in the context of rhythmic multisensory stimuli.

Visual processing affects the neural basis of auditory discrimination.

PubMed

Kislyuk, Daniel S; Möttönen, Riikka; Sams, Mikko

2008-12-01

The interaction between auditory and visual speech streams is a seamless and surprisingly effective process. An intriguing example is the "McGurk effect": The acoustic syllable /ba/ presented simultaneously with a mouth articulating /ga/ is typically heard as /da/ [McGurk, H., & MacDonald, J. Hearing lips and seeing voices. Nature, 264, 746-748, 1976]. Previous studies have demonstrated the interaction of auditory and visual streams at the auditory cortex level, but the importance of these interactions for the qualitative perception change remained unclear because the change could result from interactions at higher processing levels as well. In our electroencephalogram experiment, we combined the McGurk effect with mismatch negativity (MMN), a response that is elicited in the auditory cortex at a latency of 100-250 msec by any above-threshold change in a sequence of repetitive sounds. An "odd-ball" sequence of acoustic stimuli consisting of frequent /va/ syllables (standards) and infrequent /ba/ syllables (deviants) was presented to 11 participants. Deviant stimuli in the unisensory acoustic stimulus sequence elicited a typical MMN, reflecting discrimination of acoustic features in the auditory cortex. When the acoustic stimuli were dubbed onto a video of a mouth constantly articulating /va/, the deviant acoustic /ba/ was heard as /va/ due to the McGurk effect and was indistinguishable from the standards. Importantly, such deviants did not elicit MMN, indicating that the auditory cortex failed to discriminate between the acoustic stimuli. Our findings show that visual stream can qualitatively change the auditory percept at the auditory cortex level, profoundly influencing the auditory cortex mechanisms underlying early sound discrimination.

Contextual effects on preattentive processing of sound motion as revealed by spatial MMN.

PubMed

Shestopalova, L B; Petropavlovskaia, E A; Vaitulevich, S Ph; Nikitin, N I

2015-04-01

The magnitude of spatial distance between sound stimuli is critically important for their preattentive discrimination, yet the effect of stimulus context on auditory motion processing is not clear. This study investigated the effects of acoustical change and stimulus context on preattentive spatial change detection. Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded for stationary midline noises and two patterns of sound motion produced by linear or abrupt changes of interaural time differences. Each of the three types of stimuli was used as standard or deviant in different blocks. Context effects on mismatch negativity (MMN) elicited by stationary and moving sound stimuli were investigated by reversing the role of standard and deviant stimuli, while the acoustical stimulus parameters were kept the same. That is, MMN amplitudes were calculated by subtracting ERPs to identical stimuli presented as standard in one block and deviant in another block. In contrast, effects of acoustical change on MMN amplitudes were calculated by subtracting ERPs of standards and deviants presented within the same block. Preattentive discrimination of moving and stationary sounds indexed by MMN was strongly dependent on the stimulus context. Higher MMNs were produced in oddball configurations where deviance represented increments of the sound velocity, as compared to configurations with velocity decrements. The effect of standard-deviant reversal was more pronounced with the abrupt sound displacement than with gradual sound motion. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of voluntary attention on auditory processing during REM sleep.

PubMed

Takahara, Madoka; Nittono, Hiroshi; Hori, Tadao

2006-07-01

The study investigates whether there is an effect of voluntary attention to external auditory stimuli during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in humans by measuring event-related potentials (ERPs). Using a 2-tone auditory-discrimination task, a standard 1000-Hz tone and a deviant 2000-Hz tone were presented to participants when awake and during sleep. In the ATTENTIVE condition, participants were requested to detect the deviant stimuli during their sleep whenever possible. In the PASSIVE sleep condition, participants were only exposed to the tones. ERPs were measured during REM sleep and compared between the 2 conditions. All experiments were conducted at the sleep laboratory of Hiroshima University. Twenty healthy university student volunteers. N/A. In the tonic period of REM sleep (the period without REM), P200 and P400 were elicited by deviant stimuli, with scalp distributions maximal at central and occipital sites, respectively. The P400 in REM sleep showed larger amplitudes in the ATTENTIVE condition, whereas the P200 amplitude did not differ between the 2 conditions. No effects on ERPs due to attention were observed during stage 2 sleep. The instruction to pay attention to external stimuli during REM sleep influenced the late positive potentials. Thus electrophysiologic evidence of voluntary attention during REM sleep has been demonstrated.

Acoustic pressure reduction at rhythm deviants causes magnetoencephalographic response.

PubMed

Takeshita, Yuya; Yokosawa, Koichi

2015-01-01

Rhythm is an element of music and is important for determining the impression of the music. To investigate the mechanism by which musical rhythmic changes are perceived, magnetoencephalographic responses to rhythm deviants were recorded from 11 healthy volunteers. Auditory stimuli consisting of physically controlled tones were adapted from a song. The auditory stimuli had a steady rhythm, but "early" and "late" deviants were inserted. Only the "early" deviant, which was a tone with a short duration, caused N100m-like prominent transient responses at around the offset of the deviant tone. The latency of the prominent response depended on the descending sound pressure of the deviant tone and was 65 ms after 50% descent. The results suggest that unexpected shortening of tone in a continuous rhythm evokes a transient response and that the response is caused by descending sound pressure of the shortened tone itself, not by the following tones.

Attentional Capture by Deviant Sounds: A Noncontingent Form of Auditory Distraction?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vachon, François; Labonté, Katherine; Marsh, John E.

2017-01-01

The occurrence of an unexpected, infrequent sound in an otherwise homogeneous auditory background tends to disrupt the ongoing cognitive task. This "deviation effect" is typically explained in terms of attentional capture whereby the deviant sound draws attention away from the focal activity, regardless of the nature of this activity.…

Changes in room acoustics elicit a Mismatch Negativity in the absence of overall interaural intensity differences.

PubMed

Frey, Johannes Daniel; Wendt, Mike; Löw, Andreas; Möller, Stephan; Zölzer, Udo; Jacobsen, Thomas

2017-02-15

Changes in room acoustics provide important clues about the environment of sound source-perceiver systems, for example, by indicating changes in the reflecting characteristics of surrounding objects. To study the detection of auditory irregularities brought about by a change in room acoustics, a passive oddball protocol with participants watching a movie was applied in this study. Acoustic stimuli were presented via headphones. Standards and deviants were created by modelling rooms of different sizes, keeping the values of the basic acoustic dimensions (e.g., frequency, duration, sound pressure, and sound source location) as constant as possible. In the first experiment, each standard and deviant stimulus consisted of sequences of three short sounds derived from sinusoidal tones, resulting in three onsets during each stimulus. Deviant stimuli elicited a Mismatch Negativity (MMN) as well as two additional negative deflections corresponding to the three onset peaks. In the second experiment, only one sound was used; the stimuli were otherwise identical to the ones used in the first experiment. Again, an MMN was observed, followed by an additional negative deflection. These results provide further support for the hypothesis of automatic detection of unattended changes in room acoustics, extending previous work by demonstrating the elicitation of an MMN by changes in room acoustics. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The spatio-temporal dynamics of deviance and target detection in the passive and active auditory oddball paradigm: a sLORETA study.

PubMed

Justen, Christoph; Herbert, Cornelia

2018-04-19

Numerous studies have investigated the neural underpinnings of passive and active deviance and target detection in the well-known auditory oddball paradigm by means of event-related potentials (ERPs) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The present auditory oddball study investigates the spatio-temporal dynamics of passive versus active deviance and target detection by analyzing amplitude modulations of early and late ERPs while at the same time exploring the neural sources underling this modulation with standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA) . A 64-channel EEG was recorded from twelve healthy right-handed participants while listening to 'standards' and 'deviants' (500 vs. 1000 Hz pure tones) during a passive (block 1) and an active (block 2) listening condition. During passive listening, participants had to simply listen to the tones. During active listening they had to attend and press a key in response to the deviant tones. Passive and active listening elicited an N1 component, a mismatch negativity (MMN) as difference potential (whose amplitudes were temporally overlapping with the N1) and a P3 component. N1/MMN and P3 amplitudes were significantly more pronounced for deviants as compared to standards during both listening conditions. Active listening augmented P3 modulation to deviants significantly compared to passive listening, whereas deviance detection as indexed by N1/MMN modulation was unaffected by the task. During passive listening, sLORETA contrasts (deviants > standards) revealed significant activations in the right superior temporal gyrus (STG) and the lingual gyri bilaterally (N1/MMN) as well as in the left and right insulae (P3). During active listening, significant activations were found for the N1/MMN in the right inferior parietal lobule (IPL) and for the P3 in multiple cortical regions (e.g., precuneus). The results provide evidence for the hypothesis that passive as well as active deviance and target detection elicit cortical activations in spatially distributed brain regions and neural networks including the ventral attention network (VAN), dorsal attention network (DAN) and salience network (SN). Based on the temporal activation of the neural sources underlying ERP modulations, a neurophysiological model of passive and active deviance and target detection is proposed which can be tested in future studies.

Longitudinal auditory learning facilitates auditory cognition as revealed by microstate analysis.

PubMed

Giroud, Nathalie; Lemke, Ulrike; Reich, Philip; Matthes, Katarina L; Meyer, Martin

2017-02-01

The current study investigates cognitive processes as reflected in late auditory-evoked potentials as a function of longitudinal auditory learning. A normal hearing adult sample (n=15) performed an active oddball task at three consecutive time points (TPs) arranged at two week intervals, and during which EEG was recorded. The stimuli comprised of syllables consisting of a natural fricative (/sh/,/s/,/f/) embedded between two /a/ sounds, as well as morphed transitions of the two syllables that served as deviants. Perceptual and cognitive modulations as reflected in the onset and the mean global field power (GFP) of N2b- and P3b-related microstates across four weeks were investigated. We found that the onset of P3b-like microstates, but not N2b-like microstates decreased across TPs, more strongly for difficult deviants leading to similar onsets for difficult and easy stimuli after repeated exposure. The mean GFP of all N2b-like and P3b-like microstates increased more in spectrally strong deviants compared to weak deviants, leading to a distinctive activation for each stimulus after learning. Our results indicate that longitudinal training of auditory-related cognitive mechanisms such as stimulus categorization, attention and memory updating processes are an indispensable part of successful auditory learning. This suggests that future studies should focus on the potential benefits of cognitive processes in auditory training. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Simultaneous ERP and fMRI of the auditory cortex in a passive oddball paradigm.

PubMed

Liebenthal, Einat; Ellingson, Michael L; Spanaki, Marianna V; Prieto, Thomas E; Ropella, Kristina M; Binder, Jeffrey R

2003-08-01

Infrequent occurrences of a deviant sound within a sequence of repetitive standard sounds elicit the automatic mismatch negativity (MMN) event-related potential (ERP). The main MMN generators are located in the superior temporal cortex, but their number, precise location, and temporal sequence of activation remain unclear. In this study, ERP and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were obtained simultaneously during a passive frequency oddball paradigm. There were three conditions, a STANDARD, a SMALL deviant, and a LARGE deviant. A clustered image acquisition technique was applied to prevent contamination of the fMRI data by the acoustic noise of the scanner and to limit contamination of the electroencephalogram (EEG) by the gradient-switching artifact. The ERP data were used to identify areas in which the blood oxygenation (BOLD) signal varied with the magnitude of the negativity in each condition. A significant ERP MMN was obtained, with larger peaks to LARGE deviants and with frontocentral scalp distribution, consistent with the MMN reported outside the magnetic field. This result validates the experimental procedures for simultaneous ERP/fMRI of the auditory cortex. Main foci of increased BOLD signal were observed in the right superior temporal gyrus [STG; Brodmann area (BA) 22] and right superior temporal plane (STP; BA 41 and 42). The imaging results provide new information supporting the idea that generators in the right lateral aspect of the STG are implicated in processes of frequency deviant detection, in addition to generators in the right and left STP.

Gender effect on pre-attentive change detection in major depressive disorder patients revealed by auditory MMN.

PubMed

Qiao, Zhengxue; Yang, Aiying; Qiu, Xiaohui; Yang, Xiuxian; Zhang, Congpei; Zhu, Xiongzhao; He, Jincai; Wang, Lin; Bai, Bing; Sun, Hailian; Zhao, Lun; Yang, Yanjie

2015-10-30

Gender differences in rates of major depressive disorder (MDD) are well established, but gender differences in cognitive function have been little studied. Auditory mismatch negativity (MMN) was used to investigate gender differences in pre-attentive information processing in first episode MDD. In the deviant-standard reverse oddball paradigm, duration auditory MMN was obtained in 30 patients (15 males) and 30 age-/education-matched controls. Over frontal-central areas, mean amplitude of increment MMN (to a 150-ms deviant tone) was smaller in female than male patients; there was no sex difference in decrement MMN (to a 50-ms deviant tone). Neither increment nor decrement MMN differed between female and male patients over temporal areas. Frontal-central MMN and temporal MMN did not differ between male and female controls in any condition. Over frontal-central areas, mean amplitude of increment MMN was smaller in female patients than female controls; there was no difference in decrement MMN. Neither increment nor decrement MMN differed between female patients and female controls over temporal areas. Frontal-central MMN and temporal MMN did not differ between male patients and male controls. Mean amplitude of increment MMN in female patients did not correlate with symptoms, suggesting this sex-specific deficit is a trait- not a state-dependent phenomenon. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Development of Selective Attention as Reflected by Event-Related Brain Potentials.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berman, Steven; Friedman, David

1995-01-01

Assessed development of auditory selective attention using event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and behavioral measures. Subjects heard tones or consonant-vowel sequences to detect deviant targets. Found that Nd difference (ERP difference between unattended and attended standard) showed effect of selective attention. For both tones and…

Mismatch Responses to Lexical Tone, Initial Consonant, and Vowel in Mandarin-Speaking Preschoolers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Chia-Ying; Yen, Huei-ling; Yeh, Pei-wen; Lin, Wan-Hsuan; Cheng, Ying-Ying; Tzeng, Yu-Lin; Wu, Hsin-Chi

2012-01-01

The present study investigates how age, phonological saliency, and deviance size affect the presence of mismatch negativity (MMN) and positive mismatch response (P-MMR). This work measured the auditory mismatch responses to Mandarin lexical tones, initial consonants, and vowels in 4- to 6-year-old preschoolers using the multiple-deviant oddball…

Automatic auditory processing deficits in schizophrenia and clinical high-risk patients: forecasting psychosis risk with mismatch negativity.

PubMed

Perez, Veronica B; Woods, Scott W; Roach, Brian J; Ford, Judith M; McGlashan, Thomas H; Srihari, Vinod H; Mathalon, Daniel H

2014-03-15

Only about one third of patients at high risk for psychosis based on current clinical criteria convert to a psychotic disorder within a 2.5-year follow-up period. Targeting clinical high-risk (CHR) individuals for preventive interventions could expose many to unnecessary treatments, underscoring the need to enhance predictive accuracy with nonclinical measures. Candidate measures include event-related potential components with established sensitivity to schizophrenia. Here, we examined the mismatch negativity (MMN) component of the event-related potential elicited automatically by auditory deviance in CHR and early illness schizophrenia (ESZ) patients. We also examined whether MMN predicted subsequent conversion to psychosis in CHR patients. Mismatch negativity to auditory deviants (duration, frequency, and duration + frequency double deviant) was assessed in 44 healthy control subjects, 19 ESZ, and 38 CHR patients. Within CHR patients, 15 converters to psychosis were compared with 16 nonconverters with at least 12 months of clinical follow-up. Hierarchical Cox regression examined the ability of MMN to predict time to psychosis onset in CHR patients. Irrespective of deviant type, MMN was significantly reduced in ESZ and CHR patients relative to healthy control subjects and in CHR converters relative to nonconverters. Mismatch negativity did not significantly differentiate ESZ and CHR patients. The duration + frequency double deviant MMN, but not the single deviant MMNs, significantly predicted the time to psychosis onset in CHR patients. Neurophysiological mechanisms underlying automatic processing of auditory deviance, as reflected by the duration + frequency double deviant MMN, are compromised before psychosis onset and can enhance the prediction of psychosis risk among CHR patients. Copyright © 2014 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Happiness increases distraction by auditory deviant stimuli.

PubMed

Pacheco-Unguetti, Antonia Pilar; Parmentier, Fabrice B R

2016-08-01

Rare and unexpected changes (deviants) in an otherwise repeated stream of task-irrelevant auditory distractors (standards) capture attention and impair behavioural performance in an ongoing visual task. Recent evidence indicates that this effect is increased by sadness in a task involving neutral stimuli. We tested the hypothesis that such effect may not be limited to negative emotions but reflect a general depletion of attentional resources by examining whether a positive emotion (happiness) would increase deviance distraction too. Prior to performing an auditory-visual oddball task, happiness or a neutral mood was induced in participants by means of the exposure to music and the recollection of an autobiographical event. Results from the oddball task showed significantly larger deviance distraction following the induction of happiness. Interestingly, the small amount of distraction typically observed on the standard trial following a deviant trial (post-deviance distraction) was not increased by happiness. We speculate that happiness might interfere with the disengagement of attention from the deviant sound back towards the target stimulus (through the depletion of cognitive resources and/or mind wandering) but help subsequent cognitive control to recover from distraction. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Spectrotemporal processing drives fast access to memory traces for spoken words.

PubMed

Tavano, A; Grimm, S; Costa-Faidella, J; Slabu, L; Schröger, E; Escera, C

2012-05-01

The Mismatch Negativity (MMN) component of the event-related potentials is generated when a detectable spectrotemporal feature of the incoming sound does not match the sensory model set up by preceding repeated stimuli. MMN is enhanced at frontocentral scalp sites for deviant words when compared to acoustically similar deviant pseudowords, suggesting that automatic access to long-term memory traces for spoken words contributes to MMN generation. Does spectrotemporal feature matching also drive automatic lexical access? To test this, we recorded human auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) to disyllabic spoken words and pseudowords within a passive oddball paradigm. We first aimed at replicating the word-related MMN enhancement effect for Spanish, thereby adding to the available cross-linguistic evidence (e.g., Finnish, English). We then probed its resilience to spectrotemporal perturbation by inserting short (20 ms) and long (120 ms) silent gaps between first and second syllables of deviant and standard stimuli. A significantly enhanced, frontocentrally distributed MMN to deviant words was found for stimuli with no gap. The long gap yielded no deviant word MMN, showing that prior expectations of word form limits in a given language influence deviance detection processes. Crucially, the insertion of a short gap suppressed deviant word MMN enhancement at frontocentral sites. We propose that spectrotemporal point-wise matching constitutes a core mechanism for fast serial computations in audition and language, bridging sensory and long-term memory systems. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Deviance-elicited changes in event-related potentials are attenuated by ketamine in mice.

PubMed

Ehrlichman, Richard S; Maxwell, Christina R; Majumdar, Sonalee; Siegel, Steven J

2008-08-01

People with schizophrenia exhibit reduced ability to detect change in the auditory environment, which has been linked to abnormalities in N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-mediated glutamate neurotransmission. This ability to detect changes in stimulus qualities can be measured with electroencephalography using auditory event-related potentials (ERPs). For example, reductions in the N100 and mismatch negativity (MMN), in response to pitch deviance, have been proposed as endophenotypes of schizophrenia. This study examines a novel rodent model of impaired pitch deviance detection in mice using the NMDA receptor antagonist ketamine. ERPs were recorded from unanesthetized mice during a pitch deviance paradigm prior to and following ketamine administration. First, N40 amplitude was evaluated using stimuli between 4 and 10 kHz to assess the amplitude of responses across the frequency range used. The amplitude and latency of the N40 were analyzed following standard (7 kHz) and deviant (5-9 kHz) stimuli. Additionally, we examined which portions of the ERP are selectively altered by pitch deviance to define possible regions for the mouse MMN. Mice displayed increased N40 amplitude that was followed by a later negative component between 50 and 75 msec in response to deviant stimuli. Both the increased N40 and the late N40 negativity were attenuated by ketamine. Ketamine increased N40 latency for both standard and deviant stimuli alike. The mouse N40 and a subsequent temporal region have deviance response properties similar to the human N100 and, possibly, MMN. Deviance responses were abolished by ketamine, suggesting that ketamine-induced changes in mice mimic deviance detection deficits in schizophrenia.

Electrophysiological evidence for altered visual, but not auditory, selective attention in adolescent cochlear implant users.

PubMed

Harris, Jill; Kamke, Marc R

2014-11-01

Selective attention fundamentally alters sensory perception, but little is known about the functioning of attention in individuals who use a cochlear implant. This study aimed to investigate visual and auditory attention in adolescent cochlear implant users. Event related potentials were used to investigate the influence of attention on visual and auditory evoked potentials in six cochlear implant users and age-matched normally-hearing children. Participants were presented with streams of alternating visual and auditory stimuli in an oddball paradigm: each modality contained frequently presented 'standard' and infrequent 'deviant' stimuli. Across different blocks attention was directed to either the visual or auditory modality. For the visual stimuli attention boosted the early N1 potential, but this effect was larger for cochlear implant users. Attention was also associated with a later P3 component for the visual deviant stimulus, but there was no difference between groups in the later attention effects. For the auditory stimuli, attention was associated with a decrease in N1 latency as well as a robust P3 for the deviant tone. Importantly, there was no difference between groups in these auditory attention effects. The results suggest that basic mechanisms of auditory attention are largely normal in children who are proficient cochlear implant users, but that visual attention may be altered. Ultimately, a better understanding of how selective attention influences sensory perception in cochlear implant users will be important for optimising habilitation strategies. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contributing to the Early Detection of Rett Syndrome: The Potential Role of Auditory Gestalt Perception

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marschik, Peter B.; Einspieler, Christa; Sigafoos, Jeff

2012-01-01

To assess whether there are qualitatively deviant characteristics in the early vocalizations of children with Rett syndrome, we had 400 native Austrian-German speakers listen to audio recordings of vocalizations from typically developing girls and girls with Rett syndrome. The audio recordings were rated as (a) inconspicuous, (b) conspicuous or…

Trait aspects of auditory mismatch negativity predict response to auditory training in individuals with early illness schizophrenia.

PubMed

Biagianti, Bruno; Roach, Brian J; Fisher, Melissa; Loewy, Rachel; Ford, Judith M; Vinogradov, Sophia; Mathalon, Daniel H

2017-01-01

Individuals with schizophrenia have heterogeneous impairments of the auditory processing system that likely mediate differences in the cognitive gains induced by auditory training (AT). Mismatch negativity (MMN) is an event-related potential component reflecting auditory echoic memory, and its amplitude reduction in schizophrenia has been linked to cognitive deficits. Therefore, MMN may predict response to AT and identify individuals with schizophrenia who have the most to gain from AT. Furthermore, to the extent that AT strengthens auditory deviance processing, MMN may also serve as a readout of the underlying changes in the auditory system induced by AT. Fifty-six individuals early in the course of a schizophrenia-spectrum illness (ESZ) were randomly assigned to 40 h of AT or Computer Games (CG). Cognitive assessments and EEG recordings during a multi-deviant MMN paradigm were obtained before and after AT and CG. Changes in these measures were compared between the treatment groups. Baseline and trait-like MMN data were evaluated as predictors of treatment response. MMN data collected with the same paradigm from a sample of Healthy Controls (HC; n = 105) were compared to baseline MMN data from the ESZ group. Compared to HC, ESZ individuals showed significant MMN reductions at baseline ( p = .003). Reduced Double-Deviant MMN was associated with greater general cognitive impairment in ESZ individuals ( p = .020). Neither ESZ intervention group showed significant change in MMN. We found high correlations in all MMN deviant types (rs = .59-.68, all ps < .001) between baseline and post-intervention amplitudes irrespective of treatment group, suggesting trait-like stability of the MMN signal. Greater deficits in trait-like Double-Deviant MMN predicted greater cognitive improvements in the AT group ( p = .02), but not in the CG group. In this sample of ESZ individuals, AT had no effect on auditory deviance processing as assessed by MMN. In ESZ individuals, baseline MMN was significantly reduced relative to HCs, and associated with global cognitive impairment. MMN did not show changes after AT and exhibited trait-like stability. Greater deficits in the trait aspects of Double-Deviant MMN predicted greater gains in global cognition in response to AT, suggesting that MMN may identify individuals who stand to gain the most from AT. NCT00694889. Registered 1 August 2007.

Trait aspects of auditory mismatch negativity predict response to auditory training in individuals with early illness schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Biagianti, Bruno; Roach, Brian J.; Fisher, Melissa; Loewy, Rachel; Ford, Judith M.; Vinogradov, Sophia; Mathalon, Daniel H.

2017-01-01

Background Individuals with schizophrenia have heterogeneous impairments of the auditory processing system that likely mediate differences in the cognitive gains induced by auditory training (AT). Mismatch negativity (MMN) is an event-related potential component reflecting auditory echoic memory, and its amplitude reduction in schizophrenia has been linked to cognitive deficits. Therefore, MMN may predict response to AT and identify individuals with schizophrenia who have the most to gain from AT. Furthermore, to the extent that AT strengthens auditory deviance processing, MMN may also serve as a readout of the underlying changes in the auditory system induced by AT. Methods Fifty-six individuals early in the course of a schizophrenia-spectrum illness (ESZ) were randomly assigned to 40 h of AT or Computer Games (CG). Cognitive assessments and EEG recordings during a multi-deviant MMN paradigm were obtained before and after AT and CG. Changes in these measures were compared between the treatment groups. Baseline and trait-like MMN data were evaluated as predictors of treatment response. MMN data collected with the same paradigm from a sample of Healthy Controls (HC; n = 105) were compared to baseline MMN data from the ESZ group. Results Compared to HC, ESZ individuals showed significant MMN reductions at baseline (p = .003). Reduced Double-Deviant MMN was associated with greater general cognitive impairment in ESZ individuals (p = .020). Neither ESZ intervention group showed significant change in MMN. We found high correlations in all MMN deviant types (rs = .59–.68, all ps < .001) between baseline and post-intervention amplitudes irrespective of treatment group, suggesting trait-like stability of the MMN signal. Greater deficits in trait-like Double-Deviant MMN predicted greater cognitive improvements in the AT group (p = .02), but not in the CG group. Conclusions In this sample of ESZ individuals, AT had no effect on auditory deviance processing as assessed by MMN. In ESZ individuals, baseline MMN was significantly reduced relative to HCs, and associated with global cognitive impairment. MMN did not show changes after AT and exhibited trait-like stability. Greater deficits in the trait aspects of Double-Deviant MMN predicted greater gains in global cognition in response to AT, suggesting that MMN may identify individuals who stand to gain the most from AT. Trial registration NCT00694889. Registered 1 August 2007. PMID:28845238

First-impression bias effects on mismatch negativity to auditory spatial deviants.

PubMed

Fitzgerald, Kaitlin; Provost, Alexander; Todd, Juanita

2018-04-01

Internal models of regularities in the world serve to facilitate perception as redundant input can be predicted and neural resources conserved for that which is new or unexpected. In the auditory system, this is reflected in an evoked potential component known as mismatch negativity (MMN). MMN is elicited by the violation of an established regularity to signal the inaccuracy of the current model and direct resources to the unexpected event. Prevailing accounts suggest that MMN amplitude will increase with stability in regularity; however, observations of first-impression bias contradict stability effects. If tones rotate probabilities as a rare deviant (p = .125) and common standard (p = .875), MMN elicited to the initial deviant tone reaches maximal amplitude faster than MMN to the first standard when later encountered as deviant-a differential pattern that persists throughout rotations. Sensory inference is therefore biased by longer-term contextual information beyond local probability statistics. Using the same multicontext sequence structure, we examined whether this bias generalizes to MMN elicited by spatial sound cues using monaural sounds (n = 19, right first deviant and n = 22, left first deviant) and binaural sounds (n = 19, right first deviant). The characteristic differential modulation of MMN to the two tones was observed in two of three groups, providing partial support for the generalization of first-impression bias to spatially deviant sounds. We discuss possible explanations for its absence when the initial deviant was delivered monaurally to the right ear. © 2017 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

The relationship of deviant sexual arousal and psychopathy in incest offenders, extrafamilial child molesters, and rapists.

PubMed

Firestone, P; Bradford, J M; Greenberg, D M; Serran, G A

2000-01-01

The relationship between deviant sexual arousal, as measured by auditory phallometric stimuli, and psychopathy, as measured by the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, was examined in 156 incest offenders, 260 extrafamilial child molesters, and 123 rapists. Subjects in each group had never been convicted of another type of sexual offense. Replicating previous research, rapists were more psychopathic than incest offenders and child molesters. Deviant sexual arousal to auditory stimuli was evident only on the Pedophile Index for child molesters. When the relationship between psychopathy and deviant sexual arousal was evaluated in the three groups combined, several significant correlations emerged. However, a finer analysis of these correlations revealed that child molesters evidenced a significant correlation between psychopathy and the Rape Index and psychopathy and the Pedophile Index. There were no such significant findings in the incest offender or rapist groups. Implications of the results are discussed.

Synchronized tapping facilitates learning sound sequences as indexed by the P300.

PubMed

Kamiyama, Keiko S; Okanoya, Kazuo

2014-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether and how single finger tapping in synchrony with sound sequences contributed to the auditory processing of them. The participants learned two unfamiliar sound sequences via different methods. In the tapping condition, they learned an auditory sequence while they tapped in synchrony with each sound onset. In the no tapping condition, they learned another sequence while they kept pressing a key until the sequence ended. After these learning sessions, we presented the two melodies again and recorded event-related potentials (ERPs). During the ERP recordings, 10% of the tones within each melody deviated from the original tones. An analysis of the grand average ERPs showed that deviant stimuli elicited a significant P300 in the tapping but not in the no-tapping condition. In addition, the significance of the P300 effect in the tapping condition increased as the participants showed highly synchronized tapping behavior during the learning sessions. These results indicated that single finger tapping promoted the conscious detection and evaluation of deviants within the learned sequences. The effect was related to individuals' musical ability to coordinate their finger movements along with external auditory events.

Synchronized tapping facilitates learning sound sequences as indexed by the P300

PubMed Central

Kamiyama, Keiko S.; Okanoya, Kazuo

2014-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether and how single finger tapping in synchrony with sound sequences contributed to the auditory processing of them. The participants learned two unfamiliar sound sequences via different methods. In the tapping condition, they learned an auditory sequence while they tapped in synchrony with each sound onset. In the no tapping condition, they learned another sequence while they kept pressing a key until the sequence ended. After these learning sessions, we presented the two melodies again and recorded event-related potentials (ERPs). During the ERP recordings, 10% of the tones within each melody deviated from the original tones. An analysis of the grand average ERPs showed that deviant stimuli elicited a significant P300 in the tapping but not in the no-tapping condition. In addition, the significance of the P300 effect in the tapping condition increased as the participants showed highly synchronized tapping behavior during the learning sessions. These results indicated that single finger tapping promoted the conscious detection and evaluation of deviants within the learned sequences. The effect was related to individuals’ musical ability to coordinate their finger movements along with external auditory events. PMID:25400564

The effects of stereo disparity on the behavioural and electrophysiological correlates of perception of audio-visual motion in depth.

PubMed

Harrison, Neil R; Witheridge, Sian; Makin, Alexis; Wuerger, Sophie M; Pegna, Alan J; Meyer, Georg F

2015-11-01

Motion is represented by low-level signals, such as size-expansion in vision or loudness changes in the auditory modality. The visual and auditory signals from the same object or event may be integrated and facilitate detection. We explored behavioural and electrophysiological correlates of congruent and incongruent audio-visual depth motion in conditions where auditory level changes, visual expansion, and visual disparity cues were manipulated. In Experiment 1 participants discriminated auditory motion direction whilst viewing looming or receding, 2D or 3D, visual stimuli. Responses were faster and more accurate for congruent than for incongruent audio-visual cues, and the congruency effect (i.e., difference between incongruent and congruent conditions) was larger for visual 3D cues compared to 2D cues. In Experiment 2, event-related potentials (ERPs) were collected during presentation of the 2D and 3D, looming and receding, audio-visual stimuli, while participants detected an infrequent deviant sound. Our main finding was that audio-visual congruity was affected by retinal disparity at an early processing stage (135-160ms) over occipito-parietal scalp. Topographic analyses suggested that similar brain networks were activated for the 2D and 3D congruity effects, but that cortical responses were stronger in the 3D condition. Differences between congruent and incongruent conditions were observed between 140-200ms, 220-280ms, and 350-500ms after stimulus onset. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Towards neural correlates of auditory stimulus processing: A simultaneous auditory evoked potentials and functional magnetic resonance study using an odd-ball paradigm

PubMed Central

Milner, Rafał; Rusiniak, Mateusz; Lewandowska, Monika; Wolak, Tomasz; Ganc, Małgorzata; Piątkowska-Janko, Ewa; Bogorodzki, Piotr; Skarżyński, Henryk

2014-01-01

Background The neural underpinnings of auditory information processing have often been investigated using the odd-ball paradigm, in which infrequent sounds (deviants) are presented within a regular train of frequent stimuli (standards). Traditionally, this paradigm has been applied using either high temporal resolution (EEG) or high spatial resolution (fMRI, PET). However, used separately, these techniques cannot provide information on both the location and time course of particular neural processes. The goal of this study was to investigate the neural correlates of auditory processes with a fine spatio-temporal resolution. A simultaneous auditory evoked potentials (AEP) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technique (AEP-fMRI), together with an odd-ball paradigm, were used. Material/Methods Six healthy volunteers, aged 20–35 years, participated in an odd-ball simultaneous AEP-fMRI experiment. AEP in response to acoustic stimuli were used to model bioelectric intracerebral generators, and electrophysiological results were integrated with fMRI data. Results fMRI activation evoked by standard stimuli was found to occur mainly in the primary auditory cortex. Activity in these regions overlapped with intracerebral bioelectric sources (dipoles) of the N1 component. Dipoles of the N1/P2 complex in response to standard stimuli were also found in the auditory pathway between the thalamus and the auditory cortex. Deviant stimuli induced fMRI activity in the anterior cingulate gyrus, insula, and parietal lobes. Conclusions The present study showed that neural processes evoked by standard stimuli occur predominantly in subcortical and cortical structures of the auditory pathway. Deviants activate areas non-specific for auditory information processing. PMID:24413019

Atypical pattern of discriminating sound features in adults with Asperger syndrome as reflected by the mismatch negativity.

PubMed

Kujala, T; Aho, E; Lepistö, T; Jansson-Verkasalo, E; Nieminen-von Wendt, T; von Wendt, L; Näätänen, R

2007-04-01

Asperger syndrome, which belongs to the autistic spectrum of disorders, is characterized by deficits of social interaction and abnormal perception, like hypo- or hypersensitivity in reacting to sounds and discriminating certain sound features. We determined auditory feature discrimination in adults with Asperger syndrome with the mismatch negativity (MMN), a neural response which is an index of cortical change detection. We recorded MMN for five different sound features (duration, frequency, intensity, location, and gap). Our results suggest hypersensitive auditory change detection in Asperger syndrome, as reflected in the enhanced MMN for deviant sounds with a gap or shorter duration, and speeded MMN elicitation for frequency changes.

The auditory oddball paradigm revised to improve bedside detection of consciousness in behaviorally unresponsive patients.

PubMed

Morlet, Dominique; Ruby, Perrine; André-Obadia, Nathalie; Fischer, Catherine

2017-11-01

Active paradigms requiring subjects to engage in a mental task on request have been developed to detect consciousness in behaviorally unresponsive patients. Using auditory ERPs, the active condition consists in orienting patient's attention toward oddball stimuli. In comparison with passive listening, larger P300 in the active condition identifies voluntary processes. However, contrast between these two conditions is usually too weak to be detected at the individual level. To improve test sensitivity, we propose as a control condition to actively divert the subject's attention from the auditory stimuli with a mental imagery task that has been demonstrated to be within the grasp of the targeted patients: navigate in one's home. Twenty healthy subjects were presented with a two-tone oddball paradigm in the three following condition: (a) passive listening, (b) mental imagery, (c) silent counting of deviant stimuli. Mental imagery proved to be more efficient than passive listening to lessen P300 response to deviant tones as compared with the active counting condition. An effect of attention manipulation (oriented vs. diverted) was observed in 19/20 subjects, of whom 18 showed the expected P300 effect and 1 showed an effect restricted to the N2 component. The only subject showing no effect also proved insufficient engagement in the tasks. Our study demonstrated the efficiency of diverting attention using mental imagery to improve the sensitivity of the active oddball paradigm. Using recorded instructions and requiring a small number of electrodes, the test was designed to be conveniently and economically used at the patient's bedside. © 2017 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Mood Modulates Auditory Laterality of Hemodynamic Mismatch Responses during Dichotic Listening

PubMed Central

Schock, Lisa; Dyck, Miriam; Demenescu, Liliana R.; Edgar, J. Christopher; Hertrich, Ingo; Sturm, Walter; Mathiak, Klaus

2012-01-01

Hemodynamic mismatch responses can be elicited by deviant stimuli in a sequence of standard stimuli even during cognitive demanding tasks. Emotional context is known to modulate lateralized processing. Right-hemispheric negative emotion processing may bias attention to the right and enhance processing of right-ear stimuli. The present study examined the influence of induced mood on lateralized pre-attentive auditory processing of dichotic stimuli using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Faces expressing emotions (sad/happy/neutral) were presented in a blocked design while a dichotic oddball sequence with consonant-vowel (CV) syllables in an event-related design was simultaneously administered. Twenty healthy participants were instructed to feel the emotion perceived on the images and to ignore the syllables. Deviant sounds reliably activated bilateral auditory cortices and confirmed attention effects by modulation of visual activity. Sad mood induction activated visual, limbic and right prefrontal areas. A lateralization effect of emotion-attention interaction was reflected in a stronger response to right-ear deviants in the right auditory cortex during sad mood. This imbalance of resources may be a neurophysiological correlate of laterality in sad mood and depression. Conceivably, the compensatory right-hemispheric enhancement of resources elicits increased ipsilateral processing. PMID:22384105

The effects of interstimulus interval on event-related indices of attention: an auditory selective attention test of perceptual load theory.

PubMed

Gomes, Hilary; Barrett, Sophia; Duff, Martin; Barnhardt, Jack; Ritter, Walter

2008-03-01

We examined the impact of perceptual load by manipulating interstimulus interval (ISI) in two auditory selective attention studies that varied in the difficulty of the target discrimination. In the paradigm, channels were separated by frequency and target/deviant tones were softer in intensity. Three ISI conditions were presented: fast (300ms), medium (600ms) and slow (900ms). Behavioral (accuracy and RT) and electrophysiological measures (Nd, P3b) were observed. In both studies, participants evidenced poorer accuracy during the fast ISI condition than the slow suggesting that ISI impacted task difficulty. However, none of the three measures of processing examined, Nd amplitude, P3b amplitude elicited by unattended deviant stimuli, or false alarms to unattended deviants, were impacted by ISI in the manner predicted by perceptual load theory. The prediction based on perceptual load theory, that there would be more processing of irrelevant stimuli under conditions of low as compared to high perceptual load, was not supported in these auditory studies. Task difficulty/perceptual load impacts the processing of irrelevant stimuli in the auditory modality differently than predicted by perceptual load theory, and perhaps differently than in the visual modality.

Automatic detection of unattended changes in room acoustics.

PubMed

Frey, Johannes Daniel; Wendt, Mike; Jacobsen, Thomas

2015-01-01

Previous research has shown that the human auditory system continuously monitors its acoustic environment, detecting a variety of irregularities (e.g., deviance from prior stimulation regularity in pitch, loudness, duration, and (perceived) sound source location). Detection of irregularities can be inferred from a component of the event-related brain potential (ERP), referred to as the mismatch negativity (MMN), even in conditions in which participants are instructed to ignore the auditory stimulation. The current study extends previous findings by demonstrating that auditory irregularities brought about by a change in room acoustics elicit a MMN in a passive oddball protocol (acoustic stimuli with differing room acoustics, that were otherwise identical, were employed as standard and deviant stimuli), in which participants watched a fiction movie (silent with subtitles). While the majority of participants reported no awareness for any changes in the auditory stimulation, only one out of 14 participants reported to have become aware of changing room acoustics or sound source location. Together, these findings suggest automatic monitoring of room acoustics. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abnormal auditory pattern perception in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Haigh, Sarah M; Coffman, Brian A; Murphy, Timothy K; Butera, Christiana D; Salisbury, Dean F

2016-10-01

Mismatch negativity (MMN) in response to deviation from physical sound parameters (e.g., pitch, duration) is reduced in individuals with long-term schizophrenia (Sz), suggesting deficits in deviance detection. However, MMN can appear at several time intervals as part of deviance detection. Understanding which part of the processing stream is abnormal in Sz is crucial for understanding MMN pathophysiology. We measured MMN to complex pattern deviants, which have been shown to produce multiple MMNs in healthy controls (HC). Both simple and complex MMNs were recorded from 27 Sz and 27 matched HC. For simple MMN, pitch- and duration-deviants were presented among frequent standard tones. For complex MMN, patterns of five single tones were repeatedly presented, with the occasional deviant group of tones containing an extra sixth tone. Sz showed smaller pitch MMN (p=0.009, ~110ms) and duration MMN (p=0.030, ~170ms) than healthy controls. For complex MMN, there were two deviance-related negativities. The first (~150ms) was not significantly different between HC and SZ. The second was significantly reduced in Sz (p=0.011, ~400ms). The topography of the late complex MMN was consistent with generators in anterior temporal cortex. Worse late MMN in Sz was associated with increased emotional withdrawal, poor attention, lack of spontaneity/conversation, and increased preoccupation. Late MMN blunting in schizophrenia suggests a deficit in later stages of deviance processing. Correlations with negative symptoms measures are preliminary, but suggest that abnormal complex auditory perceptual processes may compound higher-order cognitive and social deficits in the disorder. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Can an auditory multi-feature optimal paradigm be used for the study of processes associated with attention capture in passive listeners?

PubMed

Tavakoli, Paniz; Campbell, Kenneth

2016-10-01

A rarely occurring and highly relevant auditory stimulus occurring outside of the current focus of attention can cause a switching of attention. Such attention capture is often studied in oddball paradigms consisting of a frequently occurring "standard" stimulus which is changed at odd times to form a "deviant". The deviant may result in the capturing of attention. An auditory ERP, the P3a, is often associated with this process. To collect a sufficient amount of data is however very time-consuming. A more multi-feature "optimal" paradigm has been proposed but it is not known if it is appropriate for the study of attention capture. An optimal paradigm was run in which 6 different rare deviants (p=.08) were separated by a standard stimulus (p=.50) and compared to results when 4 oddball paradigms were also run. A large P3a was elicited by some of the deviants in the optimal paradigm but not by others. However, very similar results were observed when separate oddball paradigms were run. The present study indicates that the optimal paradigm provides a very time-saving method to study attention capture and the P3a. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Early sensory encoding of affective prosody: neuromagnetic tomography of emotional category changes.

PubMed

Thönnessen, Heike; Boers, Frank; Dammers, Jürgen; Chen, Yu-Han; Norra, Christine; Mathiak, Klaus

2010-03-01

In verbal communication, prosodic codes may be phylogenetically older than lexical ones. Little is known, however, about early, automatic encoding of emotional prosody. This study investigated the neuromagnetic analogue of mismatch negativity (MMN) as an index of early stimulus processing of emotional prosody using whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG). We applied two different paradigms to study MMN; in addition to the traditional oddball paradigm, the so-called optimum design was adapted to emotion detection. In a sequence of randomly changing disyllabic pseudo-words produced by one male speaker in neutral intonation, a traditional oddball design with emotional deviants (10% happy and angry each) and an optimum design with emotional (17% happy and sad each) and nonemotional gender deviants (17% female) elicited the mismatch responses. The emotional category changes demonstrated early responses (<200 ms) at both auditory cortices with larger amplitudes at the right hemisphere. Responses to the nonemotional change from male to female voices emerged later ( approximately 300 ms). Source analysis pointed at bilateral auditory cortex sources without robust contribution from other such as frontal sources. Conceivably, both auditory cortices encode categorical representations of emotional prosodic. Processing of cognitive feature extraction and automatic emotion appraisal may overlap at this level enabling rapid attentional shifts to important social cues. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Electrocortical Dynamics in Children with a Language-Learning Impairment Before and After Audiovisual Training.

PubMed

Heim, Sabine; Choudhury, Naseem; Benasich, April A

2016-05-01

Detecting and discriminating subtle and rapid sound changes in the speech environment is a fundamental prerequisite of language processing, and deficits in this ability have frequently been observed in individuals with language-learning impairments (LLI). One approach to studying associations between dysfunctional auditory dynamics and LLI, is to implement a training protocol tapping into this potential while quantifying pre- and post-intervention status. Event-related potentials (ERPs) are highly sensitive to the brain correlates of these dynamic changes and are therefore ideally suited for examining hypotheses regarding dysfunctional auditory processes. In this study, ERP measurements to rapid tone sequences (standard and deviant tone pairs) along with behavioral language testing were performed in 6- to 9-year-old LLI children (n = 21) before and after audiovisual training. A non-treatment group of children with typical language development (n = 12) was also assessed twice at a comparable time interval. The results indicated that the LLI group exhibited considerable gains on standardized measures of language. In terms of ERPs, we found evidence of changes in the LLI group specifically at the level of the P2 component, later than 250 ms after the onset of the second stimulus in the deviant tone pair. These changes suggested enhanced discrimination of deviant from standard tone sequences in widespread cortices, in LLI children after training.

Neurons in the inferior colliculus of the rat show stimulus-specific adaptation for frequency, but not for intensity

PubMed Central

Duque, Daniel; Wang, Xin; Nieto-Diego, Javier; Krumbholz, Katrin; Malmierca, Manuel S.

2016-01-01

Electrophysiological and psychophysical responses to a low-intensity probe sound tend to be suppressed by a preceding high-intensity adaptor sound. Nevertheless, rare low-intensity deviant sounds presented among frequent high-intensity standard sounds in an intensity oddball paradigm can elicit an electroencephalographic mismatch negativity (MMN) response. This has been taken to suggest that the MMN is a correlate of true change or “deviance” detection. A key question is where in the ascending auditory pathway true deviance sensitivity first emerges. Here, we addressed this question by measuring low-intensity deviant responses from single units in the inferior colliculus (IC) of anesthetized rats. If the IC exhibits true deviance sensitivity to intensity, IC neurons should show enhanced responses to low-intensity deviant sounds presented among high-intensity standards. Contrary to this prediction, deviant responses were only enhanced when the standards and deviants differed in frequency. The results could be explained with a model assuming that IC neurons integrate over multiple frequency-tuned channels and that adaptation occurs within each channel independently. We used an adaptation paradigm with multiple repeated adaptors to measure the tuning widths of these adaption channels in relation to the neurons’ overall tuning widths. PMID:27066835

Establishing the functional connectivity of the frontotemporal network in pre-attentive change detection with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and event-related optical signal.

PubMed

Tse, Chun-Yu; Long-Yin, Yip; Lui, Troby Ka-Yan; Xiao, Xue-Zhen; Wang, Yang; Chu, Winnie Chiu Wing; Parks, Nathan Allen; Chan, Sandra Sau-Man; Neggers, Sebastiaan Franciscus Wijnandus

2018-06-18

Current theories of pre-attentive deviant detection postulate that before the Superior Temporal Cortex (STC) detects a change, the Inferior Frontal Cortex (IFC) engages in stimulus analysis, which is particularly critical for ambiguous deviations (e.g., deviant preceded by a short train of standards). These theories rest on the assumption that IFC and STC are functionally connected, which has only been supported by correlational brain imaging studies. We examined this functional connectivity assumption by applying Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to disrupt IFC function, while measuring the later STC mismatch response with the event-related optical signal (EROS). EROS can localize brain activity in both spatial and temporal dimensions via measurement of optical property changes associated with neuronal activity, and is inert to the electromagnetic interference produced by TMS. Specifically, the STC mismatch response at 120-180 ms elicited by a deviant preceded by a short standard train when IFC TMS was applied at 80 ms was compared with the STC mismatch responses in temporal control (TMS with 200 ms delay), spatial control (sham TMS at vertex), auditory control (TMS pulse noise only), and cognitive control (deviant preceded by a long standard train) conditions. The STC mismatch response to deviants preceded by the short train was abolished by TMS of the IFC at 80 ms, while the STC responses remained intact in all other control conditions. These results confirm the involvement of the IFC in the STC mismatch response and support a functional connection between IFC and STC. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Attentional capture by taboo words: A functional view of auditory distraction.

PubMed

Röer, Jan P; Körner, Ulrike; Buchner, Axel; Bell, Raoul

2017-06-01

It is well established that task-irrelevant, to-be-ignored speech adversely affects serial short-term memory (STM) for visually presented items compared with a quiet control condition. However, there is an ongoing debate about whether the semantic content of the speech has the capacity to capture attention and to disrupt memory performance. In the present article, we tested whether taboo words are more difficult to ignore than neutral words. Taboo words or neutral words were presented as (a) steady state sequences in which the same distractor word was repeated, (b) changing state sequences in which different distractor words were presented, and (c) auditory deviant sequences in which a single distractor word deviated from a sequence of repeated words. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that taboo words disrupted performance more than neutral words. This taboo effect did not habituate and it did not differ between individuals with high and low working memory capacity. In Experiments 3 and 4, in which only a single deviant taboo word was presented, no taboo effect was obtained. These results do not support the idea that the processing of the auditory distractors' semantic content is the result of occasional attention switches to the auditory modality. Instead, the overall pattern of results is more in line with a functional view of auditory distraction, according to which the to-be-ignored modality is routinely monitored for potentially important stimuli (e.g., self-relevant or threatening information), the detection of which draws processing resources away from the primary task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Functional dissociation between regularity encoding and deviance detection along the auditory hierarchy.

PubMed

Aghamolaei, Maryam; Zarnowiec, Katarzyna; Grimm, Sabine; Escera, Carles

2016-02-01

Auditory deviance detection based on regularity encoding appears as one of the basic functional properties of the auditory system. It has traditionally been assessed with the mismatch negativity (MMN) long-latency component of the auditory evoked potential (AEP). Recent studies have found earlier correlates of deviance detection based on regularity encoding. They occur in humans in the first 50 ms after sound onset, at the level of the middle-latency response of the AEP, and parallel findings of stimulus-specific adaptation observed in animal studies. However, the functional relationship between these different levels of regularity encoding and deviance detection along the auditory hierarchy has not yet been clarified. Here we addressed this issue by examining deviant-related responses at different levels of the auditory hierarchy to stimulus changes varying in their degree of deviation regarding the spatial location of a repeated standard stimulus. Auditory stimuli were presented randomly from five loudspeakers at azimuthal angles of 0°, 12°, 24°, 36° and 48° during oddball and reversed-oddball conditions. Middle-latency responses and MMN were measured. Our results revealed that middle-latency responses were sensitive to deviance but not the degree of deviation, whereas the MMN amplitude increased as a function of deviance magnitude. These findings indicated that acoustic regularity can be encoded at the level of the middle-latency response but that it takes a higher step in the auditory hierarchy for deviance magnitude to be encoded, thus providing a functional dissociation between regularity encoding and deviance detection along the auditory hierarchy. © 2015 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effects of aging on neuromagnetic mismatch responses to pitch changes.

PubMed

Cheng, Chia-Hsiung; Baillet, Sylvain; Hsiao, Fu-Jung; Lin, Yung-Yang

2013-06-07

Although aging-related alterations in the auditory sensory memory and involuntary change discrimination have been widely studied, it remains controversial whether the mismatch negativity (MMN) or its magnetic counterpart (MMNm) is modulated by physiological aging. This study aimed to examine the effects of aging on mismatch activity to pitch deviants by using a whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) together with distributed source modeling analysis. The neuromagnetic responses to oddball paradigms consisting of standards (1000 Hz, p=0.85) and deviants (1100 Hz, p=0.15) were recorded in healthy young (n=20) and aged (n=18) male adults. We used minimum norm estimate of source reconstruction to characterize the spatiotemporal neural dynamics of MMNm responses. Distributed activations to MMNm were identified in the bilateral fronto-temporo-parietal areas. Compared to younger participants, the elderly exhibited a significant reduction of cortical activation in bilateral superior temporal guri, superior temporal sulci, inferior fontal gyri, orbitofrontal cortices and right inferior parietal lobules. In conclusion, our results suggest an aging-related decline in auditory sensory memory and automatic change detection as indexed by MMNm. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spatio-temporal source cluster analysis reveals fronto-temporal auditory change processing differences within a shared autistic and schizotypal trait phenotype.

PubMed

Ford, Talitha C; Woods, Will; Crewther, David P

2017-01-01

Social Disorganisation (SD) is a shared autistic and schizotypal phenotype that is present in the subclinical population. Auditory processing deficits, particularly in mismatch negativity/field (MMN/F) have been reported across both spectrum disorders. This study investigates differences in MMN/F cortical spatio-temporal source activity between higher and lower quintiles of the SD spectrum. Sixteen low (9 female) and 19 high (9 female) SD subclinical adults (18-40years) underwent magnetoencephalography (MEG) during an MMF paradigm where standard tones (50ms) were interrupted by infrequent duration deviants (100ms). Spatio-temporal source cluster analysis with permutation testing revealed no difference between the groups in source activation to the standard tone. To the deviant tone however, there was significantly reduced right hemisphere fronto-temporal and insular cortex activation for the high SD group ( p = 0.038). The MMF, as a product of the cortical response to the deviant minus that to the standard, did not differ significantly between the high and low Social Disorganisation groups. These data demonstrate a deficit in right fronto-temporal processing of an auditory change for those with more of the shared SD phenotype, indicating that right fronto-temporal auditory processing may be associated with psychosocial functioning.

Language and music: differential hemispheric dominance in detecting unexpected errors in the lyrics and melody of memorized songs.

PubMed

Yasui, Takuya; Kaga, Kimitaka; Sakai, Kuniyoshi L

2009-02-01

Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we report here the hemispheric dominance of the auditory cortex that is selectively modulated by unexpected errors in the lyrics and melody of songs (lyrics and melody deviants), thereby elucidating under which conditions the lateralization of auditory processing changes. In experiment 1 using familiar songs, we found that the dipole strength of responses to the lyrics deviants was left-dominant at 140 ms (M140), whereas that of responses to the melody deviants was right-dominant at 130 ms (M130). In experiment 2 using familiar songs with a constant syllable or pitch, the dipole strength of frequency mismatch negativity elicited by oddballs was left-dominant. There were significant main effects of experiment (1 and 2) for the peak latencies and for the coordinates of the dipoles, indicating that the M140 and M130 were not the frequency mismatch negativity. In experiment 3 using newly memorized songs, the right-dominant M130 was observed only when the presented note was unexpected one, independent of perceiving unnatural pitch transitions (i.e., perceptual saliency) and of selective attention to the melody of songs. The consistent right-dominance of the M130 between experiments 1 and 3 suggests that the M130 in experiment 1 is due to unexpected notes deviating from well-memorized songs. On the other hand, the left-dominant M140 was elicited by lyrics deviants, suggesting the influence of top-down linguistic information and the memory of the familiar songs. We thus conclude that the left- lateralized M140 and right-lateralized M130 reflect the expectation based on top-down information of language and music, respectively.

Modulation of electric brain responses evoked by pitch deviants through transcranial direct current stimulation.

PubMed

Royal, Isabelle; Zendel, Benjamin Rich; Desjardins, Marie-Ève; Robitaille, Nicolas; Peretz, Isabelle

2018-01-31

Congenital amusia is a neurodevelopmental disorder, characterized by a difficulty detecting pitch deviation that is related to abnormal electrical brain responses. Abnormalities found along the right fronto-temporal pathway between the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the auditory cortex (AC) are the likely neural mechanism responsible for amusia. To investigate the causal role of these regions during the detection of pitch deviants, we applied cathodal (inhibitory) transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over right frontal and right temporal regions during separate testing sessions. We recorded participants' electrical brain activity (EEG) before and after tDCS stimulation while they performed a pitch change detection task. Relative to a sham condition, there was a decrease in P3 amplitude after cathodal stimulation over both frontal and temporal regions compared to pre-stimulation baseline. This decrease was associated with small pitch deviations (6.25 cents), but not large pitch deviations (200 cents). Overall, this demonstrates that using tDCS to disrupt regions around the IFG and AC can induce temporary changes in evoked brain activity when processing pitch deviants. These electrophysiological changes are similar to those observed in amusia and provide causal support for the connection between P3 and fronto-temporal brain regions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neural correlates of audiovisual integration in music reading.

PubMed

Nichols, Emily S; Grahn, Jessica A

2016-10-01

Integration of auditory and visual information is important to both language and music. In the linguistic domain, audiovisual integration alters event-related potentials (ERPs) at early stages of processing (the mismatch negativity (MMN)) as well as later stages (P300(Andres et al., 2011)). However, the role of experience in audiovisual integration is unclear, as reading experience is generally confounded with developmental stage. Here we tested whether audiovisual integration of music appears similar to reading, and how musical experience altered integration. We compared brain responses in musicians and non-musicians on an auditory pitch-interval oddball task that evoked the MMN and P300, while manipulating whether visual pitch-interval information was congruent or incongruent with the auditory information. We predicted that the MMN and P300 would be largest when both auditory and visual stimuli deviated, because audiovisual integration would increase the neural response when the deviants were congruent. The results indicated that scalp topography differed between musicians and non-musicians for both the MMN and P300 response to deviants. Interestingly, musicians' musical training modulated integration of congruent deviants at both early and late stages of processing. We propose that early in the processing stream, visual information may guide interpretation of auditory information, leading to a larger MMN when auditory and visual information mismatch. At later attentional stages, integration of the auditory and visual stimuli leads to a larger P300 amplitude. Thus, experience with musical visual notation shapes the way the brain integrates abstract sound-symbol pairings, suggesting that musicians can indeed inform us about the role of experience in audiovisual integration. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Mismatch and conflict: neurophysiological and behavioral evidence for conflict priming.

PubMed

Mager, Ralph; Meuth, Sven G; Kräuchi, Kurt; Schmidlin, Maria; Müller-Spahn, Franz; Falkenstein, Michael

2009-11-01

Conflict-related cognitive processes are critical for adapting to sudden environmental changes that confront the individual with inconsistent or ambiguous information. Thus, these processes play a crucial role to cope with daily life. Generally, conflicts tend to accumulate especially in complex and threatening situations. Therefore, the question arises how conflict-related cognitive processes are modulated by the close succession of conflicts. In the present study, we investigated the effect of interactions between different types of conflict on performance as well as on electrophysiological parameters. A task-irrelevant auditory stimulus and a task-relevant visual stimulus were presented successively. The auditory stimulus consisted of a standard or deviant tone, followed by a congruent or incongruent Stroop stimulus. After standard prestimuli, performance deteriorated for incongruent compared to congruent Stroop stimuli, which were accompanied by a widespread negativity for incongruent versus congruent stimuli in the event-related potentials (ERPs). However, after deviant prestimuli, performance was better for incongruent than for congruent Stroop stimuli and an additional early negativity in the ERP emerged with a fronto-central maximum. Our data show that deviant auditory prestimuli facilitate specifically the processing of stimulus-related conflict, providing evidence for a conflict-priming effect.

What we expect is not always what we get: evidence for both the direction-of-change and the specific-stimulus hypotheses of auditory attentional capture.

PubMed

Nöstl, Anatole; Marsh, John E; Sörqvist, Patrik

2014-01-01

Participants were requested to respond to a sequence of visual targets while listening to a well-known lullaby. One of the notes in the lullaby was occasionally exchanged with a pattern deviant. Experiment 1 found that deviants capture attention as a function of the pitch difference between the deviant and the replaced/expected tone. However, when the pitch difference between the expected tone and the deviant tone is held constant, a violation to the direction-of-pitch change across tones can also capture attention (Experiment 2). Moreover, in more complex auditory environments, wherein it is difficult to build a coherent neural model of the sound environment from which expectations are formed, deviations can capture attention but it appears to matter less whether this is a violation from a specific stimulus or a violation of the current direction-of-change (Experiment 3). The results support the expectation violation account of auditory distraction and suggest that there are at least two different expectations that can be violated: One appears to be bound to a specific stimulus and the other would seem to be bound to a more global cross-stimulus rule such as the direction-of-change based on a sequence of preceding sound events. Factors like base-rate probability of tones within the sound environment might become the driving mechanism of attentional capture--rather than violated expectations--in complex sound environments.

Habituation deficit of auditory N100m in patients with fibromyalgia.

PubMed

Choi, W; Lim, M; Kim, J S; Chung, C K

2016-11-01

Habituation refers to the brain's inhibitory mechanism against sensory overload and its brain correlate has been investigated in the form of a well-defined event-related potential, N100 (N1). Fibromyalgia is an extensively described chronic pain syndrome with concurrent manifestations of reduced tolerance and enhanced sensation of painful and non-painful stimulation, suggesting an association with central amplification of all sensory domains. Among diverse sensory modalities, we utilized repetitive auditory stimulation to explore the anomalous sensory information processing in fibromyalgia as evidenced by N1 habituation. Auditory N1 was assessed in 19 fibromyalgia patients and age-, education- and gender-matched 21 healthy control subjects under the duration-deviant passive oddball paradigm and magnetoencephalography recording. The brain signal of the first standard stimulus (following each deviant) and last standard stimulus (preceding each deviant) were analysed to identify N1 responses. N1 amplitude difference and adjusted amplitude ratio were computed as habituation indices. Fibromyalgia patients showed lower N1 amplitude difference (left hemisphere: p = 0.004; right hemisphere: p = 0.034) and adjusted N1 amplitude ratio (left hemisphere: p = 0.001; right hemisphere: p = 0.052) than healthy control subjects, indicating deficient auditory habituation. Further, augmented N1 amplitude pattern (p = 0.029) during the stimulus repetition was observed in fibromyalgia patients. Fibromyalgia patients failed to demonstrate auditory N1 habituation to repetitively presenting stimuli, which indicates their compromised early auditory information processing. Our findings provide neurophysiological evidence of inhibitory failure and cortical augmentation in fibromyalgia. WHAT'S ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS TOPIC?: Fibromyalgia has been associated with altered filtering of irrelevant somatosensory input. However, whether this abnormality can extend to the auditory sensory system remains controversial. N!00, an event-related potential, has been widely utilized to assess the brain's habituation capacity against sensory overload. WHAT DOES THIS STUDY ADD?: Fibromyalgia patients showed defect in N100 habituation to repetitive auditory stimuli, indicating compromised early auditory functioning. This study identified deficient inhibitory control over irrelevant auditory stimuli in fibromyalgia. © 2016 European Pain Federation - EFIC®.

Music training and working memory: an ERP study.

PubMed

George, Elyse M; Coch, Donna

2011-04-01

While previous research has suggested that music training is associated with improvements in various cognitive and linguistic skills, the mechanisms mediating or underlying these associations are mostly unknown. Here, we addressed the hypothesis that previous music training is related to improved working memory. Using event-related potentials (ERPs) and a standardized test of working memory, we investigated both neural and behavioral aspects of working memory in college-aged, non-professional musicians and non-musicians. Behaviorally, musicians outperformed non-musicians on standardized subtests of visual, phonological, and executive memory. ERPs were recorded in standard auditory and visual oddball paradigms (participants responded to infrequent deviant stimuli embedded in lists of standard stimuli). Electrophysiologically, musicians demonstrated faster updating of working memory (shorter latency P300s) in both the auditory and visual domains and musicians allocated more neural resources to auditory stimuli (larger amplitude P300), showing increased sensitivity to the auditory standard/deviant difference and less effortful updating of auditory working memory. These findings demonstrate that long-term music training is related to improvements in working memory, in both the auditory and visual domains and in terms of both behavioral and ERP measures. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pitch discrimination accuracy in musicians vs nonmusicians: an event-related potential and behavioral study.

PubMed

Tervaniemi, Mari; Just, Viola; Koelsch, Stefan; Widmann, Andreas; Schröger, Erich

2005-02-01

Previously, professional violin players were found to automatically discriminate tiny pitch changes, not discriminable by nonmusicians. The present study addressed the pitch processing accuracy in musicians with expertise in playing a wide selection of instruments (e.g., piano; wind and string instruments). Of specific interest was whether also musicians with such divergent backgrounds have facilitated accuracy in automatic and/or attentive levels of auditory processing. Thirteen professional musicians and 13 nonmusicians were presented with frequent standard sounds and rare deviant sounds (0.8, 2, or 4% higher in frequency). Auditory event-related potentials evoked by these sounds were recorded while first the subjects read a self-chosen book and second they indicated behaviorally the detection of sounds with deviant frequency. Musicians detected the pitch changes faster and more accurately than nonmusicians. The N2b and P3 responses recorded during attentive listening had larger amplitude in musicians than in nonmusicians. Interestingly, the superiority in pitch discrimination accuracy in musicians over nonmusicians was observed not only with the 0.8% but also with the 2% frequency changes. Moreover, also nonmusicians detected quite reliably the smallest pitch changes of 0.8%. However, the mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a recorded during a reading condition did not differentiate musicians and nonmusicians. These results suggest that musical expertise may exert its effects merely at attentive levels of processing and not necessarily already at the preattentive levels.

Temporal attention is involved in the enhancement of attentional capture with task difficulty: an event-related brain potential study.

PubMed

Sugimoto, Fumie; Kimura, Motohiro; Takeda, Yuji; Katayama, Jun'ichi

2017-08-16

In a three-stimulus oddball task, the amplitude of P3a elicited by deviant stimuli increases with an increase in the difficulty of discriminating between standard and target stimuli (i.e. task-difficulty effect on P3a), indicating that attentional capture by deviant stimuli is enhanced with an increase in task difficulty. This enhancement of attentional capture may be explained in terms of the modulation of modality-nonspecific temporal attention; that is, the participant's attention directed to the predicted timing of stimulus presentation is stronger when the task difficulty increases, which results in enhanced attentional capture. The present study examined this possibility with a modified three-stimulus oddball task consisting of a visual standard, a visual target, and four types of deviant stimuli defined by a combination of two modalities (visual and auditory) and two presentation timings (predicted and unpredicted). We expected that if the modulation of temporal attention is involved in enhanced attentional capture, then the task-difficulty effect on P3a should be reduced for unpredicted compared with predicted deviant stimuli irrespective of their modality; this is because the influence of temporal attention should be markedly weaker for unpredicted compared with predicted deviant stimuli. The results showed that the task-difficulty effect on P3a was significantly reduced for unpredicted compared with predicted deviant stimuli in both the visual and the auditory modalities. This result suggests that the modulation of modality-nonspecific temporal attention induced by the increase in task difficulty is at least partly involved in the enhancement of attentional capture by deviant stimuli.

Rhythm sensitivity in macaque monkeys

PubMed Central

Selezneva, Elena; Deike, Susann; Knyazeva, Stanislava; Scheich, Henning; Brechmann, André; Brosch, Michael

2013-01-01

This study provides evidence that monkeys are rhythm sensitive. We composed isochronous tone sequences consisting of repeating triplets of two short tones and one long tone which humans perceive as repeating triplets of two weak and one strong beat. This regular sequence was compared to an irregular sequence with the same number of randomly arranged short and long tones with no such beat structure. To search for indication of rhythm sensitivity we employed an oddball paradigm in which occasional duration deviants were introduced in the sequences. In a pilot study on humans we showed that subjects more easily detected these deviants when they occurred in a regular sequence. In the monkeys we searched for spontaneous behaviors the animals executed concomitant with the deviants. We found that monkeys more frequently exhibited changes of gaze and facial expressions to the deviants when they occurred in the regular sequence compared to the irregular sequence. In addition we recorded neuronal firing and local field potentials from 175 sites of the primary auditory cortex during sequence presentation. We found that both types of neuronal signals differentiated regular from irregular sequences. Both signals were stronger in regular sequences and occurred after the onset of the long tones, i.e., at the position of the strong beat. Local field potential responses were also significantly larger for the durational deviants in regular sequences, yet in a later time window. We speculate that these temporal pattern-selective mechanisms with a focus on strong beats and their deviants underlie the perception of rhythm in the chosen sequences. PMID:24046732

Dissociating Long and Short-term Memory in Three-Month-Old Infants Using the Mismatch Response to Voice Stimuli.

PubMed

Zinke, Katharina; Thöne, Leonie; Bolinger, Elaina M; Born, Jan

2018-01-01

Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) have been successfully used in adults as well as in newborns to discriminate recall of longer-term and shorter-term memories. Specifically the Mismatch Response (MMR) to deviant stimuli of an oddball paradigm is larger if the deviant stimuli are highly familiar (i.e., retrieved from long-term memory) than if they are unfamiliar, representing an immediate change to the standard stimuli kept in short-term memory. Here, we aimed to extend previous findings indicating a differential MMR to familiar and unfamiliar deviants in newborns (Beauchemin et al., 2011), to 3-month-old infants who are starting to interact more with their social surroundings supposedly based on forming more (social) long-term representations. Using a voice discrimination paradigm, each infant was repeatedly presented with the word "baby" (400 ms, interstimulus interval: 600 ms, 10 min overall duration) pronounced by three different female speakers. One voice that was unfamiliar to the infants served as the frequently presented "standard" stimulus, whereas another unfamiliar voice served as the "unfamiliar deviant" stimulus, and the voice of the infant's mother served as the "familiar deviant." Data collection was successful for 31 infants (mean age = 100 days). The MMR was determined by the difference between the ERP to standard stimuli and the ERP to the unfamiliar and familiar deviant, respectively. The MMR to the familiar deviant (mother's voice) was larger, i.e., more positive, than that to the unfamiliar deviant between 100 and 400 ms post-stimulus over the frontal and central cortex. However, a genuine MMR differentiating, as a positive deflection, between ERPs to familiar deviants and standard stimuli was only found in the 300-400 ms interval. On the other hand, a genuine MMR differentiating, as a negative deflection, between ERPs to unfamiliar deviants from ERPs to standard stimuli was revealed for the 200-300 ms post-stimulus interval. Overall results confirm a differential MMR response to unfamiliar and familiar deviants in 3-month-olds, with the earlier negative MMR to unfamiliar deviants likely reflecting change detection based on comparison processes in short-term memory, and the later positive MMR to familiar deviants reflecting subsequent long-term memory-based processing of stimulus relevance.

Effects of auditory selective attention on chirp evoked auditory steady state responses.

PubMed

Bohr, Andreas; Bernarding, Corinna; Strauss, Daniel J; Corona-Strauss, Farah I

2011-01-01

Auditory steady state responses (ASSRs) are frequently used to assess auditory function. Recently, the interest in effects of attention on ASSRs has increased. In this paper, we investigated for the first time possible effects of attention on AS-SRs evoked by amplitude modulated and frequency modulated chirps paradigms. Different paradigms were designed using chirps with low and high frequency content, and the stimulation was presented in a monaural and dichotic modality. A total of 10 young subjects participated in the study, they were instructed to ignore the stimuli and after a second repetition they had to detect a deviant stimulus. In the time domain analysis, we found enhanced amplitudes for the attended conditions. Furthermore, we noticed higher amplitudes values for the condition using frequency modulated low frequency chirps evoked by a monaural stimulation. The most difference between attended and unattended modality was exhibited at the dichotic case of the amplitude modulated condition using chirps with low frequency content.

Immediate integration of prosodic information from speech and visual information from pictures in the absence of focused attention: a mismatch negativity study.

PubMed

Li, X; Yang, Y; Ren, G

2009-06-16

Language is often perceived together with visual information. Recent experimental evidences indicated that, during spoken language comprehension, the brain can immediately integrate visual information with semantic or syntactic information from speech. Here we used the mismatch negativity to further investigate whether prosodic information from speech could be immediately integrated into a visual scene context or not, and especially the time course and automaticity of this integration process. Sixteen Chinese native speakers participated in the study. The materials included Chinese spoken sentences and picture pairs. In the audiovisual situation, relative to the concomitant pictures, the spoken sentence was appropriately accented in the standard stimuli, but inappropriately accented in the two kinds of deviant stimuli. In the purely auditory situation, the speech sentences were presented without pictures. It was found that the deviants evoked mismatch responses in both audiovisual and purely auditory situations; the mismatch negativity in the purely auditory situation peaked at the same time as, but was weaker than that evoked by the same deviant speech sounds in the audiovisual situation. This pattern of results suggested immediate integration of prosodic information from speech and visual information from pictures in the absence of focused attention.

Dissociating Long and Short-term Memory in Three-Month-Old Infants Using the Mismatch Response to Voice Stimuli

PubMed Central

Zinke, Katharina; Thöne, Leonie; Bolinger, Elaina M.; Born, Jan

2018-01-01

Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) have been successfully used in adults as well as in newborns to discriminate recall of longer-term and shorter-term memories. Specifically the Mismatch Response (MMR) to deviant stimuli of an oddball paradigm is larger if the deviant stimuli are highly familiar (i.e., retrieved from long-term memory) than if they are unfamiliar, representing an immediate change to the standard stimuli kept in short-term memory. Here, we aimed to extend previous findings indicating a differential MMR to familiar and unfamiliar deviants in newborns (Beauchemin et al., 2011), to 3-month-old infants who are starting to interact more with their social surroundings supposedly based on forming more (social) long-term representations. Using a voice discrimination paradigm, each infant was repeatedly presented with the word “baby” (400 ms, interstimulus interval: 600 ms, 10 min overall duration) pronounced by three different female speakers. One voice that was unfamiliar to the infants served as the frequently presented “standard” stimulus, whereas another unfamiliar voice served as the “unfamiliar deviant” stimulus, and the voice of the infant’s mother served as the “familiar deviant.” Data collection was successful for 31 infants (mean age = 100 days). The MMR was determined by the difference between the ERP to standard stimuli and the ERP to the unfamiliar and familiar deviant, respectively. The MMR to the familiar deviant (mother’s voice) was larger, i.e., more positive, than that to the unfamiliar deviant between 100 and 400 ms post-stimulus over the frontal and central cortex. However, a genuine MMR differentiating, as a positive deflection, between ERPs to familiar deviants and standard stimuli was only found in the 300–400 ms interval. On the other hand, a genuine MMR differentiating, as a negative deflection, between ERPs to unfamiliar deviants from ERPs to standard stimuli was revealed for the 200–300 ms post-stimulus interval. Overall results confirm a differential MMR response to unfamiliar and familiar deviants in 3-month-olds, with the earlier negative MMR to unfamiliar deviants likely reflecting change detection based on comparison processes in short-term memory, and the later positive MMR to familiar deviants reflecting subsequent long-term memory-based processing of stimulus relevance. PMID:29441032

Auditory cortical change detection in adults with Asperger syndrome.

PubMed

Lepistö, Tuulia; Nieminen-von Wendt, Taina; von Wendt, Lennart; Näätänen, Risto; Kujala, Teija

2007-03-06

The present study investigated whether auditory deficits reported in children with Asperger syndrome (AS) are also present in adulthood. To this end, event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from adults with AS for duration, pitch, and phonetic changes in vowels, and for acoustically matched non-speech stimuli. These subjects had enhanced mismatch negativity (MMN) amplitudes particularly for pitch and duration deviants, indicating enhanced sound-discrimination abilities. Furthermore, as reflected by the P3a, their involuntary orienting was enhanced for changes in non-speech sounds, but tended to be deficient for changes in speech sounds. The results are consistent with those reported earlier in children with AS, except for the duration-MMN, which was diminished in children and enhanced in adults.

Preattentive binding of auditory and visual stimulus features.

PubMed

Winkler, István; Czigler, István; Sussman, Elyse; Horváth, János; Balázs, Lászlo

2005-02-01

We investigated the role of attention in feature binding in the auditory and the visual modality. One auditory and one visual experiment used the mismatch negativity (MMN and vMMN, respectively) event-related potential to index the memory representations created from stimulus sequences, which were either task-relevant and, therefore, attended or task-irrelevant and ignored. In the latter case, the primary task was a continuous demanding within-modality task. The test sequences were composed of two frequently occurring stimuli, which differed from each other in two stimulus features (standard stimuli) and two infrequently occurring stimuli (deviants), which combined one feature from one standard stimulus with the other feature of the other standard stimulus. Deviant stimuli elicited MMN responses of similar parameters across the different attentional conditions. These results suggest that the memory representations involved in the MMN deviance detection response encoded the frequently occurring feature combinations whether or not the test sequences were attended. A possible alternative to the memory-based interpretation of the visual results, the elicitation of the McCollough color-contingent aftereffect, was ruled out by the results of our third experiment. The current results are compared with those supporting the attentive feature integration theory. We conclude that (1) with comparable stimulus paradigms, similar results have been obtained in the two modalities, (2) there exist preattentive processes of feature binding, however, (3) conjoining features within rich arrays of objects under time pressure and/or longterm retention of the feature-conjoined memory representations may require attentive processes.

Read My Lips: Brain Dynamics Associated with Audiovisual Integration and Deviance Detection.

PubMed

Tse, Chun-Yu; Gratton, Gabriele; Garnsey, Susan M; Novak, Michael A; Fabiani, Monica

2015-09-01

Information from different modalities is initially processed in different brain areas, yet real-world perception often requires the integration of multisensory signals into a single percept. An example is the McGurk effect, in which people viewing a speaker whose lip movements do not match the utterance perceive the spoken sounds incorrectly, hearing them as more similar to those signaled by the visual rather than the auditory input. This indicates that audiovisual integration is important for generating the phoneme percept. Here we asked when and where the audiovisual integration process occurs, providing spatial and temporal boundaries for the processes generating phoneme perception. Specifically, we wanted to separate audiovisual integration from other processes, such as simple deviance detection. Building on previous work employing ERPs, we used an oddball paradigm in which task-irrelevant audiovisually deviant stimuli were embedded in strings of non-deviant stimuli. We also recorded the event-related optical signal, an imaging method combining spatial and temporal resolution, to investigate the time course and neuroanatomical substrate of audiovisual integration. We found that audiovisual deviants elicit a short duration response in the middle/superior temporal gyrus, whereas audiovisual integration elicits a more extended response involving also inferior frontal and occipital regions. Interactions between audiovisual integration and deviance detection processes were observed in the posterior/superior temporal gyrus. These data suggest that dynamic interactions between inferior frontal cortex and sensory regions play a significant role in multimodal integration.

Deviance-Related Responses along the Auditory Hierarchy: Combined FFR, MLR and MMN Evidence.

PubMed

Shiga, Tetsuya; Althen, Heike; Cornella, Miriam; Zarnowiec, Katarzyna; Yabe, Hirooki; Escera, Carles

2015-01-01

The mismatch negativity (MMN) provides a correlate of automatic auditory discrimination in human auditory cortex that is elicited in response to violation of any acoustic regularity. Recently, deviance-related responses were found at much earlier cortical processing stages as reflected by the middle latency response (MLR) of the auditory evoked potential, and even at the level of the auditory brainstem as reflected by the frequency following response (FFR). However, no study has reported deviance-related responses in the FFR, MLR and long latency response (LLR) concurrently in a single recording protocol. Amplitude-modulated (AM) sounds were presented to healthy human participants in a frequency oddball paradigm to investigate deviance-related responses along the auditory hierarchy in the ranges of FFR, MLR and LLR. AM frequency deviants modulated the FFR, the Na and Nb components of the MLR, and the LLR eliciting the MMN. These findings demonstrate that it is possible to elicit deviance-related responses at three different levels (FFR, MLR and LLR) in one single recording protocol, highlight the involvement of the whole auditory hierarchy in deviance detection and have implications for cognitive and clinical auditory neuroscience. Moreover, the present protocol provides a new research tool into clinical neuroscience so that the functional integrity of the auditory novelty system can now be tested as a whole in a range of clinical populations where the MMN was previously shown to be defective.

Deviance-Related Responses along the Auditory Hierarchy: Combined FFR, MLR and MMN Evidence

PubMed Central

Shiga, Tetsuya; Althen, Heike; Cornella, Miriam; Zarnowiec, Katarzyna; Yabe, Hirooki; Escera, Carles

2015-01-01

The mismatch negativity (MMN) provides a correlate of automatic auditory discrimination in human auditory cortex that is elicited in response to violation of any acoustic regularity. Recently, deviance-related responses were found at much earlier cortical processing stages as reflected by the middle latency response (MLR) of the auditory evoked potential, and even at the level of the auditory brainstem as reflected by the frequency following response (FFR). However, no study has reported deviance-related responses in the FFR, MLR and long latency response (LLR) concurrently in a single recording protocol. Amplitude-modulated (AM) sounds were presented to healthy human participants in a frequency oddball paradigm to investigate deviance-related responses along the auditory hierarchy in the ranges of FFR, MLR and LLR. AM frequency deviants modulated the FFR, the Na and Nb components of the MLR, and the LLR eliciting the MMN. These findings demonstrate that it is possible to elicit deviance-related responses at three different levels (FFR, MLR and LLR) in one single recording protocol, highlight the involvement of the whole auditory hierarchy in deviance detection and have implications for cognitive and clinical auditory neuroscience. Moreover, the present protocol provides a new research tool into clinical neuroscience so that the functional integrity of the auditory novelty system can now be tested as a whole in a range of clinical populations where the MMN was previously shown to be defective. PMID:26348628

Unpredicted Pitch Modulates Beta Oscillatory Power during Rhythmic Entrainment to a Tone Sequence.

PubMed

Chang, Andrew; Bosnyak, Dan J; Trainor, Laurel J

2016-01-01

Extracting temporal regularities in external stimuli in order to predict upcoming events is an essential aspect of perception. Fluctuations in induced power of beta band (15-25 Hz) oscillations in auditory cortex are involved in predictive timing during rhythmic entrainment, but whether such fluctuations are affected by prediction in the spectral (frequency/pitch) domain remains unclear. We tested whether unpredicted (i.e., unexpected) pitches in a rhythmic tone sequence modulate beta band activity by recording EEG while participants passively listened to isochronous auditory oddball sequences with occasional unpredicted deviant pitches at two different presentation rates. The results showed that the power in low-beta (15-20 Hz) was larger around 200-300 ms following deviant tones compared to standard tones, and this effect was larger when the deviant tones were less predicted. Our results suggest that the induced beta power activities in auditory cortex are consistent with a role in sensory prediction of both "when" (timing) upcoming sounds will occur as well as the prediction precision error of "what" (spectral content in this case). We suggest, further, that both timing and content predictions may co-modulate beta oscillations via attention. These findings extend earlier work on neural oscillations by investigating the functional significance of beta oscillations for sensory prediction. The findings help elucidate the functional significance of beta oscillations in perception.

Unpredicted Pitch Modulates Beta Oscillatory Power during Rhythmic Entrainment to a Tone Sequence

PubMed Central

Chang, Andrew; Bosnyak, Dan J.; Trainor, Laurel J.

2016-01-01

Extracting temporal regularities in external stimuli in order to predict upcoming events is an essential aspect of perception. Fluctuations in induced power of beta band (15–25 Hz) oscillations in auditory cortex are involved in predictive timing during rhythmic entrainment, but whether such fluctuations are affected by prediction in the spectral (frequency/pitch) domain remains unclear. We tested whether unpredicted (i.e., unexpected) pitches in a rhythmic tone sequence modulate beta band activity by recording EEG while participants passively listened to isochronous auditory oddball sequences with occasional unpredicted deviant pitches at two different presentation rates. The results showed that the power in low-beta (15–20 Hz) was larger around 200–300 ms following deviant tones compared to standard tones, and this effect was larger when the deviant tones were less predicted. Our results suggest that the induced beta power activities in auditory cortex are consistent with a role in sensory prediction of both “when” (timing) upcoming sounds will occur as well as the prediction precision error of “what” (spectral content in this case). We suggest, further, that both timing and content predictions may co-modulate beta oscillations via attention. These findings extend earlier work on neural oscillations by investigating the functional significance of beta oscillations for sensory prediction. The findings help elucidate the functional significance of beta oscillations in perception. PMID:27014138

Maturation of cortical mismatch responses to occasional pitch change in early infancy: effects of presentation rate and magnitude of change.

PubMed

He, Chao; Hotson, Lisa; Trainor, Laurel J

2009-01-01

Previous studies have reported two types of event-related potential (ERP) mismatch responses in infants to infrequent auditory changes: a broad discriminative positivity in younger infants and a negativity resembling adult mismatch negativity (MMN) in older infants. In the present study, we investigated whether the positive discriminative slow wave and the adult-like MMN are functionally distinct by examining how they are affected by presentation rate and magnitude of change. We measured ERPs from adults, 2-month-olds, and 4-month-olds to a repeating piano tone (standard) that occasionally changed in pitch (deviant). The pitch changes between standards and deviants were either small (1/12 octave) or large (1/2 octave) in magnitude, and the stimulus presentation rate was either slow (800 ms SOA) or fast (400 ms SOA). As the presentation rate increased, both adults and 4-month-olds showed an MMN response that decreased in latency, but was unaffected in amplitude. As the magnitude of the pitch change increased, MMN increased in amplitude. On the other hand, only a broad positive mismatch response was seen in 2-month-olds. As the presentation rate increased, 2-month-olds' responses to standard tones decreased in amplitude while their responses to deviant tones were unaffected. The magnitude of the pitch change did not affect 2-month-olds' responses. These results suggest that pitch is processed differently in auditory cortex by 2-month-olds and 4-month-olds, and that a cortical change-detection mechanism for pitch discrimination similar to that of adults emerges between 2 and 4 months of age.

Chronic effects of cannabis use on the auditory mismatch negativity.

PubMed

Greenwood, Lisa-Marie; Broyd, Samantha J; Croft, Rodney; Todd, Juanita; Michie, Patricia T; Johnstone, Stuart; Murray, Robin; Solowij, Nadia

2014-03-15

Cannabis use is associated with the development of psychotic symptoms and increased risk for schizophrenia. The mismatch negativity (MMN) is a brain event-related potential marker of change detection thought to index glutamatergic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor-mediated neurotransmission, which is known to be deficient in schizophrenia. This study examined auditory MMN in otherwise healthy chronic cannabis users compared with nonuser control subjects. Forty-two chronic cannabis users and 44 nonuser healthy control subjects completed a multi-feature MMN paradigm, which included duration, frequency, and intensity deviants (deviants 6%; standards 82%). The MMN was compared between users and control subjects as well as between long- and short-term users and age- and gender-matched control subjects. Associations between MMN, cannabis use measures, and symptoms were examined. The MMN amplitude was significantly reduced to frequency but not duration or intensity deviants in overall cannabis users relative to control subjects. Frequency MMN was similarly attenuated in short- and long-term users relative to control subjects. Long-term users also exhibited reduced duration MMN relative to control subjects and short-term users and this was correlated with increased duration of exposure to cannabis and increased psychotic-like experiences during intoxication. In short-term users, a younger age of onset of regular cannabis use and greater frequency of use were associated with greater psychotic-like experiences and symptomatic distress. These results suggest impaired sensory memory that might reflect N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor dysfunction in chronic cannabis users. The pattern of MMN alterations in cannabis users differed from that typically observed in patients with schizophrenia, indicating overlapping but distinct underlying pathology. Copyright © 2014 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Importance of the left auditory areas in chord discrimination in music experts as demonstrated by MEG.

PubMed

Tervaniemi, Mari; Sannemann, Christian; Noyranen, Maiju; Salonen, Johanna; Pihko, Elina

2011-08-01

The brain basis behind musical competence in its various forms is not yet known. To determine the pattern of hemispheric lateralization during sound-change discrimination, we recorded the magnetic counterpart of the electrical mismatch negativity (MMNm) responses in professional musicians, musical participants (with high scores in the musicality tests but without professional training in music) and non-musicians. While watching a silenced video, they were presented with short sounds with frequency and duration deviants and C major chords with C minor chords as deviants. MMNm to chord deviants was stronger in both musicians and musical participants than in non-musicians, particularly in their left hemisphere. No group differences were obtained in the MMNm strength in the right hemisphere in any of the conditions or in the left hemisphere in the case of frequency or duration deviants. Thus, in addition to professional training in music, musical aptitude (combined with lower-level musical training) is also reflected in brain functioning related to sound discrimination. The present magnetoencephalographic evidence therefore indicates that the sound discrimination abilities may be differentially distributed in the brain in musically competent and naïve participants, especially in a musical context established by chord stimuli: the higher forms of musical competence engage both auditory cortices in an integrative manner. © 2011 The Authors. European Journal of Neuroscience © 2011 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Decoding power-spectral profiles from FMRI brain activities during naturalistic auditory experience.

PubMed

Hu, Xintao; Guo, Lei; Han, Junwei; Liu, Tianming

2017-02-01

Recent studies have demonstrated a close relationship between computational acoustic features and neural brain activities, and have largely advanced our understanding of auditory information processing in the human brain. Along this line, we proposed a multidisciplinary study to examine whether power spectral density (PSD) profiles can be decoded from brain activities during naturalistic auditory experience. The study was performed on a high resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) dataset acquired when participants freely listened to the audio-description of the movie "Forrest Gump". Representative PSD profiles existing in the audio-movie were identified by clustering the audio samples according to their PSD descriptors. Support vector machine (SVM) classifiers were trained to differentiate the representative PSD profiles using corresponding fMRI brain activities. Based on PSD profile decoding, we explored how the neural decodability correlated to power intensity and frequency deviants. Our experimental results demonstrated that PSD profiles can be reliably decoded from brain activities. We also suggested a sigmoidal relationship between the neural decodability and power intensity deviants of PSD profiles. Our study in addition substantiates the feasibility and advantage of naturalistic paradigm for studying neural encoding of complex auditory information.

Preventing distraction: Assessing stimulus-specific and general effects of the predictive cueing of deviant auditory events

PubMed Central

Horváth, János; Sussman, Elyse; Winkler, István; Schröger, Erich

2011-01-01

Rare irregular sounds (deviants) embedded into a regular sound sequence have large potential to draw attention to themselves (distraction). It has been previously shown that distraction, as manifested by behavioral response delay, and the P3a and reorienting negativity (RON) event-related potentials, could be reduced when the forthcoming deviant was signaled by visual cues preceding the sounds. In the present study, we investigated the type of information used in the prevention of distraction by manipulating the information content of the visual cues preceding the sounds. Cues could signal the specific variant of the forthcoming deviant, or they could just signal that the next tone was a deviant. We found that stimulus-specific cue information was used in reducing distraction. The results also suggest that early P3a and RON index processes related to the specific deviating stimulus feature, whereas late P3a reflects a general distraction-related process. PMID:21310210

Fast vigilance decrement in closed head injury patients as reflected by the mismatch negativity (MMN).

PubMed

Kaipio, M L; Novitski, N; Tervaniemi, M; Alho, K; Ohman, J; Salonen, O; Näätänen, R

2001-05-25

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured from 24 chronic closed head injury (CHI) patients and 18 age- and education-matched controls. The oddball paradigm was applied while subjects were watching a silent movie. The standard (p=0.8) sound of 75 ms duration had a basic frequency of 500 Hz with harmonic partials of 1000 Hz and 1500 Hz, whereas these frequencies for the pitch deviant were each 10% higher. The frequencies of the duration deviant matched with those of the standard but was 25 ms in duration. The MMN (mismatch negativity), generated by the brain's automatic auditory change-detector mechanism, was elicited by both deviants. No significant differences in the MMN latency or amplitude for either pitch or duration deviants were found between the groups. However, the MMN amplitude for the pitch deviant decreased in the patient group during the experiment considerably faster than in controls, suggesting a faster vigilance decrement in the patients.

Sensorimotor learning in children and adults: Exposure to frequency-altered auditory feedback during speech production.

PubMed

Scheerer, N E; Jacobson, D S; Jones, J A

2016-02-09

Auditory feedback plays an important role in the acquisition of fluent speech; however, this role may change once speech is acquired and individuals no longer experience persistent developmental changes to the brain and vocal tract. For this reason, we investigated whether the role of auditory feedback in sensorimotor learning differs across children and adult speakers. Participants produced vocalizations while they heard their vocal pitch predictably or unpredictably shifted downward one semitone. The participants' vocal pitches were measured at the beginning of each vocalization, before auditory feedback was available, to assess the extent to which the deviant auditory feedback modified subsequent speech motor commands. Sensorimotor learning was observed in both children and adults, with participants' initial vocal pitch increasing following trials where they were exposed to predictable, but not unpredictable, frequency-altered feedback. Participants' vocal pitch was also measured across each vocalization, to index the extent to which the deviant auditory feedback was used to modify ongoing vocalizations. While both children and adults were found to increase their vocal pitch following predictable and unpredictable changes to their auditory feedback, adults produced larger compensatory responses. The results of the current study demonstrate that both children and adults rapidly integrate information derived from their auditory feedback to modify subsequent speech motor commands. However, these results also demonstrate that children and adults differ in their ability to use auditory feedback to generate compensatory vocal responses during ongoing vocalization. Since vocal variability also differed across the children and adult groups, these results also suggest that compensatory vocal responses to frequency-altered feedback manipulations initiated at vocalization onset may be modulated by vocal variability. Copyright © 2015 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The relationship between mismatch response and the acoustic change complex in normal hearing infants.

PubMed

Uhler, Kristin M; Hunter, Sharon K; Tierney, Elyse; Gilley, Phillip M

2018-06-01

To examine the utility of the mismatch response (MMR) and acoustic change complex (ACC) for assessing speech discrimination in infants. Continuous EEG was recorded during sleep from 48 (24 male, 20 female) normally hearing aged 1.77 to -4.57 months in response to two auditory discrimination tasks. ACC was recorded in response to a three-vowel sequence (/i/-/a/-/i/). MMR was recorded in response to a standard vowel, /a/, (probability 85%), and to a deviant vowel, /i/, (probability of 15%). A priori comparisons included: age, sex, and sleep state. These were conducted separately for each of the three bandpass filter settings were compared (1-18, 1-30, and 1-40 Hz). A priori tests revealed no differences in MMR or ACC for age, sex, or sleep state for any of the three filter settings. ACC and MMR responses were prominently observed in all 44 sleeping infants (data from four infants were excluded). Significant differences observed for ACC were to the onset and offset of stimuli. However, neither group nor individual differences were observed to changes in speech stimuli in the ACC. MMR revealed two prominent peaks occurring at the stimulus onset and at the stimulus offset. Permutation t-tests revealed significant differences between the standard and deviant stimuli for both the onset and offset MMR peaks (p < 0.01). The 1-18 Hz filter setting revealed significant differences for all participants in the MMR paradigm. Both ACC and MMR responses were observed to auditory stimulation suggesting that infants perceive and process speech information even during sleep. Significant differences between the standard and deviant responses were observed in the MMR, but not ACC paradigm. These findings suggest that the MMR is sensitive to detecting auditory/speech discrimination processing. This paper identified that MMR can be used to identify discrimination in normal hearing infants. This suggests that MMR has potential for use in infants with hearing loss to validate hearing aid fittings. Copyright © 2018 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mismatch negativity (MMN) reveals inefficient auditory ventral stream function in chronic auditory comprehension impairments.

PubMed

Robson, Holly; Cloutman, Lauren; Keidel, James L; Sage, Karen; Drakesmith, Mark; Welbourne, Stephen

2014-10-01

Auditory discrimination is significantly impaired in Wernicke's aphasia (WA) and thought to be causatively related to the language comprehension impairment which characterises the condition. This study used mismatch negativity (MMN) to investigate the neural responses corresponding to successful and impaired auditory discrimination in WA. Behavioural auditory discrimination thresholds of consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) syllables and pure tones (PTs) were measured in WA (n = 7) and control (n = 7) participants. Threshold results were used to develop multiple deviant MMN oddball paradigms containing deviants which were either perceptibly or non-perceptibly different from the standard stimuli. MMN analysis investigated differences associated with group, condition and perceptibility as well as the relationship between MMN responses and comprehension (within which behavioural auditory discrimination profiles were examined). MMN waveforms were observable to both perceptible and non-perceptible auditory changes. Perceptibility was only distinguished by MMN amplitude in the PT condition. The WA group could be distinguished from controls by an increase in MMN response latency to CVC stimuli change. Correlation analyses displayed a relationship between behavioural CVC discrimination and MMN amplitude in the control group, where greater amplitude corresponded to better discrimination. The WA group displayed the inverse effect; both discrimination accuracy and auditory comprehension scores were reduced with increased MMN amplitude. In the WA group, a further correlation was observed between the lateralisation of MMN response and CVC discrimination accuracy; the greater the bilateral involvement the better the discrimination accuracy. The results from this study provide further evidence for the nature of auditory comprehension impairment in WA and indicate that the auditory discrimination deficit is grounded in a reduced ability to engage in efficient hierarchical processing and the construction of invariant auditory objects. Correlation results suggest that people with chronic WA may rely on an inefficient, noisy right hemisphere auditory stream when attempting to process speech stimuli.

Sensory Intelligence for Extraction of an Abstract Auditory Rule: A Cross-Linguistic Study.

PubMed

Guo, Xiao-Tao; Wang, Xiao-Dong; Liang, Xiu-Yuan; Wang, Ming; Chen, Lin

2018-02-21

In a complex linguistic environment, while speech sounds can greatly vary, some shared features are often invariant. These invariant features constitute so-called abstract auditory rules. Our previous study has shown that with auditory sensory intelligence, the human brain can automatically extract the abstract auditory rules in the speech sound stream, presumably serving as the neural basis for speech comprehension. However, whether the sensory intelligence for extraction of abstract auditory rules in speech is inherent or experience-dependent remains unclear. To address this issue, we constructed a complex speech sound stream using auditory materials in Mandarin Chinese, in which syllables had a flat lexical tone but differed in other acoustic features to form an abstract auditory rule. This rule was occasionally and randomly violated by the syllables with the rising, dipping or falling tone. We found that both Chinese and foreign speakers detected the violations of the abstract auditory rule in the speech sound stream at a pre-attentive stage, as revealed by the whole-head recordings of mismatch negativity (MMN) in a passive paradigm. However, MMNs peaked earlier in Chinese speakers than in foreign speakers. Furthermore, Chinese speakers showed different MMN peak latencies for the three deviant types, which paralleled recognition points. These findings indicate that the sensory intelligence for extraction of abstract auditory rules in speech sounds is innate but shaped by language experience. Copyright © 2018 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Aberrant Processing of Deviant Stimuli in Schizophrenia Revealed by Fusion of FMRI and EEG Data

PubMed Central

Calhoun, VD; Wu, L; Kiehl, KA; Eichele, T; Pearlson, GD

2010-01-01

Background Aberrant electrophysiological and hemodynamic processing of auditory oddball stimuli is among the most robustly documented findings in patients with schizophrenia. However, no study to date has directly examined linked patterns of electrical and hemodynamic differences in patients and controls. Methods In a recent paper we demonstrated a data-driven approach, joint independent component analysis (jICA) to fuse together functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and event-related potential (ERP) data and elucidated the chronometry of auditory oddball target detection in healthy control subjects. In this paper we extend our fusion method to identify specific differences in the neuronal chronometry of target detection for chronic schizophrenia patients compared to healthy controls. Results We found one linked source, consistent with the N2 response, known to be related to cognitive processing of deviant stimuli, spatially localized to bilateral fronto-temporal regions. This source showed significant between-group differences both in amplitude response and in the fMRI/ERP distribution pattern. These findings are consistent with previous work showing N2 amplitude and latency abnormalities in schizophrenia, and provide new information about the linkage between the two. Conclusions In summary, we use a novel approach to isolate and identify a linked fMRI/ERP component which shows marked differences in chronic schizophrenia patients. We also demonstrate that jointly using both fMRI and ERP measures provides a fully picture of the underlying hemodynamic and electrical changes which are present in patients. Our approach also has broad applicability to other diseases such as autism, Alzheimer’s disease, or bipolar disorder. PMID:21331320

Human Pupillary Dilation Response to Deviant Auditory Stimuli: Effects of Stimulus Properties and Voluntary Attention

PubMed Central

Liao, Hsin-I; Yoneya, Makoto; Kidani, Shunsuke; Kashino, Makio; Furukawa, Shigeto

2016-01-01

A unique sound that deviates from a repetitive background sound induces signature neural responses, such as mismatch negativity and novelty P3 response in electro-encephalography studies. Here we show that a deviant auditory stimulus induces a human pupillary dilation response (PDR) that is sensitive to the stimulus properties and irrespective whether attention is directed to the sounds or not. In an auditory oddball sequence, we used white noise and 2000-Hz tones as oddballs against repeated 1000-Hz tones. Participants' pupillary responses were recorded while they listened to the auditory oddball sequence. In Experiment 1, they were not involved in any task. Results show that pupils dilated to the noise oddballs for approximately 4 s, but no such PDR was found for the 2000-Hz tone oddballs. In Experiments 2, two types of visual oddballs were presented synchronously with the auditory oddballs. Participants discriminated the auditory or visual oddballs while trying to ignore stimuli from the other modality. The purpose of this manipulation was to direct attention to or away from the auditory sequence. In Experiment 3, the visual oddballs and the auditory oddballs were always presented asynchronously to prevent residuals of attention on to-be-ignored oddballs due to the concurrence with the attended oddballs. Results show that pupils dilated to both the noise and 2000-Hz tone oddballs in all conditions. Most importantly, PDRs to noise were larger than those to the 2000-Hz tone oddballs regardless of the attention condition in both experiments. The overall results suggest that the stimulus-dependent factor of the PDR appears to be independent of attention. PMID:26924959

Atypical mismatch negativity to distressful voices associated with conduct disorder symptoms.

PubMed

Hung, An-Yi; Ahveninen, Jyrki; Cheng, Yawei

2013-09-01

Although a general consensus holds that emotional reactivity in youth with conduct disorder (CD) symptoms arises as one of the main causes of successive aggression, it remains to be determined whether automatic emotional processing is altered in this population. We measured auditory event-related potentials (ERP) in 20 young offenders and 20 controls, screened for DSM-IV criteria of CD and evaluated using the youth version of Hare Psychopathy Checklist (PCL:YV), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and Barrett Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11). In an oddball design, sadly or fearfully spoken 'deviant' syllables were randomly presented within a train of emotionally neutral 'standard' syllables. In young offenders meeting with CD criteria, the ERP component mismatch negativity (MMN), presumed to reflect preattentive auditory change detection, was significantly stronger for fearful than sad syllables. No MMN differences for fearful versus sad syllables were observed in controls. Analyses of nonvocal deviants, matched spectrally with the fearful and sad sounds, supported our interpretation that the MMN abnormalities in juvenile offenders were related to the emotional content of sounds, instead of purely acoustic factors. Further, in the young offenders with CD symptoms, strong MMN amplitudes to fearful syllables were associated with high impulsive tendencies (PCL:YV, Factor 2). Higher trait and state anxiety, assessed by STAI, were positively correlated with P3a amplitudes to fearful and sad syllables, respectively. The differences in group-interaction MMN/P3a patterns to emotional syllables and nonvocal sounds could be speculated to suggest that there is a distinct processing route for preattentive processing of species-specific emotional information in human auditory cortices. Our results suggest that youths with CD symptoms may process distressful voices in an atypical fashion already at the preattentive level. This auditory processing abnormality correlated with increased impulsivity and anxiety. Our results may help to shed light on the neural mechanisms of aggression. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry © 2013 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Stimulus-specific adaptation in a recurrent network model of primary auditory cortex

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Stimulus-specific adaptation (SSA) occurs when neurons decrease their responses to frequently-presented (standard) stimuli but not, or not as much, to other, rare (deviant) stimuli. SSA is present in all mammalian species in which it has been tested as well as in birds. SSA confers short-term memory to neuronal responses, and may lie upstream of the generation of mismatch negativity (MMN), an important human event-related potential. Previously published models of SSA mostly rely on synaptic depression of the feedforward, thalamocortical input. Here we study SSA in a recurrent neural network model of primary auditory cortex. When the recurrent, intracortical synapses display synaptic depression, the network generates population spikes (PSs). SSA occurs in this network when deviants elicit a PS but standards do not, and we demarcate the regions in parameter space that allow SSA. While SSA based on PSs does not require feedforward depression, we identify feedforward depression as a mechanism for expanding the range of parameters that support SSA. We provide predictions for experiments that could help differentiate between SSA due to synaptic depression of feedforward connections and SSA due to synaptic depression of recurrent connections. Similar to experimental data, the magnitude of SSA in the model depends on the frequency difference between deviant and standard, probability of the deviant, inter-stimulus interval and input amplitude. In contrast to models based on feedforward depression, our model shows true deviance sensitivity as found in experiments. PMID:28288158

A prediction of templates in the auditory cortex system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghanbeigi, Kimia

In this study variation of human auditory evoked mismatch field amplitudes in response to complex tones as a function of the removal in single partials in the onset period was investigated. It was determined: 1-A single frequency elimination in a sound stimulus plays a significant role in human brain sound recognition. 2-By comparing the mismatches of the brain response due to a single frequency elimination in the "Starting Transient" and "Sustain Part" of the sound stimulus, it is found that the brain is more sensitive to frequency elimination in the Starting Transient. This study involves 4 healthy subjects with normal hearing. Neural activity was recorded with stimulus whole-head MEG. Verification of spatial location in the auditory cortex was determined by comparing with MRI images. In the first set of stimuli, repetitive ('standard') tones with five selected onset frequencies were randomly embedded in the string of rare ('deviant') tones with randomly varying inter stimulus intervals. In the deviant tones one of the frequency components was omitted relative to the deviant tones during the onset period. The frequency of the test partial of the complex tone was intentionally selected to preclude its reinsertion by generation of harmonics or combination tones due to either the nonlinearity of the ear, the electronic equipment or the brain processing. In the second set of stimuli, time structured as above, repetitive ('standard') tones with five selected sustained frequency components were embedded in the string of rare '(deviant') tones for which one of these selected frequencies was omitted in the sustained tone. In both measurements, the carefully frequency selection precluded their reinsertion by generation of harmonics or combination tones due to the nonlinearity of the ear, the electronic equipment and brain processing. The same considerations for selecting the test frequency partial were applied. Results. By comparing MMN of the two data sets, the relative contribution to sound recognition of the omitted partial frequency components in the onset and sustained regions has been determined. Conclusion. The presence of significant mismatch negativity, due to neural activity of auditory cortex, emphasizes that the brain recognizes the elimination of a single frequency of carefully chosen anharmonic frequencies. It was shown this mismatch is more significant if the single frequency elimination occurs in the onset period.

Finding the missing stimulus mismatch negativity (MMN): Emitted MMN to violations of an auditory gestalt

PubMed Central

Salisbury, Dean F

2011-01-01

Deviations from repetitive auditory stimuli evoke a mismatch negativity (MMN). Counter-intuitively, omissions of repetitive stimuli do not. Violations of patterns reflecting complex rules also evoke MMN. To detect a MMN to missing stimuli, we developed an auditory gestalt task using one stimulus. Groups of 6 pips (50 msec duration, 330 msec stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA), 400 trials), were presented with an inter-trial interval (ITI) of 750 msec while subjects (n=16) watched a silent video. Occasional deviant groups had missing 4th or 6th tones (50 trials each). Missing stimuli evoked a MMN (p<.05). The missing 4th (−0.8 uV, p <.01) and the missing 6th stimuli (−1.1 uV, p <.05) were more negative than standard 6th stimuli (0.3 uV). MMN can be elicited by a missing stimulus at long SOAs by violation of a gestalt grouping rule. Homogenous stimulus streams appear to differ in the relative weighting of omissions than strongly patterned streams. PMID:22221004

Changes in acoustic features and their conjunctions are processed by separate neuronal populations.

PubMed

Takegata, R; Huotilainen, M; Rinne, T; Näätänen, R; Winkler, I

2001-03-05

We investigated the relationship between the neuronal populations involved in detecting change in two acoustic features and their conjunction. Equivalent current dipole (ECD) models of the magnetic mismatch negativity (MMNm) generators were calculated for infrequent changes in pitch, perceived sound source location, and the conjunction of these two features. All of these three changes elicited MMNms that were generated in the vicinity of auditory cortex. The location of the ECD best describing the MMNm to the conjunction deviant was anterior to those for the MMNm responses elicited by either one of the constituent features. The present data thus suggest that at least partially separate neuronal populations are involved in detecting change in acoustic features and feature conjunctions.

Early indices of deviance detection in humans and animal models.

PubMed

Grimm, Sabine; Escera, Carles; Nelken, Israel

2016-04-01

Detecting unexpected stimuli in the environment is a critical function of the auditory system. Responses to unexpected "deviant" sounds are enhanced compared to responses to expected stimuli. At the human scalp, deviance detection is reflected in the mismatch negativity (MMN) and in an enhancement of the middle-latency response (MLR). Single neurons often respond more strongly to a stimulus when rare than when common, a phenomenon termed stimulus-specific adaptation (SSA). Here we compare stimulus-specific adaptation with scalp-recorded deviance-related responses. We conclude that early markers of deviance detection in the time range of the MLR could be a direct correlate of cortical SSA. Both occur at an early level of cortical activation, both are robust findings with low-probability stimuli, and both show properties of genuine deviance detection. Their causal relation with the later scalp-recorded MMN is a key question in this field. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Is laughter a better vocal change detector than a growl?

PubMed

Pinheiro, Ana P; Barros, Carla; Vasconcelos, Margarida; Obermeier, Christian; Kotz, Sonja A

2017-07-01

The capacity to predict what should happen next and to minimize any discrepancy between an expected and an actual sensory input (prediction error) is a central aspect of perception. Particularly in vocal communication, the effective prediction of an auditory input that informs the listener about the emotionality of a speaker is critical. What is currently unknown is how the perceived valence of an emotional vocalization affects the capacity to predict and detect a change in the auditory input. This question was probed in a combined event-related potential (ERP) and time-frequency analysis approach. Specifically, we examined the brain response to standards (Repetition Positivity) and to deviants (Mismatch Negativity - MMN), as well as the anticipatory response to the vocal sounds (pre-stimulus beta oscillatory power). Short neutral, happy (laughter), and angry (growls) vocalizations were presented both as standard and deviant stimuli in a passive oddball listening task while participants watched a silent movie and were instructed to ignore the vocalizations. MMN amplitude was increased for happy compared to neutral and angry vocalizations. The Repetition Positivity was enhanced for happy standard vocalizations. Induced pre-stimulus upper beta power was increased for happy vocalizations, and predicted the modulation of the standard Repetition Positivity. These findings indicate enhanced sensory prediction for positive vocalizations such as laughter. Together, the results suggest that positive vocalizations are more effective predictors in social communication than angry and neutral ones, possibly due to their high social significance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of attention on the neural processing of harmonic syntax in Western music.

PubMed

Loui, Psyche; Grent-'t-Jong, Tineke; Torpey, Dana; Woldorff, Marty

2005-12-01

The effects of selective attention on the neural response to the violation of musical syntax were investigated in the present study. Musical chord progressions were played to nonmusicians while Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) were recorded. The five-chord progressions included 61% harmonically expected cadences (I-I(6)-IV-V-I), 26% harmonically unexpected cadences (I-I(6)-IV-V-N(6)), and 13% with one of the five chords having an intensity fadeout across its duration. During the attended condition, subjects responded by pressing a button upon detecting a fadeout in volume; during the unattended condition, subjects were given reading comprehension materials and instructed to ignore all auditory stimuli. In response to the harmonic deviant, an Early Anterior Negativity (EAN) was observed at 150-300 ms in both attention conditions, but it was much larger in amplitude in the attended condition. A second scalp-negative deflection was also identified at 380-600 ms following the harmonic deviants; this Late Negativity onset earlier during the attended condition. These results suggest strong effects of attention on the neural processing of harmonic syntax.

Dysfunctional information processing during an auditory event-related potential task in individuals with Internet gaming disorder

PubMed Central

Park, M; Choi, J-S; Park, S M; Lee, J-Y; Jung, H Y; Sohn, B K; Kim, S N; Kim, D J; Kwon, J S

2016-01-01

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) leading to serious impairments in cognitive, psychological and social functions has gradually been increasing. However, very few studies conducted to date have addressed issues related to the event-related potential (ERP) patterns in IGD. Identifying the neurobiological characteristics of IGD is important to elucidate the pathophysiology of this condition. P300 is a useful ERP component for investigating electrophysiological features of the brain. The aims of the present study were to investigate differences between patients with IGD and healthy controls (HCs), with regard to the P300 component of the ERP during an auditory oddball task, and to examine the relationship of this component to the severity of IGD symptoms in identifying the relevant neurophysiological features of IGD. Twenty-six patients diagnosed with IGD and 23 age-, sex-, education- and intelligence quotient-matched HCs participated in this study. During an auditory oddball task, participants had to respond to the rare, deviant tones presented in a sequence of frequent, standard tones. The IGD group exhibited a significant reduction in response to deviant tones compared with the HC group in the P300 amplitudes at the midline centro-parietal electrode regions. We also found a negative correlation between the severity of IGD and P300 amplitudes. The reduced amplitude of the P300 component in an auditory oddball task may reflect dysfunction in auditory information processing and cognitive capabilities in IGD. These findings suggest that reduced P300 amplitudes may be candidate neurobiological marker for IGD. PMID:26812042

Dysfunctional information processing during an auditory event-related potential task in individuals with Internet gaming disorder.

PubMed

Park, M; Choi, J-S; Park, S M; Lee, J-Y; Jung, H Y; Sohn, B K; Kim, S N; Kim, D J; Kwon, J S

2016-01-26

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) leading to serious impairments in cognitive, psychological and social functions has gradually been increasing. However, very few studies conducted to date have addressed issues related to the event-related potential (ERP) patterns in IGD. Identifying the neurobiological characteristics of IGD is important to elucidate the pathophysiology of this condition. P300 is a useful ERP component for investigating electrophysiological features of the brain. The aims of the present study were to investigate differences between patients with IGD and healthy controls (HCs), with regard to the P300 component of the ERP during an auditory oddball task, and to examine the relationship of this component to the severity of IGD symptoms in identifying the relevant neurophysiological features of IGD. Twenty-six patients diagnosed with IGD and 23 age-, sex-, education- and intelligence quotient-matched HCs participated in this study. During an auditory oddball task, participants had to respond to the rare, deviant tones presented in a sequence of frequent, standard tones. The IGD group exhibited a significant reduction in response to deviant tones compared with the HC group in the P300 amplitudes at the midline centro-parietal electrode regions. We also found a negative correlation between the severity of IGD and P300 amplitudes. The reduced amplitude of the P300 component in an auditory oddball task may reflect dysfunction in auditory information processing and cognitive capabilities in IGD. These findings suggest that reduced P300 amplitudes may be candidate neurobiological marker for IGD.

Cerebellum, temporal predictability and the updating of a mental model.

PubMed

Kotz, Sonja A; Stockert, Anika; Schwartze, Michael

2014-12-19

We live in a dynamic and changing environment, which necessitates that we adapt to and efficiently respond to changes of stimulus form ('what') and stimulus occurrence ('when'). Consequently, behaviour is optimal when we can anticipate both the 'what' and 'when' dimensions of a stimulus. For example, to perceive a temporally expected stimulus, a listener needs to establish a fairly precise internal representation of its external temporal structure, a function ascribed to classical sensorimotor areas such as the cerebellum. Here we investigated how patients with cerebellar lesions and healthy matched controls exploit temporal regularity during auditory deviance processing. We expected modulations of the N2b and P3b components of the event-related potential in response to deviant tones, and also a stronger P3b response when deviant tones are embedded in temporally regular compared to irregular tone sequences. We further tested to what degree structural damage to the cerebellar temporal processing system affects the N2b and P3b responses associated with voluntary attention to change detection and the predictive adaptation of a mental model of the environment, respectively. Results revealed that healthy controls and cerebellar patients display an increased N2b response to deviant tones independent of temporal context. However, while healthy controls showed the expected enhanced P3b response to deviant tones in temporally regular sequences, the P3b response in cerebellar patients was significantly smaller in these sequences. The current data provide evidence that structural damage to the cerebellum affects the predictive adaptation to the temporal structure of events and the updating of a mental model of the environment under voluntary attention. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Cerebellum, temporal predictability and the updating of a mental model

PubMed Central

Kotz, Sonja A.; Stockert, Anika; Schwartze, Michael

2014-01-01

We live in a dynamic and changing environment, which necessitates that we adapt to and efficiently respond to changes of stimulus form (‘what’) and stimulus occurrence (‘when’). Consequently, behaviour is optimal when we can anticipate both the ‘what’ and ‘when’ dimensions of a stimulus. For example, to perceive a temporally expected stimulus, a listener needs to establish a fairly precise internal representation of its external temporal structure, a function ascribed to classical sensorimotor areas such as the cerebellum. Here we investigated how patients with cerebellar lesions and healthy matched controls exploit temporal regularity during auditory deviance processing. We expected modulations of the N2b and P3b components of the event-related potential in response to deviant tones, and also a stronger P3b response when deviant tones are embedded in temporally regular compared to irregular tone sequences. We further tested to what degree structural damage to the cerebellar temporal processing system affects the N2b and P3b responses associated with voluntary attention to change detection and the predictive adaptation of a mental model of the environment, respectively. Results revealed that healthy controls and cerebellar patients display an increased N2b response to deviant tones independent of temporal context. However, while healthy controls showed the expected enhanced P3b response to deviant tones in temporally regular sequences, the P3b response in cerebellar patients was significantly smaller in these sequences. The current data provide evidence that structural damage to the cerebellum affects the predictive adaptation to the temporal structure of events and the updating of a mental model of the environment under voluntary attention. PMID:25385781

Electromagnetic correlates of musical expertise in processing of tone patterns.

PubMed

Kuchenbuch, Anja; Paraskevopoulos, Evangelos; Herholz, Sibylle C; Pantev, Christo

2012-01-01

Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we investigated the influence of long term musical training on the processing of partly imagined tone patterns (imagery condition) compared to the same perceived patterns (perceptual condition). The magnetic counterpart of the mismatch negativity (MMNm) was recorded and compared between musicians and non-musicians in order to assess the effect of musical training on the detection of deviants to tone patterns. The results indicated a clear MMNm in the perceptual condition as well as in a simple pitch oddball (control) condition in both groups. However, there was no significant mismatch response in either group in the imagery condition despite above chance behavioral performance in the task of detecting deviant tones. The latency and the laterality of the MMNm in the perceptual condition differed significantly between groups, with an earlier MMNm in musicians, especially in the left hemisphere. In contrast the MMNm amplitudes did not differ significantly between groups. The behavioral results revealed a clear effect of long-term musical training in both experimental conditions. The obtained results represent new evidence that the processing of tone patterns is faster and more strongly lateralized in musically trained subjects, which is consistent with other findings in different paradigms of enhanced auditory neural system functioning due to long-term musical training.

Preattentive extraction of abstract feature conjunctions from auditory stimulation as reflected by the mismatch negativity (MMN).

PubMed

Paavilainen, P; Simola, J; Jaramillo, M; Näätänen, R; Winkler, I

2001-03-01

Brain mechanisms extracting invariant information from varying auditory inputs were studied using the mismatch-negativity (MMN) brain response. We wished to determine whether the preattentive sound-analysis mechanisms, reflected by MMN, are capable of extracting invariant relationships based on abstract conjunctions between two sound features. The standard stimuli varied over a large range in frequency and intensity dimensions following the rule that the higher the frequency, the louder the intensity. The occasional deviant stimuli violated this frequency-intensity relationship and elicited an MMN. The results demonstrate that preattentive processing of auditory stimuli extends to unexpectedly complex relationships between the stimulus features.

Mismatch Negativity in Recent-Onset and Chronic Schizophrenia: A Current Source Density Analysis

PubMed Central

Fulham, W. Ross; Michie, Patricia T.; Ward, Philip B.; Rasser, Paul E.; Todd, Juanita; Johnston, Patrick J.; Thompson, Paul M.; Schall, Ulrich

2014-01-01

Mismatch negativity (MMN) is a component of the event-related potential elicited by deviant auditory stimuli. It is presumed to index pre-attentive monitoring of changes in the auditory environment. MMN amplitude is smaller in groups of individuals with schizophrenia compared to healthy controls. We compared duration-deviant MMN in 16 recent-onset and 19 chronic schizophrenia patients versus age- and sex-matched controls. Reduced frontal MMN was found in both patient groups, involved reduced hemispheric asymmetry, and was correlated with Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) and negative symptom ratings. A cortically-constrained LORETA analysis, incorporating anatomical data from each individual's MRI, was performed to generate a current source density model of the MMN response over time. This model suggested MMN generation within a temporal, parietal and frontal network, which was right hemisphere dominant only in controls. An exploratory analysis revealed reduced CSD in patients in superior and middle temporal cortex, inferior and superior parietal cortex, precuneus, anterior cingulate, and superior and middle frontal cortex. A region of interest (ROI) analysis was performed. For the early phase of the MMN, patients had reduced bilateral temporal and parietal response and no lateralisation in frontal ROIs. For late MMN, patients had reduced bilateral parietal response and no lateralisation in temporal ROIs. In patients, correlations revealed a link between GAF and the MMN response in parietal cortex. In controls, the frontal response onset was 17 ms later than the temporal and parietal response. In patients, onset latency of the MMN response was delayed in secondary, but not primary, auditory cortex. However amplitude reductions were observed in both primary and secondary auditory cortex. These latency delays may indicate relatively intact information processing upstream of the primary auditory cortex, but impaired primary auditory cortex or cortico-cortical or thalamo-cortical communication with higher auditory cortices as a core deficit in schizophrenia. PMID:24949859

Effect of EEG Referencing Methods on Auditory Mismatch Negativity

PubMed Central

Mahajan, Yatin; Peter, Varghese; Sharma, Mridula

2017-01-01

Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) have consistently been used in the investigation of auditory and cognitive processing in the research and clinical laboratories. There is currently no consensus on the choice of appropriate reference for auditory ERPs. The most commonly used references in auditory ERP research are the mathematically linked-mastoids (LM) and average referencing (AVG). Since LM and AVG referencing procedures do not solve the issue of electrically-neutral reference, Reference Electrode Standardization Technique (REST) was developed to create a neutral reference for EEG recordings. The aim of the current research is to compare the influence of the reference on amplitude and latency of auditory mismatch negativity (MMN) as a function of magnitude of frequency deviance across three commonly used electrode montages (16, 32, and 64-channel) using REST, LM, and AVG reference procedures. The current study was designed to determine if the three reference methods capture the variation in amplitude and latency of MMN with the deviance magnitude. We recorded MMN from 12 normal hearing young adults in an auditory oddball paradigm with 1,000 Hz pure tone as standard and 1,030, 1,100, and 1,200 Hz as small, medium and large frequency deviants, respectively. The EEG data recorded to these sounds was re-referenced using REST, LM, and AVG methods across 16-, 32-, and 64-channel EEG electrode montages. Results revealed that while the latency of MMN decreased with increment in frequency of deviant sounds, no effect of frequency deviance was present for amplitude of MMN. There was no effect of referencing procedure on the experimental effect tested. The amplitude of MMN was largest when the ERP was computed using LM referencing and the REST referencing produced the largest amplitude of MMN for 64-channel montage. There was no effect of electrode-montage on AVG referencing induced ERPs. Contrary to our predictions, the results suggest that the auditory MMN elicited as a function of increments in frequency deviance does not depend on the choice of referencing procedure. The results also suggest that auditory ERPs generated using REST referencing is contingent on the electrode arrays more than the AVG referencing. PMID:29066945

Effects of phonological contrast on auditory word discrimination in children with and without reading disability: A magnetoencephalography (MEG) study

PubMed Central

Wehner, Daniel T.; Ahlfors, Seppo P.; Mody, Maria

2007-01-01

Poor readers perform worse than their normal reading peers on a variety of speech perception tasks, which may be linked to their phonological processing abilities. The purpose of the study was to compare the brain activation patterns of normal and impaired readers on speech perception to better understand the phonological basis in reading disability. Whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) was recorded as good and poor readers, 7-13 years of age, performed an auditory word discrimination task. We used an auditory oddball paradigm in which the ‘deviant’ stimuli (/bat/, /kat/, /rat/) differed in the degree of phonological contrast (1 vs. 3 features) from a repeated standard word (/pat/). Both good and poor readers responded more slowly to deviants that were phonologically similar compared to deviants that were phonologically dissimilar to the standard word. Source analysis of the MEG data using Minimum Norm Estimation (MNE) showed that compared to good readers, poor readers had reduced left-hemisphere activation to the most demanding phonological condition reflecting their difficulties with phonological processing. Furthermore, unlike good readers, poor readers did not show differences in activation as a function of the degree of phonological contrast. These results are consistent with a phonological account of reading disability. PMID:17675109

Multitasking: Effects of processing multiple auditory feature patterns

PubMed Central

Miller, Tova; Chen, Sufen; Lee, Wei Wei; Sussman, Elyse S.

2016-01-01

ERPs and behavioral responses were measured to assess how task-irrelevant sounds interact with task processing demands and affect the ability to monitor and track multiple sound events. Participants listened to four-tone sequential frequency patterns, and responded to frequency pattern deviants (reversals of the pattern). Irrelevant tone feature patterns (duration and intensity) and respective pattern deviants were presented together with frequency patterns and frequency pattern deviants in separate conditions. Responses to task-relevant and task-irrelevant feature pattern deviants were used to test processing demands for irrelevant sound input. Behavioral performance was significantly better when there were no distracting feature patterns. Errors primarily occurred in response to the to-be-ignored feature pattern deviants. Task-irrelevant elicitation of ERP components was consistent with the error analysis, indicating a level of processing for the irrelevant features. Task-relevant elicitation of ERP components was consistent with behavioral performance, demonstrating a “cost” of performance when there were two feature patterns presented simultaneously. These results provide evidence that the brain tracked the irrelevant duration and intensity feature patterns, affecting behavioral performance. Overall, our results demonstrate that irrelevant informational streams are processed at a cost, which may be considered a type of multitasking that is an ongoing, automatic processing of taskirrelevant sensory events. PMID:25939456

Magical ideation and hyperacusis.

PubMed

Dubal, Stéphanie; Viaud-Delmon, Isabelle

2008-01-01

The subjective experience conferred by auditory perception has rarely been addressed outside of the studies of auditory hallucinations. The aim of this study is to describe the phenomenology of auditory experiences in individuals who endorse magical beliefs, but do not report hallucinations. We examined the relationship between subjective auditory sensitivity and a 'psychotic-like' thinking style. Hyperacusis questionnaire scores were compared between 25 high scoring participants on Chapman's magical ideation (MI) scale, 25 high scoring participants on Chapman's physical anhedonia scale and 25 control participants, pre-selected from a large student pool (n=1289). The participants who obtained high scores on the MI scale rated their auditory sensitivity higher than the two other groups. Our results indicate that, in healthy subjects, subjective auditory sensitivity is associated with MI without the mediation by anxiety commonly observed in pathological cases. We propose that hyperacusis associated to high scores of MI may be a predispositional factor to deviant auditory experiences. The relative uncoupling of perception from auditory sensory input may result in a central hypersensitivity, which could play a role in triggering off the experience of auditory hallucinations.

Food words distract the hungry: Evidence of involuntary semantic processing of task-irrelevant but biologically-relevant unexpected auditory words.

PubMed

Parmentier, Fabrice B R; Pacheco-Unguetti, Antonia P; Valero, Sara

2018-01-01

Rare changes in a stream of otherwise repeated task-irrelevant sounds break through selective attention and disrupt performance in an unrelated visual task by triggering shifts of attention to and from the deviant sound (deviance distraction). Evidence indicates that the involuntary orientation of attention to unexpected sounds is followed by their semantic processing. However, past demonstrations relied on tasks in which the meaning of the deviant sounds overlapped with features of the primary task. Here we examine whether such processing is observed when no such overlap is present but sounds carry some relevance to the participants' biological need to eat when hungry. We report the results of an experiment in which hungry and satiated participants partook in a cross-modal oddball task in which they categorized visual digits (odd/even) while ignoring task-irrelevant sounds. On most trials the irrelevant sound was a sinewave tone (standard sound). On the remaining trials, deviant sounds consisted of spoken words related to food (food deviants) or control words (control deviants). Questionnaire data confirmed state (but not trait) differences between the two groups with respect to food craving, as well as a greater desire to eat the food corresponding to the food-related words in the hungry relative to the satiated participants. The results of the oddball task revealed that food deviants produced greater distraction (longer response times) than control deviants in hungry participants while the reverse effect was observed in satiated participants. This effect was observed in the first block of trials but disappeared thereafter, reflecting semantic saturation. Our results suggest that (1) the semantic content of deviant sounds is involuntarily processed even when sharing no feature with the primary task; and that (2) distraction by deviant sounds can be modulated by the participants' biological needs.

Food words distract the hungry: Evidence of involuntary semantic processing of task-irrelevant but biologically-relevant unexpected auditory words

PubMed Central

Pacheco-Unguetti, Antonia P.; Valero, Sara

2018-01-01

Rare changes in a stream of otherwise repeated task-irrelevant sounds break through selective attention and disrupt performance in an unrelated visual task by triggering shifts of attention to and from the deviant sound (deviance distraction). Evidence indicates that the involuntary orientation of attention to unexpected sounds is followed by their semantic processing. However, past demonstrations relied on tasks in which the meaning of the deviant sounds overlapped with features of the primary task. Here we examine whether such processing is observed when no such overlap is present but sounds carry some relevance to the participants’ biological need to eat when hungry. We report the results of an experiment in which hungry and satiated participants partook in a cross-modal oddball task in which they categorized visual digits (odd/even) while ignoring task-irrelevant sounds. On most trials the irrelevant sound was a sinewave tone (standard sound). On the remaining trials, deviant sounds consisted of spoken words related to food (food deviants) or control words (control deviants). Questionnaire data confirmed state (but not trait) differences between the two groups with respect to food craving, as well as a greater desire to eat the food corresponding to the food-related words in the hungry relative to the satiated participants. The results of the oddball task revealed that food deviants produced greater distraction (longer response times) than control deviants in hungry participants while the reverse effect was observed in satiated participants. This effect was observed in the first block of trials but disappeared thereafter, reflecting semantic saturation. Our results suggest that (1) the semantic content of deviant sounds is involuntarily processed even when sharing no feature with the primary task; and that (2) distraction by deviant sounds can be modulated by the participants’ biological needs. PMID:29300763

Oscillatory support for rapid frequency change processing in infants.

PubMed

Musacchia, Gabriella; Choudhury, Naseem A; Ortiz-Mantilla, Silvia; Realpe-Bonilla, Teresa; Roesler, Cynthia P; Benasich, April A

2013-11-01

Rapid auditory processing and auditory change detection abilities are crucial aspects of speech and language development, particularly in the first year of life. Animal models and adult studies suggest that oscillatory synchrony, and in particular low-frequency oscillations play key roles in this process. We hypothesize that infant perception of rapid pitch and timing changes is mediated, at least in part, by oscillatory mechanisms. Using event-related potentials (ERPs), source localization and time-frequency analysis of event-related oscillations (EROs), we examined the neural substrates of rapid auditory processing in 4-month-olds. During a standard oddball paradigm, infants listened to tone pairs with invariant standard (STD, 800-800 Hz) and variant deviant (DEV, 800-1200 Hz) pitch. STD and DEV tone pairs were first presented in a block with a short inter-stimulus interval (ISI) (Rapid Rate: 70 ms ISI), followed by a block of stimuli with a longer ISI (Control Rate: 300 ms ISI). Results showed greater ERP peak amplitude in response to the DEV tone in both conditions and later and larger peaks during Rapid Rate presentation, compared to the Control condition. Sources of neural activity, localized to right and left auditory regions, showed larger and faster activation in the right hemisphere for both rate conditions. Time-frequency analysis of the source activity revealed clusters of theta band enhancement to the DEV tone in right auditory cortex for both conditions. Left auditory activity was enhanced only during Rapid Rate presentation. These data suggest that local low-frequency oscillatory synchrony underlies rapid processing and can robustly index auditory perception in young infants. Furthermore, left hemisphere recruitment during rapid frequency change discrimination suggests a difference in the spectral and temporal resolution of right and left hemispheres at a very young age. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Auditory Magnetic Mismatch Field Latency: A Biomarker for Language Impairment in Autism

PubMed Central

Roberts, Timothy P.L.; Cannon, Katelyn M.; Tavabi, Kambiz; Blaskey, Lisa; Khan, Sarah Y.; Monroe, Justin F.; Qasmieh, Saba; Levy, Susan E.; Edgar, J. Christopher

2011-01-01

Background Auditory processing abnormalities are frequently observed in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), and these abnormalities may have sequelae in terms of clinical language impairment (LI). The present study assessed associations between language impairment and the amplitude and latency of the superior temporal gyrus magnetic mismatch field (MMF) in response to changes in an auditory stream of tones or vowels. Methods 51 children with ASD and 27 neurotypical controls, all aged 6-15 years, underwent neuropsychological evaluation, including tests of language function, as well as magnetoencephalographic (MEG) recording during presentation of tones and vowels. The MMF was identified in the difference waveform obtained from subtraction of responses to standard stimuli from deviant stimuli. Results MMF latency was significantly prolonged (p<0.001) in children with ASD compared to neurotypical controls. Furthermore, this delay was most pronounced (∼50ms) in children with concomitant LI, with significant differences in latency between children with ASD with LI and those without (p<0.01). Receiver operator characteristic analysis indicated a sensitivity of 82.4% and specificity of 71.2% for diagnosing LI based on MMF latency. Conclusion Neural correlates of auditory change detection (the MMF) are significantly delayed in children with ASD, and especially those with concomitant LI suggesting both a neurobiological basis for LI as well as a clinical biomarker for LI in ASD. PMID:21392733

Auditory Profiles of Classical, Jazz, and Rock Musicians: Genre-Specific Sensitivity to Musical Sound Features.

PubMed

Tervaniemi, Mari; Janhunen, Lauri; Kruck, Stefanie; Putkinen, Vesa; Huotilainen, Minna

2015-01-01

When compared with individuals without explicit training in music, adult musicians have facilitated neural functions in several modalities. They also display structural changes in various brain areas, these changes corresponding to the intensity and duration of their musical training. Previous studies have focused on investigating musicians with training in Western classical music. However, musicians involved in different musical genres may display highly differentiated auditory profiles according to the demands set by their genre, i.e., varying importance of different musical sound features. This hypothesis was tested in a novel melody paradigm including deviants in tuning, timbre, rhythm, melody transpositions, and melody contour. Using this paradigm while the participants were watching a silent video and instructed to ignore the sounds, we compared classical, jazz, and rock musicians' and non-musicians' accuracy of neural encoding of the melody. In all groups of participants, all deviants elicited an MMN response, which is a cortical index of deviance discrimination. The strength of the MMN and the subsequent attentional P3a responses reflected the importance of various sound features in each music genre: these automatic brain responses were selectively enhanced to deviants in tuning (classical musicians), timing (classical and jazz musicians), transposition (jazz musicians), and melody contour (jazz and rock musicians). Taken together, these results indicate that musicians with different training history have highly specialized cortical reactivity to sounds which violate the neural template for melody content.

Auditory Profiles of Classical, Jazz, and Rock Musicians: Genre-Specific Sensitivity to Musical Sound Features

PubMed Central

Tervaniemi, Mari; Janhunen, Lauri; Kruck, Stefanie; Putkinen, Vesa; Huotilainen, Minna

2016-01-01

When compared with individuals without explicit training in music, adult musicians have facilitated neural functions in several modalities. They also display structural changes in various brain areas, these changes corresponding to the intensity and duration of their musical training. Previous studies have focused on investigating musicians with training in Western classical music. However, musicians involved in different musical genres may display highly differentiated auditory profiles according to the demands set by their genre, i.e., varying importance of different musical sound features. This hypothesis was tested in a novel melody paradigm including deviants in tuning, timbre, rhythm, melody transpositions, and melody contour. Using this paradigm while the participants were watching a silent video and instructed to ignore the sounds, we compared classical, jazz, and rock musicians' and non-musicians' accuracy of neural encoding of the melody. In all groups of participants, all deviants elicited an MMN response, which is a cortical index of deviance discrimination. The strength of the MMN and the subsequent attentional P3a responses reflected the importance of various sound features in each music genre: these automatic brain responses were selectively enhanced to deviants in tuning (classical musicians), timing (classical and jazz musicians), transposition (jazz musicians), and melody contour (jazz and rock musicians). Taken together, these results indicate that musicians with different training history have highly specialized cortical reactivity to sounds which violate the neural template for melody content. PMID:26779055

Development of infant mismatch responses to auditory pattern changes between 2 and 4 months old.

PubMed

He, Chao; Hotson, Lisa; Trainor, Laurel J

2009-02-01

In order to process speech and music, the auditory cortex must learn to process patterns of sounds. Our previous studies showed that with a stream consisting of a repeating (standard) sound, younger infants show an increase in the amplitude of a positive slow wave in response to occasional changes (deviants) in pitch or duration, whereas older infants show a faster negative response that resembles mismatch negativity (MMN) in adults (Trainor et al., 2001, 2003; He et al., 2007). MMN reflects an automatic change-detection process that does not require attention, conscious awareness or behavioural response for its elicitation (Picton et al., 2000; Näätänen et al., 2007). It is an important tool for understanding auditory perception because MMN reflects a change-detection mechanism, and not simply that repetition of a stimulus results in a refractory state of sensory neural circuits while occasional changes to a new sound activate new non-refractory neural circuits (Näätänen et al., 2005). For example, MMN is elicited by a change in the pattern of a repeating note sequence, even when no new notes are introduced that could activate new sensory circuits (Alain et al., 1994, 1999;Schröger et al., 1996). In the present study, we show that in response to a change in the pattern of two repeating tones, MMN in 4-month-olds remains robust whereas the 2-month-old response does not. This indicates that the MMN response to a change in pattern at 4 months reflects the activation of a change-detection mechanism similarly as in adults.

A Review of Auditory Prediction and Its Potential Role in Tinnitus Perception.

PubMed

Durai, Mithila; O'Keeffe, Mary G; Searchfield, Grant D

2018-06-01

The precise mechanisms underlying tinnitus perception and distress are still not fully understood. A recent proposition is that auditory prediction errors and related memory representations may play a role in driving tinnitus perception. It is of interest to further explore this. To obtain a comprehensive narrative synthesis of current research in relation to auditory prediction and its potential role in tinnitus perception and severity. A narrative review methodological framework was followed. The key words Prediction Auditory, Memory Prediction Auditory, Tinnitus AND Memory, Tinnitus AND Prediction in Article Title, Abstract, and Keywords were extensively searched on four databases: PubMed, Scopus, SpringerLink, and PsychINFO. All study types were selected from 2000-2016 (end of 2016) and had the following exclusion criteria applied: minimum age of participants <18, nonhuman participants, and article not available in English. Reference lists of articles were reviewed to identify any further relevant studies. Articles were short listed based on title relevance. After reading the abstracts and with consensus made between coauthors, a total of 114 studies were selected for charting data. The hierarchical predictive coding model based on the Bayesian brain hypothesis, attentional modulation and top-down feedback serves as the fundamental framework in current literature for how auditory prediction may occur. Predictions are integral to speech and music processing, as well as in sequential processing and identification of auditory objects during auditory streaming. Although deviant responses are observable from middle latency time ranges, the mismatch negativity (MMN) waveform is the most commonly studied electrophysiological index of auditory irregularity detection. However, limitations may apply when interpreting findings because of the debatable origin of the MMN and its restricted ability to model real-life, more complex auditory phenomenon. Cortical oscillatory band activity may act as neurophysiological substrates for auditory prediction. Tinnitus has been modeled as an auditory object which may demonstrate incomplete processing during auditory scene analysis resulting in tinnitus salience and therefore difficulty in habituation. Within the electrophysiological domain, there is currently mixed evidence regarding oscillatory band changes in tinnitus. There are theoretical proposals for a relationship between prediction error and tinnitus but few published empirical studies. American Academy of Audiology.

Investigating Deviance Distraction and the Impact of the Modality of the To-Be-Ignored Stimuli.

PubMed

Marsja, Erik; Neely, Gregory; Ljungberg, Jessica K

2018-03-01

It has been suggested that deviance distraction is caused by unexpected sensory events in the to-be-ignored stimuli violating the cognitive system's predictions of incoming stimuli. The majority of research has used methods where the to-be-ignored expected (standards) and the unexpected (deviants) stimuli are presented within the same modality. Less is known about the behavioral impact of deviance distraction when the to-be-ignored stimuli are presented in different modalities (e.g., standard and deviants presented in different modalities). In three experiments using cross-modal oddball tasks with mixed-modality to-be-ignored stimuli, we examined the distractive role of unexpected auditory deviants presented in a continuous stream of expected standard vibrations. The results showed that deviance distraction seems to be dependent upon the to-be-ignored stimuli being presented within the same modality, and that the simplest omission of something expected; in this case, a standard vibration may be enough to capture attention and distract performance.

Dendritic mechanisms contribute to stimulus-specific adaptation in an insect neuron

PubMed Central

Triblehorn, Jeffrey D.

2013-01-01

Reduced neuronal activation to repetitive stimulation is a common feature of information processing in nervous systems. Such stimulus-specific adaptation (SSA) occurs in many systems, but the underlying neural mechanisms are not well understood. The Neoconocephalus (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae) TN-1 auditory neuron exhibits an SSA-like process, characterized by reliably detecting deviant pulses after response cessation to common standard pulses. Therefore, TN-1 provides a model system to study the cellular mechanisms underlying SSA with an identified neuron. Here we test the hypothesis that dendritic mechanisms underlie TN-1 response cessation to fast-pulse rate repeated signals. Electrically stimulating TN-1 with either high-rate or continuous-current pulses resulted in a decreased ability in TN-1 to generate action potentials but failed to elicit cessation of spiking activity as observed with acoustic stimulation. BAPTA injection into TN-1 delayed the onset of response cessation to fast-pulse rate acoustic stimuli in TN-1 but did not eliminate it. These results indicate that calcium-mediated processes contribute to the fast cessation of spiking activity in TN-1 but are insufficient to cause spike cessation on its own. Replacing normal saline with low-Na+ saline (replacing sodium chloride with either lithium chloride or choline chloride) eliminated response cessation, and TN-1 no longer responded selectively to the deviant pulses. Sodium-mediated potassium channels are the most likely candidates underlying sodium-mediated response suppression in TN-1, triggered by Na+ influx in dendritic regions activated by acoustic stimuli. On the basis of these results, we present a model for a cellular mechanism for SSA in a single auditory neuron. PMID:23945779

The 'F-complex' and MMN tap different aspects of deviance.

PubMed

Laufer, Ilan; Pratt, Hillel

2005-02-01

To compare the 'F(fusion)-complex' with the Mismatch negativity (MMN), both components associated with automatic detection of changes in the acoustic stimulus flow. Ten right-handed adult native Hebrew speakers discriminated vowel-consonant-vowel (V-C-V) sequences /ada/ (deviant) and /aga/ (standard) in an active auditory 'Oddball' task, and the brain potentials associated with performance of the task were recorded from 21 electrodes. Stimuli were generated by fusing the acoustic elements of the V-C-V sequences as follows: base was always presented in front of the subject, and formant transitions were presented to the front, left or right in a virtual reality room. An illusion of a lateralized echo (duplex sensation) accompanied base fusion with the lateralized formant locations. Source current density estimates were derived for the net response to the fusion of the speech elements (F-complex) and for the MMN, using low-resolution electromagnetic tomography (LORETA). Statistical non-parametric mapping was used to estimate the current density differences between the brain sources of the F-complex and the MMN. Occipito-parietal regions and prefrontal regions were associated with the F-complex in all formant locations, whereas the vicinity of the supratemporal plane was bilaterally associated with the MMN, but only in case of front-fusion (no duplex effect). MMN is sensitive to the novelty of the auditory object in relation to other stimuli in a sequence, whereas the F-complex is sensitive to the acoustic features of the auditory object and reflects a process of matching them with target categories. The F-complex and MMN reflect different aspects of auditory processing in a stimulus-rich and changing environment: content analysis of the stimulus and novelty detection, respectively.

Contributing to the early detection of Rett syndrome: the potential role of auditory Gestalt perception.

PubMed

Marschik, Peter B; Einspieler, Christa; Sigafoos, Jeff

2012-01-01

To assess whether there are qualitatively deviant characteristics in the early vocalizations of children with Rett syndrome, we had 400 native Austrian-German speakers listen to audio recordings of vocalizations from typically developing girls and girls with Rett syndrome. The audio recordings were rated as (a) inconspicuous, (b) conspicuous or (c) not able to decide between (a) and (b). The results showed that participants were accurate in differentiating the vocalizations of typically developing children compared to children with Rett syndrome. However, the accuracy for rating verbal behaviors was dependent on the type of vocalization with greater accuracy for canonical babbling compared to cooing vocalizations. The results suggest a potential role for the use of rating child vocalizations for early detection of Rett syndrome. This is important because clinical criteria related to speech and language development remain important for early identification of Rett syndrome. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Cognitive Control on Different Types of Auditory Distraction.

PubMed

Bell, Raoul; Röer, Jan P; Marsh, John E; Storch, Dunja; Buchner, Axel

2017-09-01

Deviant as well as changing auditory distractors interfere with short-term memory. According to the duplex model of auditory distraction, the deviation effect is caused by a shift of attention while the changing-state effect is due to obligatory order processing. This theory predicts that foreknowledge should reduce the deviation effect, but should have no effect on the changing-state effect. We compared the effect of foreknowledge on the two phenomena directly within the same experiment. In a pilot study, specific foreknowledge was impotent in reducing either the changing-state effect or the deviation effect, but it reduced disruption by sentential speech, suggesting that the effects of foreknowledge on auditory distraction may increase with the complexity of the stimulus material. Given the unexpected nature of this finding, we tested whether the same finding would be obtained in (a) a direct preregistered replication in Germany and (b) an additional replication with translated stimulus materials in Sweden.

The human brain processes repeated auditory feature conjunctions of low sequential probability.

PubMed

Ruusuvirta, Timo; Huotilainen, Minna

2004-01-23

The human brain is known to preattentively trace repeated sounds as holistic entities. It is not clear, however, whether the same holds true if these sounds are rare among other repeated sounds. Adult humans passively listened to a repeated tone with frequent (standard) and rare (deviant) conjunctions of its three features. Six equiprobable variants per conjunction type were assigned from a space built from these features so that the standard variants (P=0.15 each) were not inseparably traceable by means of their linear alignment in this space. Differential scalp-recorded event-related potentials to deviants indicate that the standard variants were traced as repeated wholes despite their preperceptual distinctiveness and resulting rarity among one another.

Brain correlates of automatic visual change detection.

PubMed

Cléry, H; Andersson, F; Fonlupt, P; Gomot, M

2013-07-15

A number of studies support the presence of visual automatic detection of change, but little is known about the brain generators involved in such processing and about the modulation of brain activity according to the salience of the stimulus. The study presented here was designed to locate the brain activity elicited by unattended visual deviant and novel stimuli using fMRI. Seventeen adult participants were presented with a passive visual oddball sequence while performing a concurrent visual task. Variations in BOLD signal were observed in the modality-specific sensory cortex, but also in non-specific areas involved in preattentional processing of changing events. A degree-of-deviance effect was observed, since novel stimuli elicited more activity in the sensory occipital regions and at the medial frontal site than small changes. These findings could be compared to those obtained in the auditory modality and might suggest a "general" change detection process operating in several sensory modalities. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Event-related potential evidence of processing lexical pitch-accent in auditory Japanese sentences.

PubMed

Koso, Ayumi; Hagiwara, Hiroko

2009-09-23

Neural mechanisms that underlie the processing of lexical pitch-accent in auditory Japanese were investigated by using event-related potentials. Native speakers of Japanese listened to two types of short sentences, both consisting of a noun and a verb. The sentences ended with a verb with either congruous or incongruous pitch-accent pattern, where pitch-accent violations occur at the verb in the incongruent condition. The event-related potentials of the incongruent condition showed an increased widespread negativity that started 400 ms after the onset of the deviant lexical item and lasted for about 400 ms. These results suggest that the negativity evoked by violations in lexical-pitch accent indicates electrophysiological evidence for the online processing of lexical-pitch accent in auditory Japanese.

Auditory Attentional Capture during Serial Recall: Violations at Encoding of an Algorithm-Based Neural Model?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Robert W.; Vachon, Francois; Jones, Dylan M.

2005-01-01

A novel attentional capture effect is reported in which visual-verbal serial recall was disrupted if a single deviation in the interstimulus interval occurred within otherwise regularly presented task-irrelevant spoken items. The degree of disruption was the same whether the temporal deviant was embedded in a sequence made up of a repeating item…

Deviant Processing of Letters and Speech Sounds as Proximate Cause of Reading Failure: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of Dyslexic Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blau, Vera; Reithler, Joel; van Atteveldt, Nienke; Seitz, Jochen; Gerretsen, Patty; Goebel, Rainer; Blomert, Leo

2010-01-01

Learning to associate auditory information of speech sounds with visual information of letters is a first and critical step for becoming a skilled reader in alphabetic languages. Nevertheless, it remains largely unknown which brain areas subserve the learning and automation of such associations. Here, we employ functional magnetic resonance…

Pitch expertise is not created equal: Cross-domain effects of musicianship and tone language experience on neural and behavioural discrimination of speech and music.

PubMed

Hutka, Stefanie; Bidelman, Gavin M; Moreno, Sylvain

2015-05-01

Psychophysiological evidence supports a music-language association, such that experience in one domain can impact processing required in the other domain. We investigated the bidirectionality of this association by measuring event-related potentials (ERPs) in native English-speaking musicians, native tone language (Cantonese) nonmusicians, and native English-speaking nonmusician controls. We tested the degree to which pitch expertise stemming from musicianship or tone language experience similarly enhances the neural encoding of auditory information necessary for speech and music processing. Early cortical discriminatory processing for music and speech sounds was characterized using the mismatch negativity (MMN). Stimuli included 'large deviant' and 'small deviant' pairs of sounds that differed minimally in pitch (fundamental frequency, F0; contrastive musical tones) or timbre (first formant, F1; contrastive speech vowels). Behavioural F0 and F1 difference limen tasks probed listeners' perceptual acuity for these same acoustic features. Musicians and Cantonese speakers performed comparably in pitch discrimination; only musicians showed an additional advantage on timbre discrimination performance and an enhanced MMN responses to both music and speech. Cantonese language experience was not associated with enhancements on neural measures, despite enhanced behavioural pitch acuity. These data suggest that while both musicianship and tone language experience enhance some aspects of auditory acuity (behavioural pitch discrimination), musicianship confers farther-reaching enhancements to auditory function, tuning both pitch and timbre-related brain processes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Linguistic category structure influences early auditory processing: Converging evidence from mismatch responses and cortical oscillations.

PubMed

Scharinger, Mathias; Monahan, Philip J; Idsardi, William J

2016-03-01

While previous research has established that language-specific knowledge influences early auditory processing, it is still controversial as to what aspects of speech sound representations determine early speech perception. Here, we propose that early processing primarily depends on information propagated top-down from abstractly represented speech sound categories. In particular, we assume that mid-vowels (as in 'bet') exert less top-down effects than the high-vowels (as in 'bit') because of their less specific (default) tongue height position as compared to either high- or low-vowels (as in 'bat'). We tested this assumption in a magnetoencephalography (MEG) study where we contrasted mid- and high-vowels, as well as the low- and high-vowels in a passive oddball paradigm. Overall, significant differences between deviants and standards indexed reliable mismatch negativity (MMN) responses between 200 and 300ms post-stimulus onset. MMN amplitudes differed in the mid/high-vowel contrasts and were significantly reduced when a mid-vowel standard was followed by a high-vowel deviant, extending previous findings. Furthermore, mid-vowel standards showed reduced oscillatory power in the pre-stimulus beta-frequency band (18-26Hz), compared to high-vowel standards. We take this as converging evidence for linguistic category structure to exert top-down influences on auditory processing. The findings are interpreted within the linguistic model of underspecification and the neuropsychological predictive coding framework. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Validation of the Emotiv EPOC EEG system for research quality auditory event-related potentials in children

PubMed Central

Preece, Kathryn A.; de Wit, Bianca; Glenn, Katharine; Fieder, Nora; Thie, Johnson; McArthur, Genevieve

2015-01-01

Background. Previous work has demonstrated that a commercial gaming electroencephalography (EEG) system, Emotiv EPOC, can be adjusted to provide valid auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) in adults that are comparable to ERPs recorded by a research-grade EEG system, Neuroscan. The aim of the current study was to determine if the same was true for children. Method. An adapted Emotiv EPOC system and Neuroscan system were used to make simultaneous EEG recordings in nineteen 6- to 12-year-old children under “passive” and “active” listening conditions. In the passive condition, children were instructed to watch a silent DVD and ignore 566 standard (1,000 Hz) and 100 deviant (1,200 Hz) tones. In the active condition, they listened to the same stimuli, and were asked to count the number of ‘high’ (i.e., deviant) tones. Results. Intraclass correlations (ICCs) indicated that the ERP morphology recorded with the two systems was very similar for the P1, N1, P2, N2, and P3 ERP peaks (r = .82 to .95) in both passive and active conditions, and less so, though still strong, for mismatch negativity ERP component (MMN; r = .67 to .74). There were few differences between peak amplitude and latency estimates for the two systems. Conclusions. An adapted EPOC EEG system can be used to index children’s late auditory ERP peaks (i.e., P1, N1, P2, N2, P3) and their MMN ERP component. PMID:25922794

Validation of the Emotiv EPOC EEG system for research quality auditory event-related potentials in children.

PubMed

Badcock, Nicholas A; Preece, Kathryn A; de Wit, Bianca; Glenn, Katharine; Fieder, Nora; Thie, Johnson; McArthur, Genevieve

2015-01-01

Background. Previous work has demonstrated that a commercial gaming electroencephalography (EEG) system, Emotiv EPOC, can be adjusted to provide valid auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) in adults that are comparable to ERPs recorded by a research-grade EEG system, Neuroscan. The aim of the current study was to determine if the same was true for children. Method. An adapted Emotiv EPOC system and Neuroscan system were used to make simultaneous EEG recordings in nineteen 6- to 12-year-old children under "passive" and "active" listening conditions. In the passive condition, children were instructed to watch a silent DVD and ignore 566 standard (1,000 Hz) and 100 deviant (1,200 Hz) tones. In the active condition, they listened to the same stimuli, and were asked to count the number of 'high' (i.e., deviant) tones. Results. Intraclass correlations (ICCs) indicated that the ERP morphology recorded with the two systems was very similar for the P1, N1, P2, N2, and P3 ERP peaks (r = .82 to .95) in both passive and active conditions, and less so, though still strong, for mismatch negativity ERP component (MMN; r = .67 to .74). There were few differences between peak amplitude and latency estimates for the two systems. Conclusions. An adapted EPOC EEG system can be used to index children's late auditory ERP peaks (i.e., P1, N1, P2, N2, P3) and their MMN ERP component.

Validation of the Emotiv EPOC® EEG gaming system for measuring research quality auditory ERPs

PubMed Central

Mousikou, Petroula; Mahajan, Yatin; de Lissa, Peter; Thie, Johnson; McArthur, Genevieve

2013-01-01

Background. Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) have proved useful in investigating the role of auditory processing in cognitive disorders such as developmental dyslexia, specific language impairment (SLI), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), schizophrenia, and autism. However, laboratory recordings of auditory ERPs can be lengthy, uncomfortable, or threatening for some participants – particularly children. Recently, a commercial gaming electroencephalography (EEG) system has been developed that is portable, inexpensive, and easy to set up. In this study we tested if auditory ERPs measured using a gaming EEG system (Emotiv EPOC®, www.emotiv.com) were equivalent to those measured by a widely-used, laboratory-based, research EEG system (Neuroscan). Methods. We simultaneously recorded EEGs with the research and gaming EEG systems, whilst presenting 21 adults with 566 standard (1000 Hz) and 100 deviant (1200 Hz) tones under passive (non-attended) and active (attended) conditions. The onset of each tone was marked in the EEGs using a parallel port pulse (Neuroscan) or a stimulus-generated electrical pulse injected into the O1 and O2 channels (Emotiv EPOC®). These markers were used to calculate research and gaming EEG system late auditory ERPs (P1, N1, P2, N2, and P3 peaks) and the mismatch negativity (MMN) in active and passive listening conditions for each participant. Results. Analyses were restricted to frontal sites as these are most commonly reported in auditory ERP research. Intra-class correlations (ICCs) indicated that the morphology of the research and gaming EEG system late auditory ERP waveforms were similar across all participants, but that the research and gaming EEG system MMN waveforms were only similar for participants with non-noisy MMN waveforms (N = 11 out of 21). Peak amplitude and latency measures revealed no significant differences between the size or the timing of the auditory P1, N1, P2, N2, P3, and MMN peaks. Conclusions. Our findings suggest that the gaming EEG system may prove a valid alternative to laboratory ERP systems for recording reliable late auditory ERPs (P1, N1, P2, N2, and the P3) over the frontal cortices. In the future, the gaming EEG system may also prove useful for measuring less reliable ERPs, such as the MMN, if the reliability of such ERPs can be boosted to the same level as late auditory ERPs. PMID:23638374

Validation of the Emotiv EPOC(®) EEG gaming system for measuring research quality auditory ERPs.

PubMed

Badcock, Nicholas A; Mousikou, Petroula; Mahajan, Yatin; de Lissa, Peter; Thie, Johnson; McArthur, Genevieve

2013-01-01

Background. Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) have proved useful in investigating the role of auditory processing in cognitive disorders such as developmental dyslexia, specific language impairment (SLI), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), schizophrenia, and autism. However, laboratory recordings of auditory ERPs can be lengthy, uncomfortable, or threatening for some participants - particularly children. Recently, a commercial gaming electroencephalography (EEG) system has been developed that is portable, inexpensive, and easy to set up. In this study we tested if auditory ERPs measured using a gaming EEG system (Emotiv EPOC(®), www.emotiv.com) were equivalent to those measured by a widely-used, laboratory-based, research EEG system (Neuroscan). Methods. We simultaneously recorded EEGs with the research and gaming EEG systems, whilst presenting 21 adults with 566 standard (1000 Hz) and 100 deviant (1200 Hz) tones under passive (non-attended) and active (attended) conditions. The onset of each tone was marked in the EEGs using a parallel port pulse (Neuroscan) or a stimulus-generated electrical pulse injected into the O1 and O2 channels (Emotiv EPOC(®)). These markers were used to calculate research and gaming EEG system late auditory ERPs (P1, N1, P2, N2, and P3 peaks) and the mismatch negativity (MMN) in active and passive listening conditions for each participant. Results. Analyses were restricted to frontal sites as these are most commonly reported in auditory ERP research. Intra-class correlations (ICCs) indicated that the morphology of the research and gaming EEG system late auditory ERP waveforms were similar across all participants, but that the research and gaming EEG system MMN waveforms were only similar for participants with non-noisy MMN waveforms (N = 11 out of 21). Peak amplitude and latency measures revealed no significant differences between the size or the timing of the auditory P1, N1, P2, N2, P3, and MMN peaks. Conclusions. Our findings suggest that the gaming EEG system may prove a valid alternative to laboratory ERP systems for recording reliable late auditory ERPs (P1, N1, P2, N2, and the P3) over the frontal cortices. In the future, the gaming EEG system may also prove useful for measuring less reliable ERPs, such as the MMN, if the reliability of such ERPs can be boosted to the same level as late auditory ERPs.

Event-Related Potential Measures of Attention Capture in Adolescent Inpatients With Acute Suicidal Behavior.

PubMed

Tavakoli, Paniz; Boafo, Addo; Dale, Allyson; Robillard, Rebecca; Greenham, Stephanie L; Campbell, Kenneth

2018-01-01

Impaired executive functions, modulated by the frontal lobes, have been suggested to be associated with suicidal behavior. The present study examines one of these executive functions, attentional control, maintaining attention to the task-at-hand. A group of inpatient adolescents with acute suicidal behavior and healthy controls were studied using a passively presented auditory optimal paradigm. This "optimal" paradigm consisted of a series of frequently presented homogenous pure tone "standards" and different "deviants," constructed by changing one or more features of the standard. The optimal paradigm has been shown to be a more time-efficient replacement to the traditional oddball paradigm, which makes it suitable for use in clinical populations. The extent of processing of these "to-be-ignored" auditory stimuli was measured by recording event-related potentials (ERPs). The P3a ERP component is thought to reflect processes associated with the capturing of attention. Rare and novel stimuli may result in an executive decision to switch attention away from the current cognitive task and toward a probe of the potentially more relevant "interrupting" auditory input. On the other hand, stimuli that are quite similar to the standard should not elicit P3a. The P3a has been shown to be larger in immature brains in early compared to later adolescence. An overall enhanced P3a was observed in the suicidal group. The P3a was larger in this group for both the environmental sound and white noise deviants, although only the environmental sound P3a attained significance. Other deviants representing only a small change from the standard did not elicit a P3a in healthy controls. They did elicit a small P3a in the suicidal group. These findings suggest a lowered threshold for the triggering of the involuntary switch of attention in these patients, which may play a role in their reported distractibility. The enhanced P3a is also suggestive of an immature frontal central executive and may provide a promising marker for early identification of some of the risk factors for some of the cognitive difficulties linked to suicidality.

Event-Related Potential Measures of a Violation of an Expected Increase and Decrease in Intensity

PubMed Central

Macdonald, Margaret; Campbell, Kenneth

2013-01-01

Unexpected physical increases in the intensity of a frequently occurring “standard” auditory stimulus are experienced as obtrusive. This could either be because of a physical change, the increase in intensity of the “deviant” stimulus, or a psychological change, the violation of the expectancy for the occurrence of the lower intensity standard stimulus. Two experiments were run in which event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded to determine whether “psychological” increments (violation of an expectancy for a lower intensity) would be processed differently than psychological decrements (violation of an expectancy for a higher intensity). Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while subjects were presented with auditory tones that alternated between low and high intensity. The subjects ignored the auditory stimuli while watching a video. Deviants were created by repeating the same stimulus. In the first experiment, pairs of stimuli alternating in intensity, were presented in separate increment (H-L…H-L…H-H…H-L, in which H = 80 dB SPL and L = 60 dB SPL) and decrement conditions (L-H…L-H…L-L… L-H, in which H = 90 dB SPL and L = 80 dB SPL). The paradigm employed in the second experiment consisted of an alternating intensity pattern (H-L-H-L-H-H-H-L) or (H-L-H-L-L-L-H-L). Importantly, the stimulus prior to the deviant (the standard) and the actual deviants in both increment and decrement conditions in both experiments were physically identical (80 dB SPL tones). The repetition of the lower intensity tone therefore acted as a psychological rather than a physical decrement (a higher intensity tone was expected) while the repetition of the higher intensity tone acted as a psychological increment (a lower intensity tone was expected). The psychological increments in both experiments elicited a larger amplitude mismatch negativity (MMN) than the decrements. Thus, regardless of whether an acoustic change signals a physical increase in intensity or violates an expected decrease in intensity, a large MMN will be elicited. PMID:24143195

Voice disorders in children and its relationship with auditory, acoustic and vocal behavior parameters.

PubMed

Simões-Zenari, Marcia; Nemr, Katia; Behlau, Mara

2012-06-01

Parameters to distinguish normal from deviant voices in early childhood have not been established. The current study sought to auditorily and acoustically characterize voices of children, and to study the relationship between vocal behavior reported by teachers and the presence of vocal aberrations. One hundred children between four and 6 years and 11 months, who attended early childhood educational institutions, were included. The sample comprised 50 children with normal voices (NVG) and 50 with deviant voices (DVG) matched by gender and age. All participants were submitted to auditory and acoustic analysis of vocal quality and had their vocal behaviors assessed by teachers through a specific protocol. DVG had a higher incidence of breathiness (p<0.001) and roughness (p<0.001), but not vocal strain (p=0.546), which was similar in both groups. The average F(0) was lower in the DVG and a higher noise component was observed in this group as well. Regarding the protocol used "Aspects Related to Phonotrauma - Children's Protocol", higher means were observed for children from DVG in all analyzed aspects and also on the overall means (DVG=2.15; NVG=1.12, p<0.001). In NVG, a higher incidence of vocal behavior without alterations or with discrete alterations was observed, whereas a higher incidence of moderate, severe or extreme alterations of vocal behavior was observed in DVG. Perceptual assessment of voice, vocal acoustic parameters (F(0), noise and GNE), and aspects related to vocal trauma and vocal behavior differentiated the groups of children with normal voice and deviant voice. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neural Measures of a Japanese Consonant Length Discrimination by Japanese and American English Listeners: Affects of Attention

PubMed Central

Hisagi, Miwako; Shafer, Valerie L.; Strange, Winifred; Sussman, Elyse S.

2015-01-01

This study examined automaticity of discrimination of a Japanese length contrast for consonants (miʃi vs. miʃʃi) in native (Japanese) and non-native (American-English) listeners using behavioral measures and the event-related potential (ERP) mismatch negativity (MMN). Attention to the auditory input was manipulated either away from the auditory input via a visual oddball task (Visual Attend), or to the input by asking the listeners to count auditory deviants (Auditory Attend). Results showed a larger MMN when attention was focused on the consonant contrast than away from it for both groups. The MMN was larger for consonant duration increments than decrements. No difference in MMN between the language groups was observed, but the Japanese listeners did show better behavioral discrimination than the American English listeners. In addition, behavioral responses showed a weak, but significant correlation with MMN amplitude. These findings suggest that both acoustic-phonetic properties and phonological experience affects automaticity of speech processing. PMID:26119918

Statistical context shapes stimulus-specific adaptation in human auditory cortex

PubMed Central

Henry, Molly J.; Fromboluti, Elisa Kim; McAuley, J. Devin

2015-01-01

Stimulus-specific adaptation is the phenomenon whereby neural response magnitude decreases with repeated stimulation. Inconsistencies between recent nonhuman animal recordings and computational modeling suggest dynamic influences on stimulus-specific adaptation. The present human electroencephalography (EEG) study investigates the potential role of statistical context in dynamically modulating stimulus-specific adaptation by examining the auditory cortex-generated N1 and P2 components. As in previous studies of stimulus-specific adaptation, listeners were presented with oddball sequences in which the presentation of a repeated tone was infrequently interrupted by rare spectral changes taking on three different magnitudes. Critically, the statistical context varied with respect to the probability of small versus large spectral changes within oddball sequences (half of the time a small change was most probable; in the other half a large change was most probable). We observed larger N1 and P2 amplitudes (i.e., release from adaptation) for all spectral changes in the small-change compared with the large-change statistical context. The increase in response magnitude also held for responses to tones presented with high probability, indicating that statistical adaptation can overrule stimulus probability per se in its influence on neural responses. Computational modeling showed that the degree of coadaptation in auditory cortex changed depending on the statistical context, which in turn affected stimulus-specific adaptation. Thus the present data demonstrate that stimulus-specific adaptation in human auditory cortex critically depends on statistical context. Finally, the present results challenge the implicit assumption of stationarity of neural response magnitudes that governs the practice of isolating established deviant-detection responses such as the mismatch negativity. PMID:25652920

The mechanisms and meaning of the mismatch negativity.

PubMed

Fishman, Yonatan I

2014-07-01

The mismatch negativity (MMN) is a pre-attentive auditory event-related potential (ERP) component that is elicited by a change in a repetitive acoustic pattern. It is obtained by subtracting responses evoked by frequent 'standard' sounds from responses evoked by infrequent 'deviant' sounds that differ from the standards along some acoustic dimension, e.g., frequency, intensity, or duration, or abstract feature. The MMN has been attributed to neural generators within the temporal and frontal lobes. The mechanisms and meaning of the MMN continue to be debated. Two dominant explanations for the MMN have been proposed. According to the "neural adaptation" hypothesis, repeated presentation of the standards results in adapted (i.e., attenuated) responses of feature-selective neurons in auditory cortex. Rare deviant sounds activate neurons that are less adapted than those stimulated by the frequent standard sounds, and thus elicit a larger 'obligatory' response, which yields the MMN following the subtraction procedure. In contrast, according to the "sensory memory" hypothesis, the MMN is a 'novel' (non-obligatory) ERP component that reflects a deviation between properties of an incoming sound and those of a neural 'memory trace' established by the preceding standard sounds. Here, we provide a selective review of studies which are relevant to the controversy between proponents of these two interpretations of the MMN. We also present preliminary neurophysiological data from monkey auditory cortex with potential implications for the debate. We conclude that the mechanisms and meaning of the MMN are still unresolved and offer remarks on how to make progress on these important issues.

Event-Related Potentials Elicited by Pre-Attentive Emotional Changes in Temporal Context

PubMed Central

Fujimura, Tomomi; Okanoya, Kazuo

2013-01-01

The ability to detect emotional change in the environment is essential for adaptive behavior. The current study investigated whether event-related potentials (ERPs) can reflect emotional change in a visual sequence. To assess pre-attentive processing, we examined visual mismatch negativity (vMMN): the negative potentials elicited by a deviant (infrequent) stimulus embedded in a sequence of standard (frequent) stimuli. Participants in two experiments pre-attentively viewed visual sequences of Japanese kanji with different emotional connotations while ERPs were recorded. The visual sequence in Experiment 1 consisted of neutral standards and two types of emotional deviants with a strong and weak intensity. Although the results indicated that strongly emotional deviants elicited more occipital negativity than neutral standards, it was unclear whether these negativities were derived from emotional deviation in the sequence or from the emotional significance of the deviants themselves. In Experiment 2, the two identical emotional deviants were presented against different emotional standards. One type of deviants was emotionally incongruent with the standard and the other type of deviants was emotionally congruent with the standard. The results indicated that occipital negativities elicited by deviants resulted from perceptual changes in a visual sequence at a latency of 100–200 ms and from emotional changes at latencies of 200–260 ms. Contrary to the results of the ERP experiment, reaction times to deviants showed no effect of emotional context; negative stimuli were consistently detected more rapidly than were positive stimuli. Taken together, the results suggest that brain signals can reflect emotional change in a temporal context. PMID:23671693

Event-related potentials elicited by pre-attentive emotional changes in temporal context.

PubMed

Fujimura, Tomomi; Okanoya, Kazuo

2013-01-01

The ability to detect emotional change in the environment is essential for adaptive behavior. The current study investigated whether event-related potentials (ERPs) can reflect emotional change in a visual sequence. To assess pre-attentive processing, we examined visual mismatch negativity (vMMN): the negative potentials elicited by a deviant (infrequent) stimulus embedded in a sequence of standard (frequent) stimuli. Participants in two experiments pre-attentively viewed visual sequences of Japanese kanji with different emotional connotations while ERPs were recorded. The visual sequence in Experiment 1 consisted of neutral standards and two types of emotional deviants with a strong and weak intensity. Although the results indicated that strongly emotional deviants elicited more occipital negativity than neutral standards, it was unclear whether these negativities were derived from emotional deviation in the sequence or from the emotional significance of the deviants themselves. In Experiment 2, the two identical emotional deviants were presented against different emotional standards. One type of deviants was emotionally incongruent with the standard and the other type of deviants was emotionally congruent with the standard. The results indicated that occipital negativities elicited by deviants resulted from perceptual changes in a visual sequence at a latency of 100-200 ms and from emotional changes at latencies of 200-260 ms. Contrary to the results of the ERP experiment, reaction times to deviants showed no effect of emotional context; negative stimuli were consistently detected more rapidly than were positive stimuli. Taken together, the results suggest that brain signals can reflect emotional change in a temporal context.

Lifespan differences in nonlinear dynamics during rest and auditory oddball performance.

PubMed

Müller, Viktor; Lindenberger, Ulman

2012-07-01

Electroencephalographic recordings (EEG) were used to assess age-associated differences in nonlinear brain dynamics during both rest and auditory oddball performance in children aged 9.0-12.8 years, younger adults, and older adults. We computed nonlinear coupling dynamics and dimensional complexity, and also determined spectral alpha power as an indicator of cortical reactivity. During rest, both nonlinear coupling and spectral alpha power decreased with age, whereas dimensional complexity increased. In contrast, when attending to the deviant stimulus, nonlinear coupling increased with age, and complexity decreased. Correlational analyses showed that nonlinear measures assessed during auditory oddball performance were reliably related to an independently assessed measure of perceptual speed. We conclude that cortical dynamics during rest and stimulus processing undergo substantial reorganization from childhood to old age, and propose that lifespan age differences in nonlinear dynamics during stimulus processing reflect lifespan changes in the functional organization of neuronal cell assemblies. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

A comparison study of early non-psychotic deviant behavior in Afrikaner and US patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder

PubMed Central

Sobin, Christina; Roos, J. Louw; Pretorius, Herman; Lundy, Laura S.; Karayiorgou, Maria

2009-01-01

In a previous study early non-psychotic deviant behaviors in US adult schizophrenic patients recruited for a large-scale genetic study were examined (Psychiatry Research, 101, 101). Early deviance characterized a distinct subgroup of patients at rates that were consistent with earlier reports. In addition, specific early non-psychotic deviant behaviors were meaningfully associated with later disease outcomes. In the present study, we examined the demographic, syndrome course, symptom and early deviant behavior history of 109 Afrikaner probands who met criteria for DSM schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, and compared them to 109 age- and gender-matched US probands. Consistent with past findings, 68% of Afrikaner probands, as compared to 67% of age- and gender-matched US probands, reported one or more forms of early non-psychotic deviance, including poor socialization, extreme fears/chronic sadness, and/or attention/learning impairment. The remaining 32 and 33% of probands, respectively, were without behavioral deviance until the onset of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. The frequency and distribution of individual deviant behaviors were strikingly consistent between the samples. However, logistic regression analyses revealed different patterns of associations between the early deviant behaviors manifested and disease outcome. Afrikaner participants with early fears/chronic sadness were 3 times more likely to attempt suicide, while among US participants, this form of early deviance conferred 3.5 times more risk for later schizoaffective disorder, and 3 times greater likelihood of later sensory (tactile and/or olfactory) hallucinations. Afrikaner participants with attention/learning impairment were 2.5 times more likely to experience later auditory hallucinations, while US participants with these early difficulties were 3 times more likely to experience thought disorder. We concluded that early non-psychotic childhood deviance in this independently collected Afrikaner population distinguished a distinct subtype of patients and that the forms of early deviance manifested were meaningfully linked to later disease outcome. Possible reasons for the association pattern differences in these two populations are considered. PMID:12606014

Are you surprised to hear this? Longitudinal spectral speech exposure in older compared to middle-aged normal hearing adults.

PubMed

Giroud, Nathalie; Lemke, Ulrike; Reich, Philip; Bauer, Julia; Widmer, Susann; Meyer, Martin

2018-01-01

Cognitive abilities such as attention or working memory can support older adults during speech perception. However, cognitive abilities as well as speech perception decline with age, leading to the expenditure of effort during speech processing. This longitudinal study therefore investigated age-related differences in electrophysiological processes during speech discrimination and assessed the extent of enhancement to such cognitive auditory processes through repeated auditory exposure. For that purpose, accuracy and reaction time were compared between 13 older adults (62-76 years) and 15 middle-aged (28-52 years) controls in an active oddball paradigm which was administered at three consecutive measurement time points at an interval of 2 wk, while EEG was recorded. As a standard stimulus, the nonsense syllable /'a:ʃa/was used, while the nonsense syllable /'a:sa/ and a morphing between /'a:ʃa/ and /'a:sa/ served as deviants. N2b and P3b ERP responses were evaluated as a function of age, deviant, and measurement time point using a data-driven topographical microstate analysis. From middle age to old age, age-related decline in attentive perception (as reflected in the N2b-related microstates) and in memory updating and attentional processes (as reflected in the P3b-related microstates) was found, as indicated by both lower neural responses and later onsets of the respective cortical networks, and in age-related changes in frontal activation during attentional stimulus processing. Importantly, N2b- and P3b-related microstates changed as a function of repeated stimulus exposure in both groups. This research therefore suggests that experience with auditory stimuli can support auditory neurocognitive processes in normal hearing adults into advanced age. © 2017 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Statistical context shapes stimulus-specific adaptation in human auditory cortex.

PubMed

Herrmann, Björn; Henry, Molly J; Fromboluti, Elisa Kim; McAuley, J Devin; Obleser, Jonas

2015-04-01

Stimulus-specific adaptation is the phenomenon whereby neural response magnitude decreases with repeated stimulation. Inconsistencies between recent nonhuman animal recordings and computational modeling suggest dynamic influences on stimulus-specific adaptation. The present human electroencephalography (EEG) study investigates the potential role of statistical context in dynamically modulating stimulus-specific adaptation by examining the auditory cortex-generated N1 and P2 components. As in previous studies of stimulus-specific adaptation, listeners were presented with oddball sequences in which the presentation of a repeated tone was infrequently interrupted by rare spectral changes taking on three different magnitudes. Critically, the statistical context varied with respect to the probability of small versus large spectral changes within oddball sequences (half of the time a small change was most probable; in the other half a large change was most probable). We observed larger N1 and P2 amplitudes (i.e., release from adaptation) for all spectral changes in the small-change compared with the large-change statistical context. The increase in response magnitude also held for responses to tones presented with high probability, indicating that statistical adaptation can overrule stimulus probability per se in its influence on neural responses. Computational modeling showed that the degree of coadaptation in auditory cortex changed depending on the statistical context, which in turn affected stimulus-specific adaptation. Thus the present data demonstrate that stimulus-specific adaptation in human auditory cortex critically depends on statistical context. Finally, the present results challenge the implicit assumption of stationarity of neural response magnitudes that governs the practice of isolating established deviant-detection responses such as the mismatch negativity. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

Adapted wavelet transform improves time-frequency representations: a study of auditory elicited P300-like event-related potentials in rats.

PubMed

Richard, Nelly; Laursen, Bettina; Grupe, Morten; Drewes, Asbjørn M; Graversen, Carina; Sørensen, Helge B D; Bastlund, Jesper F

2017-04-01

Active auditory oddball paradigms are simple tone discrimination tasks used to study the P300 deflection of event-related potentials (ERPs). These ERPs may be quantified by time-frequency analysis. As auditory stimuli cause early high frequency and late low frequency ERP oscillations, the continuous wavelet transform (CWT) is often chosen for decomposition due to its multi-resolution properties. However, as the conventional CWT traditionally applies only one mother wavelet to represent the entire spectrum, the time-frequency resolution is not optimal across all scales. To account for this, we developed and validated a novel method specifically refined to analyse P300-like ERPs in rats. An adapted CWT (aCWT) was implemented to preserve high time-frequency resolution across all scales by commissioning of multiple wavelets operating at different scales. First, decomposition of simulated ERPs was illustrated using the classical CWT and the aCWT. Next, the two methods were applied to EEG recordings obtained from prefrontal cortex in rats performing a two-tone auditory discrimination task. While only early ERP frequency changes between responses to target and non-target tones were detected by the CWT, both early and late changes were successfully described with strong accuracy by the aCWT in rat ERPs. Increased frontal gamma power and phase synchrony was observed particularly within theta and gamma frequency bands during deviant tones. The study suggests superior performance of the aCWT over the CWT in terms of detailed quantification of time-frequency properties of ERPs. Our methodological investigation indicates that accurate and complete assessment of time-frequency components of short-time neural signals is feasible with the novel analysis approach which may be advantageous for characterisation of several types of evoked potentials in particularly rodents.

Effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on MMN-indexed auditory discrimination: a pilot study.

PubMed

Impey, Danielle; Knott, Verner

2015-08-01

Membrane potentials and brain plasticity are basic modes of cerebral information processing. Both can be externally (non-invasively) modulated by weak transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Polarity-dependent tDCS-induced reversible circumscribed increases and decreases in cortical excitability and functional changes have been observed following stimulation of motor and visual cortices but relatively little research has been conducted with respect to the auditory cortex. The aim of this pilot study was to examine the effects of tDCS on auditory sensory discrimination in healthy participants (N = 12) assessed with the mismatch negativity (MMN) brain event-related potential (ERP). In a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled design, participants received anodal tDCS over the primary auditory cortex (2 mA for 20 min) in one session and 'sham' stimulation (i.e., no stimulation except initial ramp-up for 30 s) in the other session. MMN elicited by changes in auditory pitch was found to be enhanced after receiving anodal tDCS compared to 'sham' stimulation, with the effects being evidenced in individuals with relatively reduced (vs. increased) baseline amplitudes and with relatively small (vs. large) pitch deviants. Additional studies are needed to further explore relationships between tDCS-related parameters, auditory stimulus features and individual differences prior to assessing the utility of this tool for treating auditory processing deficits in psychiatric and/or neurological disorders.

Using a multi-feature paradigm to measure mismatch responses to minimal sound contrasts in children with cochlear implants and hearing aids.

PubMed

Uhlén, Inger; Engström, Elisabet; Kallioinen, Petter; Nakeva von Mentzer, Cecilia; Lyxell, Björn; Sahlén, Birgitta; Lindgren, Magnus; Ors, Marianne

2017-10-01

Our aim was to explore whether a multi-feature paradigm (Optimum-1) for eliciting mismatch negativity (MMN) would objectively capture difficulties in perceiving small sound contrasts in children with hearing impairment (HI) listening through their hearing aids (HAs) and/or cochlear implants (CIs). Children aged 5-7 years with HAs, CIs and children with normal hearing (NH) were tested in a free-field setting using a multi-feature paradigm with deviations in pitch, intensity, gap, duration, and location. There were significant mismatch responses across all subjects that were positive (p-MMR) for the gap and pitch deviants (F(1,43) = 5.17, p = 0.028 and F(1,43) = 6.56, p = 0.014, respectively) and negative (MMN) for the duration deviant (F(1,43) = 4.74, p = 0.035). Only the intensity deviant showed a significant group interaction with MMN in the HA group and p-MMR in the CI group (F(2,43) = 3.40, p = 0.043). The p-MMR correlated negatively with age, with the strongest correlation in the NH subjects. In the CI group, the late discriminative negativity (LDN) was replaced by a late positivity with a significant group interaction for the location deviant. Children with severe HI can be assessed through their hearing device with a fast multi-feature paradigm. For further studies a multi-feature paradigm including more complex speech sounds may better capture variation in auditory processing in these children. © 2017 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A comparison study of early non-psychotic deviant behavior in Afrikaner and US patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

PubMed

Sobin, Christina; Roos, J Louw; Pretorius, Herman; Lundy, Laura S; Karayiorgou, Maria

2003-02-15

In a previous study early non-psychotic deviant behaviors in US adult schizophrenic patients recruited for a large-scale genetic study were examined (Psychiatry Research, 101, 101). Early deviance characterized a distinct subgroup of patients at rates that were consistent with earlier reports. In addition, specific early non-psychotic deviant behaviors were meaningfully associated with later disease outcomes. In the present study, we examined the demographic, syndrome course, symptom and early deviant behavior history of 109 Afrikaner probands who met criteria for DSM schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, and compared them to 109 age- and gender-matched US probands. Consistent with past findings, 68% of Afrikaner probands, as compared to 67% of age- and gender-matched US probands, reported one or more forms of early non-psychotic deviance, including poor socialization, extreme fears/chronic sadness, and/or attention/learning impairment. The remaining 32 and 33% of probands, respectively, were without behavioral deviance until the onset of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. The frequency and distribution of individual deviant behaviors were strikingly consistent between the samples. However, logistic regression analyses revealed different patterns of associations between the early deviant behaviors manifested and disease outcome. Afrikaner participants with early fears/chronic sadness were 3 times more likely to attempt suicide, while among US participants, this form of early deviance conferred 3.5 times more risk for later schizoaffective disorder, and 3 times greater likelihood of later sensory (tactile and/or olfactory) hallucinations. Afrikaner participants with attention/learning impairment were 2.5 times more likely to experience later auditory hallucinations, while US participants with these early difficulties were 3 times more likely to experience thought disorder. We concluded that early non-psychotic childhood deviance in this independently collected Afrikaner population distinguished a distinct subtype of patients and that the forms of early deviance manifested were meaningfully linked to later disease outcome. Possible reasons for the association pattern differences in these two populations are considered. Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.

The event-related potential component P3a is diminished by identical deviance repetition, but not by non-identical repetitions.

PubMed

Rosburg, Timm; Weigl, Michael; Thiel, Ronja; Mager, Ralph

2018-05-01

Mismatch negativity (MMN) represents an event-related potential (ERP) component which is elicited by deviant sound events in an otherwise regular, repetitive stimulation. The MMN amplitude typically decreases when two identical deviants are presented in direct succession, but it remains stable when the two deviants vary from the standard in different features. Less is known about such repetition effects on another ERP component, the P3a, which usually follows the MMN. In the current study, we investigated how the P3a was affected by identical and non-identical repetitions of sound deviants. The ERP analysis revealed that the P3a amplitudes were strongly diminished when the repeated deviants were identical, but the P3a remained stable when the repeated deviants varied. The findings suggest that not only the deviance detection system, as reflected in the MMN, but also subsequent attention switch systems, as reflected in the P3a, operate independently across different sound features.

Auditory Responses and Stimulus-Specific Adaptation in Rat Auditory Cortex are Preserved Across NREM and REM Sleep

PubMed Central

Nir, Yuval; Vyazovskiy, Vladyslav V.; Cirelli, Chiara; Banks, Matthew I.; Tononi, Giulio

2015-01-01

Sleep entails a disconnection from the external environment. By and large, sensory stimuli do not trigger behavioral responses and are not consciously perceived as they usually are in wakefulness. Traditionally, sleep disconnection was ascribed to a thalamic “gate,” which would prevent signal propagation along ascending sensory pathways to primary cortical areas. Here, we compared single-unit and LFP responses in core auditory cortex as freely moving rats spontaneously switched between wakefulness and sleep states. Despite robust differences in baseline neuronal activity, both the selectivity and the magnitude of auditory-evoked responses were comparable across wakefulness, Nonrapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep (pairwise differences <8% between states). The processing of deviant tones was also compared in sleep and wakefulness using an oddball paradigm. Robust stimulus-specific adaptation (SSA) was observed following the onset of repetitive tones, and the strength of SSA effects (13–20%) was comparable across vigilance states. Thus, responses in core auditory cortex are preserved across sleep states, suggesting that evoked activity in primary sensory cortices is driven by external physical stimuli with little modulation by vigilance state. We suggest that sensory disconnection during sleep occurs at a stage later than primary sensory areas. PMID:24323498

Auditory mismatch negativity deficits in long-term heavy cannabis users.

PubMed

Roser, Patrik; Della, Beate; Norra, Christine; Uhl, Idun; Brüne, Martin; Juckel, Georg

2010-09-01

Mismatch negativity (MMN) is an auditory event-related potential indicating auditory sensory memory and information processing. The present study tested the hypothesis that chronic cannabis use is associated with deficient MMN generation. MMN was investigated in age- and gender-matched chronic cannabis users (n = 30) and nonuser controls (n = 30). The cannabis users were divided into two groups according to duration and quantity of cannabis consumption. The MMNs resulting from a pseudorandomized sequence of 2 × 900 auditory stimuli were recorded by 32-channel EEG. The standard stimuli were 1,000 Hz, 80 dB SPL and 90 ms duration. The deviant stimuli differed in duration (50 ms) or frequency (1,200 Hz). There were no significant differences in MMN values between cannabis users and nonuser controls in both deviance conditions. With regard to subgroups, reduced amplitudes of frequency MMN at frontal electrodes were found in long-term (≥8 years of use) and heavy (≥15 joints/week) users compared to short-term and light users. The results indicate that chronic cannabis use may cause a specific impairment of auditory information processing. In particular, duration and quantity of cannabis use could be identified as important factors of deficient MMN generation.

Auditory Memory Decay as Reflected by a New Mismatch Negativity Score Is Associated with Episodic Memory in Older Adults at Risk of Dementia

PubMed Central

Laptinskaya, Daria; Thurm, Franka; Küster, Olivia C.; Fissler, Patrick; Schlee, Winfried; Kolassa, Stephan; von Arnim, Christine A. F.; Kolassa, Iris-Tatjana

2018-01-01

The auditory mismatch negativity (MMN) is an event-related potential (ERP) peaking about 100–250 ms after the onset of a deviant tone in a sequence of identical (standard) tones. Depending on the interstimulus interval (ISI) between standard and deviant tones, the MMN is suitable to investigate the pre-attentive auditory discrimination ability (short ISIs, ≤ 2 s) as well as the pre-attentive auditory memory trace (long ISIs, >2 s). However, current results regarding the MMN as an index for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia are mixed, especially after short ISIs: while the majority of studies report positive associations between the MMN and cognition, others fail to find such relationships. To elucidate these so far inconsistent results, we investigated the validity of the MMN as an index for cognitive impairment exploring the associations between different MMN indices and cognitive performance, more specifically with episodic memory performance which is among the most affected cognitive domains in the course of Alzheimer’s dementia (AD), at baseline and at a 5-year-follow-up. We assessed the amplitude of the MMN for short ISI (stimulus onset asynchrony, SOA = 0.05 s) and for long ISI (3 s) in a neuropsychologically well-characterized cohort of older adults at risk of dementia (subjective memory impairment, amnestic and non-amnestic MCI; n = 57). Furthermore, we created a novel difference score (ΔMMN), defined as the difference between MMNs to short and to long ISI, as a measure to assess the decay of the auditory memory trace, higher values indicating less decay. ΔMMN and MMN amplitude after long ISI, but not the MMN amplitude after short ISI, was associated with episodic memory at baseline (β = 0.38, p = 0.003; β = −0.27, p = 0.047, respectively). ΔMMN, but not the MMN for long ISIs, was positively associated with episodic memory performance at the 5-year-follow-up (β = 0.57, p = 0.013). The results suggest that the MMN after long ISI might be suitable as an indicator for the decline in episodic memory and indicate ΔMMN as a potential biomarker for memory impairment in older adults at risk of dementia. PMID:29456500

Spectral-temporal EEG dynamics of speech discrimination processing in infants during sleep.

PubMed

Gilley, Phillip M; Uhler, Kristin; Watson, Kaylee; Yoshinaga-Itano, Christine

2017-03-22

Oddball paradigms are frequently used to study auditory discrimination by comparing event-related potential (ERP) responses from a standard, high probability sound and to a deviant, low probability sound. Previous research has established that such paradigms, such as the mismatch response or mismatch negativity, are useful for examining auditory processes in young children and infants across various sleep and attention states. The extent to which oddball ERP responses may reflect subtle discrimination effects, such as speech discrimination, is largely unknown, especially in infants that have not yet acquired speech and language. Mismatch responses for three contrasts (non-speech, vowel, and consonant) were computed as a spectral-temporal probability function in 24 infants, and analyzed at the group level by a modified multidimensional scaling. Immediately following an onset gamma response (30-50 Hz), the emergence of a beta oscillation (12-30 Hz) was temporally coupled with a lower frequency theta oscillation (2-8 Hz). The spectral-temporal probability of this coupling effect relative to a subsequent theta modulation corresponds with discrimination difficulty for non-speech, vowel, and consonant contrast features. The theta modulation effect suggests that unexpected sounds are encoded as a probabilistic measure of surprise. These results support the notion that auditory discrimination is driven by the development of brain networks for predictive processing, and can be measured in infants during sleep. The results presented here have implications for the interpretation of discrimination as a probabilistic process, and may provide a basis for the development of single-subject and single-trial classification in a clinically useful context. An infant's brain is processing information about the environment and performing computations, even during sleep. These computations reflect subtle differences in acoustic feature processing that are necessary for language-learning. Results from this study suggest that brain responses to deviant sounds in an oddball paradigm follow a cascade of oscillatory modulations. This cascade begins with a gamma response that later emerges as a beta synchronization, which is temporally coupled with a theta modulation, and followed by a second, subsequent theta modulation. The difference in frequency and timing of the theta modulations appears to reflect a measure of surprise. These insights into the neurophysiological mechanisms of auditory discrimination provide a basis for exploring the clinically utility of the MMR TF and other auditory oddball responses.

Auditory Memory Decay as Reflected by a New Mismatch Negativity Score Is Associated with Episodic Memory in Older Adults at Risk of Dementia.

PubMed

Laptinskaya, Daria; Thurm, Franka; Küster, Olivia C; Fissler, Patrick; Schlee, Winfried; Kolassa, Stephan; von Arnim, Christine A F; Kolassa, Iris-Tatjana

2018-01-01

The auditory mismatch negativity (MMN) is an event-related potential (ERP) peaking about 100-250 ms after the onset of a deviant tone in a sequence of identical (standard) tones. Depending on the interstimulus interval (ISI) between standard and deviant tones, the MMN is suitable to investigate the pre-attentive auditory discrimination ability (short ISIs, ≤ 2 s) as well as the pre-attentive auditory memory trace (long ISIs, >2 s). However, current results regarding the MMN as an index for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia are mixed, especially after short ISIs: while the majority of studies report positive associations between the MMN and cognition, others fail to find such relationships. To elucidate these so far inconsistent results, we investigated the validity of the MMN as an index for cognitive impairment exploring the associations between different MMN indices and cognitive performance, more specifically with episodic memory performance which is among the most affected cognitive domains in the course of Alzheimer's dementia (AD), at baseline and at a 5-year-follow-up. We assessed the amplitude of the MMN for short ISI (stimulus onset asynchrony, SOA = 0.05 s) and for long ISI (3 s) in a neuropsychologically well-characterized cohort of older adults at risk of dementia (subjective memory impairment, amnestic and non-amnestic MCI; n = 57). Furthermore, we created a novel difference score (ΔMMN), defined as the difference between MMNs to short and to long ISI, as a measure to assess the decay of the auditory memory trace, higher values indicating less decay. ΔMMN and MMN amplitude after long ISI, but not the MMN amplitude after short ISI, was associated with episodic memory at baseline ( β = 0.38, p = 0.003; β = -0.27, p = 0.047, respectively). ΔMMN, but not the MMN for long ISIs, was positively associated with episodic memory performance at the 5-year-follow-up ( β = 0.57, p = 0.013). The results suggest that the MMN after long ISI might be suitable as an indicator for the decline in episodic memory and indicate ΔMMN as a potential biomarker for memory impairment in older adults at risk of dementia.

Increasing the security at vital infrastructures: automated detection of deviant behaviors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burghouts, Gertjan J.; den Hollander, Richard; Schutte, Klamer; Marck, Jan-Willem; Landsmeer, Sander; den Breejen, Eric

2011-06-01

This paper discusses the decomposition of hostile intentions into abnormal behaviors. A list of such behaviors has been compiled for the specific case of public transport. Some of the deviant behaviors are hard to observe by people, as they are in the midst of the crowd. Examples are deviant walking patterns, prohibited actions such as taking photos and waiting without taking the train. We discuss our visual analytics algorithms and demonstrate them on CCTV footage from the Amsterdam train station.

Growth-Related Neural Reorganization and the Autism Phenotype: A Test of the Hypothesis that Altered Brain Growth Leads to Altered Connectivity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, John D.; Elman, Jeffrey L.

2008-01-01

Theoretical considerations, and findings from computational modeling, comparative neuroanatomy and developmental neuroscience, motivate the hypothesis that a deviant brain growth trajectory will lead to deviant patterns of change in cortico-cortical connectivity. Differences in brain size during development will alter the relative cost and…

Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) detect rhythmic groups in music, but not the beat.

PubMed

Honing, Henkjan; Merchant, Hugo; Háden, Gábor P; Prado, Luis; Bartolo, Ramón

2012-01-01

It was recently shown that rhythmic entrainment, long considered a human-specific mechanism, can be demonstrated in a selected group of bird species, and, somewhat surprisingly, not in more closely related species such as nonhuman primates. This observation supports the vocal learning hypothesis that suggests rhythmic entrainment to be a by-product of the vocal learning mechanisms that are shared by several bird and mammal species, including humans, but that are only weakly developed, or missing entirely, in nonhuman primates. To test this hypothesis we measured auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) in two rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), probing a well-documented component in humans, the mismatch negativity (MMN) to study rhythmic expectation. We demonstrate for the first time in rhesus monkeys that, in response to infrequent deviants in pitch that were presented in a continuous sound stream using an oddball paradigm, a comparable ERP component can be detected with negative deflections in early latencies (Experiment 1). Subsequently we tested whether rhesus monkeys can detect gaps (omissions at random positions in the sound stream; Experiment 2) and, using more complex stimuli, also the beat (omissions at the first position of a musical unit, i.e. the 'downbeat'; Experiment 3). In contrast to what has been shown in human adults and newborns (using identical stimuli and experimental paradigm), the results suggest that rhesus monkeys are not able to detect the beat in music. These findings are in support of the hypothesis that beat induction (the cognitive mechanism that supports the perception of a regular pulse from a varying rhythm) is species-specific and absent in nonhuman primates. In addition, the findings support the auditory timing dissociation hypothesis, with rhesus monkeys being sensitive to rhythmic grouping (detecting the start of a rhythmic group), but not to the induced beat (detecting a regularity from a varying rhythm).

No effects of a single 3G UMTS mobile phone exposure on spontaneous EEG activity, ERP correlates, and automatic deviance detection.

PubMed

Trunk, Attila; Stefanics, Gábor; Zentai, Norbert; Kovács-Bálint, Zsófia; Thuróczy, György; Hernádi, István

2013-01-01

Potential effects of a 30 min exposure to third generation (3G) Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile phone-like electromagnetic fields (EMFs) were investigated on human brain electrical activity in two experiments. In the first experiment, spontaneous electroencephalography (sEEG) was analyzed (n = 17); in the second experiment, auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) and automatic deviance detection processes reflected by mismatch negativity (MMN) were investigated in a passive oddball paradigm (n = 26). Both sEEG and ERP experiments followed a double-blind protocol where subjects were exposed to either genuine or sham irradiation in two separate sessions. In both experiments, electroencephalograms (EEG) were recorded at midline electrode sites before and after exposure while subjects were watching a silent documentary. Spectral power of sEEG data was analyzed in the delta, theta, alpha, and beta frequency bands. In the ERP experiment, subjects were presented with a random series of standard (90%) and frequency-deviant (10%) tones in a passive binaural oddball paradigm. The amplitude and latency of the P50, N100, P200, MMN, and P3a components were analyzed. We found no measurable effects of a 30 min 3G mobile phone irradiation on the EEG spectral power in any frequency band studied. Also, we found no significant effects of EMF irradiation on the amplitude and latency of any of the ERP components. In summary, the present results do not support the notion that a 30 min unilateral 3G EMF exposure interferes with human sEEG activity, auditory evoked potentials or automatic deviance detection indexed by MMN. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

MMN and novelty P3 in coma and other altered states of consciousness: a review.

PubMed

Morlet, Dominique; Fischer, Catherine

2014-07-01

In recent decades, there has been a growing interest in the assessment of patients in altered states of consciousness. There is a need for accurate and early prediction of awakening and recovery from coma. Neurophysiological assessment of coma was once restricted to brainstem auditory and primary cortex somatosensory evoked potentials elicited in the 30 ms range, which have both shown good predictive value for poor coma outcome only. In this paper, we review how passive auditory oddball paradigms including deviant and novel sounds have proved their efficiency in assessing brain function at a higher level, without requiring the patient's active involvement, thus providing an enhanced tool for the prediction of coma outcome. The presence of an MMN in response to deviant stimuli highlights preserved automatic sensory memory processes. Recorded during coma, MMN has shown high specificity as a predictor of recovery of consciousness. The presence of a novelty P3 in response to the subject's own first name presented as a novel (rare) stimulus has shown a good correlation with coma awakening. There is now a growing interest in the search for markers of consciousness, if there are any, in unresponsive patients (chronic vegetative or minimally conscious states). We discuss the different ERP patterns observed in these patients. The presence of novelty P3, including parietal components and possibly followed by a late parietal positivity, raises the possibility that some awareness processes are at work in these unresponsive patients.

MMN and Novelty P3 in Coma and Other Altered States of Consciousness: A Review

PubMed Central

Morlet, Dominique; Fischer, Catherine

2014-01-01

In recent decades, there has been a growing interest in the assessment of patients in altered states of consciousness. There is a need for accurate and early prediction of awakening and recovery from coma. Neurophysiological assessment of coma was once restricted to brainstem auditory and primary cortex somatosensory evoked potentials elicited in the thirty millisecond range, which have both shown good predictive value for poor coma outcome only. In this paper, we review how passive auditory oddball paradigms including deviant and novel sounds have proved their efficiency in assessing brain function at a higher level, without requiring the patient’s active involvement, thus providing an enhanced tool for the prediction of coma outcome. The presence of an MMN in response to deviant stimuli highlights preserved automatic sensory memory processes. Recorded during coma, MMN has shown high specificity as a predictor of recovery of consciousness. The presence of a novelty P3 in response to the subject’s own first name presented as a novel (rare) stimulus has shown a good correlation with coma awakening. There is now a growing interest in the search for markers of consciousness, if there are any, in unresponsive patients (chronic vegetative or minimally conscious states). We discuss the different ERP patterns observed in these patients. The presence of novelty P3, including parietal components and possibly followed by a late parietal positivity, raises the possibility that some awareness processes are at work in these unresponsive patients. PMID:24281786

A dual contribution to the involuntary semantic processing of unexpected spoken words.

PubMed

Parmentier, Fabrice B R; Turner, Jacqueline; Perez, Laura

2014-02-01

Sounds are a major cause of distraction. Unexpected to-be-ignored auditory stimuli presented in the context of an otherwise repetitive acoustic background ineluctably break through selective attention and distract people from an unrelated visual task (deviance distraction). This involuntary capture of attention by deviant sounds has been hypothesized to trigger their semantic appraisal and, in some circumstances, interfere with ongoing performance, but it remains unclear how such processing compares with the automatic processing of distractors in classic interference tasks (e.g., Stroop, flanker, Simon tasks). Using a cross-modal oddball task, we assessed the involuntary semantic processing of deviant sounds in the presence and absence of deviance distraction. The results revealed that some involuntary semantic analysis of spoken distractors occurs in the absence of deviance distraction but that this processing is significantly greater in its presence. We conclude that the automatic processing of spoken distractors reflects 2 contributions, one that is contingent upon deviance distraction and one that is independent from it.

Localizing pre-attentive auditory memory-based comparison: magnetic mismatch negativity to pitch change.

PubMed

Maess, Burkhard; Jacobsen, Thomas; Schröger, Erich; Friederici, Angela D

2007-08-15

Changes in the pitch of repetitive sounds elicit the mismatch negativity (MMN) of the event-related brain potential (ERP). There exist two alternative accounts for this index of automatic change detection: (1) A sensorial, non-comparator account according to which ERPs in oddball sequences are affected by differential refractory states of frequency-specific afferent cortical neurons. (2) A cognitive, comparator account stating that MMN reflects the outcome of a memory comparison between a neuronal model of the frequently presented standard sound with the sensory memory representation of the changed sound. Using a condition controlling for refractoriness effects, the two contributions to MMN can be disentangled. The present study used whole-head MEG to further elucidate the sensorial and cognitive contributions to frequency MMN. Results replicated ERP findings that MMN to pitch change is a compound of the activity of a sensorial, non-comparator mechanism and a cognitive, comparator mechanism which could be separated in time. The sensorial part of frequency MMN consisting of spatially dipolar patterns was maximal in the late N1 range (105-125 ms), while the cognitive part peaked in the late MMN-range (170-200 ms). Spatial principal component analyses revealed that the early part of the traditionally measured MMN (deviant minus standard) is mainly due to the sensorial mechanism while the later mainly due to the cognitive mechanism. Inverse modeling revealed sources for both MMN contributions in the gyrus temporales transversus, bilaterally. These MEG results suggest temporally distinct but spatially overlapping activities of non-comparator-based and comparator-based mechanisms of automatic frequency change detection in auditory cortex.

Atypical central auditory speech-sound discrimination in children who stutter as indexed by the mismatch negativity.

PubMed

Jansson-Verkasalo, Eira; Eggers, Kurt; Järvenpää, Anu; Suominen, Kalervo; Van den Bergh, Bea; De Nil, Luc; Kujala, Teija

2014-09-01

Recent theoretical conceptualizations suggest that disfluencies in stuttering may arise from several factors, one of them being atypical auditory processing. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate whether speech sound encoding and central auditory discrimination, are affected in children who stutter (CWS). Participants were 10 CWS, and 12 typically developing children with fluent speech (TDC). Event-related potentials (ERPs) for syllables and syllable changes [consonant, vowel, vowel-duration, frequency (F0), and intensity changes], critical in speech perception and language development of CWS were compared to those of TDC. There were no significant group differences in the amplitudes or latencies of the P1 or N2 responses elicited by the standard stimuli. However, the Mismatch Negativity (MMN) amplitude was significantly smaller in CWS than in TDC. For TDC all deviants of the linguistic multifeature paradigm elicited significant MMN amplitudes, comparable with the results found earlier with the same paradigm in 6-year-old children. In contrast, only the duration change elicited a significant MMN in CWS. The results showed that central auditory speech-sound processing was typical at the level of sound encoding in CWS. In contrast, central speech-sound discrimination, as indexed by the MMN for multiple sound features (both phonetic and prosodic), was atypical in the group of CWS. Findings were linked to existing conceptualizations on stuttering etiology. The reader will be able (a) to describe recent findings on central auditory speech-sound processing in individuals who stutter, (b) to describe the measurement of auditory reception and central auditory speech-sound discrimination, (c) to describe the findings of central auditory speech-sound discrimination, as indexed by the mismatch negativity (MMN), in children who stutter. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The relationship of phonological ability, speech perception, and auditory perception in adults with dyslexia

PubMed Central

Law, Jeremy M.; Vandermosten, Maaike; Ghesquiere, Pol; Wouters, Jan

2014-01-01

This study investigated whether auditory, speech perception, and phonological skills are tightly interrelated or independently contributing to reading. We assessed each of these three skills in 36 adults with a past diagnosis of dyslexia and 54 matched normal reading adults. Phonological skills were tested by the typical threefold tasks, i.e., rapid automatic naming, verbal short-term memory and phonological awareness. Dynamic auditory processing skills were assessed by means of a frequency modulation (FM) and an amplitude rise time (RT); an intensity discrimination task (ID) was included as a non-dynamic control task. Speech perception was assessed by means of sentences and words-in-noise tasks. Group analyses revealed significant group differences in auditory tasks (i.e., RT and ID) and in phonological processing measures, yet no differences were found for speech perception. In addition, performance on RT discrimination correlated with reading but this relation was mediated by phonological processing and not by speech-in-noise. Finally, inspection of the individual scores revealed that the dyslexic readers showed an increased proportion of deviant subjects on the slow-dynamic auditory and phonological tasks, yet each individual dyslexic reader does not display a clear pattern of deficiencies across the processing skills. Although our results support phonological and slow-rate dynamic auditory deficits which relate to literacy, they suggest that at the individual level, problems in reading and writing cannot be explained by the cascading auditory theory. Instead, dyslexic adults seem to vary considerably in the extent to which each of the auditory and phonological factors are expressed and interact with environmental and higher-order cognitive influences. PMID:25071512

Adapted wavelet transform improves time-frequency representations: a study of auditory elicited P300-like event-related potentials in rats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richard, Nelly; Laursen, Bettina; Grupe, Morten; Drewes, Asbjørn M.; Graversen, Carina; Sørensen, Helge B. D.; Bastlund, Jesper F.

2017-04-01

Objective. Active auditory oddball paradigms are simple tone discrimination tasks used to study the P300 deflection of event-related potentials (ERPs). These ERPs may be quantified by time-frequency analysis. As auditory stimuli cause early high frequency and late low frequency ERP oscillations, the continuous wavelet transform (CWT) is often chosen for decomposition due to its multi-resolution properties. However, as the conventional CWT traditionally applies only one mother wavelet to represent the entire spectrum, the time-frequency resolution is not optimal across all scales. To account for this, we developed and validated a novel method specifically refined to analyse P300-like ERPs in rats. Approach. An adapted CWT (aCWT) was implemented to preserve high time-frequency resolution across all scales by commissioning of multiple wavelets operating at different scales. First, decomposition of simulated ERPs was illustrated using the classical CWT and the aCWT. Next, the two methods were applied to EEG recordings obtained from prefrontal cortex in rats performing a two-tone auditory discrimination task. Main results. While only early ERP frequency changes between responses to target and non-target tones were detected by the CWT, both early and late changes were successfully described with strong accuracy by the aCWT in rat ERPs. Increased frontal gamma power and phase synchrony was observed particularly within theta and gamma frequency bands during deviant tones. Significance. The study suggests superior performance of the aCWT over the CWT in terms of detailed quantification of time-frequency properties of ERPs. Our methodological investigation indicates that accurate and complete assessment of time-frequency components of short-time neural signals is feasible with the novel analysis approach which may be advantageous for characterisation of several types of evoked potentials in particularly rodents.

Practiced musical style shapes auditory skills.

PubMed

Vuust, Peter; Brattico, Elvira; Seppänen, Miia; Näätänen, Risto; Tervaniemi, Mari

2012-04-01

Musicians' processing of sounds depends highly on instrument, performance practice, and level of expertise. Here, we measured the mismatch negativity (MMN), a preattentive brain response, to six types of musical feature change in musicians playing three distinct styles of music (classical, jazz, and rock/pop) and in nonmusicians using a novel, fast, and musical sounding multifeature MMN paradigm. We found MMN to all six deviants, showing that MMN paradigms can be adapted to resemble a musical context. Furthermore, we found that jazz musicians had larger MMN amplitude than all other experimental groups across all sound features, indicating greater overall sensitivity to auditory outliers. Furthermore, we observed a tendency toward shorter latency of the MMN to all feature changes in jazz musicians compared to band musicians. These findings indicate that the characteristics of the style of music played by musicians influence their perceptual skills and the brain processing of sound features embedded in music. © 2012 New York Academy of Sciences.

Auditory Processing in Noise Is Associated With Complex Patterns of Disrupted Functional Connectivity in Autism Spectrum Disorder

PubMed Central

Mamashli, Fahimeh; Khan, Sheraz; Bharadwaj, Hari; Michmizos, Konstantinos; Ganesan, Santosh; Garel, Keri-Lee A.; Hashmi, Javeria Ali; Herbert, Martha R.; Hämäläinen, Matti; Kenet, Tal

2017-01-01

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with difficulty in processing speech in a noisy background, but the neural mechanisms that underlie this deficit have not been mapped. To address this question, we used magnetoencephalography to compare the cortical responses between ASD and typically developing (TD) individuals to a passive mismatch paradigm. We repeated the paradigm twice, once in a quiet background, and once in the presence of background noise. We focused on both the evoked mismatch field (MMF) response in temporal and frontal cortical locations, and functional connectivity with spectral specificity between those locations. In the quiet condition, we found common neural sources of the MMF response in both groups, in the right temporal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). In the noise condition, the MMF response in the right IFG was preserved in the TD group, but reduced relative to the quiet condition in ASD group. The MMF response in the right IFG also correlated with severity of ASD. Moreover, in noise, we found significantly reduced normalized coherence (deviant normalized by standard) in ASD relative to TD, in the beta band (14–25 Hz), between left temporal and left inferior frontal sub-regions. However, unnormalized coherence (coherence during deviant or standard) was significantly increased in ASD relative to TD, in multiple frequency bands. Our findings suggest increased recruitment of neural resources in ASD irrespective of the task difficulty, alongside a reduction in top-down modulations, usually mediated by the beta band, needed to mitigate the impact of noise on auditory processing. PMID:27910247

Influence of Musical Enculturation on Brain Responses to Metric Deviants.

PubMed

Haumann, Niels T; Vuust, Peter; Bertelsen, Freja; Garza-Villarreal, Eduardo A

2018-01-01

The ability to recognize metric accents is fundamental in both music and language perception. It has been suggested that music listeners prefer rhythms that follow simple binary meters, which are common in Western music. This means that listeners expect odd-numbered beats to be strong and even-numbered beats to be weak. In support of this, studies have shown that listeners exposed to Western music show stronger novelty and incongruity related P3 and irregularity detection related mismatch negativity (MMN) brain responses to attenuated odd- than attenuated even-numbered metric positions. Furthermore, behavioral evidence suggests that music listeners' preferences can be changed by long-term exposure to non-Western rhythms and meters, e.g., by listening to African or Balkan music. In our study, we investigated whether it might be possible to measure effects of music enculturation on neural responses to attenuated tones on specific metric positions. We compared the magnetic mismatch negativity (MMNm) to attenuated beats in a "Western group" of listeners ( n = 12) mainly exposed to Western music and a "Bicultural group" of listeners ( n = 13) exposed for at least 1 year to both Sub-Saharan African music in addition to Western music. We found that in the "Western group" the MMNm was higher in amplitude to deviant tones on odd compared to even metric positions, but not in the "Bicultural group." In support of this finding, there was also a trend of the "Western group" to rate omitted beats as more surprising on odd than even metric positions, whereas the "Bicultural group" seemed to discriminate less between metric positions in terms of surprise ratings. Also, we observed that the overall latency of the MMNm was significantly shorter in the Bicultural group compared to the Western group. These effects were not biased by possible differences in rhythm perception ability or music training, measured with the Musical Ear Test (MET). Furthermore, source localization analyses suggest that auditory, inferior temporal, sensory-motor, superior frontal, and parahippocampal regions might be involved in eliciting the MMNm to the metric deviants. These findings suggest that effects of music enculturation can be measured on MMNm responses to attenuated tones on specific metric positions.

Infants are superior in implicit crossmodal learning and use other learning mechanisms than adults

PubMed Central

von Frieling, Marco; Röder, Brigitte

2017-01-01

During development internal models of the sensory world must be acquired which have to be continuously adapted later. We used event-related potentials (ERP) to test the hypothesis that infants extract crossmodal statistics implicitly while adults learn them when task relevant. Participants were passively exposed to frequent standard audio-visual combinations (A1V1, A2V2, p=0.35 each), rare recombinations of these standard stimuli (A1V2, A2V1, p=0.10 each), and a rare audio-visual deviant with infrequent auditory and visual elements (A3V3, p=0.10). While both six-month-old infants and adults differentiated between rare deviants and standards involving early neural processing stages only infants were sensitive to crossmodal statistics as indicated by a late ERP difference between standard and recombined stimuli. A second experiment revealed that adults differentiated recombined and standard combinations when crossmodal combinations were task relevant. These results demonstrate a heightened sensitivity for crossmodal statistics in infants and a change in learning mode from infancy to adulthood. PMID:28949291

Auditory processing and morphological anomalies in medial geniculate nucleus of Cntnap2 mutant mice.

PubMed

Truong, Dongnhu T; Rendall, Amanda R; Castelluccio, Brian C; Eigsti, Inge-Marie; Fitch, R Holly

2015-12-01

Genetic epidemiological studies support a role for CNTNAP2 in developmental language disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, specific language impairment, and dyslexia. Atypical language development and function represent a core symptom of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with evidence suggesting that aberrant auditory processing-including impaired spectrotemporal processing and enhanced pitch perception-may both contribute to an anomalous language phenotype. Investigation of gene-brain-behavior relationships in social and repetitive ASD symptomatology have benefited from experimentation on the Cntnap2 knockout (KO) mouse. However, auditory-processing behavior and effects on neural structures within the central auditory pathway have not been assessed in this model. Thus, this study examined whether auditory-processing abnormalities were associated with mutation of the Cntnap2 gene in mice. Cntnap2 KO mice were assessed on auditory-processing tasks including silent gap detection, embedded tone detection, and pitch discrimination. Cntnap2 knockout mice showed deficits in silent gap detection but a surprising superiority in pitch-related discrimination as compared with controls. Stereological analysis revealed a reduction in the number and density of neurons, as well as a shift in neuronal size distribution toward smaller neurons, in the medial geniculate nucleus of mutant mice. These findings are consistent with a central role for CNTNAP2 in the ontogeny and function of neural systems subserving auditory processing and suggest that developmental disruption of these neural systems could contribute to the atypical language phenotype seen in autism spectrum disorder. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Frontal and temporal lobe sources for a marker of controlled auditory attention: the negative difference (Nd) event-related potential.

PubMed

Jemel, Boutheina; Oades, Robert D; Oknina, Ljubov; Achenbach, Christiane; Röpcke, Bernd

2003-01-01

Frontal and temporal lobe sources for electrical activity associated with auditory controlled attention (negative difference, Nd) were sought for comparison with those reported to arise from the earlier detection of stimulus-change (mismatch negativity, MMN: Jemel et al. 2002). In two sessions a month apart (T1 and T2), 14 subjects were presented with a 3-tone oddball passively, then as a discrimination task. In EEG recordings (32 sites), Nd was calculated by subtraction of the event-related potential elicited by a non-attended stimulus from that after the same frequency-deviant as target Putative generators in the 180-228 ms latency-range were modelled with brain electrical source analysis and mapped to the modified Montreal brain-atlas. Initial T1-analyses located bilateral Nd dipoles in the superior temporal gyrus (BA22) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BA8). Re-test allowed estimates of the temporal and spatial extension of activity. Peak activity occurred 14 ms later. Step-by-stepanalysis showed that the best spatial fit for the inverse-solutions extended 3-6 mm from the point sources, but for temporal lobe sources this increased 15 mm caudally. The right mid-frontal source (BA10) was rostral and ventral from that in the left superior frontal gyrus (BAB). T1 and T2 dipole strengths were well correlated. Nd measures of controlled attention localised to areas associated with sustained attention, problem-solving and working-memory. Temporal lobe sources were later and more posterior and medial than for automatic change-detection. Frontal Nd sources were more dorsal on the right and more rostral on the left than MMN dipoles reported for the right inferior frontal and left anterior cingulate. The sequence of information processing is reviewed.

Musicians Show General Enhancement of Complex Sound Encoding and Better Inhibition of Irrelevant Auditory Change in Music: An ERP Study

PubMed Central

Kaganovich, Natalya; Kim, Jihyun; Herring, Caryn; Schumaker, Jennifer; MacPherson, Megan; Weber-Fox, Christine

2012-01-01

Using electrophysiology, we have examined two questions in relation to musical training – namely, whether it enhances sensory encoding of the human voice and whether it improves the ability to ignore irrelevant auditory change. Participants performed an auditory distraction task, in which they identified each sound as either short (350 ms) or long (550 ms) and ignored a change in sounds’ timbre. Sounds consisted of a male and a female voice saying a neutral sound [a], and of a cello and a French Horn playing an F3 note. In some blocks, musical sounds occurred on 80% of trials, while voice sounds on 20% of trials. In other blocks, the reverse was true. Participants heard naturally recorded sounds in half of experimental blocks and their spectrally-rotated versions in the other half. Regarding voice perception, we found that musicians had a larger N1 ERP component not only to vocal sounds but also to their never before heard spectrally-rotated versions. We, therefore, conclude that musical training is associated with a general improvement in the early neural encoding of complex sounds. Regarding the ability to ignore irrelevant auditory change, musicians’ accuracy tended to suffer less from the change in sounds’ timbre, especially when deviants were musical notes. This behavioral finding was accompanied by a marginally larger re-orienting negativity in musicians, suggesting that their advantage may lie in a more efficient disengagement of attention from the distracting auditory dimension. PMID:23301775

Audiovisual speech perception in infancy: The influence of vowel identity and infants' productive abilities on sensitivity to (mis)matches between auditory and visual speech cues.

PubMed

Altvater-Mackensen, Nicole; Mani, Nivedita; Grossmann, Tobias

2016-02-01

Recent studies suggest that infants' audiovisual speech perception is influenced by articulatory experience (Mugitani et al., 2008; Yeung & Werker, 2013). The current study extends these findings by testing if infants' emerging ability to produce native sounds in babbling impacts their audiovisual speech perception. We tested 44 6-month-olds on their ability to detect mismatches between concurrently presented auditory and visual vowels and related their performance to their productive abilities and later vocabulary size. Results show that infants' ability to detect mismatches between auditory and visually presented vowels differs depending on the vowels involved. Furthermore, infants' sensitivity to mismatches is modulated by their current articulatory knowledge and correlates with their vocabulary size at 12 months of age. This suggests that-aside from infants' ability to match nonnative audiovisual cues (Pons et al., 2009)-their ability to match native auditory and visual cues continues to develop during the first year of life. Our findings point to a potential role of salient vowel cues and productive abilities in the development of audiovisual speech perception, and further indicate a relation between infants' early sensitivity to audiovisual speech cues and their later language development. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved.

Bigger Brains or Bigger Nuclei? Regulating the Size of Auditory Structures in Birds

PubMed Central

Kubke, M. Fabiana; Massoglia, Dino P.; Carr, Catherine E.

2012-01-01

Increases in the size of the neuronal structures that mediate specific behaviors are believed to be related to enhanced computational performance. It is not clear, however, what developmental and evolutionary mechanisms mediate these changes, nor whether an increase in the size of a given neuronal population is a general mechanism to achieve enhanced computational ability. We addressed the issue of size by analyzing the variation in the relative number of cells of auditory structures in auditory specialists and generalists. We show that bird species with different auditory specializations exhibit variation in the relative size of their hindbrain auditory nuclei. In the barn owl, an auditory specialist, the hind-brain auditory nuclei involved in the computation of sound location show hyperplasia. This hyperplasia was also found in songbirds, but not in non-auditory specialists. The hyperplasia of auditory nuclei was also not seen in birds with large body weight suggesting that the total number of cells is selected for in auditory specialists. In barn owls, differences observed in the relative size of the auditory nuclei might be attributed to modifications in neurogenesis and cell death. Thus, hyperplasia of circuits used for auditory computation accompanies auditory specialization in different orders of birds. PMID:14726625

Music playing and memory trace: evidence from event-related potentials.

PubMed

Kamiyama, Keiko; Katahira, Kentaro; Abla, Dilshat; Hori, Koji; Okanoya, Kazuo

2010-08-01

We examined the relationship between motor practice and auditory memory for sound sequences to evaluate the hypothesis that practice involving physical performance might enhance auditory memory. Participants learned two unfamiliar sound sequences using different training methods. Under the key-press condition, they learned a melody while pressing a key during auditory input. Under the no-key-press condition, they listened to another melody without any key pressing. The two melodies were presented alternately, and all participants were trained in both methods. Participants were instructed to pay attention under both conditions. After training, they listened to the two melodies again without pressing keys, and ERPs were recorded. During the ERP recordings, 10% of the tones in these melodies deviated from the originals. The grand-average ERPs showed that the amplitude of mismatch negativity (MMN) elicited by deviant stimuli was larger under the key-press condition than under the no-key-press condition. This effect appeared only in the high absolute pitch group, which included those with a pronounced ability to identify a note without external reference. This result suggests that the effect of training with key pressing was mediated by individual musical skills. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd and the Japan Neuroscience Society. All rights reserved.

Habituation of Auditory Steady State Responses Evoked by Amplitude-Modulated Acoustic Signals in Rats

PubMed Central

Prado-Gutierrez, Pavel; Castro-Fariñas, Anisleidy; Morgado-Rodriguez, Lisbet; Velarde-Reyes, Ernesto; Martínez, Agustín D.; Martínez-Montes, Eduardo

2015-01-01

Generation of the auditory steady state responses (ASSR) is commonly explained by the linear combination of random background noise activity and the stationary response. Based on this model, the decrease of amplitude that occurs over the sequential averaging of epochs of the raw data has been exclusively linked to the cancelation of noise. Nevertheless, this behavior might also reflect the non-stationary response of the ASSR generators. We tested this hypothesis by characterizing the ASSR time course in rats with different auditory maturational stages. ASSR were evoked by 8-kHz tones of different supra-threshold intensities, modulated in amplitude at 115 Hz. Results show that the ASSR amplitude habituated to the sustained stimulation and that dishabituation occurred when deviant stimuli were presented. ASSR habituation increased as animals became adults, suggesting that the ability to filter acoustic stimuli with no-relevant temporal information increased with age. Results are discussed in terms of the current model of the ASSR generation and analysis procedures. They might have implications for audiometric tests designed to assess hearing in subjects who cannot provide reliable results in the psychophysical trials. PMID:26557360

Mismatch negativity as a potential neurobiological marker of early-stage Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia.

PubMed

Jiang, Shixiang; Yan, Chang; Qiao, Zhengxue; Yao, Haiqian; Jiang, Shiquan; Qiu, Xiaohui; Yang, Xiuxian; Fang, Deyu; Yang, Yanjie; Zhang, Limei; Wang, Lina; Zhang, Liming

2017-04-24

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VD) are serious, irreversible forms of cognitive impairment, which means that an early diagnosis is essential to slow down their progression. One potential neurophysiological biomarker of these diseases is the mismatch negativity (MMN) event-related potentials (ERP) component, which reflects an automatic detection mechanism at the pre-attentive stages of information processing. We evaluated the auditory MMN response in individuals from two patient groups: those in the prodromal stages of AD (P-AD) and those in the prodromal stages of VD (P-VD). Thirty patients (15 P-AD patients and 15 P-VD patients) and 30 age-matched controls were recruited to undergo electrophysiological recordings during the presentation of an auditory deviant-standard-reverse oddball paradigm that was used to elicit genuine MMN responses. We show that over the frontal-central area, the mean amplitude of the MMN was significantly reduced in both the P-AD (p=0.017) and P-VD groups (p=0.013) compared with controls. The MMN peak latency in P-VD patients was significantly shorter than in controls (p=0.027). No MMN response differences between the P-AD and P-VD were found in either the frontal-central or the temporal areas. These results indicate that P-AD and P-VD patients exhibit impaired pre-attentive information processing mechanisms as revealed by the frontal-central area MMN response, which is associated with sensory memory and cognitive deficits. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The effect of synesthetic associations between the visual and auditory modalities on the Colavita effect.

PubMed

Stekelenburg, Jeroen J; Keetels, Mirjam

2016-05-01

The Colavita effect refers to the phenomenon that when confronted with an audiovisual stimulus, observers report more often to have perceived the visual than the auditory component. The Colavita effect depends on low-level stimulus factors such as spatial and temporal proximity between the unimodal signals. Here, we examined whether the Colavita effect is modulated by synesthetic congruency between visual size and auditory pitch. If the Colavita effect depends on synesthetic congruency, we expect a larger Colavita effect for synesthetically congruent size/pitch (large visual stimulus/low-pitched tone; small visual stimulus/high-pitched tone) than synesthetically incongruent (large visual stimulus/high-pitched tone; small visual stimulus/low-pitched tone) combinations. Participants had to identify stimulus type (visual, auditory or audiovisual). The study replicated the Colavita effect because participants reported more often the visual than auditory component of the audiovisual stimuli. Synesthetic congruency had, however, no effect on the magnitude of the Colavita effect. EEG recordings to congruent and incongruent audiovisual pairings showed a late frontal congruency effect at 400-550 ms and an occipitoparietal effect at 690-800 ms with neural sources in the anterior cingulate and premotor cortex for the 400- to 550-ms window and premotor cortex, inferior parietal lobule and the posterior middle temporal gyrus for the 690- to 800-ms window. The electrophysiological data show that synesthetic congruency was probably detected in a processing stage subsequent to the Colavita effect. We conclude that-in a modality detection task-the Colavita effect can be modulated by low-level structural factors but not by higher-order associations between auditory and visual inputs.

The 5% difference: early sensory processing predicts sarcasm perception in schizophrenia and schizo-affective disorder.

PubMed

Kantrowitz, J T; Hoptman, M J; Leitman, D I; Silipo, G; Javitt, D C

2014-01-01

Intact sarcasm perception is a crucial component of social cognition and mentalizing (the ability to understand the mental state of oneself and others). In sarcasm, tone of voice is used to negate the literal meaning of an utterance. In particular, changes in pitch are used to distinguish between sincere and sarcastic utterances. Schizophrenia patients show well-replicated deficits in auditory function and functional connectivity (FC) within and between auditory cortical regions. In this study we investigated the contributions of auditory deficits to sarcasm perception in schizophrenia. Auditory measures including pitch processing, auditory emotion recognition (AER) and sarcasm detection were obtained from 76 patients with schizophrenia/schizo-affective disorder and 72 controls. Resting-state FC (rsFC) was obtained from a subsample and was analyzed using seeds placed in both auditory cortex and meta-analysis-defined core-mentalizing regions relative to auditory performance. Patients showed large effect-size deficits across auditory measures. Sarcasm deficits correlated significantly with general functioning and impaired pitch processing both across groups and within the patient group alone. Patients also showed reduced sensitivity to alterations in mean pitch and variability. For patients, sarcasm discrimination correlated exclusively with the level of rsFC within primary auditory regions whereas for controls, correlations were observed exclusively within core-mentalizing regions (the right posterior superior temporal gyrus, anterior superior temporal sulcus and insula, and left posterior medial temporal gyrus). These findings confirm the contribution of auditory deficits to theory of mind (ToM) impairments in schizophrenia, and demonstrate that FC within auditory, but not core-mentalizing, regions is rate limiting with respect to sarcasm detection in schizophrenia.

Musicians show general enhancement of complex sound encoding and better inhibition of irrelevant auditory change in music: an ERP study.

PubMed

Kaganovich, Natalya; Kim, Jihyun; Herring, Caryn; Schumaker, Jennifer; Macpherson, Megan; Weber-Fox, Christine

2013-04-01

Using electrophysiology, we have examined two questions in relation to musical training - namely, whether it enhances sensory encoding of the human voice and whether it improves the ability to ignore irrelevant auditory change. Participants performed an auditory distraction task, in which they identified each sound as either short (350 ms) or long (550 ms) and ignored a change in timbre of the sounds. Sounds consisted of a male and a female voice saying a neutral sound [a], and of a cello and a French Horn playing an F3 note. In some blocks, musical sounds occurred on 80% of trials, while voice sounds on 20% of trials. In other blocks, the reverse was true. Participants heard naturally recorded sounds in half of experimental blocks and their spectrally-rotated versions in the other half. Regarding voice perception, we found that musicians had a larger N1 event-related potential component not only to vocal sounds but also to their never before heard spectrally-rotated versions. We therefore conclude that musical training is associated with a general improvement in the early neural encoding of complex sounds. Regarding the ability to ignore irrelevant auditory change, musicians' accuracy tended to suffer less from the change in timbre of the sounds, especially when deviants were musical notes. This behavioral finding was accompanied by a marginally larger re-orienting negativity in musicians, suggesting that their advantage may lie in a more efficient disengagement of attention from the distracting auditory dimension. © 2013 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Diffusion Tensor Imaging of Central Auditory Pathways in Patients with Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Tarabichi, Osama; Kozin, Elliott D; Kanumuri, Vivek V; Barber, Samuel; Ghosh, Satra; Sitek, Kevin R; Reinshagen, Katherine; Herrmann, Barbara; Remenschneider, Aaron K; Lee, Daniel J

2018-03-01

Objective The radiologic evaluation of patients with hearing loss includes computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to highlight temporal bone and cochlear nerve anatomy. The central auditory pathways are often not studied for routine clinical evaluation. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is an emerging MRI-based modality that can reveal microstructural changes in white matter. In this systematic review, we summarize the value of DTI in the detection of structural changes of the central auditory pathways in patients with sensorineural hearing loss. Data Sources PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane. Review Methods We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis statement checklist for study design. All studies that included at least 1 sensorineural hearing loss patient with DTI outcome data were included. Results After inclusion and exclusion criteria were met, 20 articles were analyzed. Patients with bilateral hearing loss comprised 60.8% of all subjects. Patients with unilateral or progressive hearing loss and tinnitus made up the remaining studies. The auditory cortex and inferior colliculus (IC) were the most commonly studied regions using DTI, and most cases were found to have changes in diffusion metrics, such as fractional anisotropy, compared to normal hearing controls. Detectable changes in other auditory regions were reported, but there was a higher degree of variability. Conclusion White matter changes based on DTI metrics can be seen in patients with sensorineural hearing loss, but studies are few in number with modest sample sizes. Further standardization of DTI using a prospective study design with larger sample sizes is needed.

Classification of Error Related Brain Activity in an Auditory Identification Task with Conditions of Varying Complexity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kakkos, I.; Gkiatis, K.; Bromis, K.; Asvestas, P. A.; Karanasiou, I. S.; Ventouras, E. M.; Matsopoulos, G. K.

2017-11-01

The detection of an error is the cognitive evaluation of an action outcome that is considered undesired or mismatches an expected response. Brain activity during monitoring of correct and incorrect responses elicits Event Related Potentials (ERPs) revealing complex cerebral responses to deviant sensory stimuli. Development of accurate error detection systems is of great importance both concerning practical applications and in investigating the complex neural mechanisms of decision making. In this study, data are used from an audio identification experiment that was implemented with two levels of complexity in order to investigate neurophysiological error processing mechanisms in actors and observers. To examine and analyse the variations of the processing of erroneous sensory information for each level of complexity we employ Support Vector Machines (SVM) classifiers with various learning methods and kernels using characteristic ERP time-windowed features. For dimensionality reduction and to remove redundant features we implement a feature selection framework based on Sequential Forward Selection (SFS). The proposed method provided high accuracy in identifying correct and incorrect responses both for actors and for observers with mean accuracy of 93% and 91% respectively. Additionally, computational time was reduced and the effects of the nesting problem usually occurring in SFS of large feature sets were alleviated.

Auditory processing during deep propofol sedation and recovery from unconsciousness.

PubMed

Koelsch, Stefan; Heinke, Wolfgang; Sammler, Daniela; Olthoff, Derk

2006-08-01

Using evoked potentials, this study investigated effects of deep propofol sedation, and effects of recovery from unconsciousness, on the processing of auditory information with stimuli suited to elicit a physical MMN, and a (music-syntactic) ERAN. Levels of sedation were assessed using the Bispectral Index (BIS) and the Modified Observer's Assessment of Alertness and Sedation Scale (MOAAS). EEG-measurements were performed during wakefulness, deep propofol sedation (MOAAS 2-3, mean BIS=68), and a recovery period. Between deep sedation and recovery period, the infusion rate of propofol was increased to achieve unconsciousness (MOAAS 0-1, mean BIS=35); EEG measurements of recovery period were performed after subjects regained consciousness. During deep sedation, the physical MMN was markedly reduced, but still significant. No ERAN was observed in this level. A clear P3a was elicited during deep sedation by those deviants, which were task-relevant during the awake state. As soon as subjects regained consciousness during the recovery period, a normal MMN was elicited. By contrast, the P3a was absent in the recovery period, and the P3b was markedly reduced. Results indicate that the auditory sensory memory (as indexed by the physical MMN) is still active, although strongly reduced, during deep sedation (MOAAS 2-3). The presence of the P3a indicates that attention-related processes are still operating during this level. Processes of syntactic analysis appear to be abolished during deep sedation. After propofol-induced anesthesia, the auditory sensory memory appears to operate normal as soon as subjects regain consciousness, whereas the attention-related processes indexed by P3a and P3b are markedly impaired. Results inform about effects of sedative drugs on auditory and attention-related mechanisms. The findings are important because these mechanisms are prerequisites for auditory awareness, auditory learning and memory, as well as language perception during anesthesia.

Impact of family abuse on running away, deviance, and street victimization among homeless rural and urban youth.

PubMed

Thrane, Lisa E; Hoyt, Danny R; Whitbeck, Les B; Yoder, Kevin A

2006-10-01

Various demographic and familial risk factors have been linked to runaway behavior. To date, there has not been a systematic investigation of the impact of size of community on runaway behavior. This study will compare runaways from smaller cities and rural areas to their urban counterparts. A convenience sample of 602 adolescents was interviewed between 1995 and August of 1996 in Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas, USA. Multiple regression was used to examine the association between gender, neglect, sexual abuse, physical abuse, geographic and family structure change, and community size of first runaway to predict age at first runaway, deviant subsistence strategies, and street victimization. Findings indicate that adolescents exposed to neglect (beta=-.20) and sexual abuse (beta=-.16) ran away sooner and were more likely to be victimized on the street. Rural adolescents who experienced higher levels of physical abuse relied more heavily on deviant subsistence strategies (beta=.15) and remained in abusive homes longer (beta=.15) than their similarly situated urban counterparts. Rural youth who have been subjected to elevated levels of familial abuse are at greater risk of deviant subsistence strategies, which increase the likelihood of street victimization.

Influence of Musical Enculturation on Brain Responses to Metric Deviants

PubMed Central

Haumann, Niels T.; Vuust, Peter; Bertelsen, Freja; Garza-Villarreal, Eduardo A.

2018-01-01

The ability to recognize metric accents is fundamental in both music and language perception. It has been suggested that music listeners prefer rhythms that follow simple binary meters, which are common in Western music. This means that listeners expect odd-numbered beats to be strong and even-numbered beats to be weak. In support of this, studies have shown that listeners exposed to Western music show stronger novelty and incongruity related P3 and irregularity detection related mismatch negativity (MMN) brain responses to attenuated odd- than attenuated even-numbered metric positions. Furthermore, behavioral evidence suggests that music listeners' preferences can be changed by long-term exposure to non-Western rhythms and meters, e.g., by listening to African or Balkan music. In our study, we investigated whether it might be possible to measure effects of music enculturation on neural responses to attenuated tones on specific metric positions. We compared the magnetic mismatch negativity (MMNm) to attenuated beats in a “Western group” of listeners (n = 12) mainly exposed to Western music and a “Bicultural group” of listeners (n = 13) exposed for at least 1 year to both Sub-Saharan African music in addition to Western music. We found that in the “Western group” the MMNm was higher in amplitude to deviant tones on odd compared to even metric positions, but not in the “Bicultural group.” In support of this finding, there was also a trend of the “Western group” to rate omitted beats as more surprising on odd than even metric positions, whereas the “Bicultural group” seemed to discriminate less between metric positions in terms of surprise ratings. Also, we observed that the overall latency of the MMNm was significantly shorter in the Bicultural group compared to the Western group. These effects were not biased by possible differences in rhythm perception ability or music training, measured with the Musical Ear Test (MET). Furthermore, source localization analyses suggest that auditory, inferior temporal, sensory-motor, superior frontal, and parahippocampal regions might be involved in eliciting the MMNm to the metric deviants. These findings suggest that effects of music enculturation can be measured on MMNm responses to attenuated tones on specific metric positions. PMID:29720932

Abnormal Complex Auditory Pattern Analysis in Schizophrenia Reflected in an Absent Missing Stimulus Mismatch Negativity.

PubMed

Salisbury, Dean F; McCathern, Alexis G

2016-11-01

The simple mismatch negativity (MMN) to tones deviating physically (in pitch, loudness, duration, etc.) from repeated standard tones is robustly reduced in schizophrenia. Although generally interpreted to reflect memory or cognitive processes, simple MMN likely contains some activity from non-adapted sensory cells, clouding what process is affected in schizophrenia. Research in healthy participants has demonstrated that MMN can be elicited by deviations from abstract auditory patterns and complex rules that do not cause sensory adaptation. Whether persons with schizophrenia show abnormalities in the complex MMN is unknown. Fourteen schizophrenia participants and 16 matched healthy underwent EEG recording while listening to 400 groups of 6 tones 330 ms apart, separated by 800 ms. Occasional deviant groups were missing the 4th or 6th tone (50 groups each). Healthy participants generated a robust response to a missing but expected tone. The schizophrenia group was significantly impaired in activating the missing stimulus MMN, generating no significant activity at all. Schizophrenia affects the ability of "primitive sensory intelligence" and pre-attentive perceptual mechanisms to form implicit groups in the auditory environment. Importantly, this deficit must relate to abnormalities in abstract complex pattern analysis rather than sensory problems in the disorder. The results indicate a deficit in parsing of the complex auditory scene which likely impacts negatively on successful social navigation in schizophrenia. Knowledge of the location and circuit architecture underlying the true novelty-related MMN and its pathophysiology in schizophrenia will help target future interventions.

Effects of twenty-minute 3G mobile phone irradiation on event related potential components and early gamma synchronization in auditory oddball paradigm.

PubMed

Stefanics, G; Thuróczy, G; Kellényi, L; Hernádi, I

2008-11-19

We investigated the potential effects of 20 min irradiation from a new generation Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) 3G mobile phone on human event related potentials (ERPs) in an auditory oddball paradigm. In a double-blind task design, subjects were exposed to either genuine or sham irradiation in two separate sessions. Before and after irradiation subjects were presented with a random series of 50 ms tone burst (frequent standards: 1 kHz, P=0.8, rare deviants: 1.5 kHz, P=0.2) at a mean repetition rate of 1500 ms while electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. The subjects' task was to silently count the appearance of targets. The amplitude and latency of the N100, N200, P200 and P300 components for targets and standards were analyzed in 29 subjects. We found no significant effects of electromagnetic field (EMF) irradiation on the amplitude and latency of the above ERP components. In order to study possible effects of EMF on attentional processes, we applied a wavelet-based time-frequency method to analyze the early gamma component of brain responses to auditory stimuli. We found that the early evoked gamma activity was insensitive to UMTS RF exposition. Our results support the notion, that a single 20 min irradiation from new generation 3G mobile phones does not induce measurable changes in latency or amplitude of ERP components or in oscillatory gamma-band activity in an auditory oddball paradigm.

Auditory Cortex Processes Variation in Our Own Speech

PubMed Central

Sitek, Kevin R.; Mathalon, Daniel H.; Roach, Brian J.; Houde, John F.; Niziolek, Caroline A.; Ford, Judith M.

2013-01-01

As we talk, we unconsciously adjust our speech to ensure it sounds the way we intend it to sound. However, because speech production involves complex motor planning and execution, no two utterances of the same sound will be exactly the same. Here, we show that auditory cortex is sensitive to natural variations in self-produced speech from utterance to utterance. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) from ninety-nine subjects while they uttered “ah” and while they listened to those speech sounds played back. Subjects' utterances were sorted based on their formant deviations from the previous utterance. Typically, the N1 ERP component is suppressed during talking compared to listening. By comparing ERPs to the least and most variable utterances, we found that N1 was less suppressed to utterances that differed greatly from their preceding neighbors. In contrast, an utterance's difference from the median formant values did not affect N1. Trial-to-trial pitch (f0) deviation and pitch difference from the median similarly did not affect N1. We discuss mechanisms that may underlie the change in N1 suppression resulting from trial-to-trial formant change. Deviant utterances require additional auditory cortical processing, suggesting that speaking-induced suppression mechanisms are optimally tuned for a specific production. PMID:24349399

Acute effects of Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol and standardized cannabis extract on the auditory evoked mismatch negativity.

PubMed

Juckel, Georg; Roser, Patrik; Nadulski, Thomas; Stadelmann, Andreas M; Gallinat, Jürgen

2007-12-01

Reduced amplitudes of auditory evoked mismatch negativity (MMN) have often been found in schizophrenic patients, indicating deficient auditory information processing and working memory. Cannabis-induced psychotic states may resemble schizophrenia. Currently, there are discussions focusing on the close relationship between cannabis, the endocannabinoid and dopaminergic system, and the onset of schizophrenic psychosis. This study investigated the effects of cannabis on MMN amplitude in 22 healthy volunteers (age 28+/-6 years, 11 male) by comparing Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta(9)-THC) and standardized cannabis extract containing Delta(9)-THC and cannabidiol (CBD) in a prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over design. The MMNs resulting from 1000 auditory stimuli were recorded by 32 channel EEG. The standard stimuli were 1000 Hz, 80 dB SPL, and 100 ms duration. The deviant stimuli differed in frequency (1500 Hz). Significantly greater MMN amplitude values at central electrodes were found under cannabis extract, but not under Delta(9)-THC. There were no significant differences between MMN amplitudes at frontal electrodes. MMN amplitudes at central electrodes were significantly correlated with 11-OH-THC concentration, the most important psychoactive metabolite of Delta(9)-THC. Since the main difference between Delta(9)-THC and standardized cannabis extract is CBD, which seems to have neuroprotective and anti-psychotic properties, it can be speculated whether the greater MMN amplitude that may imply higher cortical activation and cognitive performance is related to the positive effects of CBD. This effect may be relevant for auditory cortex activity in particular because only MMN amplitudes at the central, but not at the frontal electrodes were enhanced under cannabis.

Validation of auditory detection response task method for assessing the attentional effects of cognitive load.

PubMed

Stojmenova, Kristina; Sodnik, Jaka

2018-07-04

There are 3 standardized versions of the Detection Response Task (DRT), 2 using visual stimuli (remote DRT and head-mounted DRT) and one using tactile stimuli. In this article, we present a study that proposes and validates a type of auditory signal to be used as DRT stimulus and evaluate the proposed auditory version of this method by comparing it with the standardized visual and tactile version. This was a within-subject design study performed in a driving simulator with 24 participants. Each participant performed 8 2-min-long driving sessions in which they had to perform 3 different tasks: driving, answering to DRT stimuli, and performing a cognitive task (n-back task). Presence of additional cognitive load and type of DRT stimuli were defined as independent variables. DRT response times and hit rates, n-back task performance, and pupil size were observed as dependent variables. Significant changes in pupil size for trials with a cognitive task compared to trials without showed that cognitive load was induced properly. Each DRT version showed a significant increase in response times and a decrease in hit rates for trials with a secondary cognitive task compared to trials without. Similar and significantly better results in differences in response times and hit rates were obtained for the auditory and tactile version compared to the visual version. There were no significant differences in performance rate between the trials without DRT stimuli compared to trials with and among the trials with different DRT stimuli modalities. The results from this study show that the auditory DRT version, using the signal implementation suggested in this article, is sensitive to the effects of cognitive load on driver's attention and is significantly better than the remote visual and tactile version for auditory-vocal cognitive (n-back) secondary tasks.

Human Exploration of Enclosed Spaces through Echolocation.

PubMed

Flanagin, Virginia L; Schörnich, Sven; Schranner, Michael; Hummel, Nadine; Wallmeier, Ludwig; Wahlberg, Magnus; Stephan, Thomas; Wiegrebe, Lutz

2017-02-08

Some blind humans have developed echolocation, as a method of navigation in space. Echolocation is a truly active sense because subjects analyze echoes of dedicated, self-generated sounds to assess space around them. Using a special virtual space technique, we assess how humans perceive enclosed spaces through echolocation, thereby revealing the interplay between sensory and vocal-motor neural activity while humans perform this task. Sighted subjects were trained to detect small changes in virtual-room size analyzing real-time generated echoes of their vocalizations. Individual differences in performance were related to the type and number of vocalizations produced. We then asked subjects to estimate virtual-room size with either active or passive sounds while measuring their brain activity with fMRI. Subjects were better at estimating room size when actively vocalizing. This was reflected in the hemodynamic activity of vocal-motor cortices, even after individual motor and sensory components were removed. Activity in these areas also varied with perceived room size, although the vocal-motor output was unchanged. In addition, thalamic and auditory-midbrain activity was correlated with perceived room size; a likely result of top-down auditory pathways for human echolocation, comparable with those described in echolocating bats. Our data provide evidence that human echolocation is supported by active sensing, both behaviorally and in terms of brain activity. The neural sensory-motor coupling complements the fundamental acoustic motor-sensory coupling via the environment in echolocation. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Passive listening is the predominant method for examining brain activity during echolocation, the auditory analysis of self-generated sounds. We show that sighted humans perform better when they actively vocalize than during passive listening. Correspondingly, vocal motor and cerebellar activity is greater during active echolocation than vocalization alone. Motor and subcortical auditory brain activity covaries with the auditory percept, although motor output is unchanged. Our results reveal behaviorally relevant neural sensory-motor coupling during echolocation. Copyright © 2017 the authors 0270-6474/17/371614-14$15.00/0.

Auditory Cortex Is Required for Fear Potentiation of Gap Detection

PubMed Central

Weible, Aldis P.; Liu, Christine; Niell, Cristopher M.

2014-01-01

Auditory cortex is necessary for the perceptual detection of brief gaps in noise, but is not necessary for many other auditory tasks such as frequency discrimination, prepulse inhibition of startle responses, or fear conditioning with pure tones. It remains unclear why auditory cortex should be necessary for some auditory tasks but not others. One possibility is that auditory cortex is causally involved in gap detection and other forms of temporal processing in order to associate meaning with temporally structured sounds. This predicts that auditory cortex should be necessary for associating meaning with gaps. To test this prediction, we developed a fear conditioning paradigm for mice based on gap detection. We found that pairing a 10 or 100 ms gap with an aversive stimulus caused a robust enhancement of gap detection measured 6 h later, which we refer to as fear potentiation of gap detection. Optogenetic suppression of auditory cortex during pairing abolished this fear potentiation, indicating that auditory cortex is critically involved in associating temporally structured sounds with emotionally salient events. PMID:25392510

Effects of capacity limits, memory loss, and sound type in change deafness.

PubMed

Gregg, Melissa K; Irsik, Vanessa C; Snyder, Joel S

2017-11-01

Change deafness, the inability to notice changes to auditory scenes, has the potential to provide insights about sound perception in busy situations typical of everyday life. We determined the extent to which change deafness to sounds is due to the capacity of processing multiple sounds and the loss of memory for sounds over time. We also determined whether these processing limitations work differently for varying types of sounds within a scene. Auditory scenes composed of naturalistic sounds, spectrally dynamic unrecognizable sounds, tones, and noise rhythms were presented in a change-detection task. On each trial, two scenes were presented that were same or different. We manipulated the number of sounds within each scene to measure memory capacity and the silent interval between scenes to measure memory loss. For all sounds, change detection was worse as scene size increased, demonstrating the importance of capacity limits. Change detection to the natural sounds did not deteriorate much as the interval between scenes increased up to 2,000 ms, but it did deteriorate substantially with longer intervals. For artificial sounds, in contrast, change-detection performance suffered even for very short intervals. The results suggest that change detection is generally limited by capacity, regardless of sound type, but that auditory memory is more enduring for sounds with naturalistic acoustic structures.

On ERPs detection in disorders of consciousness rehabilitation

PubMed Central

Risetti, Monica; Formisano, Rita; Toppi, Jlenia; Quitadamo, Lucia R.; Bianchi, Luigi; Astolfi, Laura; Cincotti, Febo; Mattia, Donatella

2013-01-01

Disorders of Consciousness (DOC) like Vegetative State (VS), and Minimally Conscious State (MCS) are clinical conditions characterized by the absence or intermittent behavioral responsiveness. A neurophysiological monitoring of parameters like Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) could be a first step to follow-up the clinical evolution of these patients during their rehabilitation phase. Eleven patients diagnosed as VS (n = 8) and MCS (n = 3) by means of the JFK Coma Recovery Scale Revised (CRS-R) underwent scalp EEG recordings during the delivery of a 3-stimuli auditory oddball paradigm, which included standard, deviant tones and the subject own name (SON) presented as a novel stimulus, administered under passive and active conditions. Four patients who showed a change in their clinical status as detected by means of the CRS-R (i.e., moved from VS to MCS), were subjected to a second EEG recording session. All patients, but one (anoxic etiology), showed ERP components such as mismatch negativity (MMN) and novelty P300 (nP3) under passive condition. When patients were asked to count the novel stimuli (active condition), the nP3 component displayed a significant increase in amplitude (p = 0.009) and a wider topographical distribution with respect to the passive listening, only in MCS. In 2 out of the 4 patients who underwent a second recording session consistently with their transition from VS to MCS, the nP3 component elicited by passive listening of SON stimuli revealed a significant amplitude increment (p < 0.05). Most relevant, the amplitude of the nP3 component in the active condition, acquired in each patient and in all recording sessions, displayed a significant positive correlation with the total scores (p = 0.004) and with the auditory sub-scores (p < 0.00001) of the CRS-R administered before each EEG recording. As such, the present findings corroborate the value of ERPs monitoring in DOC patients to investigate residual unconscious and conscious cognitive function. PMID:24312041

On ERPs detection in disorders of consciousness rehabilitation.

PubMed

Risetti, Monica; Formisano, Rita; Toppi, Jlenia; Quitadamo, Lucia R; Bianchi, Luigi; Astolfi, Laura; Cincotti, Febo; Mattia, Donatella

2013-01-01

Disorders of Consciousness (DOC) like Vegetative State (VS), and Minimally Conscious State (MCS) are clinical conditions characterized by the absence or intermittent behavioral responsiveness. A neurophysiological monitoring of parameters like Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) could be a first step to follow-up the clinical evolution of these patients during their rehabilitation phase. Eleven patients diagnosed as VS (n = 8) and MCS (n = 3) by means of the JFK Coma Recovery Scale Revised (CRS-R) underwent scalp EEG recordings during the delivery of a 3-stimuli auditory oddball paradigm, which included standard, deviant tones and the subject own name (SON) presented as a novel stimulus, administered under passive and active conditions. Four patients who showed a change in their clinical status as detected by means of the CRS-R (i.e., moved from VS to MCS), were subjected to a second EEG recording session. All patients, but one (anoxic etiology), showed ERP components such as mismatch negativity (MMN) and novelty P300 (nP3) under passive condition. When patients were asked to count the novel stimuli (active condition), the nP3 component displayed a significant increase in amplitude (p = 0.009) and a wider topographical distribution with respect to the passive listening, only in MCS. In 2 out of the 4 patients who underwent a second recording session consistently with their transition from VS to MCS, the nP3 component elicited by passive listening of SON stimuli revealed a significant amplitude increment (p < 0.05). Most relevant, the amplitude of the nP3 component in the active condition, acquired in each patient and in all recording sessions, displayed a significant positive correlation with the total scores (p = 0.004) and with the auditory sub-scores (p < 0.00001) of the CRS-R administered before each EEG recording. As such, the present findings corroborate the value of ERPs monitoring in DOC patients to investigate residual unconscious and conscious cognitive function.

Explaining the high voice superiority effect in polyphonic music: evidence from cortical evoked potentials and peripheral auditory models.

PubMed

Trainor, Laurel J; Marie, Céline; Bruce, Ian C; Bidelman, Gavin M

2014-02-01

Natural auditory environments contain multiple simultaneously-sounding objects and the auditory system must parse the incoming complex sound wave they collectively create into parts that represent each of these individual objects. Music often similarly requires processing of more than one voice or stream at the same time, and behavioral studies demonstrate that human listeners show a systematic perceptual bias in processing the highest voice in multi-voiced music. Here, we review studies utilizing event-related brain potentials (ERPs), which support the notions that (1) separate memory traces are formed for two simultaneous voices (even without conscious awareness) in auditory cortex and (2) adults show more robust encoding (i.e., larger ERP responses) to deviant pitches in the higher than in the lower voice, indicating better encoding of the former. Furthermore, infants also show this high-voice superiority effect, suggesting that the perceptual dominance observed across studies might result from neurophysiological characteristics of the peripheral auditory system. Although musically untrained adults show smaller responses in general than musically trained adults, both groups similarly show a more robust cortical representation of the higher than of the lower voice. Finally, years of experience playing a bass-range instrument reduces but does not reverse the high voice superiority effect, indicating that although it can be modified, it is not highly neuroplastic. Results of new modeling experiments examined the possibility that characteristics of middle-ear filtering and cochlear dynamics (e.g., suppression) reflected in auditory nerve firing patterns might account for the higher-voice superiority effect. Simulations show that both place and temporal AN coding schemes well-predict a high-voice superiority across a wide range of interval spacings and registers. Collectively, we infer an innate, peripheral origin for the higher-voice superiority observed in human ERP and psychophysical music listening studies. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Investigating the visual span in comparative search: the effects of task difficulty and divided attention.

PubMed

Pomplun, M; Reingold, E M; Shen, J

2001-09-01

In three experiments, participants' visual span was measured in a comparative visual search task in which they had to detect a local match or mismatch between two displays presented side by side. Experiment 1 manipulated the difficulty of the comparative visual search task by contrasting a mismatch detection task with a substantially more difficult match detection task. In Experiment 2, participants were tested in a single-task condition involving only the visual task and a dual-task condition in which they concurrently performed an auditory task. Finally, in Experiment 3, participants performed two dual-task conditions, which differed in the difficulty of the concurrent auditory task. Both the comparative search task difficulty (Experiment 1) and the divided attention manipulation (Experiments 2 and 3) produced strong effects on visual span size.

Personal Audiovisual Aptitude Influences the Interaction Between Landscape and Soundscape Appraisal.

PubMed

Sun, Kang; Echevarria Sanchez, Gemma M; De Coensel, Bert; Van Renterghem, Timothy; Talsma, Durk; Botteldooren, Dick

2018-01-01

It has been established that there is an interaction between audition and vision in the appraisal of our living environment, and that this appraisal is influenced by personal factors. Here, we test the hypothesis that audiovisual aptitude influences appraisal of our sonic and visual environment. To measure audiovisual aptitude, an auditory deviant detection experiment was conducted in an ecologically valid and complex context. This experiment allows us to distinguish between accurate and less accurate listeners. Additionally, it allows to distinguish between participants that are easily visually distracted and those who are not. To do so, two previously conducted laboratory experiments were re-analyzed. The first experiment focuses on self-reported noise annoyance in a living room context, whereas the second experiment focuses on the perceived pleasantness of using outdoor public spaces. In the first experiment, the influence of visibility of vegetation on self-reported noise annoyance was modified by audiovisual aptitude. In the second one, it was found that the overall appraisal of walking across a bridge is influenced by audiovisual aptitude, in particular when a visually intrusive noise barrier is used to reduce highway traffic noise levels. We conclude that audiovisual aptitude may affect the appraisal of the living environment.

Personal Audiovisual Aptitude Influences the Interaction Between Landscape and Soundscape Appraisal

PubMed Central

Sun, Kang; Echevarria Sanchez, Gemma M.; De Coensel, Bert; Van Renterghem, Timothy; Talsma, Durk; Botteldooren, Dick

2018-01-01

It has been established that there is an interaction between audition and vision in the appraisal of our living environment, and that this appraisal is influenced by personal factors. Here, we test the hypothesis that audiovisual aptitude influences appraisal of our sonic and visual environment. To measure audiovisual aptitude, an auditory deviant detection experiment was conducted in an ecologically valid and complex context. This experiment allows us to distinguish between accurate and less accurate listeners. Additionally, it allows to distinguish between participants that are easily visually distracted and those who are not. To do so, two previously conducted laboratory experiments were re-analyzed. The first experiment focuses on self-reported noise annoyance in a living room context, whereas the second experiment focuses on the perceived pleasantness of using outdoor public spaces. In the first experiment, the influence of visibility of vegetation on self-reported noise annoyance was modified by audiovisual aptitude. In the second one, it was found that the overall appraisal of walking across a bridge is influenced by audiovisual aptitude, in particular when a visually intrusive noise barrier is used to reduce highway traffic noise levels. We conclude that audiovisual aptitude may affect the appraisal of the living environment. PMID:29910750

Letter-sound processing deficits in children with developmental dyslexia: An ERP study.

PubMed

Moll, Kristina; Hasko, Sandra; Groth, Katharina; Bartling, Jürgen; Schulte-Körne, Gerd

2016-04-01

The time course during letter-sound processing was investigated in children with developmental dyslexia (DD) and typically developing (TD) children using electroencephalography. Thirty-eight children with DD and 25 TD children participated in a visual-auditory oddball paradigm. Event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by standard and deviant stimuli in an early (100-190 ms) and late (560-750 ms) time window were analysed. In the early time window, ERPs elicited by the deviant stimulus were delayed and less left lateralized over fronto-temporal electrodes for children with DD compared to TD children. In the late time window, children with DD showed higher amplitudes extending more over right frontal electrodes. Longer latencies in the early time window and stronger right hemispheric activation in the late time window were associated with slower reading and naming speed. Additionally, stronger right hemispheric activation in the late time window correlated with poorer phonological awareness skills. Deficits in early stages of letter-sound processing influence later more explicit cognitive processes during letter-sound processing. Identifying the neurophysiological correlates of letter-sound processing and their relation to reading related skills provides insight into the degree of automaticity during letter-sound processing beyond behavioural measures of letter-sound-knowledge. Copyright © 2016 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mice with subtle reduction of NMDA NR1 receptor subunit expression have a selective decrease in mismatch negativity: Implications for schizophrenia prodromal population.

PubMed

Featherstone, Robert E; Shin, Rick; Kogan, Jeffrey H; Liang, Yuling; Matsumoto, Mitsuyuki; Siegel, Steven J

2015-01-01

Reductions in glutamate function are regarded as an important contributory factor in schizophrenia. However, there is a paucity of animal models characterized by developmental and sustained reductions in glutamate function. Pharmacological models using NMDA antagonists have been widely used but these typically produce only transient changes in behavior and brain function. Likewise, mice with homozygous constitutive reductions in glutamate receptor expression show stable brain and behavioral changes, but many of these phenotypes are more severe than the human disease. The current study examines a variety of schizophrenia-related EEG measures in mice with a heterozygous alteration of the NMDA receptor NR1 subunit gene (NR1) that is known to result in reduced NR1 receptor expression in the homozygous mouse (NR1-/-). (NR1+/-) mice showed a 30% reduction in NR1 receptor expression and were reared after weaning in either group or isolated conditions. Outcome measures include the response to paired white noise stimuli, escalating inter-stimulus intervals (ISIs) and deviance-related mismatch negativity (MMN). In contrast to what has been reported in (NR1-/-) mice and mice treated with NMDA antagonists, (NR1+/-) mice showed no change on obligatory Event Related Potential (ERP) measures including the murine P50 and N100 equivalents (P20 and N40), or measures of baseline or evoked gamma power. Alternatively, (NR1+/-) mice showed a marked reduction in response to a deviant auditory tone during MMN task. Data suggest that EEG response to deviant, rather than static, stimuli may be more sensitive for detecting subtle changes in glutamate function. Deficits in these heterozygous NR1 knockdown mice are consistent with data demonstrating MMN deficits among family members of schizophrenia patients and among prodromal patients. Therefore, the current study suggests that (NR1+/-) mice may be among the most sensitive models for increased vulnerability to schizophrenia. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Exploring the temporal dynamics of sustained and transient spatial attention using steady-state visual evoked potentials.

PubMed

Zhang, Dan; Hong, Bo; Gao, Shangkai; Röder, Brigitte

2017-05-01

While the behavioral dynamics as well as the functional network of sustained and transient attention have extensively been studied, their underlying neural mechanisms have most often been investigated in separate experiments. In the present study, participants were instructed to perform an audio-visual spatial attention task. They were asked to attend to either the left or the right hemifield and to respond to deviant transient either auditory or visual stimuli. Steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) elicited by two task irrelevant pattern reversing checkerboards flickering at 10 and 15 Hz in the left and the right hemifields, respectively, were used to continuously monitor the locus of spatial attention. The amplitude and phase of the SSVEPs were extracted for single trials and were separately analyzed. Sustained attention to one hemifield (spatial attention) as well as to the auditory modality (intermodal attention) increased the inter-trial phase locking of the SSVEP responses, whereas briefly presented visual and auditory stimuli decreased the single-trial SSVEP amplitude between 200 and 500 ms post-stimulus. This transient change of the single-trial amplitude was restricted to the SSVEPs elicited by the reversing checkerboard in the spatially attended hemifield and thus might reflect a transient re-orienting of attention towards the brief stimuli. Thus, the present results demonstrate independent, but interacting neural mechanisms of sustained and transient attentional orienting.

Cascaded Amplitude Modulations in Sound Texture Perception

PubMed Central

McWalter, Richard; Dau, Torsten

2017-01-01

Sound textures, such as crackling fire or chirping crickets, represent a broad class of sounds defined by their homogeneous temporal structure. It has been suggested that the perception of texture is mediated by time-averaged summary statistics measured from early auditory representations. In this study, we investigated the perception of sound textures that contain rhythmic structure, specifically second-order amplitude modulations that arise from the interaction of different modulation rates, previously described as “beating” in the envelope-frequency domain. We developed an auditory texture model that utilizes a cascade of modulation filterbanks that capture the structure of simple rhythmic patterns. The model was examined in a series of psychophysical listening experiments using synthetic sound textures—stimuli generated using time-averaged statistics measured from real-world textures. In a texture identification task, our results indicated that second-order amplitude modulation sensitivity enhanced recognition. Next, we examined the contribution of the second-order modulation analysis in a preference task, where the proposed auditory texture model was preferred over a range of model deviants that lacked second-order modulation rate sensitivity. Lastly, the discriminability of textures that included second-order amplitude modulations appeared to be perceived using a time-averaging process. Overall, our results demonstrate that the inclusion of second-order modulation analysis generates improvements in the perceived quality of synthetic textures compared to the first-order modulation analysis considered in previous approaches. PMID:28955191

Cascaded Amplitude Modulations in Sound Texture Perception.

PubMed

McWalter, Richard; Dau, Torsten

2017-01-01

Sound textures, such as crackling fire or chirping crickets, represent a broad class of sounds defined by their homogeneous temporal structure. It has been suggested that the perception of texture is mediated by time-averaged summary statistics measured from early auditory representations. In this study, we investigated the perception of sound textures that contain rhythmic structure, specifically second-order amplitude modulations that arise from the interaction of different modulation rates, previously described as "beating" in the envelope-frequency domain. We developed an auditory texture model that utilizes a cascade of modulation filterbanks that capture the structure of simple rhythmic patterns. The model was examined in a series of psychophysical listening experiments using synthetic sound textures-stimuli generated using time-averaged statistics measured from real-world textures. In a texture identification task, our results indicated that second-order amplitude modulation sensitivity enhanced recognition. Next, we examined the contribution of the second-order modulation analysis in a preference task, where the proposed auditory texture model was preferred over a range of model deviants that lacked second-order modulation rate sensitivity. Lastly, the discriminability of textures that included second-order amplitude modulations appeared to be perceived using a time-averaging process. Overall, our results demonstrate that the inclusion of second-order modulation analysis generates improvements in the perceived quality of synthetic textures compared to the first-order modulation analysis considered in previous approaches.

Human Engineer’s Guide to Auditory Displays. Volume 2. Elements of Signal Reception and Resolution Affecting Auditory Displays.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-08-01

90de It noce..etrv wnd identify by block numberl .’-- This work reviews the areas of monaural and binaural signal detection, auditory discrimination And...AUDITORY DISPLAYS This work reviews the areas of monaural and binaural signal detection, auditory discrimination and localization, and reaction times to...pertaining to the major areas of auditory processing in humans. The areas covered in the reviews presented here are monaural and binaural siqnal detection

Personal significance is encoded automatically by the human brain: an event-related potential study with ringtones.

PubMed

Roye, Anja; Jacobsen, Thomas; Schröger, Erich

2007-08-01

In this human event-related brain potential (ERP) study, we have used one's personal--relative to another person's--ringtone presented in a two-deviant passive oddball paradigm to investigate the long-term memory effects of self-selected personal significance of a sound on the automatic deviance detection and involuntary attention system. Our findings extend the knowledge of long-term effects usually reported in group-approaches in the domains of speech, music and environmental sounds. In addition to the usual mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a component elicited by deviants in contrast to standard stimuli, we observed a posterior ERP deflection directly following the MMN for the personally significant deviant only. This specific impact of personal significance started around 200 ms after sound onset and involved neural generators that were different from the mere physical deviance detection mechanism. Whereas the early part of the P3a component was unaffected by personal significance, the late P3a was enhanced for the ERPs to the personal significant deviant suggesting that this stimulus was more powerful in attracting attention involuntarily. Following the involuntary attention switch, the personally significant stimulus elicited a widely-distributed negative deflection, probably reflecting further analysis of the significant sound involving evaluation of relevance or reorienting to the primary task. Our data show, that the personal significance of mobile phone and text message technology, which have developed as a major medium of communication in our modern world, prompts the formation of individual memory representations, which affect the processing of sounds that are not in the focus of attention.

Maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy and criminal/deviant behavior: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Pratt, Travis C; McGloin, Jean Marie; Fearn, Noelle E

2006-12-01

A growing body of empirical literature has emerged examining the somewhat inconsistent relationship between maternal cigarette smoking (MCS) during pregnancy and children's subsequent antisocial behavior. To systematically assess what existing studies reveal regarding MCS as a criminogenic risk factor for offspring, the authors subjected this body of literature to a meta-analysis. The analysis reveals a statistically significant--yet rather small--overall mean "effect size" of the relationship between MCS and the likelihood children will engage in deviant/criminal behavior. In addition to being rather moderate in size, the MCS-crime/deviance relationship is sensitive to a number of methodological specifications across empirical studies--particularly those associated with sample characteristics. The implications of this modest, and somewhat unstable, relationship are discussed in terms of guidelines for future research on this subject and how existing theoretical perspectives may be integrated to explain the MCS-crime/deviance link.

When exceptions prove the rule: how extremity of deviance determines the impact of deviant examples on stereotypes.

PubMed

Kunda, Z; Oleson, K C

1997-05-01

The authors examined how the extent to which counterstereotypic individuals deviate from perceivers' stereotypes affects their impact on these stereotypes and found that extremely deviant group members provoke less stereotype assimilation than do moderately deviant ones. Extremely deviant examples can even provoke boomerang effects, that is, enhance the very stereotype that they violate. When participants whose prior stereotype were moderate or extreme were exposed to moderately or extremely deviant examples, the deviant examples' impact on stereotypes depended both on their extremity and on the extremity of perceivers' prior stereotypes. Boomerang effects were obtained only for extreme-stereotype participants exposed to extremely deviant examples and were mediated by perceptions of the typicality of the deviant examples. Open-ended explanations revealed that the atypicality of extremely deviant examples was used as grounds for dismissing them.

Ontogenetic Development of Weberian Ossicles and Hearing Abilities in the African Bullhead Catfish

PubMed Central

Lechner, Walter; Heiss, Egon; Schwaha, Thomas; Glösmann, Martin; Ladich, Friedrich

2011-01-01

Background The Weberian apparatus of otophysine fishes facilitates sound transmission from the swimbladder to the inner ear to increase hearing sensitivity. It has been of great interest to biologists since the 19th century. No studies, however, are available on the development of the Weberian ossicles and its effect on the development of hearing in catfishes. Methodology/Principal Findings We investigated the development of the Weberian apparatus and auditory sensitivity in the catfish Lophiobagrus cyclurus. Specimens from 11.3 mm to 85.5 mm in standard length were studied. Morphology was assessed using sectioning, histology, and X-ray computed tomography, along with 3D reconstruction. Hearing thresholds were measured utilizing the auditory evoked potentials recording technique. Weberian ossicles and interossicular ligaments were fully developed in all stages investigated except in the smallest size group. In the smallest catfish, the intercalarium and the interossicular ligaments were still missing and the tripus was not yet fully developed. Smallest juveniles revealed lowest auditory sensitivity and were unable to detect frequencies higher than 2 or 3 kHz; sensitivity increased in larger specimens by up to 40 dB, and frequency detection up to 6 kHz. In the size groups capable of perceiving frequencies up to 6 kHz, larger individuals had better hearing abilities at low frequencies (0.05–2 kHz), whereas smaller individuals showed better hearing at the highest frequencies (4–6 kHz). Conclusions/Significance Our data indicate that the ability of otophysine fish to detect sounds at low levels and high frequencies largely depends on the development of the Weberian apparatus. A significant increase in auditory sensitivity was observed as soon as all Weberian ossicles and interossicular ligaments are present and the chain for transmitting sounds from the swimbladder to the inner ear is complete. This contrasts with findings in another otophysine, the zebrafish, where no threshold changes have been observed. PMID:21533262

Involvement of the human midbrain and thalamus in auditory deviance detection.

PubMed

Cacciaglia, Raffaele; Escera, Carles; Slabu, Lavinia; Grimm, Sabine; Sanjuán, Ana; Ventura-Campos, Noelia; Ávila, César

2015-02-01

Prompt detection of unexpected changes in the sensory environment is critical for survival. In the auditory domain, the occurrence of a rare stimulus triggers a cascade of neurophysiological events spanning over multiple time-scales. Besides the role of the mismatch negativity (MMN), whose cortical generators are located in supratemporal areas, cumulative evidence suggests that violations of auditory regularities can be detected earlier and lower in the auditory hierarchy. Recent human scalp recordings have shown signatures of auditory mismatch responses at shorter latencies than those of the MMN. Moreover, animal single-unit recordings have demonstrated that rare stimulus changes cause a release from stimulus-specific adaptation in neurons of the primary auditory cortex, the medial geniculate body (MGB), and the inferior colliculus (IC). Although these data suggest that change detection is a pervasive property of the auditory system which may reside upstream cortical sites, direct evidence for the involvement of subcortical stages in the human auditory novelty system is lacking. Using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging during a frequency oddball paradigm, we here report that auditory deviance detection occurs in the MGB and the IC of healthy human participants. By implementing a random condition controlling for neural refractoriness effects, we show that auditory change detection in these subcortical stations involves the encoding of statistical regularities from the acoustic input. These results provide the first direct evidence of the existence of multiple mismatch detectors nested at different levels along the human ascending auditory pathway. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Segregating the neural correlates of physical and perceived change in auditory input using the change deafness effect.

PubMed

Puschmann, Sebastian; Weerda, Riklef; Klump, Georg; Thiel, Christiane M

2013-05-01

Psychophysical experiments show that auditory change detection can be disturbed in situations in which listeners have to monitor complex auditory input. We made use of this change deafness effect to segregate the neural correlates of physical change in auditory input from brain responses related to conscious change perception in an fMRI experiment. Participants listened to two successively presented complex auditory scenes, which consisted of six auditory streams, and had to decide whether scenes were identical or whether the frequency of one stream was changed between presentations. Our results show that physical changes in auditory input, independent of successful change detection, are represented at the level of auditory cortex. Activations related to conscious change perception, independent of physical change, were found in the insula and the ACC. Moreover, our data provide evidence for significant effective connectivity between auditory cortex and the insula in the case of correctly detected auditory changes, but not for missed changes. This underlines the importance of the insula/anterior cingulate network for conscious change detection.

Stimulus-specific suppression preserves information in auditory short-term memory.

PubMed

Linke, Annika C; Vicente-Grabovetsky, Alejandro; Cusack, Rhodri

2011-08-02

Philosophers and scientists have puzzled for millennia over how perceptual information is stored in short-term memory. Some have suggested that early sensory representations are involved, but their precise role has remained unclear. The current study asks whether auditory cortex shows sustained frequency-specific activation while sounds are maintained in short-term memory using high-resolution functional MRI (fMRI). Investigating short-term memory representations within regions of human auditory cortex with fMRI has been difficult because of their small size and high anatomical variability between subjects. However, we overcame these constraints by using multivoxel pattern analysis. It clearly revealed frequency-specific activity during the encoding phase of a change detection task, and the degree of this frequency-specific activation was positively related to performance in the task. Although the sounds had to be maintained in memory, activity in auditory cortex was significantly suppressed. Strikingly, patterns of activity in this maintenance period correlated negatively with the patterns evoked by the same frequencies during encoding. Furthermore, individuals who used a rehearsal strategy to remember the sounds showed reduced frequency-specific suppression during the maintenance period. Although negative activations are often disregarded in fMRI research, our findings imply that decreases in blood oxygenation level-dependent response carry important stimulus-specific information and can be related to cognitive processes. We hypothesize that, during auditory change detection, frequency-specific suppression protects short-term memory representations from being overwritten by inhibiting the encoding of interfering sounds.

Evaluation of high-resolution MRI for preoperative screening for cochlear implantation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madzivire, Mambidzeni; Camp, Jon J.; Lane, John; Witte, Robert J.; Robb, Richard A.

2002-05-01

The success of a cochlear implant is dependent on a functioning auditory nerve. An accurate noninvasive method for screening cochlear implant patients to help determine viability of the auditory nerve would allow physicians to better predict the success of the operation. In this study we measured the size of the auditory nerve relative to the size of the juxtaposed facial nerve and correlated these measurements with audiologic test results. The study involved 15 patients, and three normal volunteers. Noninvasive high-resolution bilateral MRI images were acquired from both 1.5T and 3T scanners. The images were reformatted to obtain an anatomically referenced oblique plane perpendicular to the auditory nerve. The cross- sectional areas of the auditory and facial nerves were determined in this plane. Assessment of the data is encouraging. The ratios of auditory to facial nerve size in the control subjects are close to the expected value of 1.0. Patient data ratios range from 0.73 to 1.3, with numbers significantly less than 1.0 suggesting auditory nerve atrophy. The acoustic nerve area correlated to audiologic test findings, particularly (R2equals0.68) to the count of words understood from a list of 100 words. These preliminary analyses suggest that a threshold of size may be determined to differentiate functional from nonfunctional auditory nerves.

Sensitivity to structure in action sequences: An infant event-related potential study.

PubMed

Monroy, Claire D; Gerson, Sarah A; Domínguez-Martínez, Estefanía; Kaduk, Katharina; Hunnius, Sabine; Reid, Vincent

2017-05-06

Infants are sensitive to structure and patterns within continuous streams of sensory input. This sensitivity relies on statistical learning, the ability to detect predictable regularities in spatial and temporal sequences. Recent evidence has shown that infants can detect statistical regularities in action sequences they observe, but little is known about the neural process that give rise to this ability. In the current experiment, we combined electroencephalography (EEG) with eye-tracking to identify electrophysiological markers that indicate whether 8-11-month-old infants detect violations to learned regularities in action sequences, and to relate these markers to behavioral measures of anticipation during learning. In a learning phase, infants observed an actor performing a sequence featuring two deterministic pairs embedded within an otherwise random sequence. Thus, the first action of each pair was predictive of what would occur next. One of the pairs caused an action-effect, whereas the second did not. In a subsequent test phase, infants observed another sequence that included deviant pairs, violating the previously observed action pairs. Event-related potential (ERP) responses were analyzed and compared between the deviant and the original action pairs. Findings reveal that infants demonstrated a greater Negative central (Nc) ERP response to the deviant actions for the pair that caused the action-effect, which was consistent with their visual anticipations during the learning phase. Findings are discussed in terms of the neural and behavioral processes underlying perception and learning of structured action sequences. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Asymmetry in the Automatic Detection of the Presence or Absence of a Frequency Modulation within a Tone: A Mismatch Negativity Study

PubMed Central

Timm, Jana; Weise, Annekathrin; Grimm, Sabine; Schröger, Erich

2011-01-01

The infrequent occurrence of a transient feature (deviance; e.g., frequency modulation, FM) in one of the regular occurring sinusoidal tones (standards) elicits the deviance related mismatch negativity (MMN) component of the event-related brain potential. Based on a memory-based comparison, MMN reflects the mismatch between the representations of incoming and standard sounds. The present study investigated to what extent the infrequent exclusion of an FM is detected by the MMN system. For that purpose we measured MMN to deviances that either consisted of the exclusion or inclusion of an FM at an early or late position within the sound that was present or absent, respectively, in the standard. According to the information-content hypothesis, deviance detection relies on the difference in informational content of the deviant relative to that of the standard. As this difference between deviants with FM and standards without FM is the same as in the reversed case, comparable MMNs should be elicited to FM inclusions and exclusions. According to the feature-detector hypothesis, however, the deviance detection depends on the increased activation of feature detectors to additional sound features. Thus, rare exclusions of the FM should elicit no or smaller MMN than FM inclusions. In passive listening condition, MMN was obtained only for the early inclusion, but not for the exclusions nor for the late inclusion of an FM. This asymmetry in automatic deviance detection seems to partly reflect the contribution of feature detectors even though it cannot fully account for the missing MMN to late FM inclusions. Importantly, the behavioral deviance detection performance in the active listening condition did not reveal such an asymmetry, suggesting that the intentional detection of the deviants is based on the difference in informational content. On a more general level, the results partly support the “fresh-afferent” account or an extended memory-comparison based account of MMN. PMID:21852979

Brain potentials predict learning, transmission and modification of an artificial symbolic system.

PubMed

Lumaca, Massimo; Baggio, Giosuè

2016-12-01

It has recently been argued that symbolic systems evolve while they are being transmitted across generations of learners, gradually adapting to the relevant brain structures and processes. In the context of this hypothesis, little is known on whether individual differences in neural processing capacity account for aspects of 'variation' observed in symbolic behavior and symbolic systems. We addressed this issue in the domain of auditory processing. We conducted a combined behavioral and EEG study on 2 successive days. On day 1, participants listened to standard and deviant five-tone sequences: as in previous oddball studies, an mismatch negativity (MMN) was elicited by deviant tones. On day 2, participants learned an artificial signaling system from a trained confederate of the experimenters in a coordination game in which five-tone sequences were associated to affective meanings (emotion-laden pictures of human faces). In a subsequent game with identical structure, participants transmitted and occasionally changed the signaling system learned during the first game. The MMN latency from day 1 predicted learning, transmission and structural modification of signaling systems on day 2. Our study introduces neurophysiological methods into research on cultural transmission and evolution, and relates aspects of variation in symbolic systems to individual differences in neural information processing. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Memory traces for spoken words in the brain as revealed by the hemodynamic correlate of the mismatch negativity.

PubMed

Shtyrov, Yury; Osswald, Katja; Pulvermüller, Friedemann

2008-01-01

The mismatch negativity response, considered a brain correlate of automatic preattentive auditory processing, is enhanced for word stimuli as compared with acoustically matched pseudowords. This lexical enhancement, taken as a signature of activation of language-specific long-term memory traces, was investigated here using functional magnetic resonance imaging to complement the previous electrophysiological studies. In passive oddball paradigm, word stimuli were randomly presented as rare deviants among frequent pseudowords; the reverse conditions employed infrequent pseudowords among word stimuli. Random-effect analysis indicated clearly distinct patterns for the different lexical types. Whereas the hemodynamic mismatch response was significant for the word deviants, it did not reach significance for the pseudoword conditions. This difference, more pronounced in the left than right hemisphere, was also assessed by analyzing average parameter estimates in regions of interests within both temporal lobes. A significant hemisphere-by-lexicality interaction confirmed stronger blood oxygenation level-dependent mismatch responses to words than pseudowords in the left but not in the right superior temporal cortex. The increased left superior temporal activation and the laterality of cortical sources elicited by spoken words compared with pseudowords may indicate the activation of cortical circuits for lexical material even in passive oddball conditions and suggest involvement of the left superior temporal areas in housing such word-processing neuronal circuits.

Atypical neural synchronization to speech envelope modulations in dyslexia.

PubMed

De Vos, Astrid; Vanvooren, Sophie; Vanderauwera, Jolijn; Ghesquière, Pol; Wouters, Jan

2017-01-01

A fundamental deficit in the synchronization of neural oscillations to temporal information in speech could underlie phonological processing problems in dyslexia. In this study, the hypothesis of a neural synchronization impairment is investigated more specifically as a function of different neural oscillatory bands and temporal information rates in speech. Auditory steady-state responses to 4, 10, 20 and 40Hz modulations were recorded in normal reading and dyslexic adolescents to measure neural synchronization of theta, alpha, beta and low-gamma oscillations to syllabic and phonemic rate information. In comparison to normal readers, dyslexic readers showed reduced non-synchronized theta activity, reduced synchronized alpha activity and enhanced synchronized beta activity. Positive correlations between alpha synchronization and phonological skills were found in normal readers, but were absent in dyslexic readers. In contrast, dyslexic readers exhibited positive correlations between beta synchronization and phonological skills. Together, these results suggest that auditory neural synchronization of alpha and beta oscillations is atypical in dyslexia, indicating deviant neural processing of both syllabic and phonemic rate information. Impaired synchronization of alpha oscillations in particular demonstrated to be the most prominent neural anomaly possibly hampering speech and phonological processing in dyslexic readers. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Honor among thieves: The interaction of team and member deviance on trust in the team.

PubMed

Schabram, Kira; Robinson, Sandra L; Cruz, Kevin S

2018-05-03

In this article, we examine member trust in deviant teams. We contend that a member's trust in his or her deviant team depends on the member's own deviant actions; although all members will judge the actions of their deviant teams as rational evidence that they should not be trusted, deviant members, but not honest members, can hold on to trust in their teams because of a sense of connection to the team. We tested our predictions in a field study of 562 members across 111 teams and 24 organizations as well as in an experiment of 178 participants in deviant and non-deviant teams. Both studies show that honest members experience a greater decline in trust as team deviance goes up. Moreover, our experiment finds that deviant members have as much trust in their deviant teams as honest members do in honest teams, but only in teams with coordinated rather than independent acts of deviance, in which deviant members engage in a variety of ongoing dynamics foundational to a sense of connection and affective-based trust. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Within-subject joint independent component analysis of simultaneous fMRI/ERP in an auditory oddball paradigm

PubMed Central

MANGALATHU-ARUMANA, J.; BEARDSLEY, S. A.; LIEBENTHAL, E.

2012-01-01

The integration of event-related potential (ERP) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can contribute to characterizing neural networks with high temporal and spatial resolution. This research aimed to determine the sensitivity and limitations of applying joint independent component analysis (jICA) within-subjects, for ERP and fMRI data collected simultaneously in a parametric auditory frequency oddball paradigm. In a group of 20 subjects, an increase in ERP peak amplitude ranging 1–8 μV in the time window of the P300 (350–700ms), and a correlated increase in fMRI signal in a network of regions including the right superior temporal and supramarginal gyri, was observed with the increase in deviant frequency difference. JICA of the same ERP and fMRI group data revealed activity in a similar network, albeit with stronger amplitude and larger extent. In addition, activity in the left pre- and post- central gyri, likely associated with right hand somato-motor response, was observed only with the jICA approach. Within-subject, the jICA approach revealed significantly stronger and more extensive activity in the brain regions associated with the auditory P300 than the P300 linear regression analysis. The results suggest that with the incorporation of spatial and temporal information from both imaging modalities, jICA may be a more sensitive method for extracting common sources of activity between ERP and fMRI. PMID:22377443

Mismatch negativity (MMN) and sensory auditory processing in children aged 9-12 years presenting with putative antecedents of schizophrenia.

PubMed

Bruggemann, Jason M; Stockill, Helen V; Lenroot, Rhoshel K; Laurens, Kristin R

2013-09-01

Identification of markers of abnormal brain function in children at-risk of schizophrenia may inform early intervention and prevention programs. Individuals with schizophrenia are characterised by attenuation of MMN amplitude, which indexes automatic auditory sensory processing. The current aim was to examine whether children who may be at increased risk of schizophrenia due to their presenting multiple putative antecedents of schizophrenia (ASz) are similarly characterised by MMN amplitude reductions, relative to typically developing (TD) children. EEG was recorded from 22 ASz and 24 TD children aged 9 to 12 years (matched on age, sex, and IQ) during a passive auditory oddball task (15% duration deviant). ASz children were those presenting: (1) speech and/or motor development lags/problems; (2) social, emotional, or behavioural problems in the clinical range; and (3) psychotic-like experiences. TD children presented no antecedents, and had no family history of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder. MMN amplitude, but not latency, was significantly greater at frontal sites in the ASz group than in the TD group. Although the MMN exhibited by the children at risk of schizophrenia was unlike that of their typically developing peers, it also differed from the reduced MMN amplitude observed in adults with schizophrenia. This may reflect developmental and disease effects in a pre-prodromal phase of psychosis onset. Longitudinal follow-up is necessary to establish the developmental trajectory of MMN in at-risk children. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Every cloud has a silver lining: positive effects of deviant coworkers.

PubMed

Markova, Gergana; Folger, Robert

2012-01-01

Drawing on the labeling perspective of deviance, we investigate employee reactions to coworkers perceived as deviants. We look at two positive effects for employees in the presence of a deviant coworker. First, in comparison to a deviant individual, other employees can draw more positive conclusions about themselves; and second, a deviant can be informative about organizational norms, thereby improving employee role clarity. We also examine individual and situational moderators. For the purpose of the study, we developed a measure of the presence of a deviant. The hypothesized relationships were tested in two large samples using multiple regression analyses. The results revealed that in the presence of a deviant coworker, employees reported enhanced self-evaluation. The presence of a deviant coworker was associated with better role clarity only for employees with more interdependent jobs. We also discuss practical implications of the findings and future research directions.

Behavioural evidence for separate mechanisms of audiovisual temporal binding as a function of leading sensory modality.

PubMed

Cecere, Roberto; Gross, Joachim; Thut, Gregor

2016-06-01

The ability to integrate auditory and visual information is critical for effective perception and interaction with the environment, and is thought to be abnormal in some clinical populations. Several studies have investigated the time window over which audiovisual events are integrated, also called the temporal binding window, and revealed asymmetries depending on the order of audiovisual input (i.e. the leading sense). When judging audiovisual simultaneity, the binding window appears narrower and non-malleable for auditory-leading stimulus pairs and wider and trainable for visual-leading pairs. Here we specifically examined the level of independence of binding mechanisms when auditory-before-visual vs. visual-before-auditory input is bound. Three groups of healthy participants practiced audiovisual simultaneity detection with feedback, selectively training on auditory-leading stimulus pairs (group 1), visual-leading stimulus pairs (group 2) or both (group 3). Subsequently, we tested for learning transfer (crossover) from trained stimulus pairs to non-trained pairs with opposite audiovisual input. Our data confirmed the known asymmetry in size and trainability for auditory-visual vs. visual-auditory binding windows. More importantly, practicing one type of audiovisual integration (e.g. auditory-visual) did not affect the other type (e.g. visual-auditory), even if trainable by within-condition practice. Together, these results provide crucial evidence that audiovisual temporal binding for auditory-leading vs. visual-leading stimulus pairs are independent, possibly tapping into different circuits for audiovisual integration due to engagement of different multisensory sampling mechanisms depending on leading sense. Our results have implications for informing the study of multisensory interactions in healthy participants and clinical populations with dysfunctional multisensory integration. © 2016 The Authors. European Journal of Neuroscience published by Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Alterations in attention capture to auditory emotional stimuli in job burnout: an event-related potential study.

PubMed

Sokka, Laura; Huotilainen, Minna; Leinikka, Marianne; Korpela, Jussi; Henelius, Andreas; Alain, Claude; Müller, Kiti; Pakarinen, Satu

2014-12-01

Job burnout is a significant cause of work absenteeism. Evidence from behavioral studies and patient reports suggests that job burnout is associated with impairments of attention and decreased working capacity, and it has overlapping elements with depression, anxiety and sleep disturbances. Here, we examined the electrophysiological correlates of automatic sound change detection and involuntary attention allocation in job burnout using scalp recordings of event-related potentials (ERP). Volunteers with job burnout symptoms but without severe depression and anxiety disorders and their non-burnout controls were presented with natural speech sound stimuli (standard and nine deviants), as well as three rarely occurring speech sounds with strong emotional prosody. All stimuli elicited mismatch negativity (MMN) responses that were comparable in both groups. The groups differed with respect to the P3a, an ERP component reflecting involuntary shift of attention: job burnout group showed a shorter P3a latency in response to the emotionally negative stimulus, and a longer latency in response to the positive stimulus. Results indicate that in job burnout, automatic speech sound discrimination is intact, but there is an attention capture tendency that is faster for negative, and slower to positive information compared to that of controls. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A neuronal model of predictive coding accounting for the mismatch negativity.

PubMed

Wacongne, Catherine; Changeux, Jean-Pierre; Dehaene, Stanislas

2012-03-14

The mismatch negativity (MMN) is thought to index the activation of specialized neural networks for active prediction and deviance detection. However, a detailed neuronal model of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the MMN is still lacking, and its computational foundations remain debated. We propose here a detailed neuronal model of auditory cortex, based on predictive coding, that accounts for the critical features of MMN. The model is entirely composed of spiking excitatory and inhibitory neurons interconnected in a layered cortical architecture with distinct input, predictive, and prediction error units. A spike-timing dependent learning rule, relying upon NMDA receptor synaptic transmission, allows the network to adjust its internal predictions and use a memory of the recent past inputs to anticipate on future stimuli based on transition statistics. We demonstrate that this simple architecture can account for the major empirical properties of the MMN. These include a frequency-dependent response to rare deviants, a response to unexpected repeats in alternating sequences (ABABAA…), a lack of consideration of the global sequence context, a response to sound omission, and a sensitivity of the MMN to NMDA receptor antagonists. Novel predictions are presented, and a new magnetoencephalography experiment in healthy human subjects is presented that validates our key hypothesis: the MMN results from active cortical prediction rather than passive synaptic habituation.

Transcranial alternating current stimulation modulates auditory temporal resolution in elderly people.

PubMed

Baltus, Alina; Vosskuhl, Johannes; Boetzel, Cindy; Herrmann, Christoph Siegfried

2018-05-13

Recent research provides evidence for a functional role of brain oscillations for perception. For example, auditory temporal resolution seems to be linked to individual gamma frequency of auditory cortex. Individual gamma frequency not only correlates with performance in between-channel gap detection tasks but can be modulated via auditory transcranial alternating current stimulation. Modulation of individual gamma frequency is accompanied by an improvement in gap detection performance. Aging changes electrophysiological frequency components and sensory processing mechanisms. Therefore, we conducted a study to investigate the link between individual gamma frequency and gap detection performance in elderly people using auditory transcranial alternating current stimulation. In a within-subject design, twelve participants were electrically stimulated with two individualized transcranial alternating current stimulation frequencies: 3 Hz above their individual gamma frequency (experimental condition) and 4 Hz below their individual gamma frequency (control condition) while they were performing a between-channel gap detection task. As expected, individual gamma frequencies correlated significantly with gap detection performance at baseline and in the experimental condition, transcranial alternating current stimulation modulated gap detection performance. In the control condition, stimulation did not modulate gap detection performance. In addition, in elderly, the effect of transcranial alternating current stimulation on auditory temporal resolution seems to be dependent on endogenous frequencies in auditory cortex: elderlies with slower individual gamma frequencies and lower auditory temporal resolution profit from auditory transcranial alternating current stimulation and show increased gap detection performance during stimulation. Our results strongly suggest individualized transcranial alternating current stimulation protocols for successful modulation of performance. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

SoundView: an auditory guidance system based on environment understanding for the visually impaired people.

PubMed

Nie, Min; Ren, Jie; Li, Zhengjun; Niu, Jinhai; Qiu, Yihong; Zhu, Yisheng; Tong, Shanbao

2009-01-01

Without visual information, the blind people live in various hardships with shopping, reading, finding objects and etc. Therefore, we developed a portable auditory guide system, called SoundView, for visually impaired people. This prototype system consists of a mini-CCD camera, a digital signal processing unit and an earphone, working with built-in customizable auditory coding algorithms. Employing environment understanding techniques, SoundView processes the images from a camera and detects objects tagged with barcodes. The recognized objects in the environment are then encoded into stereo speech signals for the blind though an earphone. The user would be able to recognize the type, motion state and location of the interested objects with the help of SoundView. Compared with other visual assistant techniques, SoundView is object-oriented and has the advantages of cheap cost, smaller size, light weight, low power consumption and easy customization.

The Emergence of Explicit Knowledge in a Serial Reaction Time Task: The Role of Experienced Fluency and Strength of Representation.

PubMed

Esser, Sarah; Haider, Hilde

2017-01-01

The Serial Reaction Time Task (SRTT) is an important paradigm to study the properties of unconscious learning processes. One specifically interesting and still controversially discussed topic are the conditions under which unconsciously acquired knowledge becomes conscious knowledge. The different assumptions about the underlying mechanisms can contrastively be separated into two accounts: single system views in which the strengthening of associative weights throughout training gradually turns implicit knowledge into explicit knowledge, and dual system views in which implicit knowledge itself does not become conscious. Rather, it requires a second process which detects changes in performance and is able to acquire conscious knowledge. In a series of three experiments, we manipulated the arrangement of sequential and deviant trials. In an SRTT training, participants either received mini-blocks of sequential trials followed by mini-blocks of deviant trials (22 trials each) or they received sequential and deviant trials mixed randomly. Importantly the number of correct and deviant transitions was the same for both conditions. Experiment 1 showed that both conditions acquired a comparable amount of implicit knowledge, expressed in different test tasks. Experiment 2 further demonstrated that both conditions differed in their subjectively experienced fluency of the task, with more fluency experienced when trained with mini-blocks. Lastly, Experiment 3 revealed that the participants trained with longer mini-blocks of sequential and deviant material developed more explicit knowledge. Results are discussed regarding their compatibility with different assumptions about the emergence of explicit knowledge in an implicit learning situation, especially with respect to the role of metacognitive judgements and more specifically the Unexpected-Event Hypothesis.

The Emergence of Explicit Knowledge in a Serial Reaction Time Task: The Role of Experienced Fluency and Strength of Representation

PubMed Central

Esser, Sarah; Haider, Hilde

2017-01-01

The Serial Reaction Time Task (SRTT) is an important paradigm to study the properties of unconscious learning processes. One specifically interesting and still controversially discussed topic are the conditions under which unconsciously acquired knowledge becomes conscious knowledge. The different assumptions about the underlying mechanisms can contrastively be separated into two accounts: single system views in which the strengthening of associative weights throughout training gradually turns implicit knowledge into explicit knowledge, and dual system views in which implicit knowledge itself does not become conscious. Rather, it requires a second process which detects changes in performance and is able to acquire conscious knowledge. In a series of three experiments, we manipulated the arrangement of sequential and deviant trials. In an SRTT training, participants either received mini-blocks of sequential trials followed by mini-blocks of deviant trials (22 trials each) or they received sequential and deviant trials mixed randomly. Importantly the number of correct and deviant transitions was the same for both conditions. Experiment 1 showed that both conditions acquired a comparable amount of implicit knowledge, expressed in different test tasks. Experiment 2 further demonstrated that both conditions differed in their subjectively experienced fluency of the task, with more fluency experienced when trained with mini-blocks. Lastly, Experiment 3 revealed that the participants trained with longer mini-blocks of sequential and deviant material developed more explicit knowledge. Results are discussed regarding their compatibility with different assumptions about the emergence of explicit knowledge in an implicit learning situation, especially with respect to the role of metacognitive judgements and more specifically the Unexpected-Event Hypothesis. PMID:28421018

Detecting changes in dynamic and complex acoustic environments

PubMed Central

Boubenec, Yves; Lawlor, Jennifer; Górska, Urszula; Shamma, Shihab; Englitz, Bernhard

2017-01-01

Natural sounds such as wind or rain, are characterized by the statistical occurrence of their constituents. Despite their complexity, listeners readily detect changes in these contexts. We here address the neural basis of statistical decision-making using a combination of psychophysics, EEG and modelling. In a texture-based, change-detection paradigm, human performance and reaction times improved with longer pre-change exposure, consistent with improved estimation of baseline statistics. Change-locked and decision-related EEG responses were found in a centro-parietal scalp location, whose slope depended on change size, consistent with sensory evidence accumulation. The potential's amplitude scaled with the duration of pre-change exposure, suggesting a time-dependent decision threshold. Auditory cortex-related potentials showed no response to the change. A dual timescale, statistical estimation model accounted for subjects' performance. Furthermore, a decision-augmented auditory cortex model accounted for performance and reaction times, suggesting that the primary cortical representation requires little post-processing to enable change-detection in complex acoustic environments. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.24910.001 PMID:28262095

Connecting the ear to the brain: molecular mechanisms of auditory circuit assembly

PubMed Central

Appler, Jessica M.; Goodrich, Lisa V.

2011-01-01

Our sense of hearing depends on precisely organized circuits that allow us to sense, perceive, and respond to complex sounds in our environment, from music and language to simple warning signals. Auditory processing begins in the cochlea of the inner ear, where sounds are detected by sensory hair cells and then transmitted to the central nervous system by spiral ganglion neurons, which faithfully preserve the frequency, intensity, and timing of each stimulus. During the assembly of auditory circuits, spiral ganglion neurons establish precise connections that link hair cells in the cochlea to target neurons in the auditory brainstem, develop specific firing properties, and elaborate unusual synapses both in the periphery and in the CNS. Understanding how spiral ganglion neurons acquire these unique properties is a key goal in auditory neuroscience, as these neurons represent the sole input of auditory information to the brain. In addition, the best currently available treatment for many forms of deafness is the cochlear implant, which compensates for lost hair cell function by directly stimulating the auditory nerve. Historically, studies of the auditory system have lagged behind other sensory systems due to the small size and inaccessibility of the inner ear. With the advent of new molecular genetic tools, this gap is narrowing. Here, we summarize recent insights into the cellular and molecular cues that guide the development of spiral ganglion neurons, from their origin in the proneurosensory domain of the otic vesicle to the formation of specialized synapses that ensure rapid and reliable transmission of sound information from the ear to the brain. PMID:21232575

Theoretical Limitations on Functional Imaging Resolution in Auditory Cortex

PubMed Central

Chen, Thomas L.; Watkins, Paul V.; Barbour, Dennis L.

2010-01-01

Functional imaging can reveal detailed organizational structure in cerebral cortical areas, but neuronal response features and local neural interconnectivity can influence the resulting images, possibly limiting the inferences that can be drawn about neural function. Discerning the fundamental principles of organizational structure in the auditory cortex of multiple species has been somewhat challenging historically both with functional imaging and with electrophysiology. A possible limitation affecting any methodology using pooled neuronal measures may be the relative distribution of response selectivity throughout the population of auditory cortex neurons. One neuronal response type inherited from the cochlea, for example, exhibits a receptive field that increases in size (i.e., decreases in selectivity) at higher stimulus intensities. Even though these neurons appear to represent a minority of auditory cortex neurons, they are likely to contribute disproportionately to the activity detected in functional images, especially if intense sounds are used for stimulation. To evaluate the potential influence of neuronal subpopulations upon functional images of primary auditory cortex, a model array representing cortical neurons was probed with virtual imaging experiments under various assumptions about the local circuit organization. As expected, different neuronal subpopulations were activated preferentially under different stimulus conditions. In fact, stimulus protocols that can preferentially excite selective neurons, resulting in a relatively sparse activation map, have the potential to improve the effective resolution of functional auditory cortical images. These experimental results also make predictions about auditory cortex organization that can be tested with refined functional imaging experiments. PMID:20079343

Testing the importance of auditory detections in avian point counts

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brewster, J.P.; Simons, T.R.

2009-01-01

Recent advances in the methods used to estimate detection probability during point counts suggest that the detection process is shaped by the types of cues available to observers. For example, models of the detection process based on distance-sampling or time-of-detection methods may yield different results for auditory versus visual cues because of differences in the factors that affect the transmission of these cues from a bird to an observer or differences in an observer's ability to localize cues. Previous studies suggest that auditory detections predominate in forested habitats, but it is not clear how often observers hear birds prior to detecting them visually. We hypothesized that auditory cues might be even more important than previously reported, so we conducted an experiment in a forested habitat in North Carolina that allowed us to better separate auditory and visual detections. Three teams of three observers each performed simultaneous 3-min unlimited-radius point counts at 30 points in a mixed-hardwood forest. One team member could see, but not hear birds, one could hear, but not see, and the third was nonhandicapped. Of the total number of birds detected, 2.9% were detected by deafened observers, 75.1% by blinded observers, and 78.2% by nonhandicapped observers. Detections by blinded and nonhandicapped observers were the same only 54% of the time. Our results suggest that the detection of birds in forest habitats is almost entirely by auditory cues. Because many factors affect the probability that observers will detect auditory cues, the accuracy and precision of avian point count estimates are likely lower than assumed by most field ornithologists. ?? 2009 Association of Field Ornithologists.

Mind the Gap: Two Dissociable Mechanisms of Temporal Processing in the Auditory System

PubMed Central

Anderson, Lucy A.

2016-01-01

High temporal acuity of auditory processing underlies perception of speech and other rapidly varying sounds. A common measure of auditory temporal acuity in humans is the threshold for detection of brief gaps in noise. Gap-detection deficits, observed in developmental disorders, are considered evidence for “sluggish” auditory processing. Here we show, in a mouse model of gap-detection deficits, that auditory brain sensitivity to brief gaps in noise can be impaired even without a general loss of central auditory temporal acuity. Extracellular recordings in three different subdivisions of the auditory thalamus in anesthetized mice revealed a stimulus-specific, subdivision-specific deficit in thalamic sensitivity to brief gaps in noise in experimental animals relative to controls. Neural responses to brief gaps in noise were reduced, but responses to other rapidly changing stimuli unaffected, in lemniscal and nonlemniscal (but not polysensory) subdivisions of the medial geniculate body. Through experiments and modeling, we demonstrate that the observed deficits in thalamic sensitivity to brief gaps in noise arise from reduced neural population activity following noise offsets, but not onsets. These results reveal dissociable sound-onset-sensitive and sound-offset-sensitive channels underlying auditory temporal processing, and suggest that gap-detection deficits can arise from specific impairment of the sound-offset-sensitive channel. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The experimental and modeling results reported here suggest a new hypothesis regarding the mechanisms of temporal processing in the auditory system. Using a mouse model of auditory temporal processing deficits, we demonstrate the existence of specific abnormalities in auditory thalamic activity following sound offsets, but not sound onsets. These results reveal dissociable sound-onset-sensitive and sound-offset-sensitive mechanisms underlying auditory processing of temporally varying sounds. Furthermore, the findings suggest that auditory temporal processing deficits, such as impairments in gap-in-noise detection, could arise from reduced brain sensitivity to sound offsets alone. PMID:26865621

Fundamental deficits of auditory perception in Wernicke's aphasia.

PubMed

Robson, Holly; Grube, Manon; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A; Griffiths, Timothy D; Sage, Karen

2013-01-01

This work investigates the nature of the comprehension impairment in Wernicke's aphasia (WA), by examining the relationship between deficits in auditory processing of fundamental, non-verbal acoustic stimuli and auditory comprehension. WA, a condition resulting in severely disrupted auditory comprehension, primarily occurs following a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) to the left temporo-parietal cortex. Whilst damage to posterior superior temporal areas is associated with auditory linguistic comprehension impairments, functional-imaging indicates that these areas may not be specific to speech processing but part of a network for generic auditory analysis. We examined analysis of basic acoustic stimuli in WA participants (n = 10) using auditory stimuli reflective of theories of cortical auditory processing and of speech cues. Auditory spectral, temporal and spectro-temporal analysis was assessed using pure-tone frequency discrimination, frequency modulation (FM) detection and the detection of dynamic modulation (DM) in "moving ripple" stimuli. All tasks used criterion-free, adaptive measures of threshold to ensure reliable results at the individual level. Participants with WA showed normal frequency discrimination but significant impairments in FM and DM detection, relative to age- and hearing-matched controls at the group level (n = 10). At the individual level, there was considerable variation in performance, and thresholds for both FM and DM detection correlated significantly with auditory comprehension abilities in the WA participants. These results demonstrate the co-occurrence of a deficit in fundamental auditory processing of temporal and spectro-temporal non-verbal stimuli in WA, which may have a causal contribution to the auditory language comprehension impairment. Results are discussed in the context of traditional neuropsychology and current models of cortical auditory processing. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Engineering Data Compendium. Human Perception and Performance. Volume 2

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-01-01

Stimulation 5.1014 5.1004 Auditory Detection in the Presence of Visual Stimulation 5.1015 5.1005 Tactual Detection and Discrimination in the Presence of...Accessory Stimulation 5.1016 5.1006 Tactile Versus Auditory Localization of Sound 5.1007 Spatial Localization in the Presence of Inter- 5.1017...York: Wiley. Cross References 5.1004 Auditory detection in the presence of visual stimulation ; 5.1005 Tactual detection and dis- crimination in

Deviance detection based on regularity encoding along the auditory hierarchy: electrophysiological evidence in humans.

PubMed

Escera, Carles; Leung, Sumie; Grimm, Sabine

2014-07-01

Detection of changes in the acoustic environment is critical for survival, as it prevents missing potentially relevant events outside the focus of attention. In humans, deviance detection based on acoustic regularity encoding has been associated with a brain response derived from the human EEG, the mismatch negativity (MMN) auditory evoked potential, peaking at about 100-200 ms from deviance onset. By its long latency and cerebral generators, the cortical nature of both the processes of regularity encoding and deviance detection has been assumed. Yet, intracellular, extracellular, single-unit and local-field potential recordings in rats and cats have shown much earlier (circa 20-30 ms) and hierarchically lower (primary auditory cortex, medial geniculate body, inferior colliculus) deviance-related responses. Here, we review the recent evidence obtained with the complex auditory brainstem response (cABR), the middle latency response (MLR) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) demonstrating that human auditory deviance detection based on regularity encoding-rather than on refractoriness-occurs at latencies and in neural networks comparable to those revealed in animals. Specifically, encoding of simple acoustic-feature regularities and detection of corresponding deviance, such as an infrequent change in frequency or location, occur in the latency range of the MLR, in separate auditory cortical regions from those generating the MMN, and even at the level of human auditory brainstem. In contrast, violations of more complex regularities, such as those defined by the alternation of two different tones or by feature conjunctions (i.e., frequency and location) fail to elicit MLR correlates but elicit sizable MMNs. Altogether, these findings support the emerging view that deviance detection is a basic principle of the functional organization of the auditory system, and that regularity encoding and deviance detection is organized in ascending levels of complexity along the auditory pathway expanding from the brainstem up to higher-order areas of the cerebral cortex.

Occupational Styrene Exposure on Auditory Function Among Adults: A Systematic Review of Selected Workers.

PubMed

Pleban, Francis T; Oketope, Olutosin; Shrestha, Laxmi

2017-12-01

A review study was conducted to examine the adverse effects of styrene, styrene mixtures, or styrene and/or styrene mixtures and noise on the auditory system in humans employed in occupational settings. The search included peer-reviewed articles published in English language involving human volunteers spanning a 25-year period (1990-2015). Studies included peer review journals, case-control studies, and case reports. Animal studies were excluded. An initial search identified 40 studies. After screening for inclusion, 13 studies were retrieved for full journal detail examination and review. As a whole, the results range from no to mild associations between styrene exposure and auditory dysfunction, noting relatively small sample sizes. However, four studies investigating styrene with other organic solvent mixtures and noise suggested combined exposures to both styrene organic solvent mixtures may be more ototoxic than exposure to noise alone. There is little literature examining the effect of styrene on auditory functioning in humans. Nonetheless, findings suggest public health professionals and policy makers should be made aware of the future research needs pertaining to hearing impairment and ototoxicity from styrene. It is recommended that chronic styrene-exposed individuals be routinely evaluated with a comprehensive audiological test battery to detect early signs of auditory dysfunction.

Auditory attentional capture during serial recall: violations at encoding of an algorithm-based neural model?

PubMed

Hughes, Robert W; Vachon, François; Jones, Dylan M

2005-07-01

A novel attentional capture effect is reported in which visual-verbal serial recall was disrupted if a single deviation in the interstimulus interval occurred within otherwise regularly presented task-irrelevant spoken items. The degree of disruption was the same whether the temporal deviant was embedded in a sequence made up of a repeating item or a sequence of changing items. Moreover, the effect was evident during the presentation of the to-be-remembered sequence but not during rehearsal just prior to recall, suggesting that the encoding of sequences is particularly susceptible. The results suggest that attentional capture is due to a violation of an algorithm rather than an aggregate-based neural model and further undermine an attentional capture-based account of the classical changing-state irrelevant sound effect. ((c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved).

Auditory sensitivity in settlement-stage larvae of coral reef fishes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wright, K. J.; Higgs, D. M.; Cato, D. H.; Leis, J. M.

2010-03-01

The larval phase of most species of coral reef fishes is spent away from the reef in the pelagic environment. At the time of settlement, these larvae need to locate a reef, and recent research indicates that sound emanating from reefs may act as a cue to guide them. Here, the auditory abilities of settlement-stage larvae of four species of coral reef fishes (families Pomacentridae, Lutjanidae and Serranidae) and similar-sized individuals of two pelagic species (Carangidae) were tested using an electrophysiological technique, auditory brainstem response (ABR). Five of the six species heard frequencies in the 100-2,000 Hz range, whilst one carangid species did not detect frequencies higher than 800 Hz. The audiograms of the six species were of similar shape, with best hearing at lower frequencies between 100 and 300 Hz. Strong within-species differences were found in hearing sensitivity both among the coral reef species and among the pelagic species. Larvae of the coral reef species had significantly more sensitive hearing than the larvae of the pelagic species. The results suggest that settlement-stage larval reef fishes may be able to detect reef sounds at distances of a few 100 m. If true hearing thresholds are lower than ABR estimates, as indicated in some comparisons of ABR and behavioural methods, the detection distances would be much larger.

Development of the acoustically evoked behavioral response in larval plainfin midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus.

PubMed

Alderks, Peter W; Sisneros, Joseph A

2013-01-01

The ontogeny of hearing in fishes has become a major interest among bioacoustics researchers studying fish behavior and sensory ecology. Most fish begin to detect acoustic stimuli during the larval stage which can be important for navigation, predator avoidance and settlement, however relatively little is known about the hearing capabilities of larval fishes. We characterized the acoustically evoked behavioral response (AEBR) in the plainfin midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus, and used this innate startle-like response to characterize this species' auditory capability during larval development. Age and size of larval midshipman were highly correlated (r(2) = 0.92). The AEBR was first observed in larvae at 1.4 cm TL. At a size ≥ 1.8 cm TL, all larvae responded to a broadband stimulus of 154 dB re1 µPa or -15.2 dB re 1 g (z-axis). Lowest AEBR thresholds were 140-150 dB re 1 µPa or -33 to -23 dB re 1 g for frequencies below 225 Hz. Larval fish with size ranges of 1.9-2.4 cm TL had significantly lower best evoked frequencies than the other tested size groups. We also investigated the development of the lateral line organ and its function in mediating the AEBR. The lateral line organ is likely involved in mediating the AEBR but not necessary to evoke the startle-like response. The midshipman auditory and lateral line systems are functional during early development when the larvae are in the nest and the auditory system appears to have similar tuning characteristics throughout all life history stages.

Human centromedian-parafascicular complex signals sensory cues for goal-oriented behavior selection.

PubMed

Schepers, Inga M; Beck, Anne-Kathrin; Bräuer, Susann; Schwabe, Kerstin; Abdallat, Mahmoud; Sandmann, Pascale; Dengler, Reinhard; Rieger, Jochem W; Krauss, Joachim K

2017-05-15

Experimental research has shown that the centromedian-parafascicular complex (CM-Pf) of the intralaminar thalamus is activated in attentional orienting and processing of behaviorally relevant stimuli. These observations resulted in the hypothesis that the CM-Pf plays a pivotal role in goal-oriented behavior selection. We here set out to test this hypothesis with electrophysiological recordings from patients with electrodes implanted in CM-Pf for deep brain stimulation (DBS) treatment of chronic neuropathic pain. Six patients participated in (1) an auditory three-class oddball experiment, which required a button press to target tones, but not to standard and deviant tones and in (2) a multi-speaker experiment with a target word that required attention selection and a target image that required response selection. Subjects showed transient neural responses (8-15Hz) to the target tone and the target word. Two subjects additionally showed transient neural responses (15-25Hz) to the target image. All sensory target stimuli were related to an internal goal and required a behavior selection (attention selection, response selection). In group analyses, neural responses were greater to target tones than deviant and standard tones and to target words than other task-relevant words that did not require attention selection. The transient neural responses occurred after the target stimuli but prior to the overt behavioral response. Our results demonstrate that in human subjects the CM-Pf is involved in signaling sensory inputs related to goal-oriented selection of behavior. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The sound of music: differentiating musicians using a fast, musical multi-feature mismatch negativity paradigm.

PubMed

Vuust, Peter; Brattico, Elvira; Seppänen, Miia; Näätänen, Risto; Tervaniemi, Mari

2012-06-01

Musicians' skills in auditory processing depend highly on instrument, performance practice, and on level of expertise. Yet, it is not known though whether the style/genre of music might shape auditory processing in the brains of musicians. Here, we aimed at tackling the role of musical style/genre on modulating neural and behavioral responses to changes in musical features. Using a novel, fast and musical sounding multi-feature paradigm, we measured the mismatch negativity (MMN), a pre-attentive brain response, to six types of musical feature change in musicians playing three distinct styles of music (classical, jazz, rock/pop) and in non-musicians. Jazz and classical musicians scored higher in the musical aptitude test than band musicians and non-musicians, especially with regards to tonal abilities. These results were extended by the MMN findings: jazz musicians had larger MMN-amplitude than all other experimental groups across the six different sound features, indicating a greater overall sensitivity to auditory outliers. In particular, we found enhanced processing of pith and sliding up to pitches in jazz musicians only. Furthermore, we observed a more frontal MMN to pitch and location compared to the other deviants in jazz musicians and left lateralization of the MMN to timbre in classical musicians. These findings indicate that the characteristics of the style/genre of music played by musicians influence their perceptual skills and the brain processing of sound features embedded in a musical context. Musicians' brain is hence shaped by the type of training, musical style/genre, and listening experiences. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Facilitation effect of observed motor deviants in a cooperative motor task: Evidence for direct perception of social intention in action.

PubMed

Quesque, François; Delevoye-Turrell, Yvonne; Coello, Yann

2016-01-01

Spatiotemporal parameters of voluntary motor action may help optimize human social interactions. Yet it is unknown whether individuals performing a cooperative task spontaneously perceive subtly informative social cues emerging through voluntary actions. In the present study, an auditory cue was provided through headphones to an actor and a partner who faced each other. Depending on the pitch of the auditory cue, either the actor or the partner were required to grasp and move a wooden dowel under time constraints from a central to a lateral position. Before this main action, the actor performed a preparatory action under no time constraint, consisting in placing the wooden dowel on the central location when receiving either a neutral ("prêt"-ready) or an informative auditory cue relative to who will be asked to perform the main action (the actor: "moi"-me, or the partner: "lui"-him). Although the task focused on the main action, analysis of motor performances revealed that actors performed the preparatory action with longer reaction times and higher trajectories when informed that the partner would be performing the main action. In this same condition, partners executed the main actions with shorter reaction times and lower velocities, despite having received no previous informative cues. These results demonstrate that the mere observation of socially driven motor actions spontaneously influences the low-level kinematics of voluntary motor actions performed by the observer during a cooperative motor task. These findings indicate that social intention can be anticipated from the mere observation of action patterns.

Distributed feature binding in the auditory modality: experimental evidence toward reconciliation of opposing views on the basis of mismatch negativity and behavioral measures.

PubMed

Chernyshev, Boris V; Bryzgalov, Dmitri V; Lazarev, Ivan E; Chernysheva, Elena G

2016-08-03

Current understanding of feature binding remains controversial. Studies involving mismatch negativity (MMN) measurement show a low level of binding, whereas behavioral experiments suggest a higher level. We examined the possibility that the two levels of feature binding coexist and may be shown within one experiment. The electroencephalogram was recorded while participants were engaged in an auditory two-alternative choice task, which was a combination of the oddball and the condensation tasks. Two types of deviant target stimuli were used - complex stimuli, which required feature conjunction to be identified, and simple stimuli, which differed from standard stimuli in a single feature. Two behavioral outcomes - correct responses and errors - were analyzed separately. Responses to complex stimuli were slower and less accurate than responses to simple stimuli. MMN was prominent and its amplitude was similar for both simple and complex stimuli, whereas the respective stimuli differed from standards in a single feature or two features respectively. Errors in response only to complex stimuli were associated with decreased MMN amplitude. P300 amplitude was greater for complex stimuli than for simple stimuli. Our data are compatible with the explanation that feature binding in auditory modality depends on two concurrent levels of processing. We speculate that the earlier level related to MMN generation is an essential and critical stage. Yet, a later analysis is also carried out, affecting P300 amplitude and response time. The current findings provide resolution to conflicting views on the nature of feature binding and show that feature binding is a distributed multilevel process.

Long-term influence of recurrent acute otitis media on neural involuntary attention switching in 2-year-old children.

PubMed

Haapala, Sini; Niemitalo-Haapola, Elina; Raappana, Antti; Kujala, Tiia; Suominen, Kalervo; Jansson-Verkasalo, Eira; Kujala, Teija

2016-01-04

A large group of young children are exposed to repetitive middle ear infections but the effects of the fluctuating hearing sensations on immature central auditory system are not fully understood. The present study investigated the consequences of early childhood recurrent acute otitis media (RAOM) on involuntary auditory attention switching. By utilizing auditory event-related potentials, neural mechanisms of involuntary attention were studied in 22-26 month-old children (N = 18) who had had an early childhood RAOM and healthy controls (N = 19). The earlier and later phase of the P3a (eP3a and lP3a) and the late negativity (LN) were measured for embedded novel sounds in the passive multi-feature paradigm with repeating standard and deviant syllable stimuli. The children with RAOM had tympanostomy tubes inserted and all the children in both study groups had to have clinically healthy ears at the time of the measurement assessed by an otolaryngologist. The results showed that lP3a amplitude diminished less from frontal to central and parietal areas in the children with RAOM than the controls. This might reflect an immature control of involuntary attention switch. Furthermore, the LN latency was longer in children with RAOM than in the controls, which suggests delayed reorientation of attention in RAOM. The lP3a and LN responses are affected in toddlers who have had a RAOM even when their ears are healthy. This suggests detrimental long-term effects of RAOM on the neural mechanisms of involuntary attention.

Artemis 123: development of a whole-head infant and young child MEG system

PubMed Central

Roberts, Timothy P. L.; Paulson, Douglas N.; Hirschkoff, Eugene; Pratt, Kevin; Mascarenas, Anthony; Miller, Paul; Han, Mengali; Caffrey, Jason; Kincade, Chuck; Power, Bill; Murray, Rebecca; Chow, Vivian; Fisk, Charlie; Ku, Matthew; Chudnovskaya, Darina; Dell, John; Golembski, Rachel; Lam, Peter; Blaskey, Lisa; Kuschner, Emily; Bloy, Luke; Gaetz, William; Edgar, J. Christopher

2014-01-01

Background: A major motivation in designing the new infant and child magnetoencephalography (MEG) system described in this manuscript is the premise that electrophysiological signatures (resting activity and evoked responses) may serve as biomarkers of neurodevelopmental disorders, with neuronal abnormalities in conditions such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) potentially detectable early in development. Whole-head MEG systems are generally optimized/sized for adults. Since magnetic field produced by neuronal currents decreases as a function of distance2 and infants and young children have smaller head sizes (and thus increased brain-to-sensor distance), whole-head adult MEG systems do not provide optimal signal-to-noise in younger individuals. This spurred development of a whole-head infant and young child MEG system – Artemis 123. Methods:In addition to describing the design of the Artemis 123, the focus of this manuscript is the use of Artemis 123 to obtain auditory evoked neuromagnetic recordings and resting-state data in young children. Data were collected from a 14-month-old female, an 18-month-old female, and a 48-month-old male. Phantom data are also provided to show localization accuracy. Results:Examination of Artemis 123 auditory data showed generalizability and reproducibility, with auditory responses observed in all participants. The auditory MEG measures were also found to be manipulable, exhibiting sensitivity to tone frequency. Furthermore, there appeared to be a predictable sensitivity of evoked components to development, with latencies decreasing with age. Examination of resting-state data showed characteristic oscillatory activity. Finally, phantom data showed that dipole sources could be localized with an error less than 0.5 cm. Conclusions:Artemis 123 allows efficient recording of high-quality whole-head MEG in infants four years and younger. Future work will involve examining the feasibility of obtaining somatosensory and visual recordings in similar-age children as well as obtaining recordings from younger infants. Thus, the Artemis 123 offers the promise of detecting earlier diagnostic signatures in such neurodevelopmental disorders. PMID:24624069

Modulation of Auditory Cortex Response to Pitch Variation Following Training with Microtonal Melodies

PubMed Central

Zatorre, Robert J.; Delhommeau, Karine; Zarate, Jean Mary

2012-01-01

We tested changes in cortical functional response to auditory patterns in a configural learning paradigm. We trained 10 human listeners to discriminate micromelodies (consisting of smaller pitch intervals than normally used in Western music) and measured covariation in blood oxygenation signal to increasing pitch interval size in order to dissociate global changes in activity from those specifically associated with the stimulus feature that was trained. A psychophysical staircase procedure with feedback was used for training over a 2-week period. Behavioral tests of discrimination ability performed before and after training showed significant learning on the trained stimuli, and generalization to other frequencies and tasks; no learning occurred in an untrained control group. Before training the functional MRI data showed the expected systematic increase in activity in auditory cortices as a function of increasing micromelody pitch interval size. This function became shallower after training, with the maximal change observed in the right posterior auditory cortex. Global decreases in activity in auditory regions, along with global increases in frontal cortices also occurred after training. Individual variation in learning rate was related to the hemodynamic slope to pitch interval size, such that those who had a higher sensitivity to pitch interval variation prior to learning achieved the fastest learning. We conclude that configural auditory learning entails modulation in the response of auditory cortex to the trained stimulus feature. Reduction in blood oxygenation response to increasing pitch interval size suggests that fewer computational resources, and hence lower neural recruitment, is associated with learning, in accord with models of auditory cortex function, and with data from other modalities. PMID:23227019

Investigating the effects of musical training on functional brain development with a novel Melodic MMN paradigm.

PubMed

Putkinen, Vesa; Tervaniemi, Mari; Saarikivi, Katri; de Vent, Nathalie; Huotilainen, Minna

2014-04-01

Sensitivity to changes in various musical features was investigated by recording the mismatch negativity (MMN) auditory event-related potential (ERP) in musically trained and nontrained children semi-longitudinally at the ages of 9, 11, and 13 years. The responses were recorded using a novel Melodic multi-feature paradigm which allows fast (<15 min) recording of an MMN profile for changes in melody, rhythm, musical key, timbre, tuning and timing. When compared to the nontrained children, the musically trained children displayed enlarged MMNs for the melody modulations by the age 13 and for the rhythm modulations, timbre deviants and slightly mistuned tones already at the age of 11. Also, a positive mismatch response elicited by delayed tones was larger in amplitude in the musically trained than in the nontrained children at age 13. No group differences were found at the age 9 suggesting that the later enhancement of the MMN in the musically trained children resulted from training and not pre-existing difference between the groups. The current study demonstrates the applicability of the Melodic multi-feature paradigm in school-aged children and indicates that musical training enhances auditory discrimination for musically central sound dimensions in pre-adolescence. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Auditory perception and attention as reflected by the brain event-related potentials in children with Asperger syndrome.

PubMed

Lepistö, T; Silokallio, S; Nieminen-von Wendt, T; Alku, P; Näätänen, R; Kujala, T

2006-10-01

Language development is delayed and deviant in individuals with autism, but proceeds quite normally in those with Asperger syndrome (AS). We investigated auditory-discrimination and orienting in children with AS using an event-related potential (ERP) paradigm that was previously applied to children with autism. ERPs were measured to pitch, duration, and phonetic changes in vowels and to corresponding changes in non-speech sounds. Active sound discrimination was evaluated with a sound-identification task. The mismatch negativity (MMN), indexing sound-discrimination accuracy, showed right-hemisphere dominance in the AS group, but not in the controls. Furthermore, the children with AS had diminished MMN-amplitudes and decreased hit rates for duration changes. In contrast, their MMN to speech pitch changes was parietally enhanced. The P3a, reflecting involuntary orienting to changes, was diminished in the children with AS for speech pitch and phoneme changes, but not for the corresponding non-speech changes. The children with AS differ from controls with respect to their sound-discrimination and orienting abilities. The results of the children with AS are relatively similar to those earlier obtained from children with autism using the same paradigm, although these clinical groups differ markedly in their language development.

Deviant Peer Influences in Intervention and Public Policy for Youth. Social Policy Report. Volume 20, Number 1

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dodge, Kenneth A.; Dishion, Thomas J.; Lansford, Jennifer E.

2006-01-01

The problem is well known to every parent of a teenager, every high school teacher, every clinical practitioner, and every social policy maker: vulnerable adolescents risk becoming more deviant through association with deviant peers and peer groups. Deviant peer influences are among the most potent factors in the development of antisocial…

Ontogenetic investigation of underwater hearing capabilities in loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) using a dual testing approach.

PubMed

Lavender, Ashley L; Bartol, Soraya M; Bartol, Ian K

2014-07-15

Sea turtles reside in different acoustic environments with each life history stage and may have different hearing capacity throughout ontogeny. For this study, two independent yet complementary techniques for hearing assessment, i.e. behavioral and electrophysiological audiometry, were employed to (1) measure hearing in post-hatchling and juvenile loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta (19-62 cm straight carapace length) to determine whether these migratory turtles exhibit an ontogenetic shift in underwater auditory detection and (2) evaluate whether hearing frequency range and threshold sensitivity are consistent in behavioral and electrophysiological tests. Behavioral trials first required training turtles to respond to known frequencies, a multi-stage, time-intensive process, and then recording their behavior when they were presented with sound stimuli from an underwater speaker using a two-response forced-choice paradigm. Electrophysiological experiments involved submerging restrained, fully conscious turtles just below the air-water interface and recording auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) when sound stimuli were presented using an underwater speaker. No significant differences in behavior-derived auditory thresholds or AEP-derived auditory thresholds were detected between post-hatchling and juvenile sea turtles. While hearing frequency range (50-1000/1100 Hz) and highest sensitivity (100-400 Hz) were consistent in audiograms pooled by size class for both behavior and AEP experiments, both post-hatchlings and juveniles had significantly higher AEP-derived than behavior-derived auditory thresholds, indicating that behavioral assessment is a more sensitive testing approach. The results from this study suggest that post-hatchling and juvenile loggerhead sea turtles are low-frequency specialists, exhibiting little differences in threshold sensitivity and frequency bandwidth despite residence in acoustically distinct environments throughout ontogeny. © 2014. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Integration of auditory and vibrotactile stimuli: Effects of frequency

PubMed Central

Wilson, E. Courtenay; Reed, Charlotte M.; Braida, Louis D.

2010-01-01

Perceptual integration of vibrotactile and auditory sinusoidal tone pulses was studied in detection experiments as a function of stimulation frequency. Vibrotactile stimuli were delivered through a single channel vibrator to the left middle fingertip. Auditory stimuli were presented diotically through headphones in a background of 50 dB sound pressure level broadband noise. Detection performance for combined auditory-tactile presentations was measured using stimulus levels that yielded 63% to 77% correct unimodal performance. In Experiment 1, the vibrotactile stimulus was 250 Hz and the auditory stimulus varied between 125 and 2000 Hz. In Experiment 2, the auditory stimulus was 250 Hz and the tactile stimulus varied between 50 and 400 Hz. In Experiment 3, the auditory and tactile stimuli were always equal in frequency and ranged from 50 to 400 Hz. The highest rates of detection for the combined-modality stimulus were obtained when stimulating frequencies in the two modalities were equal or closely spaced (and within the Pacinian range). Combined-modality detection for closely spaced frequencies was generally consistent with an algebraic sum model of perceptual integration; wider-frequency spacings were generally better fit by a Pythagorean sum model. Thus, perceptual integration of auditory and tactile stimuli at near-threshold levels appears to depend both on absolute frequency and relative frequency of stimulation within each modality. PMID:21117754

Psychopathy and Deviant Workplace Behavior: A Comparison of Two Psychopathy Models.

PubMed

Carre, Jessica R; Mueller, Steven M; Schleicher, Karly M; Jones, Daniel N

2018-04-01

Although psychopathy is an interpersonally harmful construct, few studies have compared different psycho athy models in predicting different types of workplace deviance. We examined how the Triarchic Psychopathy Model (TRI-PM) and the Self-Report Psychopathy-Short Form (SRP-SF) predicted deviant workplace behaviors in two forms: sexual harassment and deviant work behaviors. Using structural equations modeling, the latent factor of psychopathy was predictive for both types of deviant workplace behavior. Specifically, the SRP-SF signif cantly predicted both measures of deviant workplace behavior. With respect to the TRI-PM, meanness and disinhibition significantly predicted higher scores of workplace deviance and workplace sexual harassment measures. Future research needs to investigate the influence of psychopathy on deviant workplace behaviors, and consider the measures they use when they investigate these constructs.

Childhood ADHD and Adolescent Substance Use: An Examination of Deviant Peer Group Affiliation as a Risk Factor

PubMed Central

Marshal, Michael P.; Molina, Brooke S. G.; Pelham, William E.

2009-01-01

Deviant peer group affiliation was evaluated as a risk factor for substance use in adolescents with childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Results showed that deviant peer affiliation mediated the relationship between ADHD and substance use, suggesting that children with ADHD are more likely than children without ADHD to become involved with deviant peers and, as a result, more likely to use substances. Moreover, the relationship between deviant peer affiliation and substance use was stronger for adolescents with ADHD, suggesting that once they are immersed in a deviant peer group, adolescents with ADHD are more vulnerable to the negative social influences of that group. This study is the first step in identifying high-risk pathways from childhood ADHD to substance use in adolescence. PMID:14640825

Auditory Detection of the Human Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kidd, Gerald, Jr.; And Others

1993-01-01

This study evaluated whether listeners can distinguish human brainstem auditory evoked responses elicited by acoustic clicks from control waveforms obtained with no acoustic stimulus when the waveforms are presented auditorily. Detection performance for stimuli presented visually was slightly, but consistently, superior to that which occurred for…

Enhanced auditory temporal gap detection in listeners with musical training.

PubMed

Mishra, Srikanta K; Panda, Manas R; Herbert, Carolyn

2014-08-01

Many features of auditory perception are positively altered in musicians. Traditionally auditory mechanisms in musicians are investigated using the Western-classical musician model. The objective of the present study was to adopt an alternative model-Indian-classical music-to further investigate auditory temporal processing in musicians. This study presents that musicians have significantly lower across-channel gap detection thresholds compared to nonmusicians. Use of the South Indian musician model provides an increased external validity for the prediction, from studies on Western-classical musicians, that auditory temporal coding is enhanced in musicians.

Predictors of Social Network Composition among Homeless and Runaway Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, K.D.; Whitbeck, L.B.; Hoyt, D.R.

2005-01-01

Recent research on the social support networks of homeless and runaway youth suggest the social networks of runaway youth are made up largely of transient deviant peer relationships. This paper examined social network characteristics of 428 homeless and runaway adolescents from small-to moderate-sized cities in four Midwestern states. We…

The time course of symbolic number adaptation: oscillatory EEG activity and event-related potential analysis.

PubMed

Hsu, Yi-Fang; Szűcs, Dénes

2012-02-15

Several functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have used neural adaptation paradigms to detect anatomical locations of brain activity related to number processing. However, currently not much is known about the temporal structure of number adaptation. In the present study, we used electroencephalography (EEG) to elucidate the time course of neural events in symbolic number adaptation. The numerical distance of deviants relative to standards was manipulated. In order to avoid perceptual confounds, all levels of deviants consisted of perceptually identical stimuli. Multiple successive numerical distance effects were detected in event-related potentials (ERPs). Analysis of oscillatory activity further showed at least two distinct stages of neural processes involved in the automatic analysis of numerical magnitude, with the earlier effect emerging at around 200ms and the later effect appearing at around 400ms. The findings support for the hypothesis that numerical magnitude processing involves a succession of cognitive events. Crown Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Estimating the relative weights of visual and auditory tau versus heuristic-based cues for time-to-contact judgments in realistic, familiar scenes by older and younger adults.

PubMed

Keshavarz, Behrang; Campos, Jennifer L; DeLucia, Patricia R; Oberfeld, Daniel

2017-04-01

Estimating time to contact (TTC) involves multiple sensory systems, including vision and audition. Previous findings suggested that the ratio of an object's instantaneous optical size/sound intensity to its instantaneous rate of change in optical size/sound intensity (τ) drives TTC judgments. Other evidence has shown that heuristic-based cues are used, including final optical size or final sound pressure level. Most previous studies have used decontextualized and unfamiliar stimuli (e.g., geometric shapes on a blank background). Here we evaluated TTC estimates by using a traffic scene with an approaching vehicle to evaluate the weights of visual and auditory TTC cues under more realistic conditions. Younger (18-39 years) and older (65+ years) participants made TTC estimates in three sensory conditions: visual-only, auditory-only, and audio-visual. Stimuli were presented within an immersive virtual-reality environment, and cue weights were calculated for both visual cues (e.g., visual τ, final optical size) and auditory cues (e.g., auditory τ, final sound pressure level). The results demonstrated the use of visual τ as well as heuristic cues in the visual-only condition. TTC estimates in the auditory-only condition, however, were primarily based on an auditory heuristic cue (final sound pressure level), rather than on auditory τ. In the audio-visual condition, the visual cues dominated overall, with the highest weight being assigned to visual τ by younger adults, and a more equal weighting of visual τ and heuristic cues in older adults. Overall, better characterizing the effects of combined sensory inputs, stimulus characteristics, and age on the cues used to estimate TTC will provide important insights into how these factors may affect everyday behavior.

Detection Rates of Cortical Auditory Evoked Potentials at Different Sensation Levels in Infants with Sensory/Neural Hearing Loss and Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder

PubMed Central

Gardner-Berry, Kirsty; Chang, Hsiuwen; Ching, Teresa Y. C.; Hou, Sanna

2016-01-01

With the introduction of newborn hearing screening, infants are being diagnosed with hearing loss during the first few months of life. For infants with a sensory/neural hearing loss (SNHL), the audiogram can be estimated objectively using auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing and hearing aids prescribed accordingly. However, for infants with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) due to the abnormal/absent ABR waveforms, alternative measures of auditory function are needed to assess the need for amplification and evaluate whether aided benefit has been achieved. Cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) are used to assess aided benefit in infants with hearing loss; however, there is insufficient information regarding the relationship between stimulus audibility and CAEP detection rates. It is also not clear whether CAEP detection rates differ between infants with SNHL and infants with ANSD. This study involved retrospective collection of CAEP, hearing threshold, and hearing aid gain data to investigate the relationship between stimulus audibility and CAEP detection rates. The results demonstrate that increases in stimulus audibility result in an increase in detection rate. For the same range of sensation levels, there was no difference in the detection rates between infants with SNHL and ANSD. PMID:27587922

Moderation of Harsh Parenting on Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Child and Adolescent Deviant Peer Affiliation: A Longitudinal Twin Study.

PubMed

Li, Mengjiao; Chen, Jie; Li, Xinying; Deater-Deckard, Kirby

2015-07-01

Affiliation with deviant peers is associated with biologically influenced personal attributes, and is itself a major contributor to growth in antisocial behavior over childhood and adolescence. Several studies have shown that variance in child and adolescent deviant peer affiliation includes genetic and non-genetic influences, but none have examined longitudinal genetic and environmental stability or change within the context of harsh parenting. To address this gap, we tested the moderating role of harsh parenting on genetic and environmental stability or change of deviant peer affiliation in a longitudinal (spanning one and a half years) study of Chinese child and adolescent twin pairs (N = 993, 52.0% female). Using multiple informants (child- and parent-reports) and measurement methods to minimize rater bias, we found that individual differences in deviant peer affiliation at each assessment were similarly explained by moderate genetic and nonshared environmental variance. The longitudinal stability and change of deviant peer affiliation were explained by genetic and nonshared environmental factors. The results also revealed that the genetic variance for deviant peer affiliation is higher in the families with harsher parenting. This amplified genetic risk underscores the role of harsh parenting in the selection and socialization process of deviant peer relationships.

Sexual affordances, perceptual-motor invariance extraction and intentional nonlinear dynamics: sexually deviant and non-deviant patterns in male subjects.

PubMed

Renaud, Patrice; Goyette, Mathieu; Chartier, Sylvain; Zhornitski, Simon; Trottier, Dominique; Rouleau, Joanne-L; Proulx, Jean; Fedoroff, Paul; Bradford, John-P; Dassylva, Benoit; Bouchard, Stephane

2010-10-01

Sexual arousal and gaze behavior dynamics are used to characterize deviant sexual interests in male subjects. Pedophile patients and non-deviant subjects are immersed with virtual characters depicting relevant sexual features. Gaze behavior dynamics as indexed from correlation dimensions (D2) appears to be fractal in nature and significantly different from colored noise (surrogate data tests and recurrence plot analyses were performed). This perceptual-motor fractal dynamics parallels sexual arousal and differs from pedophiles to non-deviant subjects when critical sexual information is processed. Results are interpreted in terms of sexual affordance, perceptual invariance extraction and intentional nonlinear dynamics.

Deficit in automatic sound-change detection may underlie some music perception deficits after acute hemispheric stroke.

PubMed

Kohlmetz, C; Altenmüller, E; Schuppert, M; Wieringa, B M; Münte, T F

2001-01-01

Music perception deficits following acute neurological damage are thought to be rare. By a newly devised test battery of music-perception skills, however, we were able to identify among a group of 12 patients with acute hemispheric stroke six patients with music perception deficits (amusia) while six others had no such deficits. In addition we recorded event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in a passive listening task with frequent standard and infrequent pitch deviants designed to elicit the mismatch negativity (MMN). The MMN in the patients with amusia was grossly reduced, while the non-amusic patients and control subjects had MMNs of equal size. These data show that amusia is quite common in unselected stroke patients. The MMN reduction suggests that amusia is related to unspecific automatic stimulus classification deficits in these patients.

A Dual-Process Account of Auditory Change Detection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAnally, Ken I.; Martin, Russell L.; Eramudugolla, Ranmalee; Stuart, Geoffrey W.; Irvine, Dexter R. F.; Mattingley, Jason B.

2010-01-01

Listeners can be "deaf" to a substantial change in a scene comprising multiple auditory objects unless their attention has been directed to the changed object. It is unclear whether auditory change detection relies on identification of the objects in pre- and post-change scenes. We compared the rates at which listeners correctly identify changed…

Auditory false perception in schizophrenia: Development and validation of auditory signal detection task.

PubMed

Chhabra, Harleen; Sowmya, Selvaraj; Sreeraj, Vanteemar S; Kalmady, Sunil V; Shivakumar, Venkataram; Amaresha, Anekal C; Narayanaswamy, Janardhanan C; Venkatasubramanian, Ganesan

2016-12-01

Auditory hallucinations constitute an important symptom component in 70-80% of schizophrenia patients. These hallucinations are proposed to occur due to an imbalance between perceptual expectation and external input, resulting in attachment of meaning to abstract noises; signal detection theory has been proposed to explain these phenomena. In this study, we describe the development of an auditory signal detection task using a carefully chosen set of English words that could be tested successfully in schizophrenia patients coming from varying linguistic, cultural and social backgrounds. Schizophrenia patients with significant auditory hallucinations (N=15) and healthy controls (N=15) performed the auditory signal detection task wherein they were instructed to differentiate between a 5-s burst of plain white noise and voiced-noise. The analysis showed that false alarms (p=0.02), discriminability index (p=0.001) and decision bias (p=0.004) were significantly different between the two groups. There was a significant negative correlation between false alarm rate and decision bias. These findings extend further support for impaired perceptual expectation system in schizophrenia patients. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Boosting pitch encoding with audiovisual interactions in congenital amusia.

PubMed

Albouy, Philippe; Lévêque, Yohana; Hyde, Krista L; Bouchet, Patrick; Tillmann, Barbara; Caclin, Anne

2015-01-01

The combination of information across senses can enhance perception, as revealed for example by decreased reaction times or improved stimulus detection. Interestingly, these facilitatory effects have been shown to be maximal when responses to unisensory modalities are weak. The present study investigated whether audiovisual facilitation can be observed in congenital amusia, a music-specific disorder primarily ascribed to impairments of pitch processing. Amusic individuals and their matched controls performed two tasks. In Task 1, they were required to detect auditory, visual, or audiovisual stimuli as rapidly as possible. In Task 2, they were required to detect as accurately and as rapidly as possible a pitch change within an otherwise monotonic 5-tone sequence that was presented either only auditorily (A condition), or simultaneously with a temporally congruent, but otherwise uninformative visual stimulus (AV condition). Results of Task 1 showed that amusics exhibit typical auditory and visual detection, and typical audiovisual integration capacities: both amusics and controls exhibited shorter response times for audiovisual stimuli than for either auditory stimuli or visual stimuli. Results of Task 2 revealed that both groups benefited from simultaneous uninformative visual stimuli to detect pitch changes: accuracy was higher and response times shorter in the AV condition than in the A condition. The audiovisual improvements of response times were observed for different pitch interval sizes depending on the group. These results suggest that both typical listeners and amusic individuals can benefit from multisensory integration to improve their pitch processing abilities and that this benefit varies as a function of task difficulty. These findings constitute the first step towards the perspective to exploit multisensory paradigms to reduce pitch-related deficits in congenital amusia, notably by suggesting that audiovisual paradigms are effective in an appropriate range of unimodal performance. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of the Acoustically Evoked Behavioral Response in Larval Plainfin Midshipman Fish, Porichthys notatus

PubMed Central

Alderks, Peter W.; Sisneros, Joseph A.

2013-01-01

The ontogeny of hearing in fishes has become a major interest among bioacoustics researchers studying fish behavior and sensory ecology. Most fish begin to detect acoustic stimuli during the larval stage which can be important for navigation, predator avoidance and settlement, however relatively little is known about the hearing capabilities of larval fishes. We characterized the acoustically evoked behavioral response (AEBR) in the plainfin midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus, and used this innate startle-like response to characterize this species' auditory capability during larval development. Age and size of larval midshipman were highly correlated (r2 = 0.92). The AEBR was first observed in larvae at 1.4 cm TL. At a size ≥1.8 cm TL, all larvae responded to a broadband stimulus of 154 dB re1 µPa or −15.2 dB re 1 g (z-axis). Lowest AEBR thresholds were 140–150 dB re 1 µPa or −33 to −23 dB re 1 g for frequencies below 225 Hz. Larval fish with size ranges of 1.9–2.4 cm TL had significantly lower best evoked frequencies than the other tested size groups. We also investigated the development of the lateral line organ and its function in mediating the AEBR. The lateral line organ is likely involved in mediating the AEBR but not necessary to evoke the startle-like response. The midshipman auditory and lateral line systems are functional during early development when the larvae are in the nest and the auditory system appears to have similar tuning characteristics throughout all life history stages. PMID:24340003

Visual Task Demands and the Auditory Mismatch Negativity: An Empirical Study and a Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Wiens, Stefan; Szychowska, Malina; Nilsson, Mats E.

2016-01-01

Because the auditory system is particularly useful in monitoring the environment, previous research has examined whether task-irrelevant, auditory distracters are processed even if subjects focus their attention on visual stimuli. This research suggests that attentionally demanding visual tasks decrease the auditory mismatch negativity (MMN) to simultaneously presented auditory distractors. Because a recent behavioral study found that high visual perceptual load decreased detection sensitivity of simultaneous tones, we used a similar task (n = 28) to determine if high visual perceptual load would reduce the auditory MMN. Results suggested that perceptual load did not decrease the MMN. At face value, these nonsignificant findings may suggest that effects of perceptual load on the MMN are smaller than those of other demanding visual tasks. If so, effect sizes should differ systematically between the present and previous studies. We conducted a selective meta-analysis of published studies in which the MMN was derived from the EEG, the visual task demands were continuous and varied between high and low within the same task, and the task-irrelevant tones were presented in a typical oddball paradigm simultaneously with the visual stimuli. Because the meta-analysis suggested that the present (null) findings did not differ systematically from previous findings, the available evidence was combined. Results of this meta-analysis confirmed that demanding visual tasks reduce the MMN to auditory distracters. However, because the meta-analysis was based on small studies and because of the risk for publication biases, future studies should be preregistered with large samples (n > 150) to provide confirmatory evidence for the results of the present meta-analysis. These future studies should also use control conditions that reduce confounding effects of neural adaptation, and use load manipulations that are defined independently from their effects on the MMN. PMID:26741815

The effect of viewing speech on auditory speech processing is different in the left and right hemispheres.

PubMed

Davis, Chris; Kislyuk, Daniel; Kim, Jeesun; Sams, Mikko

2008-11-25

We used whole-head magnetoencephalograpy (MEG) to record changes in neuromagnetic N100m responses generated in the left and right auditory cortex as a function of the match between visual and auditory speech signals. Stimuli were auditory-only (AO) and auditory-visual (AV) presentations of /pi/, /ti/ and /vi/. Three types of intensity matched auditory stimuli were used: intact speech (Normal), frequency band filtered speech (Band) and speech-shaped white noise (Noise). The behavioural task was to detect the /vi/ syllables which comprised 12% of stimuli. N100m responses were measured to averaged /pi/ and /ti/ stimuli. Behavioural data showed that identification of the stimuli was faster and more accurate for Normal than for Band stimuli, and for Band than for Noise stimuli. Reaction times were faster for AV than AO stimuli. MEG data showed that in the left hemisphere, N100m to both AO and AV stimuli was largest for the Normal, smaller for Band and smallest for Noise stimuli. In the right hemisphere, Normal and Band AO stimuli elicited N100m responses of quite similar amplitudes, but N100m amplitude to Noise was about half of that. There was a reduction in N100m for the AV compared to the AO conditions. The size of this reduction for each stimulus type was same in the left hemisphere but graded in the right (being largest to the Normal, smaller to the Band and smallest to the Noise stimuli). The N100m decrease for the Normal stimuli was significantly larger in the right than in the left hemisphere. We suggest that the effect of processing visual speech seen in the right hemisphere likely reflects suppression of the auditory response based on AV cues for place of articulation.

Evidence for auditory-visual processing specific to biological motion.

PubMed

Wuerger, Sophie M; Crocker-Buque, Alexander; Meyer, Georg F

2012-01-01

Biological motion is usually associated with highly correlated sensory signals from more than one modality: an approaching human walker will not only have a visual representation, namely an increase in the retinal size of the walker's image, but also a synchronous auditory signal since the walker's footsteps will grow louder. We investigated whether the multisensorial processing of biological motion is subject to different constraints than ecologically invalid motion. Observers were presented with a visual point-light walker and/or synchronised auditory footsteps; the walker was either approaching the observer (looming motion) or walking away (receding motion). A scrambled point-light walker served as a control. Observers were asked to detect the walker's motion as quickly and as accurately as possible. In Experiment 1 we tested whether the reaction time advantage due to redundant information in the auditory and visual modality is specific for biological motion. We found no evidence for such an effect: the reaction time reduction was accounted for by statistical facilitation for both biological and scrambled motion. In Experiment 2, we dissociated the auditory and visual information and tested whether inconsistent motion directions across the auditory and visual modality yield longer reaction times in comparison to consistent motion directions. Here we find an effect specific to biological motion: motion incongruency leads to longer reaction times only when the visual walker is intact and recognisable as a human figure. If the figure of the walker is abolished by scrambling, motion incongruency has no effect on the speed of the observers' judgments. In conjunction with Experiment 1 this suggests that conflicting auditory-visual motion information of an intact human walker leads to interference and thereby delaying the response.

Differences in Speech Recognition Between Children with Attention Deficits and Typically Developed Children Disappear When Exposed to 65 dB of Auditory Noise

PubMed Central

Söderlund, Göran B. W.; Jobs, Elisabeth Nilsson

2016-01-01

The most common neuropsychiatric condition in the in children is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), affecting ∼6–9% of the population. ADHD is distinguished by inattention and hyperactive, impulsive behaviors as well as poor performance in various cognitive tasks often leading to failures at school. Sensory and perceptual dysfunctions have also been noticed. Prior research has mainly focused on limitations in executive functioning where differences are often explained by deficits in pre-frontal cortex activation. Less notice has been given to sensory perception and subcortical functioning in ADHD. Recent research has shown that children with ADHD diagnosis have a deviant auditory brain stem response compared to healthy controls. The aim of the present study was to investigate if the speech recognition threshold differs between attentive and children with ADHD symptoms in two environmental sound conditions, with and without external noise. Previous research has namely shown that children with attention deficits can benefit from white noise exposure during cognitive tasks and here we investigate if noise benefit is present during an auditory perceptual task. For this purpose we used a modified Hagerman’s speech recognition test where children with and without attention deficits performed a binaural speech recognition task to assess the speech recognition threshold in no noise and noise conditions (65 dB). Results showed that the inattentive group displayed a higher speech recognition threshold than typically developed children and that the difference in speech recognition threshold disappeared when exposed to noise at supra threshold level. From this we conclude that inattention can partly be explained by sensory perceptual limitations that can possibly be ameliorated through noise exposure. PMID:26858679

Auditory Evoked Potential Mismatch Negativity in Normal-Hearing Adults

PubMed Central

Schwade, Laura Flach; Didoné, Dayane Domeneghini; Sleifer, Pricila

2017-01-01

Introduction  Mismatch Negativity (MMN) corresponds to a response of the central auditory nervous system. Objective  The objective of this study is to analyze MMN latencies and amplitudes in normal-hearing adults and compare the results between ears, gender and hand dominance. Methods  This is a cross-sectional study. Forty subjects participated, 20 women and 20 men, aged 18 to 29 years and having normal auditory thresholds. A frequency of 1000Hz (standard stimuli) and 2000Hz (deviant stimuli) was used to evoked the MMN. Results  Mean latencies in the right ear were 169.4ms and 175.3ms in the left ear, with mean amplitudes of 4.6µV in the right ear and 4.2µV in the left ear. There was no statistically significant difference between ears. The comparison of latencies between genders showed a statistically significant difference for the right ear, being higher in the men than in women. There was no significant statistical difference between ears for both right-handed and left-handed group. However, the results indicated that the latency of the right ear was significantly higher for the left handers than the right handers. We also found a significant result for the latency of the left ear, which was higher for the right handers. Conclusion  It was possible to obtain references of values for the MMN. There are no differences in the MMN latencies and amplitudes between the ears. Regarding gender, the male group presented higher latencies in relation to the female group in the right ear. Some results indicate that there is a significant statistical difference of the MMN between right- and left-handed individuals. PMID:28680490

Enhanced Development of Auditory Change Detection in Musically Trained School-Aged Children: A Longitudinal Event-Related Potential Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Putkinen, Vesa; Tervaniemi, Mari; Saarikivi, Katri; Ojala, Pauliina; Huotilainen, Minna

2014-01-01

Adult musicians show superior auditory discrimination skills when compared to non-musicians. The enhanced auditory skills of musicians are reflected in the augmented amplitudes of their auditory event-related potential (ERP) responses. In the current study, we investigated longitudinally the development of auditory discrimination skills in…

States of Awareness I: Subliminal Perception Relationship to Situational Awareness

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-05-01

one experiment, the visual detection threshold was raised by simultaneous auditory stimulation involving subliminal emotional words. Similar results...an assessment was made of the effects of both subliminal and supraliminal auditory accessory stimulation (white noise) on a visual detection task... stimulation investigation. Both subliminal and supraliminal auditory stimulation were employed to evaluate possible differential effects in visual illusions

Rendering visual events as sounds: Spatial attention capture by auditory augmented reality.

PubMed

Stone, Scott A; Tata, Matthew S

2017-01-01

Many salient visual events tend to coincide with auditory events, such as seeing and hearing a car pass by. Information from the visual and auditory senses can be used to create a stable percept of the stimulus. Having access to related coincident visual and auditory information can help for spatial tasks such as localization. However not all visual information has analogous auditory percepts, such as viewing a computer monitor. Here, we describe a system capable of detecting and augmenting visual salient events into localizable auditory events. The system uses a neuromorphic camera (DAVIS 240B) to detect logarithmic changes of brightness intensity in the scene, which can be interpreted as salient visual events. Participants were blindfolded and asked to use the device to detect new objects in the scene, as well as determine direction of motion for a moving visual object. Results suggest the system is robust enough to allow for the simple detection of new salient stimuli, as well accurately encoding direction of visual motion. Future successes are probable as neuromorphic devices are likely to become faster and smaller in the future, making this system much more feasible.

Rendering visual events as sounds: Spatial attention capture by auditory augmented reality

PubMed Central

Tata, Matthew S.

2017-01-01

Many salient visual events tend to coincide with auditory events, such as seeing and hearing a car pass by. Information from the visual and auditory senses can be used to create a stable percept of the stimulus. Having access to related coincident visual and auditory information can help for spatial tasks such as localization. However not all visual information has analogous auditory percepts, such as viewing a computer monitor. Here, we describe a system capable of detecting and augmenting visual salient events into localizable auditory events. The system uses a neuromorphic camera (DAVIS 240B) to detect logarithmic changes of brightness intensity in the scene, which can be interpreted as salient visual events. Participants were blindfolded and asked to use the device to detect new objects in the scene, as well as determine direction of motion for a moving visual object. Results suggest the system is robust enough to allow for the simple detection of new salient stimuli, as well accurately encoding direction of visual motion. Future successes are probable as neuromorphic devices are likely to become faster and smaller in the future, making this system much more feasible. PMID:28792518

Pre-Attentive Auditory Processing of Lexicality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobsen, Thomas; Horvath, Janos; Schroger, Erich; Lattner, Sonja; Widmann, Andreas; Winkler, Istvan

2004-01-01

The effects of lexicality on auditory change detection based on auditory sensory memory representations were investigated by presenting oddball sequences of repeatedly presented stimuli, while participants ignored the auditory stimuli. In a cross-linguistic study of Hungarian and German participants, stimulus sequences were composed of words that…

Failure to detect critical auditory alerts in the cockpit: evidence for inattentional deafness.

PubMed

Dehais, Frédéric; Causse, Mickaël; Vachon, François; Régis, Nicolas; Menant, Eric; Tremblay, Sébastien

2014-06-01

The aim of this study was to test whether inattentional deafness to critical alarms would be observed in a simulated cockpit. The inability of pilots to detect unexpected changes in their auditory environment (e.g., alarms) is a major safety problem in aeronautics. In aviation, the lack of response to alarms is usually not attributed to attentional limitations, but rather to pilots choosing to ignore such warnings due to decision biases, hearing issues, or conscious risk taking. Twenty-eight general aviation pilots performed two landings in a flight simulator. In one scenario an auditory alert was triggered alone, whereas in the other the auditory alert occurred while the pilots dealt with a critical windshear. In the windshear scenario, II pilots (39.3%) did not report or react appropriately to the alarm whereas all the pilots perceived the auditory warning in the no-windshear scenario. Also, of those pilots who were first exposed to the no-windshear scenario and detected the alarm, only three suffered from inattentional deafness in the subsequent windshear scenario. These findings establish inattentional deafness as a cognitive phenomenon that is critical for air safety. Pre-exposure to a critical event triggering an auditory alarm can enhance alarm detection when a similar event is encountered subsequently. Case-based learning is a solution to mitigate auditory alarm misperception.

Effects of alcohol on attention orienting and dual-task performance during simulated driving: an event-related potential study.

PubMed

Wester, Anne E; Verster, Joris C; Volkerts, Edmund R; Böcker, Koen B E; Kenemans, J Leon

2010-09-01

Driving is a complex task and is susceptible to inattention and distraction. Moreover, alcohol has a detrimental effect on driving performance, possibly due to alcohol-induced attention deficits. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of alcohol on simulated driving performance and attention orienting and allocation, as assessed by event-related potentials (ERPs). Thirty-two participants completed two test runs in the Divided Attention Steering Simulator (DASS) with blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) of 0.00%, 0.02%, 0.05%, 0.08% and 0.10%. Sixteen participants performed the second DASS test run with a passive auditory oddball to assess alcohol effects on involuntary attention shifting. Sixteen other participants performed the second DASS test run with an active auditory oddball to assess alcohol effects on dual-task performance and active attention allocation. Dose-dependent impairments were found for reaction times, the number of misses and steering error, even more so in dual-task conditions, especially in the active oddball group. ERP amplitudes to novel irrelevant events were also attenuated in a dose-dependent manner. The P3b amplitude to deviant target stimuli decreased with blood alcohol concentration only in the dual-task condition. It is concluded that alcohol increases distractibility and interference from secondary task stimuli, as well as reduces attentional capacity and dual-task integrality.

Timely event-related synchronization fading and phase de-locking and their defects in migraine.

PubMed

Yum, Myung-Kul; Moon, Jin-Hwa; Kang, Joong Koo; Kwon, Oh-Young; Park, Ki-Jong; Shon, Young-Min; Lee, Il Keun; Jung, Ki-Young

2014-07-01

To investigate the characteristics of event-related synchronization (ERS) fading and phase de-locking of alpha waves during passive auditory stimulation (PAS) in the migraine patients. The subjects were 16 adult women with migraine and 16 normal controls. Electroencephalographic (EEG) data obtained during PAS with standard (SS) and deviant stimuli (DS) were used. Alpha ERS fading, the phase locking index (PLI) and de-locking index (DLI) were evaluated from the 10 Hz complex Morlet wavelet components at 100 ms (t100) and 300 ms (t300) after PAS. At t100, significant ERS was found with SS and DS in the migraineurs and controls (P=0.000). At t300 in the controls, ERS faded to zero for DS while in the migraineurs there was no fading for DS. In both groups the PLI for SS and DS was significantly reduced, i.e. de-locked, at t300 compared to t100 (P=0.000). In the migraineurs, the DLI for DS was significantly lower than in the controls (P=0.003). The alpha ERS fading and phase de-locking are defective in migraineurs during passive auditory cognitive processing. The defects in timely alpha ERS fading and in de-locking may play a role in the different attention processing in migraine patients. Copyright © 2013 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of Deviant Behaviours in Workgroups in Relation with Group Composition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Desbiens, Nadia; Levasseur, Caroline; Roy, Normand

2016-01-01

The potential for behaviourally challenged students to negatively impact typically developing students is a concern shared by many parents and teachers. However, deviant peer influence during workgroup activities has not been thoroughly investigated through systematic observation of deviant interactions. This study compares sequences of deviant…

Familism Values as a Protective Factor for Mexican-Origin Adolescents Exposed to Deviant Peers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

German, Miguelina; Gonzales, Nancy A.; Dumka, Larry

2009-01-01

This study examined interactive relations between adolescent, maternal, and paternal familism values and deviant peer affiliations in predicting adolescent externalizing problems within low-income, Mexican-origin families (N = 598). Adolescent, maternal, and paternal familism values interacted protectively with deviant peer affiliations to predict…

Primary School Teachers' Views about Supervisional Deviant Behaviours

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aksu, Ali; Gucer, Halil; Orcan, Asli

2015-01-01

This research examines supervisional deviant behaviours depending on the primary school teachers' view in Izmir, Turkey. Organizational or workplace deviant behaviours have been studied in number of studies and these types of behaviours are determined. It is obvious that solving the problems of orgaizational deviance contribute to meet…

Refining Video Game Use Questionnaires for Research and Clinical Application: Detection of Problematic Response Sets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Faust, Kyle A.; Faust, David; Baker, Aaron M.; Meyer, Joseph F.

2012-01-01

Even when relatively infrequent, deviant response sets, such as defensive and careless responding, can have remarkably robust effects on individual and group data and thereby distort clinical evaluations and research outcomes. Given such potential adverse impacts and the widespread use of self-report measures when appraising addictions and…

Resurrecting the chimera: Progressions in parenting and peer processes.

PubMed

Forgatch, Marion S; Snyder, James J; Patterson, Gerald R; Pauldine, Michael R; Chaw, Yvonne; Elish, Katie; Harris, Jasmine B; Richardson, Eric B

2016-08-01

This report uses 6-year outcomes of the Oregon Divorce Study to examine the processes by which parenting practices affect deviant peer association during two developmental stages: early to middle childhood and late childhood to early adolescence. The participants were 238 newly divorced mothers and their 5- to 8-year-old sons who were randomly assigned to Parent Management Training-Oregon Model (PMTO®) or to a no-treatment control group. Parenting practices, child delinquent behavior, and deviant peer association were repeatedly assessed from baseline to 6 years after baseline using multiple methods and informants. PMTO had a beneficial effect on parenting practices relative to the control group. Two stage models linking changes in parenting generated by PMTO to children's growth in deviant peer association were supported. During the early to middle childhood stage, the relationship of improved parenting practices on deviant peer association was moderated by family socioeconomic status (SES); effective parenting was particularly important in mitigating deviant peer association for lower SES families whose children experience higher densities of deviant peers in schools and neighborhoods. During late childhood and early adolescence, the relationship of improved parenting to youths' growth in deviant peer association was mediated by reductions in the growth of delinquency during childhood; higher levels of early delinquency are likely to promote deviant peer association through processes of selective affiliation and reciprocal deviancy training. The results are discussed in terms of multilevel developmental progressions of diminished parenting, child involvement in deviancy producing processes in peer groups, and increased variety and severity of antisocial behavior, all exacerbated by ecological risks associated with low family SES.

Predictors of Workplace Deviant Behaviour: HRD Agenda for Malaysian Support Personnel

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alias, Mazni; Rasdi, Roziah Mohd; Ismail, Maimunah; Samah, Bahaman Abu

2013-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical model of the determinants of workplace deviant behaviour among support personnel in Malaysian Public Service organisations. Design/methodology/approach: This study is based on reviews of past studies on workplace deviant behaviour. To conduct the literature review, several keywords…

Cognitive Control of Involuntary Distraction by Deviant Sounds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parmentier, Fabrice B. R.; Hebrero, Maria

2013-01-01

It is well established that a task-irrelevant sound (deviant sound) departing from an otherwise repetitive sequence of sounds (standard sounds) elicits an involuntary capture of attention and orienting response toward the deviant stimulus, resulting in the lengthening of response times in an ongoing task. Some have argued that this type of…

Deviant Peer Influences in Programs for Youth Problems and Solutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dodge, Kenneth A., Ed.; Dishion, Thomas J., Ed.; Lansford, Jennifer E., Ed.

2006-01-01

Most interventions for at-risk youth are group based. Yet, emerging research indicates that young people often learn to become deviant by interacting with deviant peers. In this important volume, leading intervention and prevention experts from psychology, education, criminology, and related fields analyze how, and to what extent, programs that…

Predicting Adolescent Deviant Behaviors through Data Mining Techniques

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Yu-Chin; Hsu, Yung-Chieh

2013-01-01

Adolescence is the time during which people develop and form their crucial values, personality traits, and beliefs. Hence, as deviant behaviors occur during adolescence, it is important to guide adolescents away from such behaviors and back to normal behaviors. Moreover, although there are various kinds of deviant behavior, most of them would…

Adolescent Delinquency, Drinking, and Smoking: Does the Gender of Friends Matter?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanchagrin, Kenneth; Heimer, Karen; Paik, Anthony

2017-01-01

Youths who have deviant and delinquent friends are more likely to engage in delinquency. Interestingly, most quantitative studies of the association between deviant peers and deviant behavior have assumed that all peer connections have similar effects. Yet, it is possible that peer influence may vary depending on the characteristics of peers.…

Genetic and Environmental Influences on Affiliation with Deviant Peers during Adolescence and Early Adulthood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tarantino, Nicholas; Tully, Erin C.; Garcia, Sarah E.; South, Susan; Iacono, William G.; McGue, Matt

2014-01-01

Adolescence and early adulthood is a time when peer groups become increasingly influential in the lives of young people. Youths exposed to deviant peers risk susceptibility to externalizing behaviors and related psychopathology. In addition to environmental correlates of deviant peer affiliation, a growing body of evidence has suggested that…

Poor nutrition and bullying behaviors: A comparison of deviant and non-deviant youth.

PubMed

Jackson, Dylan B; Vaughn, Michael G; Salas-Wright, Christopher P

2017-06-01

Research on the topic of bullying has revealed that a substantial number of youth are bullied each year. Even so, a complete understanding of the origins of bullying behaviors remains elusive. In the current study, we propose that poor nutrition may constitute an important modifiable risk factor for bullying behaviors during adolescence, and that behavioral sensitivity to nutrition may vary across deviant and non-deviant youth. We employ data from the US sample of youth (52% male) ages 10-17 from the 2009-2010 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study to examine our hypothesis (N = 8753). The results reveal that poor nutrition significantly increases the odds of persistent bullying among youth, and that this relationship is particularly pronounced for non-deviant youth. The findings suggest that efforts to improve the nutrition of non-deviant youth may have the added benefit of reducing their likelihood of engaging in persistent bullying behaviors. Copyright © 2017 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A quantitative analysis of spectral mechanisms involved in auditory detection of coloration by a single wall reflection.

PubMed

Buchholz, Jörg M

2011-07-01

Coloration detection thresholds (CDTs) were measured for a single reflection as a function of spectral content and reflection delay for diotic stimulus presentation. The direct sound was a 320-ms long burst of bandpass-filtered noise with varying lower and upper cut-off frequencies. The resulting threshold data revealed that: (1) sensitivity decreases with decreasing bandwidth and increasing reflection delay and (2) high-frequency components contribute less to detection than low-frequency components. The auditory processes that may be involved in coloration detection (CD) are discussed in terms of a spectrum-based auditory model, which is conceptually similar to the pattern-transformation model of pitch (Wightman, 1973). Hence, the model derives an auto-correlation function of the input stimulus by applying a frequency analysis to an auditory representation of the power spectrum. It was found that, to successfully describe the quantitative behavior of the CDT data, three important mechanisms need to be included: (1) auditory bandpass filters with a narrower bandwidth than classic Gammatone filters, the increase in spectral resolution was here linked to cochlear suppression, (2) a spectral contrast enhancement process that reflects neural inhibition mechanisms, and (3) integration of information across auditory frequency bands. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Deviant Peer Behavior and Adolescent Delinquency: Protective Effects of Inhibitory Control, Planning, or Decision Making?

PubMed

Hinnant, J Benjamin; Forman-Alberti, Alissa B

2018-05-09

We examined relations between adolescent perceptions of deviant peer behavior and delinquency as moderated by inhibitory control, planning, and decision making in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development at age 15 (N = 991). Adolescents reported perceptions of deviant peer behavior. Inhibitory control, planning, and decision making were assessed behaviorally. Delinquency was evaluated with a latent variable comprised of parent-guardian perceptions of adolescent delinquency and adolescent self-reports. Only inhibitory control moderated the relationship between deviant peer behavior and delinquency, showing that better inhibition protected against delinquency in contexts of high levels of adolescent perceptions of deviant peer behavior. Findings are discussed in the context of theories of adolescent delinquency and risk taking. © 2018 Society for Research on Adolescence.

Identifying positively deviant elderly medical wards using routinely collected NHS Safety Thermometer data: an observational study.

PubMed

Baxter, Ruth; Taylor, Natalie; Kellar, Ian; Pye, Victoria; Mohammed, Mohammed A; Lawton, Rebecca

2018-02-16

The positive deviance approach seeks to identify and learn from exceptional performers. Although a framework exists to apply positive deviance within healthcare organisations, there is limited guidance to support its implementation. The approach has also rarely explored exceptional performance on broad outcomes, been implemented at ward level, or applied within the UK. This study develops and critically appraises a pragmatic method for identifying positively deviant wards using a routinely collected, broad measure of patient safety. A two-phased observational study was conducted. During phase 1, cross-sectional and temporal analyses of Safety Thermometer data were conducted to identify a discrete group of positively deviant wards that consistently demonstrated exceptional levels of safety. A group of matched comparison wards with above average performances were also identified. During phase 2, multidisciplinary staff and patients on the positively deviant and comparison wards completed surveys to explore whether their perceptions of safety supported the identification of positively deviant wards. 34 elderly medical wards within a northern region of England, UK. Multidisciplinary staff (n=161) and patients (n=188) clustered within nine positively deviant and comparison wards. Phase 1: A combination of analyses identified five positively deviant wards that performed best in the region, outperformed their organisation and performed consistently well over 12 months. Five above average matched comparator wards were also identified. Phase 2: Staff and patient perceptions of safety generally supported the identification of positively deviant wards using Safety Thermometer data, although patient perceptions of safety were less concordant with the routinely collected data. This study tentatively supports a pragmatic method of using routinely collected data to identify positively deviant elderly medical wards; however, it also highlights the various challenges that are faced when conducting the first stage of the positive deviance approach. UK Clinical Research Network Portfolio (reference-18050). © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Identifying positively deviant elderly medical wards using routinely collected NHS Safety Thermometer data: an observational study

PubMed Central

Taylor, Natalie; Kellar, Ian; Pye, Victoria; Mohammed, Mohammed A; Lawton, Rebecca

2018-01-01

Objective The positive deviance approach seeks to identify and learn from exceptional performers. Although a framework exists to apply positive deviance within healthcare organisations, there is limited guidance to support its implementation. The approach has also rarely explored exceptional performance on broad outcomes, been implemented at ward level, or applied within the UK. This study develops and critically appraises a pragmatic method for identifying positively deviant wards using a routinely collected, broad measure of patient safety. Design A two-phased observational study was conducted. During phase 1, cross-sectional and temporal analyses of Safety Thermometer data were conducted to identify a discrete group of positively deviant wards that consistently demonstrated exceptional levels of safety. A group of matched comparison wards with above average performances were also identified. During phase 2, multidisciplinary staff and patients on the positively deviant and comparison wards completed surveys to explore whether their perceptions of safety supported the identification of positively deviant wards. Setting 34 elderly medical wards within a northern region of England, UK. Participants Multidisciplinary staff (n=161) and patients (n=188) clustered within nine positively deviant and comparison wards. Results Phase 1: A combination of analyses identified five positively deviant wards that performed best in the region, outperformed their organisation and performed consistently well over 12 months. Five above average matched comparator wards were also identified. Phase 2: Staff and patient perceptions of safety generally supported the identification of positively deviant wards using Safety Thermometer data, although patient perceptions of safety were less concordant with the routinely collected data. Conclusions This study tentatively supports a pragmatic method of using routinely collected data to identify positively deviant elderly medical wards; however, it also highlights the various challenges that are faced when conducting the first stage of the positive deviance approach. Trial registration number UK Clinical Research Network Portfolio (reference-18050). PMID:29453303

Behavioral Measures of Auditory Streaming in Ferrets (Mustela putorius)

PubMed Central

Ma, Ling; Yin, Pingbo; Micheyl, Christophe; Oxenham, Andrew J.; Shamma, Shihab A.

2015-01-01

An important aspect of the analysis of auditory “scenes” relates to the perceptual organization of sound sequences into auditory “streams.” In this study, we adapted two auditory perception tasks, used in recent human psychophysical studies, to obtain behavioral measures of auditory streaming in ferrets (Mustela putorius). One task involved the detection of shifts in the frequency of tones within an alternating tone sequence. The other task involved the detection of a stream of regularly repeating target tones embedded within a randomly varying multitone background. In both tasks, performance was measured as a function of various stimulus parameters, which previous psychophysical studies in humans have shown to influence auditory streaming. Ferret performance in the two tasks was found to vary as a function of these parameters in a way that is qualitatively consistent with the human data. These results suggest that auditory streaming occurs in ferrets, and that the two tasks described here may provide a valuable tool in future behavioral and neurophysiological studies of the phenomenon. PMID:20695663

Minimizing deviant behavior in healthcare organizations: the effects of supportive leadership and job design.

PubMed

Chullen, C Logan; Dunford, Benjamin B; Angermeier, Ingo; Boss, R Wayne; Boss, Alan D

2010-01-01

In an era when healthcare organizations are beset by intense competition, lawsuits, and increased administrative costs, it is essential that employees perform their jobs efficiently and without distraction. Deviant workplace behavior among healthcare employees is especially threatening to organizational effectiveness, and healthcare managers must understand the antecedents of such behavior to minimize its prevalence. Deviant employee behavior has been categorized into two major types, individual and organizational, according to the intended target of the behavior. Behavior directed at the individual includes such acts as harassment and aggression, whereas behavior directed at the organization includes such acts as theft, sabotage, and voluntary absenteeism, to name a few (Robinson and Bennett 1995). Drawing on theory from organizational behavior, we examined two important features of supportive leadership, leader-member exchange (LMX) and perceived organizational support (POS), and two important features of job design, intrinsic motivation and depersonalization, as predictors of subsequent deviant behavior in a sample of over 1,900 employees within a large US healthcare organization. Employees who reported weaker perceptions of LMX and greater perceptions of depersonalization were more likely to engage in deviant behavior directed at the individual, whereas employees who reported weaker perceptions of POS and intrinsic motivation were more likely to engage in deviant behavior directed at the organization. These findings give rise to specific prescriptions for healthcare managers to prevent or minimize the frequency of deviant behavior in the workplace.

Substantive (Content-Related) Characteristics of Deviant Behavior as a Social and Psychological Phenomenon

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salakhova, Valentina B.; Bulgakov, Aleksandr V.; Sokolovskaya, Irina E.; Khammatova, Rina S.; Mikhaylovsky, Mikhail N.

2016-01-01

The article is dedicated to an important social problem of contemporary Russian society--to deviant behavior in the system of social relations. Deviant manifestations are not unique and new, however their study becomes especially important now, during a critical period of the Russian society development. In contemporary society the interaction of…

Psychological and Pedagogical Conditions for the Prevention of Deviant Behavior among Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vist, Natalya V.

2016-01-01

This article focuses on such a highly relevant subject as the prevention and correction of deviant behavior in the adolescent environment. The study revealed the main vectors for the development of the modern science of deviant behavior, identified the main causes of deviations and carried out a comparative analysis of the work on the prevention…

Evaluations of and Reasoning about Normative and Deviant Ingroup and Outgroup Members: Development of the Black Sheep Effect

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abrams, Dominic; Palmer, Sally B.; Rutland, Adam; Cameron, Lindsey; Van de Vyver, Julie

2014-01-01

Research with adults has demonstrated a "black sheep effect" (BSE) whereby, relative to evaluations of normative group members, ingroup deviants are derogated more than outgroup deviants. The developmental subjective group dynamics (DSGD) model holds that the BSE should develop during middle childhood when children apply wider social…

The preattentive processing of major vs. minor chords in the human brain: An event-related potential study.

PubMed

Virtala, Paula; Berg, Venla; Kivioja, Maari; Purhonen, Juha; Salmenkivi, Marko; Paavilainen, Petri; Tervaniemi, Mari

2011-01-10

Western music has two classifications that are highly familiar to all Western listeners: the dichotomy between the major and minor modalities and consonance vs. dissonance. We aimed at determining whether these classifications already take place at the level of the elicitation of the change-related mismatch negativity (MMN) component of the event-related potential (ERP). To this end, we constructed an oddball-paradigm with root minor, dissonant and inverted major chords in a context of root major chords. These stimuli were composed so that the standard and deviant chords did not include a physically deviant frequency which could cause the MMN. The standard chords were transposed into 12 different keys (=pitch levels) and delivered to the participants while they were watching a silent movie (ignore condition) or detecting softer target sounds (detection condition). In the ignore condition, the MMN was significant for all but inverted major chords. In the detection condition, the MMN was significant for dissonant chords and soft target chords. Our results indicate that the processes underlying MMN are able to make discriminations which are qualitative by nature. Whether the classifications between major and minor modalities and consonance vs. dissonance are innate or based on implicit learning remains a question for the future. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Time-Varying Vocal Folds Vibration Detection Using a 24 GHz Portable Auditory Radar

PubMed Central

Hong, Hong; Zhao, Heng; Peng, Zhengyu; Li, Hui; Gu, Chen; Li, Changzhi; Zhu, Xiaohua

2016-01-01

Time-varying vocal folds vibration information is of crucial importance in speech processing, and the traditional devices to acquire speech signals are easily smeared by the high background noise and voice interference. In this paper, we present a non-acoustic way to capture the human vocal folds vibration using a 24-GHz portable auditory radar. Since the vocal folds vibration only reaches several millimeters, the high operating frequency and the 4 × 4 array antennas are applied to achieve the high sensitivity. The Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD) based algorithm is proposed to decompose the radar-detected auditory signal into a sequence of intrinsic modes firstly, and then, extract the time-varying vocal folds vibration frequency from the corresponding mode. Feasibility demonstration, evaluation, and comparison are conducted with tonal and non-tonal languages, and the low relative errors show a high consistency between the radar-detected auditory time-varying vocal folds vibration and acoustic fundamental frequency, except that the auditory radar significantly improves the frequency-resolving power. PMID:27483261

Time-Varying Vocal Folds Vibration Detection Using a 24 GHz Portable Auditory Radar.

PubMed

Hong, Hong; Zhao, Heng; Peng, Zhengyu; Li, Hui; Gu, Chen; Li, Changzhi; Zhu, Xiaohua

2016-07-28

Time-varying vocal folds vibration information is of crucial importance in speech processing, and the traditional devices to acquire speech signals are easily smeared by the high background noise and voice interference. In this paper, we present a non-acoustic way to capture the human vocal folds vibration using a 24-GHz portable auditory radar. Since the vocal folds vibration only reaches several millimeters, the high operating frequency and the 4 × 4 array antennas are applied to achieve the high sensitivity. The Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD) based algorithm is proposed to decompose the radar-detected auditory signal into a sequence of intrinsic modes firstly, and then, extract the time-varying vocal folds vibration frequency from the corresponding mode. Feasibility demonstration, evaluation, and comparison are conducted with tonal and non-tonal languages, and the low relative errors show a high consistency between the radar-detected auditory time-varying vocal folds vibration and acoustic fundamental frequency, except that the auditory radar significantly improves the frequency-resolving power.

A Developmental Perspective on Peer Rejection, Deviant Peer Affiliation, and Conduct Problems Among Youth.

PubMed

Chen, Diane; Drabick, Deborah A G; Burgers, Darcy E

2015-12-01

Peer rejection and deviant peer affiliation are linked consistently to the development and maintenance of conduct problems. Two proposed models may account for longitudinal relations among these peer processes and conduct problems: the (a) sequential mediation model, in which peer rejection in childhood and deviant peer affiliation in adolescence mediate the link between early externalizing behaviors and more serious adolescent conduct problems; and (b) parallel process model, in which peer rejection and deviant peer affiliation are considered independent processes that operate simultaneously to increment risk for conduct problems. In this review, we evaluate theoretical models and evidence for associations among conduct problems and (a) peer rejection and (b) deviant peer affiliation. We then consider support for the sequential mediation and parallel process models. Next, we propose an integrated model incorporating both the sequential mediation and parallel process models. Future research directions and implications for prevention and intervention efforts are discussed.

The Impact of Social Structures on Deviant Behaviors: The Study of 402 High Risk Street Drug Users in Iran.

PubMed

Mehrabi, Maryam; Eskandarieh, Sharareh; Khodadost, Mahmoud; Sadeghi, Maneli; Nikfarjam, Ali; Hajebi, Ahmad

2016-01-01

This study is a sociological analysis of the three dimensions of social structure including institutional, relational, and embodied structures that have an impact on the individuals' deviant behaviors in the society. The authors used a mix method to analyze the qualitative and quantitative data of 402 high risk abandoned substance users in 2008 in Tehran, capital city of Iran. The leading reasons of substance use were categorized into four fundamental themes as follows: stress, deviant social networks, and low social capital and weak social support sources. In addition, the epidemiology model of regression analysis provides a brief explanation to assess the association between the demographical and etiological variables, and the drug users' deviant behaviors. In sum, substance use is discussed as a deviant behavior pattern which stems from a comorbidity of weak social structures.

A Developmental Perspective on Peer Rejection, Deviant Peer Affiliation, and Conduct Problems among Youth

PubMed Central

Chen, Diane; Drabick, Deborah A. G.; Burgers, Darcy E.

2015-01-01

Peer rejection and deviant peer affiliation are linked consistently to the development and maintenance of conduct problems. Two proposed models may account for longitudinal relations among these peer processes and conduct problems: the (a) sequential mediation model, in which peer rejection in childhood and deviant peer affiliation in adolescence mediate the link between early externalizing behaviors and more serious adolescent conduct problems; and (b) parallel process model, in which peer rejection and deviant peer affiliation are considered independent processes that operate simultaneously to increment risk for conduct problems. In this review, we evaluate theoretical models and evidence for associations among conduct problems and (a) peer rejection and (b) deviant peer affiliation. We then consider support for the sequential mediation and parallel process models. Next, we propose an integrated model incorporating both the sequential mediation and parallel process models. Future research directions and implications for prevention and intervention efforts are discussed. PMID:25410430

Reactions to intragroup deviance: does disidentification have a role?

PubMed

Cameira, Miguel; Ribeiro, Tiago Azevedo

2014-01-01

In this study, we address previous evidence about the interchangeable use of derogation and disidentification in protecting the self from intragroup deviance. We argue that when the in-group stands for a valued social identity, members may disidentify from the group, but only if the immediate context provides no opportunity to derogate. In the present experiments (n = 80 and n = 79), we provided or did not provide participants with the opportunity to recommend a punishment for an in-group or an out-group deviant. We also measured in-group identification before and after exposure to deviant behavior and after judgment. The results show that participants first disidentified from the in-group but, when presented with an opportunity to judge the deviant, also derogated. Importantly, participants who could judge the deviant also recovered their initial in-group identification level. Participants' reactions to the out-group deviant suggest they used an intergroup rather than intragroup strategy.

Pronoun Comprehension in Individuals with Down Syndrome: The Role of Age

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanoudaki, Eirini; Varlokosta, Spyridoula

2015-01-01

Background: A number of studies have suggested that language in individuals with Down syndrome (DS) may not be simply delayed compared with language in typically developing (TD) children, but deviant. The deviance has been detected in the comprehension of pronouns, and it has triggered proposals for the existence of a specific syntactic deficit in…

Proceedings of the Lake Wilderness Attention Conference Held at Seattle Washington, 22-24 September 1980.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-07-10

Pohlmann, L. D. Some models of observer behavior in two-channel auditory signal detection. Perception and Psychophy- sics, 1973, 14, 101-109. Spelke...spatial), and processing modalities ( auditory versus visual input, vocal versus manual response). If validated, this configuration has both theoretical...conclusion that auditory and visual processes will compete, as will spatial and verbal (albeit to a lesser extent than auditory - auditory , visual-visual

Optimization of Answer Keys for Script Concordance Testing: Should We Exclude Deviant Panelists, Deviant Responses, or Neither?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gagnon, Robert; Lubarsky, Stuart; Lambert, Carole; Charlin, Bernard

2011-01-01

The Script Concordance Test (SCT) uses a panel-based, aggregate scoring method that aims to capture the variability of responses of experienced practitioners to particular clinical situations. The use of this type of scoring method is a key determinant of the tool's discriminatory power, but deviant answers could potentially diminish the…

Procedural Justice in Family Conflict Resolution and Deviant Peer Group Involvement among Adolescents: The Mediating Influence of Peer Conflict

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stuart, Jennifer; Fondacaro, Mark; Miller, Scott A.; Brown, Veda; Brank, Eve M.

2008-01-01

The involvement of adolescents with deviant peer groups is one of the strongest proximal correlates to juvenile delinquency and stems from a variety of causes. Past research has linked ineffective parenting with peer variables, including deviant peer group involvement and peer conflict during adolescence. In this study, adolescents' appraisals of…

The Morality of Employee Theft: Teaching about Ethics and Deviant Behavior in the Workplace

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kidwell, Roland E., Jr.; Kochanowski, Susan M.

2005-01-01

Deviant behavior at work is an important topic for management education because of its prevalence and cost to both organizations and people. This article demonstrates how the ethical ramifications of workplace activities identified as deviant can be actively discussed by students and by educators in the classroom by using an original case study.…

Early adolescent substance use in Mexican origin families: Peer selection, peer influence, and parental monitoring.

PubMed

Schofield, Thomas J; Conger, Rand D; Robins, Richard W

2015-12-01

Because adolescents vary in their susceptibility to peer influence, the current study addresses potential reciprocal effects between associating with deviant peers and use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs (ATOD), as well as the potential buffering role of parental monitoring on these reciprocal effects. 674 children of Mexican origin reported at fifth and seventh grade (10.4 years old at fifth grade) on the degree to which they associated with deviant peers, intended to use alcohol, tobacco or other drugs (ATOD) in the future, and had used controlled substances during the past year. Trained observers rated parental monitoring from video-recorded family interactions at the first assessment. Youth who intended to use ATODs during fifth grade experienced a relative increase in number of deviant peers by seventh grade, and youth with more deviant peers in fifth grade were more likely to use ATODs by seventh grade. Parental monitoring buffered (i.e., moderated) the reciprocal association between involvement with deviant peers and both intent to use ATODs and actual use of ATODs. Parental monitoring can disrupt the reciprocal associations between deviant peers and ATOD use during the transition from childhood to adolescence. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Disruption of hierarchical predictive coding during sleep

PubMed Central

Strauss, Melanie; Sitt, Jacobo D.; King, Jean-Remi; Elbaz, Maxime; Azizi, Leila; Buiatti, Marco; Naccache, Lionel; van Wassenhove, Virginie; Dehaene, Stanislas

2015-01-01

When presented with an auditory sequence, the brain acts as a predictive-coding device that extracts regularities in the transition probabilities between sounds and detects unexpected deviations from these regularities. Does such prediction require conscious vigilance, or does it continue to unfold automatically in the sleeping brain? The mismatch negativity and P300 components of the auditory event-related potential, reflecting two steps of auditory novelty detection, have been inconsistently observed in the various sleep stages. To clarify whether these steps remain during sleep, we recorded simultaneous electroencephalographic and magnetoencephalographic signals during wakefulness and during sleep in normal subjects listening to a hierarchical auditory paradigm including short-term (local) and long-term (global) regularities. The global response, reflected in the P300, vanished during sleep, in line with the hypothesis that it is a correlate of high-level conscious error detection. The local mismatch response remained across all sleep stages (N1, N2, and REM sleep), but with an incomplete structure; compared with wakefulness, a specific peak reflecting prediction error vanished during sleep. Those results indicate that sleep leaves initial auditory processing and passive sensory response adaptation intact, but specifically disrupts both short-term and long-term auditory predictive coding. PMID:25737555

Switching in the Cocktail Party: Exploring Intentional Control of Auditory Selective Attention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koch, Iring; Lawo, Vera; Fels, Janina; Vorlander, Michael

2011-01-01

Using a novel variant of dichotic selective listening, we examined the control of auditory selective attention. In our task, subjects had to respond selectively to one of two simultaneously presented auditory stimuli (number words), always spoken by a female and a male speaker, by performing a numerical size categorization. The gender of the…

The characteristic and changes of the event-related potentials (ERP) and brain topographic maps before and after treatment with rTMS in subjective tinnitus patients.

PubMed

Yang, Haidi; Xiong, Hao; Yu, Rongjun; Wang, Changming; Zheng, Yiqing; Zhang, Xueyuan

2013-01-01

To compare the event-related potentials (ERPs) and brain topographic maps characteristic and change in normal controls and subjective tinnitus patients before and after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) treatment. The ERPs and brain topographic maps elicited by target stimulus were compared before and after 1-week treatment with rTMS in 20 subjective tinnitus patients and 16 healthy controls. Before rTMS, target stimulus elicited a larger N1 component than the standard stimuli (repeating sounds)in control group but not in tinnitus patients. Instead, the tinnitus group pre-treatment exhibited larger amplitude of N1 in response to standard stimuli than to deviant stimuli. Furthermore tinnitus patients had smaller mismatch negativity (MMN) and late discriminative negativity (LDN)component at Fz compared with the control group. After rTMS treatment, tinnitus patients showed increased N1 response to deviant stimuli and larger MMN and LDN compared with pre-treatment. The topographic maps for the tinnitus group before rTMS -treatment demonstrated global asymmetry between the left and right cerebral hemispheres with more negative activities in left side and more positive activities in right side. In contrast, the brain topographic maps for patients after rTMS-treatment and controls seem roughly symmetrical. The ERP amplitudes and brain topographic maps in post-treatment patient group showed no significant difference with those in controls. The characterical changes in ERP and brain topographic maps in tinnitus patients maybe related with the electrophysiological mechanism of tinnitus induction and development. It can be used as an objective biomarker for the evaluation of auditory central in subjective tinnitus patients. These findings support the notion that rTMS treatment in tinnitus patients may exert a beneficial effect.

EEG signatures accompanying auditory figure-ground segregation

PubMed Central

Tóth, Brigitta; Kocsis, Zsuzsanna; Háden, Gábor P.; Szerafin, Ágnes; Shinn-Cunningham, Barbara; Winkler, István

2017-01-01

In everyday acoustic scenes, figure-ground segregation typically requires one to group together sound elements over both time and frequency. Electroencephalogram was recorded while listeners detected repeating tonal complexes composed of a random set of pure tones within stimuli consisting of randomly varying tonal elements. The repeating pattern was perceived as a figure over the randomly changing background. It was found that detection performance improved both as the number of pure tones making up each repeated complex (figure coherence) increased, and as the number of repeated complexes (duration) increased – i.e., detection was easier when either the spectral or temporal structure of the figure was enhanced. Figure detection was accompanied by the elicitation of the object related negativity (ORN) and the P400 event-related potentials (ERPs), which have been previously shown to be evoked by the presence of two concurrent sounds. Both ERP components had generators within and outside of auditory cortex. The amplitudes of the ORN and the P400 increased with both figure coherence and figure duration. However, only the P400 amplitude correlated with detection performance. These results suggest that 1) the ORN and P400 reflect processes involved in detecting the emergence of a new auditory object in the presence of other concurrent auditory objects; 2) the ORN corresponds to the likelihood of the presence of two or more concurrent sound objects, whereas the P400 reflects the perceptual recognition of the presence of multiple auditory objects and/or preparation for reporting the detection of a target object. PMID:27421185

Concurrent adversities among adolescents with conduct problems: the NAAHS study.

PubMed

Reigstad, Bjørn; Kvernmo, Siv

2016-10-01

Several studies have confirmed that maltreatment and abuse in childhood are related to conduct problems. Less is known about such relationships with concurrent adversities in adolescence and, also, when compared with other severe adversities and possible multiple additive effects. The study encompassed a community population of 4881 adolescents 15-16 years of age 50.1 % boys and 49.9 % girls. Youth with and without conduct problem scores within the deviant range on the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was compared on 12 concurrent adversities. Based on self-reports, 4.4 % of the adolescents had conduct problem scores within the deviant range and more girls (5.1 %) than boys (3.7 %). In the deviant conduct problem group, 65.1 % had experienced two or more concurrent adversities compared with 26.3 % of youths in the non-deviant group (OR 5.23, 95 % CI 3.91-7.01). Likewise, the deviant conduct problem group was from 1.71 to 8.43 times more at the risk of experiencing the different adversities. Parental mental health problems and experiences of violence were multivariately strongest associated with conduct problem scores within the deviant range on the SDQ. A strong multiple additive relationship with adversities was found. Two-thirds of youth with SDQ conduct problem scores within the deviant range reported two or more concurrent adversities. Clinicians should seek information about kinds and amount of possible traumatic adversities in youth with conduct problems and offer evidence based treatment.

Audiovisual integration in hemianopia: A neurocomputational account based on cortico-collicular interaction.

PubMed

Magosso, Elisa; Bertini, Caterina; Cuppini, Cristiano; Ursino, Mauro

2016-10-01

Hemianopic patients retain some abilities to integrate audiovisual stimuli in the blind hemifield, showing both modulation of visual perception by auditory stimuli and modulation of auditory perception by visual stimuli. Indeed, conscious detection of a visual target in the blind hemifield can be improved by a spatially coincident auditory stimulus (auditory enhancement of visual detection), while a visual stimulus in the blind hemifield can improve localization of a spatially coincident auditory stimulus (visual enhancement of auditory localization). To gain more insight into the neural mechanisms underlying these two perceptual phenomena, we propose a neural network model including areas of neurons representing the retina, primary visual cortex (V1), extrastriate visual cortex, auditory cortex and the Superior Colliculus (SC). The visual and auditory modalities in the network interact via both direct cortical-cortical connections and subcortical-cortical connections involving the SC; the latter, in particular, integrates visual and auditory information and projects back to the cortices. Hemianopic patients were simulated by unilaterally lesioning V1, and preserving spared islands of V1 tissue within the lesion, to analyze the role of residual V1 neurons in mediating audiovisual integration. The network is able to reproduce the audiovisual phenomena in hemianopic patients, linking perceptions to neural activations, and disentangles the individual contribution of specific neural circuits and areas via sensitivity analyses. The study suggests i) a common key role of SC-cortical connections in mediating the two audiovisual phenomena; ii) a different role of visual cortices in the two phenomena: auditory enhancement of conscious visual detection being conditional on surviving V1 islands, while visual enhancement of auditory localization persisting even after complete V1 damage. The present study may contribute to advance understanding of the audiovisual dialogue between cortical and subcortical structures in healthy and unisensory deficit conditions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Auditory spatial processing in Alzheimer’s disease

PubMed Central

Golden, Hannah L.; Nicholas, Jennifer M.; Yong, Keir X. X.; Downey, Laura E.; Schott, Jonathan M.; Mummery, Catherine J.; Crutch, Sebastian J.

2015-01-01

The location and motion of sounds in space are important cues for encoding the auditory world. Spatial processing is a core component of auditory scene analysis, a cognitively demanding function that is vulnerable in Alzheimer’s disease. Here we designed a novel neuropsychological battery based on a virtual space paradigm to assess auditory spatial processing in patient cohorts with clinically typical Alzheimer’s disease (n = 20) and its major variant syndrome, posterior cortical atrophy (n = 12) in relation to healthy older controls (n = 26). We assessed three dimensions of auditory spatial function: externalized versus non-externalized sound discrimination, moving versus stationary sound discrimination and stationary auditory spatial position discrimination, together with non-spatial auditory and visual spatial control tasks. Neuroanatomical correlates of auditory spatial processing were assessed using voxel-based morphometry. Relative to healthy older controls, both patient groups exhibited impairments in detection of auditory motion, and stationary sound position discrimination. The posterior cortical atrophy group showed greater impairment for auditory motion processing and the processing of a non-spatial control complex auditory property (timbre) than the typical Alzheimer’s disease group. Voxel-based morphometry in the patient cohort revealed grey matter correlates of auditory motion detection and spatial position discrimination in right inferior parietal cortex and precuneus, respectively. These findings delineate auditory spatial processing deficits in typical and posterior Alzheimer’s disease phenotypes that are related to posterior cortical regions involved in both syndromic variants and modulated by the syndromic profile of brain degeneration. Auditory spatial deficits contribute to impaired spatial awareness in Alzheimer’s disease and may constitute a novel perceptual model for probing brain network disintegration across the Alzheimer’s disease syndromic spectrum. PMID:25468732

The what, where and how of auditory-object perception.

PubMed

Bizley, Jennifer K; Cohen, Yale E

2013-10-01

The fundamental perceptual unit in hearing is the 'auditory object'. Similar to visual objects, auditory objects are the computational result of the auditory system's capacity to detect, extract, segregate and group spectrotemporal regularities in the acoustic environment; the multitude of acoustic stimuli around us together form the auditory scene. However, unlike the visual scene, resolving the component objects within the auditory scene crucially depends on their temporal structure. Neural correlates of auditory objects are found throughout the auditory system. However, neural responses do not become correlated with a listener's perceptual reports until the level of the cortex. The roles of different neural structures and the contribution of different cognitive states to the perception of auditory objects are not yet fully understood.

The what, where and how of auditory-object perception

PubMed Central

Bizley, Jennifer K.; Cohen, Yale E.

2014-01-01

The fundamental perceptual unit in hearing is the ‘auditory object’. Similar to visual objects, auditory objects are the computational result of the auditory system's capacity to detect, extract, segregate and group spectrotemporal regularities in the acoustic environment; the multitude of acoustic stimuli around us together form the auditory scene. However, unlike the visual scene, resolving the component objects within the auditory scene crucially depends on their temporal structure. Neural correlates of auditory objects are found throughout the auditory system. However, neural responses do not become correlated with a listener's perceptual reports until the level of the cortex. The roles of different neural structures and the contribution of different cognitive states to the perception of auditory objects are not yet fully understood. PMID:24052177

Missing a trick: Auditory load modulates conscious awareness in audition.

PubMed

Fairnie, Jake; Moore, Brian C J; Remington, Anna

2016-07-01

In the visual domain there is considerable evidence supporting the Load Theory of Attention and Cognitive Control, which holds that conscious perception of background stimuli depends on the level of perceptual load involved in a primary task. However, literature on the applicability of this theory to the auditory domain is limited and, in many cases, inconsistent. Here we present a novel "auditory search task" that allows systematic investigation of the impact of auditory load on auditory conscious perception. An array of simultaneous, spatially separated sounds was presented to participants. On half the trials, a critical stimulus was presented concurrently with the array. Participants were asked to detect which of 2 possible targets was present in the array (primary task), and whether the critical stimulus was present or absent (secondary task). Increasing the auditory load of the primary task (raising the number of sounds in the array) consistently reduced the ability to detect the critical stimulus. This indicates that, at least in certain situations, load theory applies in the auditory domain. The implications of this finding are discussed both with respect to our understanding of typical audition and for populations with altered auditory processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Short-term plasticity in auditory cognition.

PubMed

Jääskeläinen, Iiro P; Ahveninen, Jyrki; Belliveau, John W; Raij, Tommi; Sams, Mikko

2007-12-01

Converging lines of evidence suggest that auditory system short-term plasticity can enable several perceptual and cognitive functions that have been previously considered as relatively distinct phenomena. Here we review recent findings suggesting that auditory stimulation, auditory selective attention and cross-modal effects of visual stimulation each cause transient excitatory and (surround) inhibitory modulations in the auditory cortex. These modulations might adaptively tune hierarchically organized sound feature maps of the auditory cortex (e.g. tonotopy), thus filtering relevant sounds during rapidly changing environmental and task demands. This could support auditory sensory memory, pre-attentive detection of sound novelty, enhanced perception during selective attention, influence of visual processing on auditory perception and longer-term plastic changes associated with perceptual learning.

Auditory Temporal Acuity Probed With Cochlear Implant Stimulation and Cortical Recording

PubMed Central

Kirby, Alana E.

2010-01-01

Cochlear implants stimulate the auditory nerve with amplitude-modulated (AM) electric pulse trains. Pulse rates >2,000 pulses per second (pps) have been hypothesized to enhance transmission of temporal information. Recent studies, however, have shown that higher pulse rates impair phase locking to sinusoidal AM in the auditory cortex and impair perceptual modulation detection. Here, we investigated the effects of high pulse rates on the temporal acuity of transmission of pulse trains to the auditory cortex. In anesthetized guinea pigs, signal-detection analysis was used to measure the thresholds for detection of gaps in pulse trains at rates of 254, 1,017, and 4,069 pps and in acoustic noise. Gap-detection thresholds decreased by an order of magnitude with increases in pulse rate from 254 to 4,069 pps. Such a pulse-rate dependence would likely influence speech reception through clinical speech processors. To elucidate the neural mechanisms of gap detection, we measured recovery from forward masking after a 196.6-ms pulse train. Recovery from masking was faster at higher carrier pulse rates and masking increased linearly with current level. We fit the data with a dual-exponential recovery function, consistent with a peripheral and a more central process. High-rate pulse trains evoked less central masking, possibly due to adaptation of the response in the auditory nerve. Neither gap detection nor forward masking varied with cortical depth, indicating that these processes are likely subcortical. These results indicate that gap detection and modulation detection are mediated by two separate neural mechanisms. PMID:19923242

Cortical mechanisms for the segregation and representation of acoustic textures.

PubMed

Overath, Tobias; Kumar, Sukhbinder; Stewart, Lauren; von Kriegstein, Katharina; Cusack, Rhodri; Rees, Adrian; Griffiths, Timothy D

2010-02-10

Auditory object analysis requires two fundamental perceptual processes: the definition of the boundaries between objects, and the abstraction and maintenance of an object's characteristic features. Although it is intuitive to assume that the detection of the discontinuities at an object's boundaries precedes the subsequent precise representation of the object, the specific underlying cortical mechanisms for segregating and representing auditory objects within the auditory scene are unknown. We investigated the cortical bases of these two processes for one type of auditory object, an "acoustic texture," composed of multiple frequency-modulated ramps. In these stimuli, we independently manipulated the statistical rules governing (1) the frequency-time space within individual textures (comprising ramps with a given spectrotemporal coherence) and (2) the boundaries between textures (adjacent textures with different spectrotemporal coherences). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we show mechanisms defining boundaries between textures with different coherences in primary and association auditory cortices, whereas texture coherence is represented only in association cortex. Furthermore, participants' superior detection of boundaries across which texture coherence increased (as opposed to decreased) was reflected in a greater neural response in auditory association cortex at these boundaries. The results suggest a hierarchical mechanism for processing acoustic textures that is relevant to auditory object analysis: boundaries between objects are first detected as a change in statistical rules over frequency-time space, before a representation that corresponds to the characteristics of the perceived object is formed.

A Growth Curve Analysis of the Joint Influences of Parenting Affect, Child Characteristics and Deviant Peers on Adolescent Illicit Drug Use

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pires, Paulo; Jenkins, Jennifer M.

2007-01-01

This study purports that parental rejection and warmth are critical to the development of adolescent drug use, and investigates a model that also considers children's vulnerability and deviant peer affiliations. It tests mediation through the proximal risk factor of deviant peers. Poisson growth curve modeling was used to examine participants from…

Adolescent Deviant Peer Clustering as an Amplifying Mechanism Underlying the Progression from Early Substance Use to Late Adolescent Dependence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Ryzin, Mark J.; Dishion, Thomas J.

2014-01-01

Background: Early substance use co-occurs with youths' self-organization into deviant peer groups in which substance use is central to social interaction. We hypothesized that the social dynamics of deviant peer groups amplify the risk of progressing from early use to later dependence, and that this influence occurs over and above escalations…

Growth-related neural reorganization and the autism phenotype: a test of the hypothesis that altered brain growth leads to altered connectivity

PubMed Central

Lewis, John D.; Elman, Jeffrey L.

2009-01-01

Theoretical considerations, and findings from computational modeling, comparative neuroanatomy and developmental neuroscience, motivate the hypothesis that a deviant brain growth trajectory will lead to deviant patterns of change in cortico-cortical connectivity. Differences in brain size during development will alter the relative cost and effectiveness of short- and long-distance connections, and should thus impact the growth and retention of connections. Reduced brain size should favor long-distance connectivity; brain overgrowth should favor short-distance connectivity; and inconsistent deviations from the normal growth trajectory – as occurs in autism – should result in potentially disruptive changes to established patterns of functional and physical connectivity during development. To explore this hypothesis, neural networks which modeled inter-hemispheric interaction were grown at the rate of either typically developing children or children with autism. The influence of the length of the inter-hemispheric connections was analyzed at multiple developmental time-points. The networks that modeled autistic growth were less affected by removal of the inter-hemispheric connections than those that modeled normal growth – indicating a reduced reliance on long-distance connections – for short response times, and this difference increased substantially at approximately 24 simulated months of age. The performance of the networks showed a corresponding decline during development. And direct analysis of the connection weights showed a parallel reduction in connectivity. These modeling results support the hypothesis that the deviant growth trajectory in autism spectrum disorders may lead to a disruption of established patterns of functional connectivity during development, with potentially negative behavioral consequences, and a subsequent reduction in physical connectivity. The results are discussed in relation to the growing body of evidence of reduced functional and structural connectivity in autism, and in relation to the behavioral phenotype, particularly the developmental aspects. PMID:18171375

Implications of Delay in Detection and Management of Deafness.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ross, Mark

1990-01-01

This article explores the rationale for early detection and management of children with significant hearing loss. Topics covered include attitudes toward hearing loss, monaural and binaural auditory sensory deprivation, auditory self-monitoring, and value of early intervention on linguistic and psychosocial development. (Author/DB)

Perceptual consequences of disrupted auditory nerve activity.

PubMed

Zeng, Fan-Gang; Kong, Ying-Yee; Michalewski, Henry J; Starr, Arnold

2005-06-01

Perceptual consequences of disrupted auditory nerve activity were systematically studied in 21 subjects who had been clinically diagnosed with auditory neuropathy (AN), a recently defined disorder characterized by normal outer hair cell function but disrupted auditory nerve function. Neurological and electrophysical evidence suggests that disrupted auditory nerve activity is due to desynchronized or reduced neural activity or both. Psychophysical measures showed that the disrupted neural activity has minimal effects on intensity-related perception, such as loudness discrimination, pitch discrimination at high frequencies, and sound localization using interaural level differences. In contrast, the disrupted neural activity significantly impairs timing related perception, such as pitch discrimination at low frequencies, temporal integration, gap detection, temporal modulation detection, backward and forward masking, signal detection in noise, binaural beats, and sound localization using interaural time differences. These perceptual consequences are the opposite of what is typically observed in cochlear-impaired subjects who have impaired intensity perception but relatively normal temporal processing after taking their impaired intensity perception into account. These differences in perceptual consequences between auditory neuropathy and cochlear damage suggest the use of different neural codes in auditory perception: a suboptimal spike count code for intensity processing, a synchronized spike code for temporal processing, and a duplex code for frequency processing. We also proposed two underlying physiological models based on desynchronized and reduced discharge in the auditory nerve to successfully account for the observed neurological and behavioral data. These methods and measures cannot differentiate between these two AN models, but future studies using electric stimulation of the auditory nerve via a cochlear implant might. These results not only show the unique contribution of neural synchrony to sensory perception but also provide guidance for translational research in terms of better diagnosis and management of human communication disorders.

Unattended processing of hierarchical pitch variations in spoken sentences.

PubMed

Li, Xiaoqing; Chen, Yiya

2018-05-16

An auditory oddball paradigm was employed to examine the unattended processing of pitch variation which functions to signal hierarchically different levels of meaning contrasts. Four oddball conditions were constructed by varying the pitch contour of critical words embedded in a Mandarin Chinese sentence. Two conditions included lexical-level word meaning contrasts (i.e. TONE condition) and the other two sentence-level information-status contrasts (i.e. ACCENTUATION condition). Both included stimuli with early vs. late acoustic cue divergence points. Results showed that the two early-cue conditions elicited earlier Mismatch Negativities, regardless of their functional hierarchy. The deviant stimuli induced theta-band power increases in the TONE condition but beta-band power decreases in the ACCENTUATIION condition, regardless of the timing of their acoustic cues. These results suggest that, in an unattentive state, the human brain can functionally disentangle hierarchically different levels of pitch variation, and the brain responses to these pitch variations are time-locked to the presence of the acoustic cues. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Learning to match auditory and visual speech cues: social influences on acquisition of phonological categories.

PubMed

Altvater-Mackensen, Nicole; Grossmann, Tobias

2015-01-01

Infants' language exposure largely involves face-to-face interactions providing acoustic and visual speech cues but also social cues that might foster language learning. Yet, both audiovisual speech information and social information have so far received little attention in research on infants' early language development. Using a preferential looking paradigm, 44 German 6-month olds' ability to detect mismatches between concurrently presented auditory and visual native vowels was tested. Outcomes were related to mothers' speech style and interactive behavior assessed during free play with their infant, and to infant-specific factors assessed through a questionnaire. Results show that mothers' and infants' social behavior modulated infants' preference for matching audiovisual speech. Moreover, infants' audiovisual speech perception correlated with later vocabulary size, suggesting a lasting effect on language development. © 2014 The Authors. Child Development © 2014 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Deviant bodies, stigmatized identities, and racist acts: examining the experiences of African-American gamers in Xbox Live

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gray, K. L.

2012-12-01

The purpose of this article is to illustrate how minority gamers, particularly African-American males, are subject to the label of deviant within the virtual gaming community of Xbox Live. They are labeled deviant based on the stigma of their physical identity - blackness, through a process of linguistic profiling. By employing virtual ethnography, the author identifies a process that leads to racism based on how the black gamer sounds within the space. The act of racism emerges through a process involving questioning, provoking, instigating, and ultimately racism. Many black gamers have normalized these racist experiences and have accepted the label of deviant placed upon their bodies.

Relative size of auditory pathways in symmetrically and asymmetrically eared owls.

PubMed

Gutiérrez-Ibáñez, Cristián; Iwaniuk, Andrew N; Wylie, Douglas R

2011-01-01

Owls are highly efficient predators with a specialized auditory system designed to aid in the localization of prey. One of the most unique anatomical features of the owl auditory system is the evolution of vertically asymmetrical ears in some species, which improves their ability to localize the elevational component of a sound stimulus. In the asymmetrically eared barn owl, interaural time differences (ITD) are used to localize sounds in azimuth, whereas interaural level differences (ILD) are used to localize sounds in elevation. These two features are processed independently in two separate neural pathways that converge in the external nucleus of the inferior colliculus to form an auditory map of space. Here, we present a comparison of the relative volume of 11 auditory nuclei in both the ITD and the ILD pathways of 8 species of symmetrically and asymmetrically eared owls in order to investigate evolutionary changes in the auditory pathways in relation to ear asymmetry. Overall, our results indicate that asymmetrically eared owls have much larger auditory nuclei than owls with symmetrical ears. In asymmetrically eared owls we found that both the ITD and ILD pathways are equally enlarged, and other auditory nuclei, not directly involved in binaural comparisons, are also enlarged. We suggest that the hypertrophy of auditory nuclei in asymmetrically eared owls likely reflects both an improved ability to precisely locate sounds in space and an expansion of the hearing range. Additionally, our results suggest that the hypertrophy of nuclei that compute space may have preceded that of the expansion of the hearing range and evolutionary changes in the size of the auditory system occurred independently of phylogeny. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Psychoacoustics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, Brian C. J.

Psychoacoustics psychological is concerned with the relationships between the physical characteristics of sounds and their perceptual attributes. This chapter describes: the absolute sensitivity of the auditory system for detecting weak sounds and how that sensitivity varies with frequency; the frequency selectivity of the auditory system (the ability to resolve or hear out the sinusoidal components in a complex sound) and its characterization in terms of an array of auditory filters; the processes that influence the masking of one sound by another; the range of sound levels that can be processed by the auditory system; the perception and modeling of loudness; level discrimination; the temporal resolution of the auditory system (the ability to detect changes over time); the perception and modeling of pitch for pure and complex tones; the perception of timbre for steady and time-varying sounds; the perception of space and sound localization; and the mechanisms underlying auditory scene analysis that allow the construction of percepts corresponding to individual sounds sources when listening to complex mixtures of sounds.

The effect of deviance predictability on mismatch negativity in schizophrenia patients.

PubMed

Horacek, Magdalena; Kärgel, Christian; Scherbaum, Norbert; Müller, Bernhard W

2016-03-23

Mismatch negativity (MMN) is an electrophysiological index of prediction error processing and recently has been considered an endophenotype marker in schizophrenia. While the prediction error is a core concept in the MMN generation, predictability of deviance occurrence has rarely been assessed in MMN research and in schizophrenia patients. We investigated the MMN to 12% temporally predictable or unpredictable duration decrement deviant stimuli in two runs in 29 healthy controls and 31 schizophrenia patients. We analyzed MMN amplitudes and latencies and its associations with clinical symptoms at electrode Fz. With a stimulus onset asynchronicity of 500 ms in the regular predictable condition, a deviant occurred every 4s while it varied randomly in the unpredictable condition. In the random condition we found diminished MMN amplitudes in patients which normalized in the regular deviance condition, resulting in an analysis of variance main effect of predictability and a predictability x group interaction. Deviance predictability did not affect the MMN of control subjects and we found no relevant results with regard to MMN latencies. Our results indicate that MMN amplitudes in patients normalize to the level of the control subjects in the case of a temporally fixed regular deviant. In schizophrenia patients the detection of deviance is basically intact. However, the temporal uncertainty of deviance occurrence may be of substantial relevance to the highly replicated MMN deficit in schizophrenia patients. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Brain responses to tonal changes in the first two years of life

PubMed Central

Jing, Hongkui; Benasich, April A.

2007-01-01

Maturation of auditory perceptual and discrimination process within the first two years of life is investigated in healthy infants by examining event-related potentials (ERPs). High-density EEG signals were recorded from the scalp monthly between 3 and 24 months of age. Two types of stimuli (100 vs. 100 Hz for standard stimuli; 100 vs. 300 Hz for deviant stimuli; occurrence rate: 85:15%) were presented using an oddball paradigm. Latencies and amplitudes were compared across development. The results showed that latencies of P150, N250, P350, and N450 components gradually decreased with increasing age. Amplitudes of the N250 and P350 components gradually increased and reached the maximum at 9 months, and then gradually decreased with the increase of age. Mismatch negativity was not obvious at 3 months of age, but was seen at 4–5 months and became robust after 6 months. Robust late positivity was recorded at all ages. These mismatch responses were noticeable in the frontal, central, and parietal areas, and the maximal MMN amplitude distribution gradually moved from the parietal area to the frontal area across the age range. Two important periods—one around 6 months and the other around 9 months are suggested in the maturation of auditory central system. Dynamical changes in the underlying source strengths and orientations may be principal contributors to ERP morphological changes in infants within the first 24 months. PMID:16373083

Hemispheric asymmetry of ERPs and MMNs evoked by slow, fast and abrupt auditory motion.

PubMed

Shestopalova, L B; Petropavlovskaia, E A; Vaitulevich, S Ph; Nikitin, N I

2016-10-01

The current MMN study investigates whether brain lateralization during automatic discrimination of sound stimuli moving at different velocities is consistent with one of the three models of asymmetry: the right-hemispheric dominance model, the contralateral dominance model, or the neglect model. Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded for three patterns of sound motion produced by linear or abrupt changes of interaural time differences. The slow motion (450deg/s) was used as standard, and the fast motion (620deg/s) and the abrupt sound shift served as deviants in the oddball blocks. All stimuli had the same onset/offset spatial positions. We compared the effects of the recording side (left, right) and of the direction of sound displacement (ipsi- or contralateral with reference to the side of recording) on the ERPs and mismatch negativity (MMN). Our results indicated different patterns of asymmetry for the ERPs and MMN responses. The ERPs showed a velocity-independent right-hemispheric dominance that emerged at the descending limb of N1 wave (at around 120-160ms) and could be related to overall context of the preattentive spatial perception. The MMNs elicited in the left hemisphere (at around 230-270ms) exhibited a contralateral dominance, whereas the right-hemispheric MMNs were insensitive to the direction of sound displacement. These differences in contralaterality between MMN responses produced by the left and the right hemisphere favour the neglect model of the preattentive motion processing indexed by MMN. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automatic processing of tones and speech stimuli in children with specific language impairment.

PubMed

Uwer, Ruth; Albrecht, Ronald; von Suchodoletz, W

2002-08-01

It is well known from behavioural experiments that children with specific language impairment (SLI) have difficulties discriminating consonant-vowel (CV) syllables such as /ba/, /da/, and /ga/. Mismatch negativity (MMN) is an auditory event-related potential component that represents the outcome of an automatic comparison process. It could, therefore, be a promising tool for assessing central auditory processing deficits for speech and non-speech stimuli in children with SLI. MMN is typically evoked by occasionally occurring 'deviant' stimuli in a sequence of identical 'standard' sounds. In this study MMN was elicited using simple tone stimuli, which differed in frequency (1000 versus 1200 Hz) and duration (175 versus 100 ms) and to digitized CV syllables which differed in place of articulation (/ba/, /da/, and /ga/) in children with expressive and receptive SLI and healthy control children (n=21 in each group, 46 males and 17 females; age range 5 to 10 years). Mean MMN amplitudes between groups were compared. Additionally, the behavioural discrimination performance was assessed. Children with SLI had attenuated MMN amplitudes to speech stimuli, but there was no significant difference between the two diagnostic subgroups. MMN to tone stimuli did not differ between the groups. Children with SLI made more errors in the discrimination task, but discrimination scores did not correlate with MMN amplitudes. The present data suggest that children with SLI show a specific deficit in automatic discrimination of CV syllables differing in place of articulation, whereas the processing of simple tone differences seems to be unimpaired.

Acquiring research-grade ERPs on a shoestring budget: A comparison of a modified Emotiv and commercial SynAmps EEG system.

PubMed

Barham, Michael P; Clark, Gillian M; Hayden, Melissa J; Enticott, Peter G; Conduit, Russell; Lum, Jarrad A G

2017-09-01

This study compared the performance of a low-cost wireless EEG system to a research-grade EEG system on an auditory oddball task designed to elicit N200 and P300 ERP components. Participants were 15 healthy adults (6 female) aged between 19 and 40 (M = 28.56; SD = 6.38). An auditory oddball task was presented comprising 1,200 presentations of a standard tone interspersed by 300 trials comprising a deviant tone. EEG was simultaneously recorded from a modified Emotiv EPOC and a NeuroScan SynAmps RT EEG system. The modifications made to the Emotiv system included attaching research grade electrodes to the Bluetooth transmitter. Additional modifications enabled the Emotiv system to connect to a portable impedance meter. The cost of these modifications and portable impedance meter approached the purchase value of the Emotiv system. Preliminary analyses revealed significantly more trials were rejected from data acquired by the modified Emotiv compared to the SynAmps system. However, the ERP waveforms captured by the Emotiv system were found to be highly similar to the corresponding waveform from the SynAmps system. The latency and peak amplitude of N200 and P300 components were also found to be similar between systems. Overall, the results indicate that, in the context of an oddball task, the ERP acquired by a low-cost wireless EEG system can be of comparable quality to research-grade EEG acquisition equipment. © 2017 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Permissive Parenting, Deviant Peer Affiliations, and Delinquent Behavior in Adolescence: the Moderating Role of Sympathetic Nervous System Reactivity.

PubMed

Hinnant, J Benjamin; Erath, Stephen A; Tu, Kelly M; El-Sheikh, Mona

2016-08-01

The present study examined two measures of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity as moderators of the indirect path from permissive parenting to deviant peer affiliations to delinquency among a community sample of adolescents. Participants included 252 adolescents (M = 15.79 years; 53 % boys; 66 % European American, 34 % African American). A multi-method design was employed to address the research questions. Two indicators of SNS reactivity, skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) and cardiac pre-ejection period reactivity (PEPR) were examined. SNS activity was measured during a baseline period and a problem-solving task (star-tracing); reactivity was computed as the difference between the task and baseline periods. Adolescents reported on permissive parenting, deviant peer affiliations, externalizing behaviors, and substance use (alcohol, marijuana). Analyses revealed indirect effects between permissive parenting and delinquency via affiliation with deviant peers. Additionally, links between permissive parenting to affiliation with deviant peers and affiliation with deviant peers to delinquency was moderated by SNS reactivity. Less SNS reactivity (less PEPR and/or less SCLR) were risk factors for externalizing problems and alcohol use. Findings highlight the moderating role of SNS reactivity in parenting and peer pathways that may contribute to adolescent delinquency and point to possibilities of targeted interventions for vulnerable youth.

Permissive Parenting, Deviant Peer Affiliations, and Delinquent Behavior in Adolescence: The Moderating Role of Sympathetic Nervous System Reactivity

PubMed Central

Hinnant, J. Benjamin; Erath, Stephen A.; Tu, Kelly M.; El-Sheikh, Mona

2015-01-01

The present study examined two measures of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity as moderators of the indirect path from permissive parenting to deviant peer affiliations to delinquency among a community sample of adolescents. Participants included 252 adolescents (M = 15.79 years; 53% boys; 66% European American, 34% African American). A multi-method design was employed to address the research questions. Two indicators of SNS reactivity, skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) and cardiac pre-ejection period reactivity (PEPR) were examined. SNS activity was measured during a baseline period and a problem-solving task (star-tracing); reactivity was computed as the difference between the task and baseline periods. Adolescents reported on permissive parenting, deviant peer affiliations, externalizing behaviors, and substance use (alcohol, marijuana). Analyses revealed indirect effects between permissive parenting and delinquency via affiliation with deviant peers. Additionally, links between permissive parenting to affiliation with deviant peers and affiliation with deviant peers to delinquency was moderated by SNS reactivity. Less SNS reactivity (less PEPR and/or less SCLR) were risk factors for externalizing problems and alcohol use. Findings highlight the moderating role of SNS reactivity in parenting and peer pathways that may contribute to adolescent delinquency and point to possibilities of targeted interventions for vulnerable youth. PMID:26667026

[Auditory processing and high frequency audiometry in students of São Paulo].

PubMed

Ramos, Cristina Silveira; Pereira, Liliane Desgualdo

2005-01-01

Auditory processing and auditory sensibility to high Frequency sounds. To characterize the localization processes, temporal ordering, hearing patterns and detection of high frequency sounds, looking for possible relations between these factors. 32 hearing fourth grade students, born in city of São Paulo, were submitted to: a simplified evaluation of the auditory processing; duration pattern test; high frequency audiometry. Three (9,4%) individuals presented auditory processing disorder (APD) and in one of them there was the coexistence of lower hearing thresholds in high frequency audiometry. APD associated to an auditory sensibility loss in high frequencies should be further investigated.

EEG signatures accompanying auditory figure-ground segregation.

PubMed

Tóth, Brigitta; Kocsis, Zsuzsanna; Háden, Gábor P; Szerafin, Ágnes; Shinn-Cunningham, Barbara G; Winkler, István

2016-11-01

In everyday acoustic scenes, figure-ground segregation typically requires one to group together sound elements over both time and frequency. Electroencephalogram was recorded while listeners detected repeating tonal complexes composed of a random set of pure tones within stimuli consisting of randomly varying tonal elements. The repeating pattern was perceived as a figure over the randomly changing background. It was found that detection performance improved both as the number of pure tones making up each repeated complex (figure coherence) increased, and as the number of repeated complexes (duration) increased - i.e., detection was easier when either the spectral or temporal structure of the figure was enhanced. Figure detection was accompanied by the elicitation of the object related negativity (ORN) and the P400 event-related potentials (ERPs), which have been previously shown to be evoked by the presence of two concurrent sounds. Both ERP components had generators within and outside of auditory cortex. The amplitudes of the ORN and the P400 increased with both figure coherence and figure duration. However, only the P400 amplitude correlated with detection performance. These results suggest that 1) the ORN and P400 reflect processes involved in detecting the emergence of a new auditory object in the presence of other concurrent auditory objects; 2) the ORN corresponds to the likelihood of the presence of two or more concurrent sound objects, whereas the P400 reflects the perceptual recognition of the presence of multiple auditory objects and/or preparation for reporting the detection of a target object. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Probability of detecting band-tailed pigeons during call-broadcast versus auditory surveys

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kirkpatrick, C.; Conway, C.J.; Hughes, K.M.; Devos, J.C.

2007-01-01

Estimates of population trend for the interior subspecies of band-tailed pigeon (Patagioenas fasciata fasciata) are not available because no standardized survey method exists for monitoring the interior subspecies. We evaluated 2 potential band-tailed pigeon survey methods (auditory and call-broadcast surveys) from 2002 to 2004 in 5 mountain ranges in southern Arizona, USA, and in mixed-conifer forest throughout the state. Both auditory and call-broadcast surveys produced low numbers of cooing pigeons detected per survey route (x?? ??? 0.67) and had relatively high temporal variance in average number of cooing pigeons detected during replicate surveys (CV ??? 161%). However, compared to auditory surveys, use of call-broadcast increased 1) the percentage of replicate surveys on which ???1 cooing pigeon was detected by an average of 16%, and 2) the number of cooing pigeons detected per survey route by an average of 29%, with this difference being greatest during the first 45 minutes of the morning survey period. Moreover, probability of detecting a cooing pigeon was 27% greater during call-broadcast (0.80) versus auditory (0.63) surveys. We found that cooing pigeons were most common in mixed-conifer forest in southern Arizona and density of male pigeons in mixed-conifer forest throughout the state averaged 0.004 (SE = 0.001) pigeons/ha. Our results are the first to show that call-broadcast increases the probability of detecting band-tailed pigeons (or any species of Columbidae) during surveys. Call-broadcast surveys may provide a useful method for monitoring populations of the interior subspecies of band-tailed pigeon in areas where other survey methods are inappropriate.

Effects of divided attention and operating room noise on perception of pulse oximeter pitch changes: a laboratory study.

PubMed

Stevenson, Ryan A; Schlesinger, Joseph J; Wallace, Mark T

2013-02-01

Anesthesiology requires performing visually oriented procedures while monitoring auditory information about a patient's vital signs. A concern in operating room environments is the amount of competing information and the effects that divided attention has on patient monitoring, such as detecting auditory changes in arterial oxygen saturation via pulse oximetry. The authors measured the impact of visual attentional load and auditory background noise on the ability of anesthesia residents to monitor the pulse oximeter auditory display in a laboratory setting. Accuracies and response times were recorded reflecting anesthesiologists' abilities to detect changes in oxygen saturation across three levels of visual attention in quiet and with noise. Results show that visual attentional load substantially affects the ability to detect changes in oxygen saturation concentrations conveyed by auditory cues signaling 99 and 98% saturation. These effects are compounded by auditory noise, up to a 17% decline in performance. These deficits are seen in the ability to accurately detect a change in oxygen saturation and in speed of response. Most anesthesia accidents are initiated by small errors that cascade into serious events. Lack of monitor vigilance and inattention are two of the more commonly cited factors. Reducing such errors is thus a priority for improving patient safety. Specifically, efforts to reduce distractors and decrease background noise should be considered during induction and emergence, periods of especially high risk, when anesthesiologists has to attend to many tasks and are thus susceptible to error.

Fit for the frontline? A focus group exploration of auditory tasks carried out by infantry and combat support personnel.

PubMed

Bevis, Zoe L; Semeraro, Hannah D; van Besouw, Rachel M; Rowan, Daniel; Lineton, Ben; Allsopp, Adrian J

2014-01-01

In order to preserve their operational effectiveness and ultimately their survival, military personnel must be able to detect important acoustic signals and maintain situational awareness. The possession of sufficient hearing ability to perform job-specific auditory tasks is defined as auditory fitness for duty (AFFD). Pure tone audiometry (PTA) is used to assess AFFD in the UK military; however, it is unclear whether PTA is able to accurately predict performance on job-specific auditory tasks. The aim of the current study was to gather information about auditory tasks carried out by infantry personnel on the frontline and the environment these tasks are performed in. The study consisted of 16 focus group interviews with an average of five participants per group. Eighty British army personnel were recruited from five infantry regiments. The focus group guideline included seven open-ended questions designed to elicit information about the auditory tasks performed on operational duty. Content analysis of the data resulted in two main themes: (1) the auditory tasks personnel are expected to perform and (2) situations where personnel felt their hearing ability was reduced. Auditory tasks were divided into subthemes of sound detection, speech communication and sound localization. Reasons for reduced performance included background noise, hearing protection and attention difficulties. The current study provided an important and novel insight to the complex auditory environment experienced by British infantry personnel and identified 17 auditory tasks carried out by personnel on operational duties. These auditory tasks will be used to inform the development of a functional AFFD test for infantry personnel.

Absence of both auditory evoked potentials and auditory percepts dependent on timing cues.

PubMed

Starr, A; McPherson, D; Patterson, J; Don, M; Luxford, W; Shannon, R; Sininger, Y; Tonakawa, L; Waring, M

1991-06-01

An 11-yr-old girl had an absence of sensory components of auditory evoked potentials (brainstem, middle and long-latency) to click and tone burst stimuli that she could clearly hear. Psychoacoustic tests revealed a marked impairment of those auditory perceptions dependent on temporal cues, that is, lateralization of binaural clicks, change of binaural masked threshold with changes in signal phase, binaural beats, detection of paired monaural clicks, monaural detection of a silent gap in a sound, and monaural threshold elevation for short duration tones. In contrast, auditory functions reflecting intensity or frequency discriminations (difference limens) were only minimally impaired. Pure tone audiometry showed a moderate (50 dB) bilateral hearing loss with a disproportionate severe loss of word intelligibility. Those auditory evoked potentials that were preserved included (1) cochlear microphonics reflecting hair cell activity; (2) cortical sustained potentials reflecting processing of slowly changing signals; and (3) long-latency cognitive components (P300, processing negativity) reflecting endogenous auditory cognitive processes. Both the evoked potential and perceptual deficits are attributed to changes in temporal encoding of acoustic signals perhaps occurring at the synapse between hair cell and eighth nerve dendrites. The results from this patient are discussed in relation to previously published cases with absent auditory evoked potentials and preserved hearing.

The Width of the Auditory Filter in Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Irwin, R. J.; And Others

1986-01-01

Because young children have poorer auditory temporal resolution than older children, a study measured the auditory filters of two 6-year-olds, two 10-year-olds, and two adults by having them detect a 400-ms sinusoid centered in a spectral notch in a band of noise. (HOD)

Can spectro-temporal complexity explain the autistic pattern of performance on auditory tasks?

PubMed

Samson, Fabienne; Mottron, Laurent; Jemel, Boutheina; Belin, Pascal; Ciocca, Valter

2006-01-01

To test the hypothesis that level of neural complexity explain the relative level of performance and brain activity in autistic individuals, available behavioural, ERP and imaging findings related to the perception of increasingly complex auditory material under various processing tasks in autism were reviewed. Tasks involving simple material (pure tones) and/or low-level operations (detection, labelling, chord disembedding, detection of pitch changes) show a superior level of performance and shorter ERP latencies. In contrast, tasks involving spectrally- and temporally-dynamic material and/or complex operations (evaluation, attention) are poorly performed by autistics, or generate inferior ERP activity or brain activation. Neural complexity required to perform auditory tasks may therefore explain pattern of performance and activation of autistic individuals during auditory tasks.

Factors that enable nurse-patient communication in a family planning context: a positive deviance study.

PubMed

Kim, Young Mi; Heerey, Michelle; Kols, Adrienne

2008-10-01

Family planning programmes in developing countries need a better understanding of nurse-patient communication in order to improve the quality of counselling. To identify factors in the clinic and in the community that enable nurses and patients to communicate effectively with one another. The study explored the personal experiences of nurses and patients who communicate especially effectively during family planning consultations (so-called "positive deviants"). Sixty-four randomly selected public clinics located in East Java, Indonesia. Seven positive deviant nurses and 32 positive deviant patients were identified from among 64 nurses and 768 patients who participated in an earlier patient coaching study. Flooding prevented 5 patients from participating in the study, reducing their number to 27. Investigators conducted: (1) a content analysis of qualitative data collected by structured in-depth interviews and focus-group discussions (FGDs) with positive deviant nurses and patients, and (2) analyses of variance (ANOVA) of quantitative data on clinic, nurse, and patient characteristics. Positive deviant nurses identified four factors, listed in rough order of importance, that helped them communicate effectively: independent study to strengthen their knowledge and skills; communication aids; feedback from colleagues; and motivation stemming from a desire to help people, patients' appreciation, husband's support, and increased income. Positive deviant patients identified five enabling factors: motivation due to their need for a service; confidence in their own communication skills; positive feedback from nurses; belief in patients' right and responsibility to communicate with nurses; and communication aids. Insights from positive deviant nurses and patients suggest that efforts to improve nurse-patient communication should go beyond conventional communication skills training. Managers should consider a mix of clinic-based interventions (such as peer feedback, communication aids, and better management of patient flow) and community-based interventions (such as patient education and mass media).

Satiation therapy: a procedure for reducing deviant sexual arousal.

PubMed Central

Marshall, W L

1979-01-01

Two single-case experiments demonstrated the efficacy of satiation therapy with adult males who had long-standing deviant sexual interests. The procedure involves the pairing of prolonged masturbation (1 hour) with the verbalization by the patient of his deviant sexual fantasies and in both cases the designs permitted the attribution of control over aberrant responding to the satiation therapy. The results are discussed in terms of the possible active ingredients of the procedure. PMID:511807

Susceptibility to peer influence: using a performance-based measure to identify adolescent males at heightened risk for deviant peer socialization.

PubMed

Prinstein, Mitchell J; Brechwald, Whitney A; Cohen, Geoffrey L

2011-07-01

A substantial amount of research has suggested that adolescents' attitudes and behaviors are influenced by peers; however, little is known regarding adolescents' individual variability, or susceptibility, to peer influence. In this study, a performance-based index from an experimental paradigm was used to directly measure adolescents' susceptibility to peers. A total of 36 adolescent boys participated in a "chat room" experiment in which they ostensibly were exposed to deviant or risky social norms communicated either by high-peer-status (i.e., popular, well-liked) or low-peer-status (i.e., unpopular, disliked) grade mates who actually were electronic confederates. Changes in adolescents' responses before and after exposure to peer norms were used as a measure of peer influence susceptibility. These same adolescents completed a questionnaire assessment at the study outset and again 18 months later to assess their actual engagement in deviant behavior and their perceptions of their best friend's engagement in deviant behavior. Only among adolescents with high levels of susceptibility to high-status peers was a significant longitudinal association revealed between their best friend's baseline deviant behavior and adolescents' own deviant behavior 18 months later. Findings support the predictive validity of a performance-based susceptibility measure and suggest that adolescents' peer influence susceptibility may generalize across peer contexts. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved

Family and Peer Predictors of Substance Use From Early Adolescence to Early Adulthood: An 11-Year Prospective Analysis

PubMed Central

Van Ryzin, Mark J.; Fosco, Gregory M.; Dishion, Thomas J.

2012-01-01

The focus of this study was social (i.e., family and peer) influences on substance use from early adolescence to early adulthood. A large, ethnically diverse sample of early adolescents (N = 998) was followed from age 12 to age 23. We tested direct and indirect effects of parental monitoring, family relationship quality, and association with deviant peers on change in substance use across time. Outcomes for tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use were analyzed as separate pathways within the same overall model. The results suggest that a significant shift in the nature of family influence occurred across adolescence and into early adulthood, but deviant peer influence was relatively consistent across this period. Specifically, parental monitoring and deviant peer association were predictive of substance use in early adolescence, but family relationship quality was a significant predictor across the transition to high school and generally continued to predict use into later adolescence, as did association with deviant peers. Deviant peers were the only significant predictor in early adulthood. Our results also suggested that parental monitoring and family relationship quality indirectly predicted later substance use by way of deviant peers, implying that an important aspect of the family context is its influence on choice of friends and peer group composition. Implications for family-based prevention and intervention are discussed. PMID:22958864

Dyadic Coregulation and Deviant Talk in Adolescent Friendships: Interaction Patterns Associated With Problematic Substance Use in Early Adulthood

PubMed Central

Piehler, Timothy F.; Dishion, Thomas J.

2014-01-01

In a sample of 711 ethnically diverse adolescents, the observed interpersonal dynamics of dyadic adolescent friendship interactions were coded to predict early adulthood tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use. Deviant discussion content within the interactions was coded along with dyadic coregulation (i.e., interpersonal coordination, attention synchrony). Structural equation modeling revealed that, as expected, deviant content in adolescent interactions at age 16–17 years was strongly predictive of problematic use of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana at ages 22 and 23. Although dyadic coregulation was not directly predictive of early adulthood substance use, it did moderate the impact of deviant talk within the dyad on future alcohol and marijuana use. For these substances, high levels of dyadic coregulation increased the risk associated with high levels of deviant talk for problematic use in early adulthood. Results held when comparing across genders and across ethnic groups. The results suggest that these interpersonal dynamics are associated with developmental trajectories of risk for or resilience to peer influence processes. PMID:24188039

Dyadic coregulation and deviant talk in adolescent friendships: interaction patterns associated with problematic substance use in early adulthood.

PubMed

Piehler, Timothy F; Dishion, Thomas J

2014-04-01

In a sample of 711 ethnically diverse adolescents, the observed interpersonal dynamics of dyadic adolescent friendship interactions were coded to predict early adulthood tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use. Deviant discussion content within the interactions was coded along with dyadic coregulation (i.e., interpersonal coordination, attention synchrony). Structural equation modeling revealed that, as expected, deviant content in adolescent interactions at age 16-17 years was strongly predictive of problematic use of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana at ages 22 and 23. Although dyadic coregulation was not directly predictive of early adulthood substance use, it did moderate the impact of deviant talk within the dyad on future alcohol and marijuana use. For these substances, high levels of dyadic coregulation increased the risk associated with high levels of deviant talk for problematic use in early adulthood. Results held when comparing across genders and across ethnic groups. The results suggest that these interpersonal dynamics are associated with developmental trajectories of risk for or resilience to peer influence processes. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Musical expertise and foreign speech perception

PubMed Central

Martínez-Montes, Eduardo; Hernández-Pérez, Heivet; Chobert, Julie; Morgado-Rodríguez, Lisbet; Suárez-Murias, Carlos; Valdés-Sosa, Pedro A.; Besson, Mireille

2013-01-01

The aim of this experiment was to investigate the influence of musical expertise on the automatic perception of foreign syllables and harmonic sounds. Participants were Cuban students with high level of expertise in music or in visual arts and with the same level of general education and socio-economic background. We used a multi-feature Mismatch Negativity (MMN) design with sequences of either syllables in Mandarin Chinese or harmonic sounds, both comprising deviants in pitch contour, duration and Voice Onset Time (VOT) or equivalent that were either far from (Large deviants) or close to (Small deviants) the standard. For both Mandarin syllables and harmonic sounds, results were clear-cut in showing larger MMNs to pitch contour deviants in musicians than in visual artists. Results were less clear for duration and VOT deviants, possibly because of the specific characteristics of the stimuli. Results are interpreted as reflecting similar processing of pitch contour in speech and non-speech sounds. The implications of these results for understanding the influence of intense musical training from childhood to adulthood and of genetic predispositions for music on foreign language perception are discussed. PMID:24294193

Emotional reactions to deviance in groups: the relation between number of angry reactions, felt rejection, and conformity

PubMed Central

Heerdink, Marc W.; van Kleef, Gerben A.; Homan, Astrid C.; Fischer, Agneta H.

2015-01-01

How many members of a group need to express their anger in order to influence a deviant group member’s behavior? In two studies, we examine whether an increase in number of angry group members affects the extent to which a deviant individual feels rejected, and we investigate downstream effects on conformity. We show that each additional angry reaction linearly increases the extent to which a deviant individual feels rejected, and that this relation is independent of the total number of majority members (Study 1). This felt rejection is then shown to lead to anti-conformity unless two conditions are met: (1) the deviant is motivated to seek reacceptance in the group, and (2) conformity is instrumental in gaining reacceptance because it is observable by the majority (Study 2). These findings show that angry reactions are likely to trigger anti-conformity in a deviant, but they are also consistent with a motivational account of conformity, in which conformity is strategic behavior aimed at gaining reacceptance from the group. PMID:26124742

Musical expertise and foreign speech perception.

PubMed

Martínez-Montes, Eduardo; Hernández-Pérez, Heivet; Chobert, Julie; Morgado-Rodríguez, Lisbet; Suárez-Murias, Carlos; Valdés-Sosa, Pedro A; Besson, Mireille

2013-01-01

The aim of this experiment was to investigate the influence of musical expertise on the automatic perception of foreign syllables and harmonic sounds. Participants were Cuban students with high level of expertise in music or in visual arts and with the same level of general education and socio-economic background. We used a multi-feature Mismatch Negativity (MMN) design with sequences of either syllables in Mandarin Chinese or harmonic sounds, both comprising deviants in pitch contour, duration and Voice Onset Time (VOT) or equivalent that were either far from (Large deviants) or close to (Small deviants) the standard. For both Mandarin syllables and harmonic sounds, results were clear-cut in showing larger MMNs to pitch contour deviants in musicians than in visual artists. Results were less clear for duration and VOT deviants, possibly because of the specific characteristics of the stimuli. Results are interpreted as reflecting similar processing of pitch contour in speech and non-speech sounds. The implications of these results for understanding the influence of intense musical training from childhood to adulthood and of genetic predispositions for music on foreign language perception are discussed.

Emotional reactions to deviance in groups: the relation between number of angry reactions, felt rejection, and conformity.

PubMed

Heerdink, Marc W; van Kleef, Gerben A; Homan, Astrid C; Fischer, Agneta H

2015-01-01

How many members of a group need to express their anger in order to influence a deviant group member's behavior? In two studies, we examine whether an increase in number of angry group members affects the extent to which a deviant individual feels rejected, and we investigate downstream effects on conformity. We show that each additional angry reaction linearly increases the extent to which a deviant individual feels rejected, and that this relation is independent of the total number of majority members (Study 1). This felt rejection is then shown to lead to anti-conformity unless two conditions are met: (1) the deviant is motivated to seek reacceptance in the group, and (2) conformity is instrumental in gaining reacceptance because it is observable by the majority (Study 2). These findings show that angry reactions are likely to trigger anti-conformity in a deviant, but they are also consistent with a motivational account of conformity, in which conformity is strategic behavior aimed at gaining reacceptance from the group.

Mechanism of auditory hypersensitivity in human autism using autism model rats.

PubMed

Ida-Eto, Michiru; Hara, Nao; Ohkawara, Takeshi; Narita, Masaaki

2017-04-01

Auditory hypersensitivity is one of the major complications in autism spectrum disorder. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the auditory brain center is affected in autism model rats. Autism model rats were prepared by prenatal exposure to thalidomide on embryonic day 9 and 10 in pregnant rats. The superior olivary complex (SOC), a complex of auditory nuclei, was immunostained with anti-calbindin d28k antibody at postnatal day 50. In autism model rats, SOC immunoreactivity was markedly decreased. Strength of immunostaining of SOC auditory fibers was also weak in autism model rats. Surprisingly, the size of the medial nucleus of trapezoid body, a nucleus exerting inhibitory function in SOC, was significantly decreased in autism model rats. Auditory hypersensitivity may be, in part, due to impairment of inhibitory processing by the auditory brain center. © 2016 Japan Pediatric Society.

Directional Effects between Rapid Auditory Processing and Phonological Awareness in Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Erin Phinney; Pennington, Bruce F.; Lee, Nancy Raitano; Boada, Richard

2009-01-01

Background: Deficient rapid auditory processing (RAP) has been associated with early language impairment and dyslexia. Using an auditory masking paradigm, children with language disabilities perform selectively worse than controls at detecting a tone in a backward masking (BM) condition (tone followed by white noise) compared to a forward masking…

Responses of auditory-cortex neurons to structural features of natural sounds.

PubMed

Nelken, I; Rotman, Y; Bar Yosef, O

1999-01-14

Sound-processing strategies that use the highly non-random structure of natural sounds may confer evolutionary advantage to many species. Auditory processing of natural sounds has been studied almost exclusively in the context of species-specific vocalizations, although these form only a small part of the acoustic biotope. To study the relationships between properties of natural soundscapes and neuronal processing mechanisms in the auditory system, we analysed sound from a range of different environments. Here we show that for many non-animal sounds and background mixtures of animal sounds, energy in different frequency bands is coherently modulated. Co-modulation of different frequency bands in background noise facilitates the detection of tones in noise by humans, a phenomenon known as co-modulation masking release (CMR). We show that co-modulation also improves the ability of auditory-cortex neurons to detect tones in noise, and we propose that this property of auditory neurons may underlie behavioural CMR. This correspondence may represent an adaptation of the auditory system for the use of an attribute of natural sounds to facilitate real-world processing tasks.

Temporal processing and long-latency auditory evoked potential in stutterers.

PubMed

Prestes, Raquel; de Andrade, Adriana Neves; Santos, Renata Beatriz Fernandes; Marangoni, Andrea Tortosa; Schiefer, Ana Maria; Gil, Daniela

Stuttering is a speech fluency disorder, and may be associated with neuroaudiological factors linked to central auditory processing, including changes in auditory processing skills and temporal resolution. To characterize the temporal processing and long-latency auditory evoked potential in stutterers and to compare them with non-stutterers. The study included 41 right-handed subjects, aged 18-46 years, divided into two groups: stutterers (n=20) and non-stutters (n=21), compared according to age, education, and sex. All subjects were submitted to the duration pattern tests, random gap detection test, and long-latency auditory evoked potential. Individuals who stutter showed poorer performance on Duration Pattern and Random Gap Detection tests when compared with fluent individuals. In the long-latency auditory evoked potential, there was a difference in the latency of N2 and P3 components; stutterers had higher latency values. Stutterers have poor performance in temporal processing and higher latency values for N2 and P3 components. Copyright © 2017 Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Automated cortical auditory evoked potentials threshold estimation in neonates.

PubMed

Oliveira, Lilian Sanches; Didoné, Dayane Domeneghini; Durante, Alessandra Spada

2018-02-02

The evaluation of Cortical Auditory Evoked Potential has been the focus of scientific studies in infants. Some authors have reported that automated response detection is effective in exploring these potentials in infants, but few have reported their efficacy in the search for thresholds. To analyze the latency, amplitude and thresholds of Cortical Auditory Evoked Potential using an automatic response detection device in a neonatal population. This is a cross-sectional, observational study. Cortical Auditory Evoked Potentials were recorded in response to pure-tone stimuli of the frequencies 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000Hz presented in an intensity range between 0 and 80dB HL using a single channel recording. P1 was performed in an exclusively automated fashion, using Hotelling's T 2 statistical test. The latency and amplitude were obtained manually by three examiners. The study comprised 39 neonates up to 28 days old of both sexes with presence of otoacoustic emissions and no risk factors for hearing loss. With the protocol used, Cortical Auditory Evoked Potential responses were detected in all subjects at high intensity and thresholds. The mean thresholds were 24.8±10.4dB NA, 25±9.0dB NA, 28±7.8dB NA and 29.4±6.6dB HL for 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000Hz, respectively. Reliable responses were obtained in the assessment of cortical auditory potentials in the neonates assessed with a device for automatic response detection. Copyright © 2018 Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Increased Amplitude of the P3a ERP Component as a Neurocognitive Marker for Differentiating Amnestic Subtypes of Mild Cognitive Impairment.

PubMed

Correa-Jaraba, Kenia S; Lindín, Mónica; Díaz, Fernando

2018-01-01

The event-related potential (ERP) technique has been shown to be useful for evaluating changes in brain electrical activity associated with different cognitive processes, particularly in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Longitudinal studies have shown that a high proportion of people with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) go on to develop AD. aMCI is divided into two subtypes according to the presence of memory impairment only (single-domain aMCI: sdaMCI) or impairment of memory and other cognitive domains (multi-domain aMCI: mdaMCI). The main aim of this study was to examine the effects of sdaMCI and mdaMCI on the P3a ERP component associated with the involuntary orientation of attention toward unattended infrequent novel auditory stimuli. Participants performed an auditory-visual distraction-attention task, in which they were asked to ignore the auditory stimuli (standard, deviant, and novel) and to attend to the visual stimuli (responding to some of them: Go stimuli). P3a was identified in the Novel minus Standard difference waveforms, and reaction times (RTs) and hits (in response to Go stimuli) were also analyzed. Participants were classified into three groups: Control, 20 adults (mean age (M): 65.8 years); sdaMCI, 19 adults (M: 67 years); and mdaMCI, 11 adults (M: 71 years). In all groups, the RTs were significantly longer when Go stimuli were preceded by novel (relative to standard) auditory stimuli, suggesting a distraction effect triggered by novel stimuli; mdaMCI participants made significantly fewer hits than control and sdaMCI participants. P3a comprised two consecutive phases in all groups: early-P3a (e-P3a), which may reflect the orienting response toward the irrelevant stimuli, and late-P3a (l-P3a), which may be a correlate of subsequent evaluation of these stimuli. The e-P3a amplitude was significantly larger in mdaMCI than in sdaMCI participants, and the l-P3a amplitude was significantly larger in mdaMCI than in sdaMCI and Control participants, indicating greater involuntary capture of attention to unattended novel auditory stimuli and allocation of more attentional resources for the subsequent evaluation of these stimuli in mdaMCI participants. The e-P3a and l-P3a components showed moderate to high sensitivity and specificity for distinguishing between groups, suggesting that both may represent optimal neurocognitive markers for differentiating aMCI subtypes.

Increased Amplitude of the P3a ERP Component as a Neurocognitive Marker for Differentiating Amnestic Subtypes of Mild Cognitive Impairment

PubMed Central

Correa-Jaraba, Kenia S.; Lindín, Mónica; Díaz, Fernando

2018-01-01

The event-related potential (ERP) technique has been shown to be useful for evaluating changes in brain electrical activity associated with different cognitive processes, particularly in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Longitudinal studies have shown that a high proportion of people with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) go on to develop AD. aMCI is divided into two subtypes according to the presence of memory impairment only (single-domain aMCI: sdaMCI) or impairment of memory and other cognitive domains (multi-domain aMCI: mdaMCI). The main aim of this study was to examine the effects of sdaMCI and mdaMCI on the P3a ERP component associated with the involuntary orientation of attention toward unattended infrequent novel auditory stimuli. Participants performed an auditory-visual distraction-attention task, in which they were asked to ignore the auditory stimuli (standard, deviant, and novel) and to attend to the visual stimuli (responding to some of them: Go stimuli). P3a was identified in the Novel minus Standard difference waveforms, and reaction times (RTs) and hits (in response to Go stimuli) were also analyzed. Participants were classified into three groups: Control, 20 adults (mean age (M): 65.8 years); sdaMCI, 19 adults (M: 67 years); and mdaMCI, 11 adults (M: 71 years). In all groups, the RTs were significantly longer when Go stimuli were preceded by novel (relative to standard) auditory stimuli, suggesting a distraction effect triggered by novel stimuli; mdaMCI participants made significantly fewer hits than control and sdaMCI participants. P3a comprised two consecutive phases in all groups: early-P3a (e-P3a), which may reflect the orienting response toward the irrelevant stimuli, and late-P3a (l-P3a), which may be a correlate of subsequent evaluation of these stimuli. The e-P3a amplitude was significantly larger in mdaMCI than in sdaMCI participants, and the l-P3a amplitude was significantly larger in mdaMCI than in sdaMCI and Control participants, indicating greater involuntary capture of attention to unattended novel auditory stimuli and allocation of more attentional resources for the subsequent evaluation of these stimuli in mdaMCI participants. The e-P3a and l-P3a components showed moderate to high sensitivity and specificity for distinguishing between groups, suggesting that both may represent optimal neurocognitive markers for differentiating aMCI subtypes. PMID:29483869

The effect of psychological stress and expectation on auditory perception: A signal detection analysis.

PubMed

Hoskin, Robert; Hunter, Mike D; Woodruff, Peter W R

2014-11-01

Both psychological stress and predictive signals relating to expected sensory input are believed to influence perception, an influence which, when disrupted, may contribute to the generation of auditory hallucinations. The effect of stress and semantic expectation on auditory perception was therefore examined in healthy participants using an auditory signal detection task requiring the detection of speech from within white noise. Trait anxiety was found to predict the extent to which stress influenced response bias, resulting in more anxious participants adopting a more liberal criterion, and therefore experiencing more false positives, when under stress. While semantic expectation was found to increase sensitivity, its presence also generated a shift in response bias towards reporting a signal, suggesting that the erroneous perception of speech became more likely. These findings provide a potential cognitive mechanism that may explain the impact of stress on hallucination-proneness, by suggesting that stress has the tendency to alter response bias in highly anxious individuals. These results also provide support for the idea that top-down processes such as those relating to semantic expectation may contribute to the generation of auditory hallucinations. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

Auditory Temporal Resolution in Individuals with Diabetes Mellitus Type 2.

PubMed

Mishra, Rajkishor; Sanju, Himanshu Kumar; Kumar, Prawin

2016-10-01

Introduction  "Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by elevated blood sugar and abnormalities in insulin secretion and action" (American Diabetes Association). Previous literature has reported connection between diabetes mellitus and hearing impairment. There is a dearth of literature on auditory temporal resolution ability in individuals with diabetes mellitus type 2. Objective  The main objective of the present study was to assess auditory temporal resolution ability through GDT (Gap Detection Threshold) in individuals with diabetes mellitus type 2 with high frequency hearing loss. Methods  Fifteen subjects with diabetes mellitus type 2 with high frequency hearing loss in the age range of 30 to 40 years participated in the study as the experimental group. Fifteen age-matched non-diabetic individuals with normal hearing served as the control group. We administered the Gap Detection Threshold (GDT) test to all participants to assess their temporal resolution ability. Result  We used the independent t -test to compare between groups. Results showed that the diabetic group (experimental) performed significantly poorer compared with the non-diabetic group (control). Conclusion  It is possible to conclude that widening of auditory filters and changes in the central auditory nervous system contributed to poorer performance for temporal resolution task (Gap Detection Threshold) in individuals with diabetes mellitus type 2. Findings of the present study revealed the deteriorating effect of diabetes mellitus type 2 at the central auditory processing level.

Large-Scale Analysis of Auditory Segregation Behavior Crowdsourced via a Smartphone App.

PubMed

Teki, Sundeep; Kumar, Sukhbinder; Griffiths, Timothy D

2016-01-01

The human auditory system is adept at detecting sound sources of interest from a complex mixture of several other simultaneous sounds. The ability to selectively attend to the speech of one speaker whilst ignoring other speakers and background noise is of vital biological significance-the capacity to make sense of complex 'auditory scenes' is significantly impaired in aging populations as well as those with hearing loss. We investigated this problem by designing a synthetic signal, termed the 'stochastic figure-ground' stimulus that captures essential aspects of complex sounds in the natural environment. Previously, we showed that under controlled laboratory conditions, young listeners sampled from the university subject pool (n = 10) performed very well in detecting targets embedded in the stochastic figure-ground signal. Here, we presented a modified version of this cocktail party paradigm as a 'game' featured in a smartphone app (The Great Brain Experiment) and obtained data from a large population with diverse demographical patterns (n = 5148). Despite differences in paradigms and experimental settings, the observed target-detection performance by users of the app was robust and consistent with our previous results from the psychophysical study. Our results highlight the potential use of smartphone apps in capturing robust large-scale auditory behavioral data from normal healthy volunteers, which can also be extended to study auditory deficits in clinical populations with hearing impairments and central auditory disorders.

A sound advantage: Increased auditory capacity in autism.

PubMed

Remington, Anna; Fairnie, Jake

2017-09-01

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has an intriguing auditory processing profile. Individuals show enhanced pitch discrimination, yet often find seemingly innocuous sounds distressing. This study used two behavioural experiments to examine whether an increased capacity for processing sounds in ASD could underlie both the difficulties and enhanced abilities found in the auditory domain. Autistic and non-autistic young adults performed a set of auditory detection and identification tasks designed to tax processing capacity and establish the extent of perceptual capacity in each population. Tasks were constructed to highlight both the benefits and disadvantages of increased capacity. Autistic people were better at detecting additional unexpected and expected sounds (increased distraction and superior performance respectively). This suggests that they have increased auditory perceptual capacity relative to non-autistic people. This increased capacity may offer an explanation for the auditory superiorities seen in autism (e.g. heightened pitch detection). Somewhat counter-intuitively, this same 'skill' could result in the sensory overload that is often reported - which subsequently can interfere with social communication. Reframing autistic perceptual processing in terms of increased capacity, rather than a filtering deficit or inability to maintain focus, increases our understanding of this complex condition, and has important practical implications that could be used to develop intervention programs to minimise the distress that is often seen in response to sensory stimuli. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Detection of auditory impairment in the offsprings caused by drug treatment of the dams].

PubMed

Kameyama, T; Nabeshima, T; Itoh, J

1982-12-01

To study the auditory impairment induced by prenatal administration of aminoglycosides in the offspring, the shuttle box method to measure the auditory threshold of rats (Kameyama et al., Folia pharmacol. japon. 77, 15, 1981) was employed. Four groups of pregnant rats were administered 200 mg/kg kanamycin sulfate (KM), 200 mg/kg dihydrostreptomycin sulfate (DHSM), 100 mg/kg neomycin sulfate (NM), or 1 ml/kg saline intramuscularly from the 10th to the 19th day of pregnancy. The auditory threshold of the offspring could be measured by the shuttle box method in about 90% of the live born rats at the age of 100 days. The auditory thresholds of the groups were as follows (mean +/- S.E.): saline group, 53.8 +/- 0.6 dB (N = 36); KM group, 63.8 +/- 1.1 dB (N = 34); DHSM group, 60.0 +/- 1.2 dB (N = 29); NM group, 62.4 +/- 1.2 dB (N = 24). Auditory thresholds of drug-treated groups were significantly higher than that of the saline group. However, no increase in the auditory threshold of the mother rat was detected after treatment with aminoglycosides. In addition, the experimental procedure of the shuttle box method is very easy, and the auditory threshold of a large number of rats could be measured in a short period. These findings suggest that this method is a very useful one for screening for auditory impairment induced by prenatal drug treatment in rat offspring.

Seeing the Song: Left Auditory Structures May Track Auditory-Visual Dynamic Alignment

PubMed Central

Mossbridge, Julia A.; Grabowecky, Marcia; Suzuki, Satoru

2013-01-01

Auditory and visual signals generated by a single source tend to be temporally correlated, such as the synchronous sounds of footsteps and the limb movements of a walker. Continuous tracking and comparison of the dynamics of auditory-visual streams is thus useful for the perceptual binding of information arising from a common source. Although language-related mechanisms have been implicated in the tracking of speech-related auditory-visual signals (e.g., speech sounds and lip movements), it is not well known what sensory mechanisms generally track ongoing auditory-visual synchrony for non-speech signals in a complex auditory-visual environment. To begin to address this question, we used music and visual displays that varied in the dynamics of multiple features (e.g., auditory loudness and pitch; visual luminance, color, size, motion, and organization) across multiple time scales. Auditory activity (monitored using auditory steady-state responses, ASSR) was selectively reduced in the left hemisphere when the music and dynamic visual displays were temporally misaligned. Importantly, ASSR was not affected when attentional engagement with the music was reduced, or when visual displays presented dynamics clearly dissimilar to the music. These results appear to suggest that left-lateralized auditory mechanisms are sensitive to auditory-visual temporal alignment, but perhaps only when the dynamics of auditory and visual streams are similar. These mechanisms may contribute to correct auditory-visual binding in a busy sensory environment. PMID:24194873

Dynamic crossmodal links revealed by steady-state responses in auditory-visual divided attention.

PubMed

de Jong, Ritske; Toffanin, Paolo; Harbers, Marten

2010-01-01

Frequency tagging has been often used to study intramodal attention but not intermodal attention. We used EEG and simultaneous frequency tagging of auditory and visual sources to study intermodal focused and divided attention in detection and discrimination performance. Divided-attention costs were smaller, but still significant, in detection than in discrimination. The auditory steady-state response (SSR) showed no effects of attention at frontocentral locations, but did so at occipital locations where it was evident only when attention was divided between audition and vision. Similarly, the visual SSR at occipital locations was substantially enhanced when attention was divided across modalities. Both effects were equally present in detection and discrimination. We suggest that both effects reflect a common cause: An attention-dependent influence of auditory information processing on early cortical stages of visual information processing, mediated by enhanced effective connectivity between the two modalities under conditions of divided attention. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Value of cumulative electrodermal responses in subliminal auditory perception. A preliminary study].

PubMed

Borgeat, F; Pannetier, M F

1982-01-01

This exploratory study examined the usefulness of averaging electrodermal potential responses for research on subliminal auditory perception. Eighteen female subjects were exposed to three kinds (emotional, neutral and 1000 Hz tone) of auditory stimulation which were repeated six times at three intensities (detection threshold, 10 dB under this threshold and 10 dB above identification threshold). Analysis of electrodermal potential responses showed that the number of responses was related to the emotionality of subliminal stimuli presented at detection threshold but not at 10 dB under it. The data interpretation proposed refers to perceptual defence theory. This study indicates that electrodermal response count constitutes a useful measure for subliminal auditory perception research, but averaging those responses was not shown to bring additional information.

Distributed Mobile Device Based Shooter Detection Simulation

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-01

three signatures of a gunshot ( muzzle flash [optical], muzzle blast [auditory], and shock wave [auditory]), we focus only on information from the...bullet, while this proximity is important when using information from the shock wave. Detecting and using the muzzle flash would require accurate...Additionally, the mobile device would need to be aimed towards the blast to even have a chance detect the muzzle flash . 2.1 Single Microphone When a sound is

Visual processing of emotional expressions in mixed anxious-depressed subclinical state: an event-related potential study on a female sample.

PubMed

Rossignol, M; Philippot, P; Crommelinck, M; Campanella, S

2008-10-01

Controversy remains about the existence and the nature of a specific bias in emotional facial expression processing in mixed anxious-depressed state (MAD). Event-related potentials were recorded in the following three types of groups defined by the Spielberger state and trait anxiety inventory (STAI) and the Beck depression inventory (BDI): a group of anxious participants (n=12), a group of participants with depressive and anxious tendencies (n=12), and a control group (n=12). Participants were confronted with a visual oddball task in which they had to detect, as quickly as possible, deviant faces amongst a train of standard neutral faces. Deviant stimuli changed either on identity, or on emotion (happy or sad expression). Anxiety facilitated emotional processing and the two anxious groups produced quicker responses than control participants; these effects were correlated with an earlier decisional wave (P3b) for anxious participants. Mixed anxious-depressed participants showed enhanced visual processing of deviant stimuli and produced higher amplitude in attentional complex (N2b/P3a), both for identity and emotional trials. P3a was also particularly increased for emotional faces in this group. Anxious state mainly influenced later decision processes (shorter latency of P3b), whereas mixed anxious-depressed state acted on earlier steps of emotional processing (enhanced N2b/P3a complex). Mixed anxious-depressed individuals seemed more reactive to any visual change, particularly emotional change, without displaying any valence bias.

A dual-process account of auditory change detection.

PubMed

McAnally, Ken I; Martin, Russell L; Eramudugolla, Ranmalee; Stuart, Geoffrey W; Irvine, Dexter R F; Mattingley, Jason B

2010-08-01

Listeners can be "deaf" to a substantial change in a scene comprising multiple auditory objects unless their attention has been directed to the changed object. It is unclear whether auditory change detection relies on identification of the objects in pre- and post-change scenes. We compared the rates at which listeners correctly identify changed objects with those predicted by change-detection models based on signal detection theory (SDT) and high-threshold theory (HTT). Detected changes were not identified as accurately as predicted by models based on either theory, suggesting that some changes are detected by a process that does not support change identification. Undetected changes were identified as accurately as predicted by the HTT model but much less accurately than predicted by the SDT models. The process underlying change detection was investigated further by determining receiver-operating characteristics (ROCs). ROCs did not conform to those predicted by either a SDT or a HTT model but were well modeled by a dual-process that incorporated HTT and SDT components. The dual-process model also accurately predicted the rates at which detected and undetected changes were correctly identified.

Revisiting Arieti's “Listening Attitude” and Hallucinated Voices

PubMed Central

Hoffman, Ralph E.

2010-01-01

Silvano Arieti proposed that auditory/verbal hallucinations (AVHs) are triggered by momentary states of heightened auditory attention that he identified as a “listening attitude.” Studies and clinical observations by our group support this view. Patients enrolled in our repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation trials, if experiencing a significant curtailment of these hallucinations, often report an episodic sense that their voices are still occurring even if they no longer can be heard, suggesting episodic states of heightened auditory expectancy. Moreover, a functional magnetic resonance study reported by our group detected activation in the left insula prior to hallucination events. This finding is suggestive of activation in the same region detected in healthy subjects during “auditory search” in response to ambiguous sounds when anticipating meaningful speech. AVHs often are experienced with a deep emotional salience and may occur in the context of dramatic social isolation that together could reinforce heightened auditory expectancy. These findings and clinical observations suggest that Arieti's original formulation deserves further study. PMID:20363873

Developmental Emergence of Phenotypes in the Auditory Brainstem Nuclei of Fmr1 Knockout Mice

PubMed Central

Rotschafer, Sarah E.

2017-01-01

Abstract Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common monogenic cause of autism, is often associated with hypersensitivity to sound. Several studies have shown abnormalities in the auditory brainstem in FXS; however, the emergence of these auditory phenotypes during development has not been described. Here, we investigated the development of phenotypes in FXS model [Fmr1 knockout (KO)] mice in the ventral cochlear nucleus (VCN), medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB), and lateral superior olive (LSO). We studied features of the brainstem known to be altered in FXS or Fmr1 KO mice, including cell size and expression of markers for excitatory (VGLUT) and inhibitory (VGAT) synapses. We found that cell size was reduced in the nuclei with different time courses. VCN cell size is normal until after hearing onset, while MNTB and LSO show decreases earlier. VGAT expression was elevated relative to VGLUT in the Fmr1 KO mouse MNTB by P6, before hearing onset. Because glial cells influence development and are altered in FXS, we investigated their emergence in the developing Fmr1 KO brainstem. The number of microglia developed normally in all three nuclei in Fmr1 KO mice, but we found elevated numbers of astrocytes in Fmr1 KO in VCN and LSO at P14. The results indicate that some phenotypes are evident before spontaneous or auditory activity, while others emerge later, and suggest that Fmr1 acts at multiple sites and time points in auditory system development. PMID:29291238

Strain differences of the effect of enucleation and anophthalmia on the size and growth of sensory cortices in mice.

PubMed

Massé, Ian O; Guillemette, Sonia; Laramée, Marie-Eve; Bronchti, Gilles; Boire, Denis

2014-11-07

Anophthalmia is a condition in which the eye does not develop from the early embryonic period. Early blindness induces cross-modal plastic modifications in the brain such as auditory and haptic activations of the visual cortex and also leads to a greater solicitation of the somatosensory and auditory cortices. The visual cortex is activated by auditory stimuli in anophthalmic mice and activity is known to alter the growth pattern of the cerebral cortex. The size of the primary visual, auditory and somatosensory cortices and of the corresponding specific sensory thalamic nuclei were measured in intact and enucleated C57Bl/6J mice and in ZRDCT anophthalmic mice (ZRDCT/An) to evaluate the contribution of cross-modal activity on the growth of the cerebral cortex. In addition, the size of these structures were compared in intact, enucleated and anophthalmic fourth generation backcrossed hybrid C57Bl/6J×ZRDCT/An mice to parse out the effects of mouse strains and of the different visual deprivations. The visual cortex was smaller in the anophthalmic ZRDCT/An than in the intact and enucleated C57Bl/6J mice. Also the auditory cortex was larger and the somatosensory cortex smaller in the ZRDCT/An than in the intact and enucleated C57Bl/6J mice. The size differences of sensory cortices between the enucleated and anophthalmic mice were no longer present in the hybrid mice, showing specific genetic differences between C57Bl/6J and ZRDCT mice. The post natal size increase of the visual cortex was less in the enucleated than in the anophthalmic and intact hybrid mice. This suggests differences in the activity of the visual cortex between enucleated and anophthalmic mice and that early in-utero spontaneous neural activity in the visual system contributes to the shaping of functional properties of cortical networks. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Note: Unshielded bilateral magnetoencephalography system using two-dimensional gradiometers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seki, Yusuke; Kandori, Akihiko; Ogata, Kuniomi; Miyashita, Tsuyoshi; Kumagai, Yukio; Ohnuma, Mitsuru; Konaka, Kuni; Naritomi, Hiroaki

2010-09-01

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) noninvasively measures neuronal activity with high temporal resolution. The aim of this study was to develop a new type of MEG system that can measure bilateral MEG waveforms without a magnetically shielded room, which is an obstacle to reducing both the cost and size of an MEG system. An unshielded bilateral MEG system was developed using four two-dimensional (2D) gradiometers and two symmetric cryostats. The 2D gradiometer, which is based on a low-Tc superconducting quantum interference device and wire-wound pickup coil detects a magnetic-field gradient in two orthogonal directions, or ∂/∂x(∂2Bz/∂z2), and reduces environmental magnetic-field noise by more than 50 dB. The cryostats can be symmetrically positioned in three directions: vertical, horizontal, and rotational. This makes it possible to detect bilateral neuronal activity in the cerebral cortex simultaneously. Bilateral auditory-evoked fields (AEF) of 18 elderly subjects were measured in an unshielded hospital environment using the MEG system. As a result, both the ipsilateral and the contralateral AEF component N100m, which is the magnetic counterpart of electric N100 in electroencephalography and appears about 100 ms after the onset of an auditory stimulus, were successfully detected for all the subjects. Moreover, the ipsilateral P50m and the contralateral P50m were also detected for 12 (67%) and 16 (89%) subjects, respectively. Experimental results demonstrate that the unshielded bilateral MEG system can detect MEG waveforms, which are associated with brain dysfunction such as epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, and Down syndrome.

[Deviation in psychosexual development in the pre-puberty children].

PubMed

Liavshina, G Kh

2002-01-01

Psychosexual health of 308 children, aged 2-11 years, as well as that of their families, was studied. Deviations in psychosexual development were found in 34.6% of the children examined. The following types were detected: difficulties in formation of gender-determined behavior features--64.4%, precocious psychosexual development--13.7%, delayed psychosexual development--12.3%, obsessive masturbation--9.6%. Risk factors for deviant psychosexual development were found.

Reduced auditory processing capacity during vocalization in children with Selective Mutism.

PubMed

Arie, Miri; Henkin, Yael; Lamy, Dominique; Tetin-Schneider, Simona; Apter, Alan; Sadeh, Avi; Bar-Haim, Yair

2007-02-01

Because abnormal Auditory Efferent Activity (AEA) is associated with auditory distortions during vocalization, we tested whether auditory processing is impaired during vocalization in children with Selective Mutism (SM). Participants were children with SM and abnormal AEA, children with SM and normal AEA, and normally speaking controls, who had to detect aurally presented target words embedded within word lists under two conditions: silence (single task), and while vocalizing (dual task). To ascertain specificity of auditory-vocal deficit, effects of concurrent vocalizing were also examined during a visual task. Children with SM and abnormal AEA showed impaired auditory processing during vocalization relative to children with SM and normal AEA, and relative to control children. This impairment is specific to the auditory modality and does not reflect difficulties in dual task per se. The data extends previous findings suggesting that deficient auditory processing is involved in speech selectivity in SM.

Musicians' edge: A comparison of auditory processing, cognitive abilities and statistical learning.

PubMed

Mandikal Vasuki, Pragati Rao; Sharma, Mridula; Demuth, Katherine; Arciuli, Joanne

2016-12-01

It has been hypothesized that musical expertise is associated with enhanced auditory processing and cognitive abilities. Recent research has examined the relationship between musicians' advantage and implicit statistical learning skills. In the present study, we assessed a variety of auditory processing skills, cognitive processing skills, and statistical learning (auditory and visual forms) in age-matched musicians (N = 17) and non-musicians (N = 18). Musicians had significantly better performance than non-musicians on frequency discrimination, and backward digit span. A key finding was that musicians had better auditory, but not visual, statistical learning than non-musicians. Performance on the statistical learning tasks was not correlated with performance on auditory and cognitive measures. Musicians' superior performance on auditory (but not visual) statistical learning suggests that musical expertise is associated with an enhanced ability to detect statistical regularities in auditory stimuli. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A longitudinal investigation of the associations among parenting, deviant peer affiliation, and externalizing behaviors: a monozygotic twin differences design.

PubMed

Hou, Jinqin; Chen, Zhiyan; Natsuaki, Misaki N; Li, Xinying; Yang, Xiaodong; Zhang, Jie; Zhang, Jianxin

2013-06-01

Non-shared parenting and deviant peer affiliation are linked to differences in externalizing behaviors between twins. However, few studies have examined these two non-shared environments simultaneously. The present study examined the transactional roles of differential parenting (i.e., warmth and hostility) and deviant peer affiliation on monozygotic (MZ) twin differences in externalizing behaviors using a two-wave longitudinal study of twins and their parents. The sample consisted of 520 pairs of MZ twins (46.5% males, 53.5% females), with a mean age of 13.86 years (SD = 2.10) at the T1 assessment, residing in Beijing, China. The association between non-shared hostility in parenting and adolescent externalizing behaviors was mainly explained by a child-driven effect whereby the twin with a higher level of externalizing behaviors than his or her co-twin was more likely to receive more hostility from the parents. Similarly, the relationship between deviant peer affiliation and adolescent externalizing behaviors supported the selection effect whereby the twin with a higher level of externalizing behaviors than his or her co-twin was more likely to affiliate with deviant peers. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Contingent capture of involuntary visual attention interferes with detection of auditory stimuli

PubMed Central

Kamke, Marc R.; Harris, Jill

2014-01-01

The involuntary capture of attention by salient visual stimuli can be influenced by the behavioral goals of an observer. For example, when searching for a target item, irrelevant items that possess the target-defining characteristic capture attention more strongly than items not possessing that feature. Such contingent capture involves a shift of spatial attention toward the item with the target-defining characteristic. It is not clear, however, if the associated decrements in performance for detecting the target item are entirely due to involuntary orienting of spatial attention. To investigate whether contingent capture also involves a non-spatial interference, adult observers were presented with streams of visual and auditory stimuli and were tasked with simultaneously monitoring for targets in each modality. Visual and auditory targets could be preceded by a lateralized visual distractor that either did, or did not, possess the target-defining feature (a specific color). In agreement with the contingent capture hypothesis, target-colored distractors interfered with visual detection performance (response time and accuracy) more than distractors that did not possess the target color. Importantly, the same pattern of results was obtained for the auditory task: visual target-colored distractors interfered with sound detection. The decrement in auditory performance following a target-colored distractor suggests that contingent capture involves a source of processing interference in addition to that caused by a spatial shift of attention. Specifically, we argue that distractors possessing the target-defining characteristic enter a capacity-limited, serial stage of neural processing, which delays detection of subsequently presented stimuli regardless of the sensory modality. PMID:24920945

Contingent capture of involuntary visual attention interferes with detection of auditory stimuli.

PubMed

Kamke, Marc R; Harris, Jill

2014-01-01

The involuntary capture of attention by salient visual stimuli can be influenced by the behavioral goals of an observer. For example, when searching for a target item, irrelevant items that possess the target-defining characteristic capture attention more strongly than items not possessing that feature. Such contingent capture involves a shift of spatial attention toward the item with the target-defining characteristic. It is not clear, however, if the associated decrements in performance for detecting the target item are entirely due to involuntary orienting of spatial attention. To investigate whether contingent capture also involves a non-spatial interference, adult observers were presented with streams of visual and auditory stimuli and were tasked with simultaneously monitoring for targets in each modality. Visual and auditory targets could be preceded by a lateralized visual distractor that either did, or did not, possess the target-defining feature (a specific color). In agreement with the contingent capture hypothesis, target-colored distractors interfered with visual detection performance (response time and accuracy) more than distractors that did not possess the target color. Importantly, the same pattern of results was obtained for the auditory task: visual target-colored distractors interfered with sound detection. The decrement in auditory performance following a target-colored distractor suggests that contingent capture involves a source of processing interference in addition to that caused by a spatial shift of attention. Specifically, we argue that distractors possessing the target-defining characteristic enter a capacity-limited, serial stage of neural processing, which delays detection of subsequently presented stimuli regardless of the sensory modality.

Uncovering beat deafness: detecting rhythm disorders with synchronized finger tapping and perceptual timing tasks.

PubMed

Dalla Bella, Simone; Sowiński, Jakub

2015-03-16

A set of behavioral tasks for assessing perceptual and sensorimotor timing abilities in the general population (i.e., non-musicians) is presented here with the goal of uncovering rhythm disorders, such as beat deafness. Beat deafness is characterized by poor performance in perceiving durations in auditory rhythmic patterns or poor synchronization of movement with auditory rhythms (e.g., with musical beats). These tasks include the synchronization of finger tapping to the beat of simple and complex auditory stimuli and the detection of rhythmic irregularities (anisochrony detection task) embedded in the same stimuli. These tests, which are easy to administer, include an assessment of both perceptual and sensorimotor timing abilities under different conditions (e.g., beat rates and types of auditory material) and are based on the same auditory stimuli, ranging from a simple metronome to a complex musical excerpt. The analysis of synchronized tapping data is performed with circular statistics, which provide reliable measures of synchronization accuracy (e.g., the difference between the timing of the taps and the timing of the pacing stimuli) and consistency. Circular statistics on tapping data are particularly well-suited for detecting individual differences in the general population. Synchronized tapping and anisochrony detection are sensitive measures for identifying profiles of rhythm disorders and have been used with success to uncover cases of poor synchronization with spared perceptual timing. This systematic assessment of perceptual and sensorimotor timing can be extended to populations of patients with brain damage, neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Parkinson's disease), and developmental disorders (e.g., Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).

The Contribution of Brainstem and Cerebellar Pathways to Auditory Recognition

PubMed Central

McLachlan, Neil M.; Wilson, Sarah J.

2017-01-01

The cerebellum has been known to play an important role in motor functions for many years. More recently its role has been expanded to include a range of cognitive and sensory-motor processes, and substantial neuroimaging and clinical evidence now points to cerebellar involvement in most auditory processing tasks. In particular, an increase in the size of the cerebellum over recent human evolution has been attributed in part to the development of speech. Despite this, the auditory cognition literature has largely overlooked afferent auditory connections to the cerebellum that have been implicated in acoustically conditioned reflexes in animals, and could subserve speech and other auditory processing in humans. This review expands our understanding of auditory processing by incorporating cerebellar pathways into the anatomy and functions of the human auditory system. We reason that plasticity in the cerebellar pathways underpins implicit learning of spectrotemporal information necessary for sound and speech recognition. Once learnt, this information automatically recognizes incoming auditory signals and predicts likely subsequent information based on previous experience. Since sound recognition processes involving the brainstem and cerebellum initiate early in auditory processing, learnt information stored in cerebellar memory templates could then support a range of auditory processing functions such as streaming, habituation, the integration of auditory feature information such as pitch, and the recognition of vocal communications. PMID:28373850

Stigma and Deviant Careers in Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fisher, Sethard

1972-01-01

Reports research attempting to test the labelling theory" approach to deviance by comparing a publically deviant" group of seventh, eighth, and ninth grade pupils with a similar group of pupils with no known history of delinquency. (JM)

Residual neural processing of musical sound features in adult cochlear implant users.

PubMed

Timm, Lydia; Vuust, Peter; Brattico, Elvira; Agrawal, Deepashri; Debener, Stefan; Büchner, Andreas; Dengler, Reinhard; Wittfoth, Matthias

2014-01-01

Auditory processing in general and music perception in particular are hampered in adult cochlear implant (CI) users. To examine the residual music perception skills and their underlying neural correlates in CI users implanted in adolescence or adulthood, we conducted an electrophysiological and behavioral study comparing adult CI users with normal-hearing age-matched controls (NH controls). We used a newly developed musical multi-feature paradigm, which makes it possible to test automatic auditory discrimination of six different types of sound feature changes inserted within a musical enriched setting lasting only 20 min. The presentation of stimuli did not require the participants' attention, allowing the study of the early automatic stage of feature processing in the auditory cortex. For the CI users, we obtained mismatch negativity (MMN) brain responses to five feature changes but not to changes of rhythm, whereas we obtained MMNs for all the feature changes in the NH controls. Furthermore, the MMNs to deviants of pitch of CI users were reduced in amplitude and later than those of NH controls for changes of pitch and guitar timber. No other group differences in MMN parameters were found to changes in intensity and saxophone timber. Furthermore, the MMNs in CI users reflected the behavioral scores from a respective discrimination task and were correlated with patients' age and speech intelligibility. Our results suggest that even though CI users are not performing at the same level as NH controls in neural discrimination of pitch-based features, they do possess potential neural abilities for music processing. However, CI users showed a disrupted ability to automatically discriminate rhythmic changes compared with controls. The current behavioral and MMN findings highlight the residual neural skills for music processing even in CI users who have been implanted in adolescence or adulthood. -Automatic brain responses to musical feature changes reflect the limitations of central auditory processing in adult Cochlear Implant users.-The brains of adult CI users automatically process sound features changes even when inserted in a musical context.-CI users show disrupted automatic discriminatory abilities for rhythm in the brain.-Our fast paradigm demonstrate residual musical abilities in the brains of adult CI users giving hope for their future rehabilitation.

Residual Neural Processing of Musical Sound Features in Adult Cochlear Implant Users

PubMed Central

Timm, Lydia; Vuust, Peter; Brattico, Elvira; Agrawal, Deepashri; Debener, Stefan; Büchner, Andreas; Dengler, Reinhard; Wittfoth, Matthias

2014-01-01

Auditory processing in general and music perception in particular are hampered in adult cochlear implant (CI) users. To examine the residual music perception skills and their underlying neural correlates in CI users implanted in adolescence or adulthood, we conducted an electrophysiological and behavioral study comparing adult CI users with normal-hearing age-matched controls (NH controls). We used a newly developed musical multi-feature paradigm, which makes it possible to test automatic auditory discrimination of six different types of sound feature changes inserted within a musical enriched setting lasting only 20 min. The presentation of stimuli did not require the participants’ attention, allowing the study of the early automatic stage of feature processing in the auditory cortex. For the CI users, we obtained mismatch negativity (MMN) brain responses to five feature changes but not to changes of rhythm, whereas we obtained MMNs for all the feature changes in the NH controls. Furthermore, the MMNs to deviants of pitch of CI users were reduced in amplitude and later than those of NH controls for changes of pitch and guitar timber. No other group differences in MMN parameters were found to changes in intensity and saxophone timber. Furthermore, the MMNs in CI users reflected the behavioral scores from a respective discrimination task and were correlated with patients’ age and speech intelligibility. Our results suggest that even though CI users are not performing at the same level as NH controls in neural discrimination of pitch-based features, they do possess potential neural abilities for music processing. However, CI users showed a disrupted ability to automatically discriminate rhythmic changes compared with controls. The current behavioral and MMN findings highlight the residual neural skills for music processing even in CI users who have been implanted in adolescence or adulthood. Highlights: -Automatic brain responses to musical feature changes reflect the limitations of central auditory processing in adult Cochlear Implant users.-The brains of adult CI users automatically process sound features changes even when inserted in a musical context.-CI users show disrupted automatic discriminatory abilities for rhythm in the brain.-Our fast paradigm demonstrate residual musical abilities in the brains of adult CI users giving hope for their future rehabilitation. PMID:24772074

The Perception of Concurrent Sound Objects in Harmonic Complexes Impairs Gap Detection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leung, Ada W. S.; Jolicoeur, Pierre; Vachon, Francois; Alain, Claude

2011-01-01

Since the introduction of the concept of auditory scene analysis, there has been a paucity of work focusing on the theoretical explanation of how attention is allocated within a complex auditory scene. Here we examined signal detection in situations that promote either the fusion of tonal elements into a single sound object or the segregation of a…

Spatial gradient for unique-feature detection in patients with unilateral neglect: evidence from auditory and visual search.

PubMed

Eramudugolla, Ranmalee; Mattingley, Jason B

2008-01-01

Patients with unilateral spatial neglect following right hemisphere damage are impaired in detecting contralesional targets in both visual and haptic search tasks, and often show a graded improvement in detection performance for more ipsilesional spatial locations. In audition, multiple simultaneous sounds are most effectively perceived if they are distributed along the frequency dimension. Thus, attention to spectro-temporal features alone can allow detection of a target sound amongst multiple simultaneous distracter sounds, regardless of whether these sounds are spatially separated. Spatial bias in attention associated with neglect should not affect auditory search based on spectro-temporal features of a sound target. We report that a right brain damaged patient with neglect demonstrated a significant gradient favouring the ipsilesional side on a visual search task as well as an auditory search task in which the target was a frequency modulated tone amongst steady distractor tones. No such asymmetry was apparent in the auditory search performance of a control patient with a right hemisphere lesion but no neglect. The results suggest that the spatial bias in attention exhibited by neglect patients affects stimulus processing even when spatial information is irrelevant to the task.

Cross-modal detection using various temporal and spatial configurations.

PubMed

Schirillo, James A

2011-01-01

To better understand temporal and spatial cross-modal interactions, two signal detection experiments were conducted in which an auditory target was sometimes accompanied by an irrelevant flash of light. In the first, a psychometric function for detecting a unisensory auditory target in varying signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) was derived. Then auditory target detection was measured while an irrelevant light was presented with light/sound stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) between 0 and ±700 ms. When the light preceded the sound by 100 ms or was coincident, target detection (d') improved for low SNR conditions. In contrast, for larger SOAs (350 and 700 ms), the behavioral gain resulted from a change in both d' and response criterion (β). However, when the light followed the sound, performance changed little. In the second experiment, observers detected multimodal target sounds at eccentricities of ±8°, and ±24°. Sensitivity benefits occurred at both locations, with a larger change at the more peripheral location. Thus, both temporal and spatial factors affect signal detection measures, effectively parsing sensory and decision-making processes.

Auditory proactive interference in monkeys: The role of stimulus set size and intertrial interval

PubMed Central

Bigelow, James; Poremba, Amy

2013-01-01

We conducted two experiments to examine the influence of stimulus set size (the number of stimuli that are used throughout the session) and intertrial interval (ITI, the elapsed time between trials) in auditory short-term memory in monkeys. We used an auditory delayed matching-to-sample task wherein the animals had to indicate whether two sounds separated by a 5-s retention interval were the same (match trials) or different (non-match trials). In Experiment 1, we randomly assigned a stimulus set size of 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, or 192 (trial unique) for each session of 128 trials. Consistent with previous visual studies, overall accuracy was consistently lower when smaller stimulus set sizes were used. Further analyses revealed that these effects were primarily caused by an increase in incorrect “same” responses on non-match trials. In Experiment 2, we held the stimulus set size constant at four for each session and alternately set the ITI at 5, 10, or 20 s. Overall accuracy improved by increasing the ITI from 5 to 10 s, but the 10 and 20 s conditions were the same. As in Experiment 1, the overall decrease in accuracy during the 5-s condition was caused by a greater number of false “match” responses on non-match trials. Taken together, Experiments 1 and 2 show that auditory short-term memory in monkeys is highly susceptible to PI caused by stimulus repetition. Additional analyses from Experiment 1 suggest that monkeys may make same/different judgments based on a familiarity criterion that is adjusted by error-related feedback. PMID:23526232

Developmental differences in auditory detection and localization of approaching vehicles.

PubMed

Barton, Benjamin K; Lew, Roger; Kovesdi, Casey; Cottrell, Nicholas D; Ulrich, Thomas

2013-04-01

Pedestrian safety is a significant problem in the United States, with thousands being injured each year. Multiple risk factors exist, but one poorly understood factor is pedestrians' ability to attend to vehicles using auditory cues. Auditory information in the pedestrian setting is increasing in importance with the growing number of quieter hybrid and all-electric vehicles on America's roadways that do not emit sound cues pedestrians expect from an approaching vehicle. Our study explored developmental differences in pedestrians' detection and localization of approaching vehicles. Fifty children ages 6-9 years, and 35 adults participated. Participants' performance varied significantly by age, and with increasing speed and direction of the vehicle's approach. Results underscore the importance of understanding children's and adults' use of auditory cues for pedestrian safety and highlight the need for further research. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cell-assembly coding in several memory processes.

PubMed

Sakurai, Y

1998-01-01

The present paper discusses why the cell assembly, i.e., an ensemble population of neurons with flexible functional connections, is a tenable view of the basic code for information processes in the brain. The main properties indicating the reality of cell-assembly coding are neurons overlaps among different assemblies and connection dynamics within and among the assemblies. The former can be detected as multiple functions of individual neurons in processing different kinds of information. Individual neurons appear to be involved in multiple information processes. The latter can be detected as changes of functional synaptic connections in processing different kinds of information. Correlations of activity among some of the recorded neurons appear to change in multiple information processes. Recent experiments have compared several different memory processes (tasks) and detected these two main properties, indicating cell-assembly coding of memory in the working brain. The first experiment compared different types of processing of identical stimuli, i.e., working memory and reference memory of auditory stimuli. The second experiment compared identical processes of different types of stimuli, i.e., discriminations of simple auditory, simple visual, and configural auditory-visual stimuli. The third experiment compared identical processes of different types of stimuli with or without temporal processing of stimuli, i.e., discriminations of elemental auditory, configural auditory-visual, and sequential auditory-visual stimuli. Some possible features of the cell-assembly coding, especially "dual coding" by individual neurons and cell assemblies, are discussed for future experimental approaches. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.

Deviant Peer Affiliation as an Explanatory Mechanism in the Association between Corporal Punishment and Physical Aggression: a Longitudinal Study among Chinese Adolescents.

PubMed

Zhu, Jianjun; Yu, Chengfu; Bao, Zhenzhou; Jiang, Yanping; Zhang, Wei; Chen, Yuanyuan; Qiu, Boyu; Zhang, Jianjun

2017-11-01

Previous research has focused primarily on corporal punishment as a cause and adolescents' physical aggression as an outcome. However, there is a large gap in knowledge of the potentially bidirectional association and explanatory mechanism underlying the association between corporal punishment and physical aggression. The current study, using a longitudinal design across three time points (the fall semester of 7th grade, the fall of 8th grade, and the fall of 9th grade), aimed to a) examine the reciprocal processes between corporal punishment and physical aggression, and b) explore whether deviant peer affiliation may explain such reciprocal connections. Only adolescents participating in all the three time points were included in this study, resulting in a final sample of 342 adolescents (175 boys, 167 girls) who completed questionnaires regarding corporal punishment, deviant peer affiliation, and aggression. Gender, age and socioeconomic status were controlled for in the analyses. Autoregressive cross-lagged models showed that the results did not support the direct reciprocal effect between corporal punishment and physical aggression among Chinese adolescents. A direct longitudinal link from corporal punishment to physical aggression was found, however, the inverse association was not significant. Moreover, regarding the longitudinal underlying process, in one direction, corporal punishment at 7th grade predicted higher levels of deviant peer affiliation at 8th grade. In turn, higher deviant peer affiliation at 8th grade predicted increased physical aggression at 9th grade. At the same time, in the other direction, adolescent physical aggression at 7th grade significantly predicted deviant peer affiliation at 8th grade. In turn, higher deviant peer affiliation at 8th grade predicted decreased corporal punishment at 9th grade. Identifying the direct and underlying reciprocal processes between corporal punishment and adolescent physical aggression has important implications for an integrative framework of theory and prevention.

The N400 and the P300 are not all that independent.

PubMed

Arbel, Yael; Spencer, Kevin M; Donchin, Emanuel

2011-06-01

This study assessed whether two ERP components that are elicited by unexpected events interact. The conditions that are known to elicit the N400 and the P300 ERP components were applied separately and in combination to terminal-words in sentences. Each sentence ended with a terminal-word that was highly expected, semantically unexpected, physically deviant, or both semantically unexpected and physically deviant. In addition, we varied the level of semantic relatedness between the unexpected terminal-words and the expected exemplars. Physically deviant words elicited a P300, whereas semantically unexpected words elicited an N400, whose amplitude was sensitive to the level of semantic relatedness. Words that were both semantically unexpected and physically deviant elicited both an N400 with enhanced amplitude, and a P300 with reduced amplitude. These results suggest an interaction between the processes manifested by the two components. Copyright © 2010 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Early development of polyphonic sound encoding and the high voice superiority effect.

PubMed

Marie, Céline; Trainor, Laurel J

2014-05-01

Previous research suggests that when two streams of pitched tones are presented simultaneously, adults process each stream in a separate memory trace, as reflected by mismatch negativity (MMN), a component of the event-related potential (ERP). Furthermore, a superior encoding of the higher tone or voice in polyphonic sounds has been found for 7-month-old infants and both musician and non-musician adults in terms of a larger amplitude MMN in response to pitch deviant stimuli in the higher than the lower voice. These results, in conjunction with modeling work, suggest that the high voice superiority effect might originate in characteristics of the peripheral auditory system. If this is the case, the high voice superiority effect should be present in infants younger than 7 months. In the present study we tested 3-month-old infants as there is no evidence at this age of perceptual narrowing or specialization of musical processing according to the pitch or rhythmic structure of music experienced in the infant׳s environment. We presented two simultaneous streams of tones (high and low) with 50% of trials modified by 1 semitone (up or down), either on the higher or the lower tone, leaving 50% standard trials. Results indicate that like the 7-month-olds, 3-month-old infants process each tone in a separate memory trace and show greater saliency for the higher tone. Although MMN was smaller and later in both voices for the group of sixteen 3-month-olds compared to the group of sixteen 7-month-olds, the size of the difference in MMN for the high compared to low voice was similar across ages. These results support the hypothesis of an innate peripheral origin of the high voice superiority effect. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Statistical learning and auditory processing in children with music training: An ERP study.

PubMed

Mandikal Vasuki, Pragati Rao; Sharma, Mridula; Ibrahim, Ronny; Arciuli, Joanne

2017-07-01

The question whether musical training is associated with enhanced auditory and cognitive abilities in children is of considerable interest. In the present study, we compared children with music training versus those without music training across a range of auditory and cognitive measures, including the ability to detect implicitly statistical regularities in input (statistical learning). Statistical learning of regularities embedded in auditory and visual stimuli was measured in musically trained and age-matched untrained children between the ages of 9-11years. In addition to collecting behavioural measures, we recorded electrophysiological measures to obtain an online measure of segmentation during the statistical learning tasks. Musically trained children showed better performance on melody discrimination, rhythm discrimination, frequency discrimination, and auditory statistical learning. Furthermore, grand-averaged ERPs showed that triplet onset (initial stimulus) elicited larger responses in the musically trained children during both auditory and visual statistical learning tasks. In addition, children's music skills were associated with performance on auditory and visual behavioural statistical learning tasks. Our data suggests that individual differences in musical skills are associated with children's ability to detect regularities. The ERP data suggest that musical training is associated with better encoding of both auditory and visual stimuli. Although causality must be explored in further research, these results may have implications for developing music-based remediation strategies for children with learning impairments. Copyright © 2017 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Low level auditory skills compared to writing skills in school children attending third and fourth grade: evidence for the rapid auditory processing deficit theory?].

PubMed

Ptok, M; Meisen, R

2008-01-01

The rapid auditory processing defi-cit theory holds that impaired reading/writing skills are not caused exclusively by a cognitive deficit specific to representation and processing of speech sounds but arise due to sensory, mainly auditory, deficits. To further explore this theory we compared different measures of auditory low level skills to writing skills in school children. prospective study. School children attending third and fourth grade. just noticeable differences for intensity and frequency (JNDI, JNDF), gap detection (GD) monaural and binaural temporal order judgement (TOJb and TOJm); grade in writing, language and mathematics. correlation analysis. No relevant correlation was found between any auditory low level processing variable and writing skills. These data do not support the rapid auditory processing deficit theory.

Thyroid Hormone Receptors Control Developmental Maturation of the Middle Ear and the Size of the Ossicular Bones

PubMed Central

Cordas, Emily A.; Ng, Lily; Hernandez, Arturo; Kaneshige, Masahiro; Cheng, Sheue-Yann

2012-01-01

Thyroid hormone is critical for auditory development and has well-known actions in the inner ear. However, less is known of thyroid hormone functions in the middle ear, which contains the ossicles (malleus, incus, stapes) that relay mechanical sound vibrations from the outer ear to the inner ear. During the later stages of middle ear development, prior to the onset of hearing, middle ear cavitation occurs, involving clearance of mesenchyme from the middle ear cavity while the immature cartilaginous ossicles attain appropriate size and ossify. Using in situ hybridization, we detected expression of Thra and Thrb genes encoding thyroid hormone receptors α1 and β (TRα1 and TRβ, respectively) in the immature ossicles, surrounding mesenchyme and tympanic membrane in the mouse. Thra+/PV mice that express a dominant-negative TRα1 protein exhibited deafness with elevated auditory thresholds and a range of middle ear abnormalities including chronic persistence of mesenchyme in the middle ear into adulthood, markedly enlarged ossicles, and delayed ossification of the ossicles. Congenitally hypothyroid Tshr−/− mice and TR-deficient Thra1−/−;Thrb−/− mice displayed similar abnormalities. These findings demonstrate that middle ear maturation is TR dependent and suggest that the middle ear is a sensitive target for thyroid hormone in development. PMID:22253431

Auditory perception modulated by word reading.

PubMed

Cao, Liyu; Klepp, Anne; Schnitzler, Alfons; Gross, Joachim; Biermann-Ruben, Katja

2016-10-01

Theories of embodied cognition positing that sensorimotor areas are indispensable during language comprehension are supported by neuroimaging and behavioural studies. Among others, the auditory system has been suggested to be important for understanding sound-related words (visually presented) and the motor system for action-related words. In this behavioural study, using a sound detection task embedded in a lexical decision task, we show that in participants with high lexical decision performance sound verbs improve auditory perception. The amount of modulation was correlated with lexical decision performance. Our study provides convergent behavioural evidence of auditory cortex involvement in word processing, supporting the view of embodied language comprehension concerning the auditory domain.

Noise-induced tinnitus using individualized gap detection analysis and its relationship with hyperacusis, anxiety, and spatial cognition.

PubMed

Pace, Edward; Zhang, Jinsheng

2013-01-01

Tinnitus has a complex etiology that involves auditory and non-auditory factors and may be accompanied by hyperacusis, anxiety and cognitive changes. Thus far, investigations of the interrelationship between tinnitus and auditory and non-auditory impairment have yielded conflicting results. To further address this issue, we noise exposed rats and assessed them for tinnitus using a gap detection behavioral paradigm combined with statistically-driven analysis to diagnose tinnitus in individual rats. We also tested rats for hearing detection, responsivity, and loss using prepulse inhibition and auditory brainstem response, and for spatial cognition and anxiety using Morris water maze and elevated plus maze. We found that our tinnitus diagnosis method reliably separated noise-exposed rats into tinnitus((+)) and tinnitus((-)) groups and detected no evidence of tinnitus in tinnitus((-)) and control rats. In addition, the tinnitus((+)) group demonstrated enhanced startle amplitude, indicating hyperacusis-like behavior. Despite these results, neither tinnitus, hyperacusis nor hearing loss yielded any significant effects on spatial learning and memory or anxiety, though a majority of rats with the highest anxiety levels had tinnitus. These findings showed that we were able to develop a clinically relevant tinnitus((+)) group and that our diagnosis method is sound. At the same time, like clinical studies, we found that tinnitus does not always result in cognitive-emotional dysfunction, although tinnitus may predispose subjects to certain impairment like anxiety. Other behavioral assessments may be needed to further define the relationship between tinnitus and anxiety, cognitive deficits, and other impairments.

Impaired MMN/P3a complex in first-episode psychosis: cognitive and psychosocial associations.

PubMed

Hermens, Daniel F; Ward, Philip B; Hodge, M Antoinette Redoblado; Kaur, Manreena; Naismith, Sharon L; Hickie, Ian B

2010-08-16

Mismatch negativity (MMN) is a neurophysiological indicator of the brain's ability to extract relevant information from an irrelevant background. The P3a orienting response often accompanies MMN in deviance detection paradigms. Both MMN and P3a have been described as reliable biomarkers of schizophrenia. MMN/P3a impairments are associated with deficits in verbal memory and attentional switching, reflecting dysfunctions in the temporal and frontal systems, respectively. It remains unresolved whether MMN/P3a are robust biomarkers of psychosis in first-episode patients. Thirty-four young people (18 to 30years) were assessed in this study; 17 first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients were compared to 17 healthy controls. To elicit MMN/P3a, a two-tone passive auditory oddball paradigm with 8% duration deviants was used; event-related potentials were recorded at frontal, central and temporal (mastoid) sites. Neuropsychological assessments included processing speed, attentional switching, simple attention, and verbal learning and memory. Social functioning and quality of life measures were also obtained. The FEP group showed significantly reduced MMN amplitudes compared to controls. The FEP group also showed significantly reduced P3a amplitudes at frontal and central sites compared with controls. As expected, the FEP group also showed significant deficits in attention and verbal learning/memory. Correlational analyses found strong associations between fronto-central MMN/P3a peak amplitude and cognitive/psychosocial functioning. This study provides evidence of early neurobiological markers in young people with FEP. These findings suggest that MMN/P3a impairments are present at early stages of psychosis and that fundamental pre-attentive/deviance detection deficits may mark the beginning of progressive underlying changes with illness onset. Such deficits in FEP appear to have important links with higher-order cognitive and psychosocial functioning. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Justice judgements, school failure, and adolescent deviant behaviour.

PubMed

Sanches, Cristina; Gouveia-Pereira, Maria; Carugati, Felice

2012-12-01

The current paper is based on two different approaches. One is the relational model of authority (Tyler & Lind, 1992), which addresses the effects of justice perceptions on the legitimacy of authorities and behavioural compliance. The other is Emler and Reicher's theory (1995, 2005), which explains the involvement of adolescents in delinquency through their relationship with the institutional authorities of society. To provide empirical evidence for the linkage of these perspectives, analysing the relationship between justice perceptions about teachers and the involvement of adolescents in deviant behaviour. Our hypotheses are that teachers' justice is negatively related with deviant behaviour and that this relationship is mediated through the evaluation of institutional authorities, after controlling for school failure. Three hundred and ninety adolescents aged between 14 and 17 years. Participants completed the following scales: perceptions of justice about teachers, evaluation of institutional authorities, and deviant behaviour. Data were examined through correlation and bootstrap analyses. Justice judgments about teachers were negatively related with deviant behaviour, and this relationship was partially mediated by the evaluation of institutional authorities, even after controlling for school failure. However, procedural justice revealed a much stronger relationship with deviance, compared to distributive justice. As predicted, these results suggest that when adolescents perceive school authorities as fair, other institutional authorities are likely to be perceived in a similar way and the more those authorities are positively evaluated, the less often adolescents engage in deviant conduct. Results are discussed according to the theories underlying our hypothesis. Directions for future research are suggested. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

Genetic and environmental influences on affiliation with deviant peers during adolescence and early adulthood.

PubMed

Tarantino, Nicholas; Tully, Erin C; Garcia, Sarah E; South, Susan; Iacono, William G; McGue, Matt

2014-03-01

Adolescence and early adulthood is a time when peer groups become increasingly influential in the lives of young people. Youths exposed to deviant peers risk susceptibility to externalizing behaviors and related psychopathology. In addition to environmental correlates of deviant peer affiliation, a growing body of evidence has suggested that affiliation with deviant peers is heritable. This study examined the magnitude of genetic and environmental influences on affiliation with deviant peers, changes in the relative importance of these factors, and which of these factors contribute to the stability of affiliation across this critical developmental period using a longitudinal twin study design that assessed same-sex twins (485 monozygotic pairs, 271 dizygotic pairs) at 3 discrete ages: 15, 18, and 21 years of age. Biometric models revealed that genetic influences increased with age. New genetic influences appeared during late adolescence, and no new genetic influences emerged by age 21. Environmental influences shared by sibling pairs decreased with age, while the proportion of nonshared environmental effects unique to each individual remained relatively stable over the course of development. Shared environmental influences were largely age-overlapping, whereas nonshared environmental influences were largely age-specific. In summary, this study found variance in affiliation with deviant peers is explained by shared and nonshared environment effects as well as by genetic influences (46% by age 21), supporting the role of genetically influenced selection factors. The shared environment was almost exclusively responsible for the stability in late adolescence, while genetic influences were primarily responsible for stability in early adulthood. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Genetic and Environmental Influences on Affiliation with Deviant Peers during Adolescence and Early Adulthood

PubMed Central

Tarantino, Nicholas; Tully, Erin C.; Garcia, Sarah E.; South, Susan; Iacono, William G.; McGue, Matt

2014-01-01

Adolescence and early adulthood is a time when peer groups become increasingly influential in the lives of young people. Youth exposed to deviant peers risk susceptibility to externalizing behaviors and related psychopathology. In addition to environmental correlates of deviant peer affiliation, a growing body of evidence suggests that affiliation with deviant peers is heritable. This study examined the magnitude of genetic and environmental influences on affiliation with deviant peers, changes in the relative importance of these factors, and which of these factors contribute to the stability of affiliation across this critical developmental period using a longitudinal twin study design that assessed same-sex twins (485 monozygotic pairs, 271 dizygotic pairs) at three discrete ages-15-, 18-, and 21-years-old. Biometric models revealed that genetic influences increased with age. New genetic influences appeared during late adolescence, and no new genetic influences emerged by age 21. Environmental influences shared by sibling pairs decreased with age, while the proportion of nonshared environmental effects unique to each individual remained relatively stable over the course of development. Shared environmental influences were largely age-overlapping whereas nonshared environmental influences were largely age-specific. In summary, this study found variance in affiliation with deviant peers is explained by shared and nonshared environment effects as well as by genetic influences (46% by age 21), supporting the role of genetically influenced selection factors. The shared environment was almost exclusively responsible for the stability in late adolescence, while genetic influences were primarily responsible for stability in early adulthood. PMID:24015689

Auditory Gap-in-Noise Detection Behavior in Ferrets and Humans

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

The precise encoding of temporal features of auditory stimuli by the mammalian auditory system is critical to the perception of biologically important sounds, including vocalizations, speech, and music. In this study, auditory gap-detection behavior was evaluated in adult pigmented ferrets (Mustelid putorius furo) using bandpassed stimuli designed to widely sample the ferret’s behavioral and physiological audiogram. Animals were tested under positive operant conditioning, with psychometric functions constructed in response to gap-in-noise lengths ranging from 3 to 270 ms. Using a modified version of this gap-detection task, with the same stimulus frequency parameters, we also tested a cohort of normal-hearing human subjects. Gap-detection thresholds were computed from psychometric curves transformed according to signal detection theory, revealing that for both ferrets and humans, detection sensitivity was worse for silent gaps embedded within low-frequency noise compared with high-frequency or broadband stimuli. Additional psychometric function analysis of ferret behavior indicated effects of stimulus spectral content on aspects of behavioral performance related to decision-making processes, with animals displaying improved sensitivity for broadband gap-in-noise detection. Reaction times derived from unconditioned head-orienting data and the time from stimulus onset to reward spout activation varied with the stimulus frequency content and gap length, as well as the approach-to-target choice and reward location. The present study represents a comprehensive evaluation of gap-detection behavior in ferrets, while similarities in performance with our human subjects confirm the use of the ferret as an appropriate model of temporal processing. PMID:26052794

Laughter exaggerates happy and sad faces depending on visual context

PubMed Central

Sherman, Aleksandra; Sweeny, Timothy D.; Grabowecky, Marcia; Suzuki, Satoru

2012-01-01

Laughter is an auditory stimulus that powerfully conveys positive emotion. We investigated how laughter influenced visual perception of facial expressions. We simultaneously presented laughter with a happy, neutral, or sad schematic face. The emotional face was briefly presented either alone or among a crowd of neutral faces. We used a matching method to determine how laughter influenced the perceived intensity of happy, neutral, and sad expressions. For a single face, laughter increased the perceived intensity of a happy expression. Surprisingly, for a crowd of faces laughter produced an opposite effect, increasing the perceived intensity of a sad expression in a crowd. A follow-up experiment revealed that this contrast effect may have occurred because laughter made the neutral distracter faces appear slightly happy, thereby making the deviant sad expression stand out in contrast. A control experiment ruled out semantic mediation of the laughter effects. Our demonstration of the strong context dependence of laughter effects on facial expression perception encourages a re-examination of the previously demonstrated effects of prosody, speech content, and mood on face perception, as they may similarly be context dependent. PMID:22215467

Synaptic Plasticity after Chemical Deafening and Electrical Stimulation of the Auditory Nerve in Cats

PubMed Central

Ryugo, D.K.; Baker, C.A.; Montey, K.L.; Chang, L.Y.; Coco, A.; Fallon, J.B.; Shepherd, R.K.

2010-01-01

The effects of deafness on brain structure and function have been studied using animal models of congenital deafness that include surgical ablation of the organ of Corti, acoustic trauma, ototoxic drugs, and hereditary deafness. This report describes the morphologic plasticity of auditory nerve synapses in response to ototoxic deafening and chronic electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve. Normal kittens were deafened by neonatal administration of neomycin that eliminated auditory receptor cells. Some of these cats were raised deaf, whereas others were chronically implanted with cochlear electrodes at two months of age and electrically stimulated for up to 12 months. The large endings of the auditory nerve, endbulbs of Held, were studied because they hold a key position in the timing pathway for sound localization, are readily identifiable, and exhibit deafness-associated abnormalities. Compared to normal hearing cats, synapses of ototoxically deafened cats displayed expanded postsynaptic densities, a decrease in synaptic vesicle (SV) density, and a reduction in the somatic size of spherical bushy cells (SBCs). When compared to normal hearing cats, endbulbs of ototoxically deafened cats that received cochlear stimulation expressed postsynaptic densities (PSDs) that were statistically identical in size, showed a 32.8% reduction in SV density, and whose target SBCs had a 25.5% reduction in soma area. These results demonstrate that electrical stimulation via a cochlear implant in chemically-deafened cats preserves PSD size but not other aspects of synapse morphology. The results further suggest that the effects of ototoxic deafness are not identical to those of hereditary deafness. PMID:20127807

Behavioral detection of intra-cortical microstimulation in the primary and secondary auditory cortex of cats

PubMed Central

Zhao, Zhenling; Liu, Yongchun; Ma, Lanlan; Sato, Yu; Qin, Ling

2015-01-01

Although neural responses to sound stimuli have been thoroughly investigated in various areas of the auditory cortex, the results electrophysiological recordings cannot establish a causal link between neural activation and brain function. Electrical microstimulation, which can selectively perturb neural activity in specific parts of the nervous system, is an important tool for exploring the organization and function of brain circuitry. To date, the studies describing the behavioral effects of electrical stimulation have largely been conducted in the primary auditory cortex. In this study, to investigate the potential differences in the effects of electrical stimulation on different cortical areas, we measured the behavioral performance of cats in detecting intra-cortical microstimulation (ICMS) delivered in the primary and secondary auditory fields (A1 and A2, respectively). After being trained to perform a Go/No-Go task cued by sounds, we found that cats could also learn to perform the task cued by ICMS; furthermore, the detection of the ICMS was similarly sensitive in A1 and A2. Presenting wideband noise together with ICMS substantially decreased the performance of cats in detecting ICMS in A1 and A2, consistent with a noise masking effect on the sensation elicited by the ICMS. In contrast, presenting ICMS with pure-tones in the spectral receptive field of the electrode-implanted cortical site reduced ICMS detection performance in A1 but not A2. Therefore, activation of A1 and A2 neurons may produce different qualities of sensation. Overall, our study revealed that ICMS-induced neural activity could be easily integrated into an animal’s behavioral decision process and had an implication for the development of cortical auditory prosthetics. PMID:25964744

Behavioral detection of intra-cortical microstimulation in the primary and secondary auditory cortex of cats.

PubMed

Zhao, Zhenling; Liu, Yongchun; Ma, Lanlan; Sato, Yu; Qin, Ling

2015-01-01

Although neural responses to sound stimuli have been thoroughly investigated in various areas of the auditory cortex, the results electrophysiological recordings cannot establish a causal link between neural activation and brain function. Electrical microstimulation, which can selectively perturb neural activity in specific parts of the nervous system, is an important tool for exploring the organization and function of brain circuitry. To date, the studies describing the behavioral effects of electrical stimulation have largely been conducted in the primary auditory cortex. In this study, to investigate the potential differences in the effects of electrical stimulation on different cortical areas, we measured the behavioral performance of cats in detecting intra-cortical microstimulation (ICMS) delivered in the primary and secondary auditory fields (A1 and A2, respectively). After being trained to perform a Go/No-Go task cued by sounds, we found that cats could also learn to perform the task cued by ICMS; furthermore, the detection of the ICMS was similarly sensitive in A1 and A2. Presenting wideband noise together with ICMS substantially decreased the performance of cats in detecting ICMS in A1 and A2, consistent with a noise masking effect on the sensation elicited by the ICMS. In contrast, presenting ICMS with pure-tones in the spectral receptive field of the electrode-implanted cortical site reduced ICMS detection performance in A1 but not A2. Therefore, activation of A1 and A2 neurons may produce different qualities of sensation. Overall, our study revealed that ICMS-induced neural activity could be easily integrated into an animal's behavioral decision process and had an implication for the development of cortical auditory prosthetics.

The role of parent-child bonding, attachment, and interpersonal problems in the development of deviant sexual fantasies in sexual offenders.

PubMed

Maniglio, Roberto

2012-04-01

To understand the origin, development, and functions of deviant sexual fantasy in sexual offenders, the present article investigates three areas of the literature on sexual offenders (i.e., parent-child relationships, attachment, and interpersonal problems), hypothesizing a possible path through which dysfunctional parent-child relationships might lead to deviant sexual fantasies. The review of the literature provides indirect evidence that an insecure attachment style developed in response to dysfunctional parenting practices may generate feelings of inadequacy and inferiority to others and a lack of the self-confidence and social skills to initiate or maintain consensual intimate relationships with appropriate others. It is hypothesized that such problems, in turn, might promote low levels of intimacy and satisfaction in romantic relationships and serious and chronic emotional loneliness, withdrawal, and negative attitudes (such as anger and hostility) toward potential partners, leading to a progressive retirement from the real world and refuge in an internal world of deviant sexual fantasies in order to satisfy attachment-related needs for intimacy, emotional closeness, or power. Such a combination of insecure attachment, interpersonal problems, and use of deviant sexual fantasies as a means to achieve the intimacy, power, or control absent from reality might predispose to sexual offending.

Effects of Parenting and Deviant Peers on Early to Mid-Adolescent Conduct Problems

PubMed Central

Trudeau, Linda; Mason, W. Alex; Randall, G. Kevin; Spoth, Richard; Ralston, Ekaterina

2013-01-01

We investigated the influence of effective parenting behaviors (father and mother reports) and deviant peer association (adolescent reports) on subsequent young adolescent conduct problems (teacher reports) during grades 7–9, using structural equation modeling. Data were from a sample of 226 rural adolescents (n=112 boys; n=107 girls; n=7 gender unknown), their parents, and teachers. Both effective parenting and association with deviant peers influenced later conduct problems; however, the pattern of influence varied across time and between fathers and mothers, with complex patterns of interactions between effective parenting and peer deviance. From seventh to eighth grade, effective parenting by both mothers and fathers buffered the effect of higher levels of peer deviance on conduct problems across adolescent gender. From eighth to ninth grade (i.e., transition into high school), fathers’ effective parenting buffered the effects of deviant peer association on their daughters’ conduct problems, whereas both fathers’ and mothers’ influence was stronger for sons when deviant peer associations were lower. Analyses also evaluated bi-directional longitudinal effects among adolescents, parents, and peers. Although varying by parent and adolescent gender or adolescent age, results generally supported the protective effects of parenting on their children’s conduct problems during early to mid adolescence. PMID:22648200

Hearing in Insects.

PubMed

Göpfert, Martin C; Hennig, R Matthias

2016-01-01

Insect hearing has independently evolved multiple times in the context of intraspecific communication and predator detection by transforming proprioceptive organs into ears. Research over the past decade, ranging from the biophysics of sound reception to molecular aspects of auditory transduction to the neuronal mechanisms of auditory signal processing, has greatly advanced our understanding of how insects hear. Apart from evolutionary innovations that seem unique to insect hearing, parallels between insect and vertebrate auditory systems have been uncovered, and the auditory sensory cells of insects and vertebrates turned out to be evolutionarily related. This review summarizes our current understanding of insect hearing. It also discusses recent advances in insect auditory research, which have put forward insect auditory systems for studying biological aspects that extend beyond hearing, such as cilium function, neuronal signal computation, and sensory system evolution.

Hearing, feeling or seeing a beat recruits a supramodal network in the auditory dorsal stream.

PubMed

Araneda, Rodrigo; Renier, Laurent; Ebner-Karestinos, Daniela; Dricot, Laurence; De Volder, Anne G

2017-06-01

Hearing a beat recruits a wide neural network that involves the auditory cortex and motor planning regions. Perceiving a beat can potentially be achieved via vision or even touch, but it is currently not clear whether a common neural network underlies beat processing. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test to what extent the neural network involved in beat processing is supramodal, that is, is the same in the different sensory modalities. Brain activity changes in 27 healthy volunteers were monitored while they were attending to the same rhythmic sequences (with and without a beat) in audition, vision and the vibrotactile modality. We found a common neural network for beat detection in the three modalities that involved parts of the auditory dorsal pathway. Within this network, only the putamen and the supplementary motor area (SMA) showed specificity to the beat, while the brain activity in the putamen covariated with the beat detection speed. These results highlighted the implication of the auditory dorsal stream in beat detection, confirmed the important role played by the putamen in beat detection and indicated that the neural network for beat detection is mostly supramodal. This constitutes a new example of convergence of the same functional attributes into one centralized representation in the brain. © 2016 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Hearing and the round goby: Understanding the auditory system of the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belanger, Andrea J.; Higgs, Dennis M.

2005-04-01

The round goby (Neogobius melanostomus), is an invasive species in the Great Lakes watershed. Adult round gobies show behavioral responses to conspecific vocalizations but physiological investigations have not yet been conducted to quantify their hearing abilities. We have been examining the physiological and morphological development of the auditory system in the round goby. Various frequencies (100 Hz to 800 Hz and conspecific sounds), at various intensities (120 dB to 170 dB re 1 Pa) were presented to juveniles and adults and their auditory brain-stem responses (ABR) were recorded. Round gobies only respond physiologically to tones from 100-600 Hz, with threshold varying between 145 to 155 dB re 1 Pa. The response threshold to conspecific sounds was 140 dB re 1 Pa. There was no significant difference in auditory threshold between sizes of fish for either tones or conspecific sounds. Saccular epithelia were stained using phalloidin and there was a trend towards an increase in both hair cell number and density with an increase in fish size. These results represent a first attempt to quantify auditory abilities in this invasive species. This is an important step in understanding their reproductive physiology, which could potentially aid in their population control. [Funded by NSERC.

Increased distractibility by task-irrelevant sound changes in abstinent alcoholics.

PubMed

Ahveninen, J; Jääskeläinen, I P; Pekkonen, E; Hallberg, A; Hietanen, M; Näätänen, R; Schröger, E; Sillanaukee, P

2000-12-01

Chronic alcoholism is accompanied by "frontal" neuropsychological deficits that include an inability to maintain focus of attention. This might be associated with pronounced involuntary attention shifting to task-irrelevant stimulus changes and, thereafter, an impaired reorienting to the relevant task. The neural abnormalities that underlie such deficits in alcoholics were explored with event-related potential (ERP) components that disclosed different phases of detection and orienting to stimulus changes. Twenty consecutive abstinent male alcoholics (DSM-IV) and 20 age-matched male controls (healthy social drinkers) were instructed to discriminate equiprobable 100 and 200 msec tones in a reaction-time task (RT) and to ignore occasional, either slight (7%) or wide (70%), frequency changes (hypothesized to increase RT) during an ERP measurement. In the alcoholics, we found pronounced distractibility, evidenced by a RT lag (p < 0.01) caused by deviants, that correlated (Spearman p = 0.5) with a significantly enhanced (p < 0.01) amplitude of mismatch negativity (MMN) to deviants. Significantly increased RT lag for trials subsequent to deviants (slight p < 0.001, wide p < 0.05) in the alcoholics suggested impaired reorienting to the relevant task. The MMN enhancement also predicted poorer hit rates in the alcoholics (Spearman p = 0.6-0.7). Both the MMN enhancement and pronounced distractibility correlated (Spearman p = 0.4) with an early onset of alcoholism. Attentional deficits in the abstinent alcoholics were indicated by the increased distractibility by irrelevant sound changes. The MMN enhancement suggested that this reflects impaired neural inhibition of involuntary attention shifting, being most pronounced in early-onset alcoholics.

Auditory proactive interference in monkeys: the roles of stimulus set size and intertrial interval.

PubMed

Bigelow, James; Poremba, Amy

2013-09-01

We conducted two experiments to examine the influences of stimulus set size (the number of stimuli that are used throughout the session) and intertrial interval (ITI, the elapsed time between trials) in auditory short-term memory in monkeys. We used an auditory delayed matching-to-sample task wherein the animals had to indicate whether two sounds separated by a 5-s retention interval were the same (match trials) or different (nonmatch trials). In Experiment 1, we randomly assigned stimulus set sizes of 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, or 192 (trial-unique) for each session of 128 trials. Consistent with previous visual studies, overall accuracy was consistently lower when smaller stimulus set sizes were used. Further analyses revealed that these effects were primarily caused by an increase in incorrect "same" responses on nonmatch trials. In Experiment 2, we held the stimulus set size constant at four for each session and alternately set the ITI at 5, 10, or 20 s. Overall accuracy improved when the ITI was increased from 5 to 10 s, but it was the same across the 10- and 20-s conditions. As in Experiment 1, the overall decrease in accuracy during the 5-s condition was caused by a greater number of false "match" responses on nonmatch trials. Taken together, Experiments 1 and 2 showed that auditory short-term memory in monkeys is highly susceptible to proactive interference caused by stimulus repetition. Additional analyses of the data from Experiment 1 suggested that monkeys may make same-different judgments on the basis of a familiarity criterion that is adjusted by error-related feedback.

Deviant Adolescent Subcultures: Assessment Strategies and Clinical Interventions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Cynthia M.

1992-01-01

Presents assessment strategies, preventive methods, and clinical interventions to assist clinicians working with teenagers involved with deviant subcultures: Satanism, the neo-Nazi skinhead movement, and violent street gangs. Considers role of alienation as contributing factor in adolescents' participation in these subcultures. Advises therapists…

Parents, Siblings, and Peers: Close Social Relationships and Adolescent Deviance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ardelt, Monika; Day, Laurie

2002-01-01

Examined relations between parents, older siblings, peers, adolescents' individual characteristics, and adolescents' deviant attitudes and behaviors among inner-city families. Structural equation models showed that older deviant siblings had the strongest effect on adolescent deviance. Positive family relationships, parental support, and…

A selective impairment of perception of sound motion direction in peripheral space: A case study.

PubMed

Thaler, Lore; Paciocco, Joseph; Daley, Mark; Lesniak, Gabriella D; Purcell, David W; Fraser, J Alexander; Dutton, Gordon N; Rossit, Stephanie; Goodale, Melvyn A; Culham, Jody C

2016-01-08

It is still an open question if the auditory system, similar to the visual system, processes auditory motion independently from other aspects of spatial hearing, such as static location. Here, we report psychophysical data from a patient (female, 42 and 44 years old at the time of two testing sessions), who suffered a bilateral occipital infarction over 12 years earlier, and who has extensive damage in the occipital lobe bilaterally, extending into inferior posterior temporal cortex bilaterally and into right parietal cortex. We measured the patient's spatial hearing ability to discriminate static location, detect motion and perceive motion direction in both central (straight ahead), and right and left peripheral auditory space (50° to the left and right of straight ahead). Compared to control subjects, the patient was impaired in her perception of direction of auditory motion in peripheral auditory space, and the deficit was more pronounced on the right side. However, there was no impairment in her perception of the direction of auditory motion in central space. Furthermore, detection of motion and discrimination of static location were normal in both central and peripheral space. The patient also performed normally in a wide battery of non-spatial audiological tests. Our data are consistent with previous neuropsychological and neuroimaging results that link posterior temporal cortex and parietal cortex with the processing of auditory motion. Most importantly, however, our data break new ground by suggesting a division of auditory motion processing in terms of speed and direction and in terms of central and peripheral space. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Complex Auditory Signals

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-09-01

ability to detect a change in spectral shape. This question also beats on that of how the auditory system codes intensity. There are, at laast, two...This prior experience with the diotic presentations. disparity leads us to speculate that the tasks of detecting an We also considered how binaural ...quite complex. One Colburn and Durlach, 1978), one prerequisite for binaural may not be able to simply extrapolate from one to the other. interaction

Noise-induced tinnitus: auditory evoked potential in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.

PubMed

Santos-Filha, Valdete Alves Valentins dos; Samelli, Alessandra Giannella; Matas, Carla Gentile

2014-07-01

We evaluated the central auditory pathways in workers with noise-induced tinnitus with normal hearing thresholds, compared the auditory brainstem response results in groups with and without tinnitus and correlated the tinnitus location to the auditory brainstem response findings in individuals with a history of occupational noise exposure. Sixty individuals participated in the study and the following procedures were performed: anamnesis, immittance measures, pure-tone air conduction thresholds at all frequencies between 0.25-8 kHz and auditory brainstem response. The mean auditory brainstem response latencies were lower in the Control group than in the Tinnitus group, but no significant differences between the groups were observed. Qualitative analysis showed more alterations in the lower brainstem in the Tinnitus group. The strongest relationship between tinnitus location and auditory brainstem response alterations was detected in individuals with bilateral tinnitus and bilateral auditory brainstem response alterations compared with patients with unilateral alterations. Our findings suggest the occurrence of a possible dysfunction in the central auditory nervous system (brainstem) in individuals with noise-induced tinnitus and a normal hearing threshold.

Auditory processing deficits in individuals with primary open-angle glaucoma.

PubMed

Rance, Gary; O'Hare, Fleur; O'Leary, Stephen; Starr, Arnold; Ly, Anna; Cheng, Belinda; Tomlin, Dani; Graydon, Kelley; Chisari, Donella; Trounce, Ian; Crowston, Jonathan

2012-01-01

The high energy demand of the auditory and visual pathways render these sensory systems prone to diseases that impair mitochondrial function. Primary open-angle glaucoma, a neurodegenerative disease of the optic nerve, has recently been associated with a spectrum of mitochondrial abnormalities. This study sought to investigate auditory processing in individuals with open-angle glaucoma. DESIGN/STUDY SAMPLE: Twenty-seven subjects with open-angle glaucoma underwent electrophysiologic (auditory brainstem response), auditory temporal processing (amplitude modulation detection), and speech perception (monosyllabic words in quiet and background noise) assessment in each ear. A cohort of age, gender and hearing level matched control subjects was also tested. While the majority of glaucoma subjects in this study demonstrated normal auditory function, there were a significant number (6/27 subjects, 22%) who showed abnormal auditory brainstem responses and impaired auditory perception in one or both ears. The finding that a significant proportion of subjects with open-angle glaucoma presented with auditory dysfunction provides evidence of systemic neuronal susceptibility. Affected individuals may suffer significant communication difficulties in everyday listening situations.

Ontogenetic development of the inner ear saccule and utricle in the Lusitanian toadfish: Potential implications for auditory sensitivity.

PubMed

Chaves, Patrícia P; Valdoria, Ciara M C; Amorim, M Clara P; Vasconcelos, Raquel O

2017-09-01

Studies addressing structure-function relationships of the fish auditory system during development are sparse compared to other taxa. The Batrachoididae has become an important group to investigate mechanisms of auditory plasticity and evolution of auditory-vocal systems. A recent study reported ontogenetic improvements in the inner ear saccule sensitivity of the Lusitanian toadfish, Halobatrachus didactylus, but whether this results from changes in the sensory morphology remains unknown. We investigated how the macula and organization of auditory receptors in the saccule and utricle change during growth in this species. Inner ear sensory epithelia were removed from the end organs of previously PFA-fixed specimens, from non-vocal posthatch fry (<1.4 cm, standard length) to adults (>23 cm). Epithelia were phalloidin-stained and analysed for area, shape, number and orientation patterns of hair cells (HC), and number and size of saccular supporting cells (SC). Saccular macula area expanded 41x in total, and significantly more (relative to body length) among vocal juveniles (2.3-2.9 cm). Saccular HC number increased 25x but HC density decreased, suggesting that HC addition is slower relative to epithelial growth. While SC density decreased, SC apical area increased, contributing to the epithelial expansion. The utricule revealed increased HC density (striolar region) and less epithelial expansion (5x) with growth, contrasting with the saccule that may have a different developmental pattern due to its larger size and main auditory functions. Both macula shape and HC orientation patterns were already established in the posthatch fry and retained throughout growth in both end organs. We suggest that previously reported ontogenetic improvements in saccular sensitivity might be associated with changes in HC number (not density), size and/or molecular mechanisms controlling HC sensitivity. This is one of the first studies investigating the ontogenetic development of the saccule and utricle in a vocal fish and how it potentially relates to auditory enhancement for acoustic communication. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Reduction in N2 amplitude in response to deviant drug-related stimuli during a two-choice oddball task in long-term heroin abstainers.

PubMed

Su, Bobo; Wang, Sha; Sumich, Alexander; Li, Shaomei; Yang, Ling; Cai, Yueyue; Wang, Grace Y

2017-11-01

Chronic heroin use can cause deficits in response inhibition, leading to a loss of control over drug use, particularly in the context of drug-related cues. Unfortunately, heightened incentive salience and motivational bias in response to drug-related cues may exist following abstinence from heroin use. The present study aimed to examine the effect of drug-related cues on response inhibition in long-term heroin abstainers. Sixteen long-term (8-24 months) male heroin abstainers and 16 male healthy controls completed a modified two-choice oddball paradigm, in which a neutral "chair" picture served as frequent standard stimuli; the neutral and drug-related pictures served as infrequent deviant stimuli of different conditions respectively. Event-related potentials were compared across groups and conditions. Our results showed that heroin abstainers exhibited smaller N2d amplitude (deviant minus standard) in the drug cue condition compared to the neutral condition, due to smaller drug-cue deviant-N2 amplitude compared to neutral deviant-N2. Moreover, heroin abstainers had smaller N2d amplitude compared with the healthy controls in the drug cue condition, due to the heroin abstainers having reduced deviant-N2 amplitude compared to standard-N2 in the drug cue condition, which reversed in the healthy controls. Our findings suggested that heroin addicts still show response inhibition deficits specifically for drug-related cues after longer-term abstinence. The inhibition-related N2 modulation for drug-related could be used as a novel electrophysiological index with clinical implications for assessing the risk of relapse and treatment outcome for heroin users.

Neuronal activity in primate auditory cortex during the performance of audiovisual tasks.

PubMed

Brosch, Michael; Selezneva, Elena; Scheich, Henning

2015-03-01

This study aimed at a deeper understanding of which cognitive and motivational aspects of tasks affect auditory cortical activity. To this end we trained two macaque monkeys to perform two different tasks on the same audiovisual stimulus and to do this with two different sizes of water rewards. The monkeys had to touch a bar after a tone had been turned on together with an LED, and to hold the bar until either the tone (auditory task) or the LED (visual task) was turned off. In 399 multiunits recorded from core fields of auditory cortex we confirmed that during task engagement neurons responded to auditory and non-auditory stimuli that were task-relevant, such as light and water. We also confirmed that firing rates slowly increased or decreased for several seconds during various phases of the tasks. Responses to non-auditory stimuli and slow firing changes were observed during both the auditory and the visual task, with some differences between them. There was also a weak task-dependent modulation of the responses to auditory stimuli. In contrast to these cognitive aspects, motivational aspects of the tasks were not reflected in the firing, except during delivery of the water reward. In conclusion, the present study supports our previous proposal that there are two response types in the auditory cortex that represent the timing and the type of auditory and non-auditory elements of a auditory tasks as well the association between elements. © 2015 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Varying expectancies and attention bias in phobic and non-phobic individuals

PubMed Central

Aue, Tatjana; Guex, Raphaël; Chauvigné, Léa A. S.; Okon-Singer, Hadas

2013-01-01

Phobic individuals display an attention bias to phobia-related information and biased expectancies regarding the likelihood of being faced with such stimuli. Notably, although attention and expectancy biases are core features in phobia and anxiety disorders, these biases have mostly been investigated separately and their causal impact has not been examined. We hypothesized that these biases might be causally related. Spider phobic and low spider fearful control participants performed a visual search task in which they specified whether the deviant animal in a search array was a spider or a bird. Shorter reaction times (RTs) for spiders than for birds in this task reflect an attention bias toward spiders. Participants' expectancies regarding the likelihood of these animals being the deviant in the search array were manipulated by presenting verbal cues. Phobics were characterized by a pronounced and persistent attention bias toward spiders; controls displayed slower RTs for birds than for spiders only when spider cues had been presented. More important, we found RTs for spider detections to be virtually unaffected by the expectancy cues in both groups, whereas RTs for bird detections showed a clear influence of the cues. Our results speak to the possibility that evolution has formed attentional systems that are specific to the detection of phylogenetically salient stimuli such as threatening animals; these systems may not be as penetrable to variations in (experimentally induced) expectancies as those systems that are used for the detection of non-threatening stimuli. In sum, our findings highlight the relation between expectancies and attention engagement in general. However, expectancies may play a greater role in attention engagement in safe environments than in threatening environments. PMID:23964219

Evolutionary diversification of the auditory organ sensilla in Neoconocephalus katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) correlates with acoustic signal diversification over phylogenetic relatedness and life history.

PubMed

Strauß, J; Alt, J A; Ekschmitt, K; Schul, J; Lakes-Harlan, R

2017-06-01

Neoconocephalus Tettigoniidae are a model for the evolution of acoustic signals as male calls have diversified in temporal structure during the radiation of the genus. The call divergence and phylogeny in Neoconocephalus are established, but in tettigoniids in general, accompanying evolutionary changes in hearing organs are not studied. We investigated anatomical changes of the tympanal hearing organs during the evolutionary radiation and divergence of intraspecific acoustic signals. We compared the neuroanatomy of auditory sensilla (crista acustica) from nine Neoconocephalus species for the number of auditory sensilla and the crista acustica length. These parameters were correlated with differences in temporal call features, body size, life histories and different phylogenetic positions. By this, adaptive responses to shifting frequencies of male calls and changes in their temporal patterns can be evaluated against phylogenetic constraints and allometry. All species showed well-developed auditory sensilla, on average 32-35 between species. Crista acustica length and sensillum numbers correlated with body size, but not with phylogenetic position or life history. Statistically significant correlations existed also with specific call patterns: a higher number of auditory sensilla occurred in species with continuous calls or slow pulse rates, and a longer crista acustica occurred in species with double pulses or slow pulse rates. The auditory sensilla show significant differences between species despite their recent radiation, and morphological and ecological similarities. This indicates the responses to natural and sexual selection, including divergence of temporal and spectral signal properties. Phylogenetic constraints are unlikely to limit these changes of the auditory systems. © 2017 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2017 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Rhythmic Auditory Cueing in Motor Rehabilitation for Stroke Patients: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

PubMed

Yoo, Ga Eul; Kim, Soo Ji

2016-01-01

Given the increasing evidence demonstrating the effects of rhythmic auditory cueing for motor rehabilitation of stroke patients, this synthesized analysis is needed in order to improve rehabilitative practice and maximize clinical effectiveness. This study aimed to systematically analyze the literature on rhythmic auditory cueing for motor rehabilitation of stroke patients by highlighting the outcome variables, type of cueing, and stage of stroke. A systematic review with meta-analysis of randomized controlled or clinically controlled trials was conducted. Electronic databases and music therapy journals were searched for studies including stroke, the use of rhythmic auditory cueing, and motor outcomes, such as gait and upper-extremity function. A total of 10 studies (RCT or CCT) with 356 individuals were included for meta-analysis. There were large effect sizes (Hedges's g = 0.984 for walking velocity; Hedges's g = 0.840 for cadence; Hedges's g = 0.760 for stride length; and Hedges's g = 0.456 for Fugl-Meyer test scores) in the use of rhythmic auditory cueing. Additional subgroup analysis demonstrated that although the type of rhythmic cueing and stage of stroke did not lead to statistically substantial group differences, the effect sizes and heterogeneity values in each subgroup implied possible differences in treatment effect. This study corroborates the beneficial effects of rhythmic auditory cueing, supporting its expanded application to broadened areas of rehabilitation for stroke patients. Also, it suggests the future investigation of the differential outcomes depending on how rhythmic auditory cueing is provided in terms of type and intensity implemented. © the American Music Therapy Association 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Noise-Induced Tinnitus Using Individualized Gap Detection Analysis and Its Relationship with Hyperacusis, Anxiety, and Spatial Cognition

PubMed Central

Pace, Edward; Zhang, Jinsheng

2013-01-01

Tinnitus has a complex etiology that involves auditory and non-auditory factors and may be accompanied by hyperacusis, anxiety and cognitive changes. Thus far, investigations of the interrelationship between tinnitus and auditory and non-auditory impairment have yielded conflicting results. To further address this issue, we noise exposed rats and assessed them for tinnitus using a gap detection behavioral paradigm combined with statistically-driven analysis to diagnose tinnitus in individual rats. We also tested rats for hearing detection, responsivity, and loss using prepulse inhibition and auditory brainstem response, and for spatial cognition and anxiety using Morris water maze and elevated plus maze. We found that our tinnitus diagnosis method reliably separated noise-exposed rats into tinnitus(+) and tinnitus(−) groups and detected no evidence of tinnitus in tinnitus(−) and control rats. In addition, the tinnitus(+) group demonstrated enhanced startle amplitude, indicating hyperacusis-like behavior. Despite these results, neither tinnitus, hyperacusis nor hearing loss yielded any significant effects on spatial learning and memory or anxiety, though a majority of rats with the highest anxiety levels had tinnitus. These findings showed that we were able to develop a clinically relevant tinnitus(+) group and that our diagnosis method is sound. At the same time, like clinical studies, we found that tinnitus does not always result in cognitive-emotional dysfunction, although tinnitus may predispose subjects to certain impairment like anxiety. Other behavioral assessments may be needed to further define the relationship between tinnitus and anxiety, cognitive deficits, and other impairments. PMID:24069375

Visual perceptual load reduces auditory detection in typically developing individuals but not in individuals with autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Tillmann, Julian; Swettenham, John

2017-02-01

Previous studies examining selective attention in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have yielded conflicting results, some suggesting superior focused attention (e.g., on visual search tasks), others demonstrating greater distractibility. This pattern could be accounted for by the proposal (derived by applying the Load theory of attention, e.g., Lavie, 2005) that ASD is characterized by an increased perceptual capacity (Remington, Swettenham, Campbell, & Coleman, 2009). Recent studies in the visual domain support this proposal. Here we hypothesize that ASD involves an enhanced perceptual capacity that also operates across sensory modalities, and test this prediction, for the first time using a signal detection paradigm. Seventeen neurotypical (NT) and 15 ASD adolescents performed a visual search task under varying levels of visual perceptual load while simultaneously detecting presence/absence of an auditory tone embedded in noise. Detection sensitivity (d') for the auditory stimulus was similarly high for both groups in the low visual perceptual load condition (e.g., 2 items: p = .391, d = 0.31, 95% confidence interval [CI] [-0.39, 1.00]). However, at a higher level of visual load, auditory d' reduced for the NT group but not the ASD group, leading to a group difference (p = .002, d = 1.2, 95% CI [0.44, 1.96]). As predicted, when visual perceptual load was highest, both groups then showed a similarly low auditory d' (p = .9, d = 0.05, 95% CI [-0.65, 0.74]). These findings demonstrate that increased perceptual capacity in ASD operates across modalities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychopathology and Deviant Sexual Arousal in Incarcerated Sexual Offenders.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Serin, Ralph C.; And Others

1994-01-01

Investigates the relationship between psychopathology and deviant sexual arousal in sexual offenders (n=65), with approximately equal numbers of rapists and child molesters. Differentiating between rapists, extrafamilial pedophiles, and incest offenders revealed that the relationship between psychopathology and arousal was most apparent for…

Relationships between conflict, affect and deviant sexual behaviors in rapists and pedophiles.

PubMed

McKibben, A; Proulx, J; Lusignan, R

1994-06-01

The aim of the current study was to determine the relationship in sexual offenders between conflict, affective states and particular sexual behaviors (fantasies and masturbatory activities while having such fantasies). To this end we developed the "Fantasy Report", a self-assessment method for recording affective components and sexual behaviors. Thirteen rapists and 9 pedophiles filled out the Fantasy Report every 2 days for a period of 60 days. In rapists, negative mood and the presence of conflicts coincided with both overwhelming deviant sexual fantasies and increased masturbatory activities while having such fantasies. Furthermore, the emotions most frequently reported by rapists following conflicts were loneliness, humiliation, anger and feelings of inadequacy and rejection. Affective components, however, were not associated with nondeviant sexual behaviors. For the pedophiles, the data revealed a significant relationship only between negative moods and deviant sexual fantasies. These data are interpreted to mean that, in sexual offenders, negative affect is a crucial component in the chain that leads to deviant sexual behaviors.

Evaluations of and reasoning about normative and deviant ingroup and outgroup members: development of the black sheep effect.

PubMed

Abrams, Dominic; Palmer, Sally B; Rutland, Adam; Cameron, Lindsey; Van de Vyver, Julie

2014-01-01

Research with adults has demonstrated a "black sheep effect" (BSE) whereby, relative to evaluations of normative group members, ingroup deviants are derogated more than outgroup deviants. The developmental subjective group dynamics (DSGD) model holds that the BSE should develop during middle childhood when children apply wider social norms. Three hundred and thirty-eight children who were between 5 and 12 years old judged a normative (socially desirable) and a deviant (socially undesirable) member from an ingroup or an outgroup school. Results confirmed a developmental increase in the BSE, the first time this has been demonstrated. Children's own evaluations of group members were mediated by their expectations about ingroup peers' evaluations. In line with DSGD and social domain theories, with age, children's explanations of peer evaluations for ingroup deviance focused relatively more on loyalty. Practical and theoretical implications for peer inclusion and exclusion are discussed. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Sensation seeking and adolescent drug use: the mediating role of association with deviant peers and pro-drug discussions.

PubMed

Yanovitzky, Itzhak

2005-01-01

In this study, I examined direct and indirect influences of sensation seeking, a personality trait, on adolescent drug use. I hypothesized that some or even most of the contribution of sensation seeking to drug use by adolescents is mediated through association with deviant peers and communication with peers that is favorable toward drug use. I examined the role of additional risk or protective factors in facilitating or impeding association with deviant peers, pro-drug communication, and marijuana use as well. The results of analyzing nationally representative cross-sectional data from the evaluation of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign support the study's hypotheses and suggest that different factors may protect high sensation-seeking adolescents from using drugs or engaging in activities (e.g., association with deviant peers) that may increase their risk for drug use. I discuss the theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of these findings to the design of health communication interventions.

Rapid change in articulatory lip movement induced by preceding auditory feedback during production of bilabial plosives.

PubMed

Mochida, Takemi; Gomi, Hiroaki; Kashino, Makio

2010-11-08

There has been plentiful evidence of kinesthetically induced rapid compensation for unanticipated perturbation in speech articulatory movements. However, the role of auditory information in stabilizing articulation has been little studied except for the control of voice fundamental frequency, voice amplitude and vowel formant frequencies. Although the influence of auditory information on the articulatory control process is evident in unintended speech errors caused by delayed auditory feedback, the direct and immediate effect of auditory alteration on the movements of articulators has not been clarified. This work examined whether temporal changes in the auditory feedback of bilabial plosives immediately affects the subsequent lip movement. We conducted experiments with an auditory feedback alteration system that enabled us to replace or block speech sounds in real time. Participants were asked to produce the syllable /pa/ repeatedly at a constant rate. During the repetition, normal auditory feedback was interrupted, and one of three pre-recorded syllables /pa/, /Φa/, or /pi/, spoken by the same participant, was presented once at a different timing from the anticipated production onset, while no feedback was presented for subsequent repetitions. Comparisons of the labial distance trajectories under altered and normal feedback conditions indicated that the movement quickened during the short period immediately after the alteration onset, when /pa/ was presented 50 ms before the expected timing. Such change was not significant under other feedback conditions we tested. The earlier articulation rapidly induced by the progressive auditory input suggests that a compensatory mechanism helps to maintain a constant speech rate by detecting errors between the internally predicted and actually provided auditory information associated with self movement. The timing- and context-dependent effects of feedback alteration suggest that the sensory error detection works in a temporally asymmetric window where acoustic features of the syllable to be produced may be coded.

The simple ears of noctuoid moths are tuned to the calls of their sympatric bat community.

PubMed

ter Hofstede, Hannah M; Goerlitz, Holger R; Ratcliffe, John M; Holderied, Marc W; Surlykke, Annemarie

2013-11-01

Insects with bat-detecting ears are ideal animals for investigating sensory system adaptations to predator cues. Noctuid moths have two auditory receptors (A1 and A2) sensitive to the ultrasonic echolocation calls of insectivorous bats. Larger moths are detected at greater distances by bats than smaller moths. Larger moths also have lower A1 best thresholds, allowing them to detect bats at greater distances and possibly compensating for their increased conspicuousness. Interestingly, the sound frequency at the lowest threshold is lower in larger than in smaller moths, suggesting that the relationship between threshold and size might vary across frequencies used by different bat species. Here, we demonstrate that the relationships between threshold and size in moths were only significant at some frequencies, and these frequencies differed between three locations (UK, Canada and Denmark). The relationships were more likely to be significant at call frequencies used by proportionately more bat species in the moths' specific bat community, suggesting an association between the tuning of moth ears and the cues provided by sympatric predators. Additionally, we found that the best threshold and best frequency of the less sensitive A2 receptor are also related to size, and that these relationships hold when controlling for evolutionary relationships. The slopes of best threshold versus size differ, however, such that the difference in threshold between A1 and A2 is greater for larger than for smaller moths. The shorter time from A1 to A2 excitation in smaller than in larger moths could potentially compensate for shorter absolute detection distances in smaller moths.

Preventing collapse of external auditory meatus during audiometry.

PubMed

Pearlman, R C

1975-11-01

Occlusion of the external auditory meatus resulting from earphone pressure can produce a pseudoconductive hearing loss. I describe a method for detecting ear canal collapse by otoscopy and I suggest a method of correcting the problem with a polyethylene tube prosthesis.

More insight into the interplay of response selection and visual attention in dual-tasks: masked visual search and response selection are performed in parallel.

PubMed

Reimer, Christina B; Schubert, Torsten

2017-09-15

Both response selection and visual attention are limited in capacity. According to the central bottleneck model, the response selection processes of two tasks in a dual-task situation are performed sequentially. In conjunction search, visual attention is required to select the items and to bind their features (e.g., color and form), which results in a serial search process. Search time increases as items are added to the search display (i.e., set size effect). When the search display is masked, visual attention deployment is restricted to a brief period of time and target detection decreases as a function of set size. Here, we investigated whether response selection and visual attention (i.e., feature binding) rely on a common or on distinct capacity limitations. In four dual-task experiments, participants completed an auditory Task 1 and a conjunction search Task 2 that were presented with an experimentally modulated temporal interval between them (Stimulus Onset Asynchrony, SOA). In Experiment 1, Task 1 was a two-choice discrimination task and the conjunction search display was not masked. In Experiment 2, the response selection difficulty in Task 1 was increased to a four-choice discrimination and the search task was the same as in Experiment 1. We applied the locus-of-slack method in both experiments to analyze conjunction search time, that is, we compared the set size effects across SOAs. Similar set size effects across SOAs (i.e., additive effects of SOA and set size) would indicate sequential processing of response selection and visual attention. However, a significantly smaller set size effect at short SOA compared to long SOA (i.e., underadditive interaction of SOA and set size) would indicate parallel processing of response selection and visual attention. In both experiments, we found underadditive interactions of SOA and set size. In Experiments 3 and 4, the conjunction search display in Task 2 was masked. Task 1 was the same as in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. In both experiments, the d' analysis revealed that response selection did not affect target detection. Overall, Experiments 1-4 indicated that neither the response selection difficulty in the auditory Task 1 (i.e., two-choice vs. four-choice) nor the type of presentation of the search display in Task 2 (i.e., not masked vs. masked) impaired parallel processing of response selection and conjunction search. We concluded that in general, response selection and visual attention (i.e., feature binding) rely on distinct capacity limitations.

Impairing the useful field of view in natural scenes: Tunnel vision versus general interference.

PubMed

Ringer, Ryan V; Throneburg, Zachary; Johnson, Aaron P; Kramer, Arthur F; Loschky, Lester C

2016-01-01

A fundamental issue in visual attention is the relationship between the useful field of view (UFOV), the region of visual space where information is encoded within a single fixation, and eccentricity. A common assumption is that impairing attentional resources reduces the size of the UFOV (i.e., tunnel vision). However, most research has not accounted for eccentricity-dependent changes in spatial resolution, potentially conflating fixed visual properties with flexible changes in visual attention. Williams (1988, 1989) argued that foveal loads are necessary to reduce the size of the UFOV, producing tunnel vision. Without a foveal load, it is argued that the attentional decrement is constant across the visual field (i.e., general interference). However, other research asserts that auditory working memory (WM) loads produce tunnel vision. To date, foveal versus auditory WM loads have not been compared to determine if they differentially change the size of the UFOV. In two experiments, we tested the effects of a foveal (rotated L vs. T discrimination) task and an auditory WM (N-back) task on an extrafoveal (Gabor) discrimination task. Gabor patches were scaled for size and processing time to produce equal performance across the visual field under single-task conditions, thus removing the confound of eccentricity-dependent differences in visual sensitivity. The results showed that although both foveal and auditory loads reduced Gabor orientation sensitivity, only the foveal load interacted with retinal eccentricity to produce tunnel vision, clearly demonstrating task-specific changes to the form of the UFOV. This has theoretical implications for understanding the UFOV.

Psychosocial Antecedents of Unwed Motherhood among Indigent Adolescents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaplan, Howard B.; And Others

1979-01-01

Impoverished pregnant teenagers were distinguished from matched or random controls by an inability to cope; by identification of family, school, and peer relationships as self-devaluing experiences; by an attraction to deviant identity as a source of self-esteem; and by adoption of deviant behaviors. (Author/CP)

Acceptability of Alternative Treatments for Deviant Child Behavior.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kazdin, Alan E.

1980-01-01

Cases of deviant child behavior were described to 88 undergraduate students along with four different treatments (reinforcement of incompatible behavior, time out from reinforcement, drug therapy, and electric shock). Reinforcement of incompatible behavior was more acceptable than other treatments which followed, in order, time out from…

Parental Positive Reinforcement with Deviant Children: Does It Make a Difference?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forehand, Rex

1986-01-01

Considers effectiveness of parental positive reinforcement with deviant children by reviewing the following: (1) non-intervention studies, (2) intervention studies, and (3) consumer (parental) satisfaction studies. Results indicate that parents view positive reinforcement as effective and useful although positive reinforcement is not sufficient to…

Gender differences in lateralization of mismatch negativity in dichotic listening tasks.

PubMed

Ikezawa, Satoru; Nakagome, Kazuyuki; Mimura, Masaru; Shinoda, Junko; Itoh, Kenji; Homma, Ikuo; Kamijima, Kunitoshi

2008-04-01

With the aim of investigating gender differences in the functional lateralization subserving preattentive processing of language stimuli, we compared auditory mismatch negativities (MMNs) using dichotic listening tasks. Forty-four healthy volunteers, including 23 males and 21 females, participated in the study. MMNs generated by pure-tone and phonetic stimuli were compared, to check for the existence of language-specific gender differences in lateralization. Both EEG amplitude and scalp current density (SCD) data were analyzed. With phonetic MMNs, EEG findings revealed significantly larger amplitude in females than males, especially in the right hemisphere, while SCD findings revealed left hemisphere dominance and contralateral dominance in males alone. With pure-tone MMNs, no significant gender differences in hemispheric lateralization appeared in either EEG or SCD findings. While males exhibited left-lateralized activation with phonetic MMNs, females exhibited more bilateral activity. Further, the contralateral dominance of the SCD distribution associated with the ear receiving deviant stimuli in males indicated that ipsilateral input as well as interhemispheric transfer across the corpus callosum to the ipsilateral side was more suppressed in males than in females. The findings of the present study suggest that functional lateralization subserving preattentive detection of phonetic change differs between the genders. These results underscore the significance of considering the gender differences in the study of MMN, especially when phonetic stimulus is adopted. Moreover, they support the view of Voyer and Flight [Voyer, D., Flight, J., 2001. Gender differences in laterality on a dichotic task: the influence of report strategies. Cortex 37, 345-362.] in that the gender difference in hemispheric lateralization of language function is observed in a well-managed-attention condition, which fits the condition adopted in the MMN measurement; subjects are required to focus attention to a distraction task and thereby ignore the phonetic stimuli that elicit MMN.

Brain blood flow changes measured by positron emission tomography during an auditory cognitive task in healthy volunteers and in schizophrenic patients.

PubMed

Emri, Miklós; Glaub, Teodóra; Berecz, Roland; Lengyel, Zsolt; Mikecz, Pál; Repa, Imre; Bartók, Eniko; Degrell, István; Trón, Lajos

2006-05-01

Cognitive deficit is an essential feature of schizophrenia. One of the generally used simple cognitive tasks to characterize specific cognitive dysfunctions is the auditory "oddball" paradigm. During this task, two different tones are presented with different repetition frequencies and the subject is asked to pay attention and to respond to the less frequent tone. The aim of the present study was to apply positron emission tomography (PET) to measure the regional brain blood flow changes induced by an auditory oddball task in healthy volunteers and in stable schizophrenic patients in order to detect activation differences between the two groups. Eight healthy volunteers and 11 schizophrenic patients were studied. The subjects carried out a specific auditory oddball task, while cerebral activation measured via the regional distribution of [15O]-butanol activity changes in the PET camera was recorded. Task-related activation differed significantly across the patients and controls. The healthy volunteers displayed significant activation in the anterior cingulate area (Brodman Area - BA32), while in the schizophrenic patients the area was wider, including the mediofrontal regions (BA32 and BA10). The distance between the locations of maximal activation of the two populations were 33 mm and the cluster size was about twice as large in the patient group. The present results demonstrate that the perfusion changes induced in the schizophrenic patients by this cognitive task extends over a larger part of the mediofrontal cortex than in the healthy volunteers. The different pattern of activation observed during the auditory oddball task in the schizophrenic patients suggests that a larger cortical area - and consequently a larger variety of neuronal networks--is involved in the cognitive processes in these patients. The dispersion of stimulus processing during a cognitive task requiring sustained attention and stimulus discrimination may play an important role in the pathomechanism of the disorder.

Early Risk Factors for Alcohol Use Across High School and Its Covariation With Deviant Friends

PubMed Central

Armstrong, Jeffrey M.; Ruttle, Paula L.; Burk, Linnea R.; Costanzo, Philip R.; Strauman, Timothy J.; Essex, Marilyn J.

2013-01-01

Objective: Past research has associated childhood characteristics and experiences with alcohol use at single time points in adolescence. Other work has focused on drinking trajectories across adolescence but with risk factors typically no earlier than middle or high school. Similarly, although the connection between underage drinking and affiliation with deviant friends is well established, early risk factors for their covariation across adolescence are uncertain. The present study examines the influence of early individual and contextual factors on (a) trajectories across high school of per-occasion alcohol use and (b) the covariation of alcohol use and deviant friends over time. Method: In a longitudinal community sample (n = 374; 51% female), temperamental disinhibition, authoritarian and authoritative parenting, and parental alcohol use were assessed during childhood, and adolescents reported on alcohol use and affiliation with deviant friends in the spring of Grades 9, 10, 11, and 12. Results: Early parental alcohol use predicted the intercept of adolescent drinking. Subsequent patterns of adolescent alcohol use were predicted by sex and interactions of sex and childhood disinhibition with early authoritarian parenting. Additionally, childhood disinhibition interacted with parental alcohol use to moderate the covariation of drinking and deviant friends. Conclusions: These findings highlight early individual and contextual risk factors for alcohol use across high school, extending previous work and underscoring the importance of developmental approaches and longitudinal techniques for understanding patterns of growth in underage drinking. PMID:23948534

Early risk factors for alcohol use across high school and its covariation with deviant friends.

PubMed

Armstrong, Jeffrey M; Ruttle, Paula L; Burk, Linnea R; Costanzo, Philip R; Strauman, Timothy J; Essex, Marilyn J

2013-09-01

Past research has associated childhood characteristics and experiences with alcohol use at single time points in adolescence. Other work has focused on drinking trajectories across adolescence but with risk factors typically no earlier than middle or high school. Similarly, although the connection between underage drinking and affiliation with deviant friends is well established, early risk factors for their covariation across adolescence are uncertain. The present study examines the influence of early individual and contextual factors on (a) trajectories across high school of per-occasion alcohol use and (b) the covariation of alcohol use and deviant friends over time. In a longitudinal community sample (n = 374; 51% female), temperamental disinhibition, authoritarian and authoritative parenting, and parental alcohol use were assessed during childhood, and adolescents reported on alcohol use and affiliation with deviant friends in the spring of Grades 9, 10, 11, and 12. Early parental alcohol use predicted the intercept of adolescent drinking. Subsequent patterns of adolescent alcohol use were predicted by sex and interactions of sex and childhood disinhibition with early authoritarian parenting. Additionally, childhood disinhibition interacted with parental alcohol use to moderate the covariation of drinking and deviant friends. These findings highlight early individual and contextual risk factors for alcohol use across high school, extending previous work and underscoring the importance of developmental approaches and longitudinal techniques for understanding patterns of growth in underage drinking.

An Ecological Analysis of the Effects of Deviant Peer Clustering on Sexual Promiscuity, Problem Behavior, and Childbearing from Early Adolescence to Adulthood: An Enhancement of the Life History Framework

PubMed Central

Dishion, Thomas J.; Ha, Thao; Véronneau, Marie-Hélène

2012-01-01

This study proposes the inclusion of peer relationships in a life history perspective on adolescent problem behavior. Longitudinal analyses were used to examine deviant peer clustering as the mediating link between attenuated family ties, peer marginalization, and social disadvantage in early adolescence and sexual promiscuity in middle adolescence and childbearing by early adulthood. Specifically, 998 youth and their families were assessed at age 11 years and periodically through age 24 years. Structural equation modeling revealed that the peer-enhanced life history model provided a good fit to the longitudinal data, with deviant peer clustering strongly predicting adolescent sexual promiscuity and other correlated problem behaviors. Sexual promiscuity, as expected, also strongly predicted the number of children by age 22–24 years. Consistent with a life history perspective, family social disadvantage directly predicted deviant peer clustering and number of children in early adulthood, controlling for all other variables in the model. These data suggest that deviant peer clustering is a core dimension of a fast life history strategy, with strong links to sexual activity and childbearing. The implications of these findings are discussed with respect to the need to integrate an evolutionary-based model of self-organized peer groups in developmental and intervention science. PMID:22409765

An ecological analysis of the effects of deviant peer clustering on sexual promiscuity, problem behavior, and childbearing from early adolescence to adulthood: an enhancement of the life history framework.

PubMed

Dishion, Thomas J; Ha, Thao; Véronneau, Marie-Hélène

2012-05-01

The authors propose that peer relationships should be included in a life history perspective on adolescent problem behavior. Longitudinal analyses were used to examine deviant peer clustering as the mediating link between attenuated family ties, peer marginalization, and social disadvantage in early adolescence and sexual promiscuity in middle adolescence and childbearing by early adulthood. Specifically, 998 youths, along with their families, were assessed at age 11 years and periodically through age 24 years. Structural equation modeling revealed that the peer-enhanced life history model provided a good fit to the longitudinal data, with deviant peer clustering strongly predicting adolescent sexual promiscuity and other correlated problem behaviors. Sexual promiscuity, as expected, also strongly predicted the number of children by ages 22-24 years. Consistent with a life history perspective, family social disadvantage directly predicted deviant peer clustering and number of children in early adulthood, controlling for all other variables in the model. These data suggest that deviant peer clustering is a core dimension of a fast life history strategy, with strong links to sexual activity and childbearing. The implications of these findings are discussed with respect to the need to integrate an evolutionary-based model of self-organized peer groups in developmental and intervention science.

Perception of Auditory-Visual Distance Relations by 5-Month-Old Infants.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pickens, Jeffrey

1994-01-01

Sixty-four infants viewed side-by-side videotapes of toy trains (in four visual conditions) and listened to sounds at increasing or decreasing amplitude designed to match one of the videos. Results suggested that five-month olds were sensitive to auditory-visual distance relations and that change in size was an important visual depth cue. (MDM)

The Perception of Stress Pattern in Young Cochlear Implanted Children: An EEG Study.

PubMed

Vavatzanidis, Niki K; Mürbe, Dirk; Friederici, Angela D; Hahne, Anja

2016-01-01

Children with sensorineural hearing loss may (re)gain hearing with a cochlear implant-a device that transforms sounds into electric pulses and bypasses the dysfunctioning inner ear by stimulating the auditory nerve directly with an electrode array. Many implanted children master the acquisition of spoken language successfully, yet we still have little knowledge of the actual input they receive with the implant and specifically which language sensitive cues they hear. This would be important however, both for understanding the flexibility of the auditory system when presented with stimuli after a (life-) long phase of deprivation and for planning therapeutic intervention. In rhythmic languages the general stress pattern conveys important information about word boundaries. Infant language acquisition relies on such cues and can be severely hampered when this information is missing, as seen for dyslexic children and children with specific language impairment. Here we ask whether children with a cochlear implant perceive differences in stress patterns during their language acquisition phase and if they do, whether it is present directly following implant stimulation or if and how much time is needed for the auditory system to adapt to the new sensory modality. We performed a longitudinal ERP study, testing in bimonthly intervals the stress pattern perception of 17 young hearing impaired children (age range: 9-50 months; mean: 22 months) during their first 6 months of implant use. An additional session before the implantation served as control baseline. During a session they passively listened to an oddball paradigm featuring the disyllable "baba," which was stressed either on the first or second syllable (trochaic vs. iambic stress pattern). A group of age-matched normal hearing children participated as controls. Our results show, that within the first 6 months of implant use the implanted children develop a negative mismatch response for iambic but not for trochaic deviants, thus showing the same result as the normal hearing controls. Even congenitally deaf children show the same developing pattern. We therefore conclude (a) that young implanted children have early access to stress pattern information and (b) that they develop ERP responses similar to those of normal hearing children.

Auditory fovea and Doppler shift compensation: adaptations for flutter detection in echolocating bats using CF-FM signals.

PubMed

Schnitzler, Hans-Ulrich; Denzinger, Annette

2011-05-01

Rhythmical modulations in insect echoes caused by the moving wings of fluttering insects are behaviourally relevant information for bats emitting CF-FM signals with a high duty cycle. Transmitter and receiver of the echolocation system in flutter detecting foragers are especially adapted for the processing of flutter information. The adaptations of the transmitter are indicated by a flutter induced increase in duty cycle, and by Doppler shift compensation (DSC) that keeps the carrier frequency of the insect echoes near a reference frequency. An adaptation of the receiver is the auditory fovea on the basilar membrane, a highly expanded frequency representation centred to the reference frequency. The afferent projections from the fovea lead to foveal areas with an overrepresentation of sharply tuned neurons with best frequencies near the reference frequency throughout the entire auditory pathway. These foveal neurons are very sensitive to stimuli with natural and simulated flutter information. The frequency range of the foveal areas with their flutter processing neurons overlaps exactly with the frequency range where DS compensating bats most likely receive echoes from fluttering insects. This tight match indicates that auditory fovea and DSC are adaptations for the detection and evaluation of insects flying in clutter.

Evaluation of sounds for hybrid and electric vehicles operating at low speed

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-10-22

Electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), operated at low speeds may reduce auditory cues used by pedestrians to assess the state of nearby traffic creating a safety issue. This field study compares the auditory detectability of num...

The stabilized, wavelet-Mellin transform for analyzing the size and shape information of vocalized sounds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irino, Toshio; Patterson, Roy

2005-04-01

We hear vowels produced by men, women, and children as approximately the same although there is considerable variability in glottal pulse rate and vocal tract length. At the same time, we can identify the speaker group. Recent experiments show that it is possible to identify vowels even when the glottal pulse rate and vocal tract length are condensed or expanded beyond the range of natural vocalization. This suggests that the auditory system has an automatic process to segregate information about shape and size of the vocal tract. Recently we proposed that the auditory system uses some form of Stabilized, Wavelet-Mellin Transform (SWMT) to analyze scale information in bio-acoustic sounds as a general framework for auditory processing from cochlea to cortex. This talk explains the theoretical background of the model and how the vocal information is normalized in the representation. [Work supported by GASR(B)(2) No. 15300061, JSPS.

Auditory environmental context affects visual distance perception.

PubMed

Etchemendy, Pablo E; Abregú, Ezequiel; Calcagno, Esteban R; Eguia, Manuel C; Vechiatti, Nilda; Iasi, Federico; Vergara, Ramiro O

2017-08-03

In this article, we show that visual distance perception (VDP) is influenced by the auditory environmental context through reverberation-related cues. We performed two VDP experiments in two dark rooms with extremely different reverberation times: an anechoic chamber and a reverberant room. Subjects assigned to the reverberant room perceived the targets farther than subjects assigned to the anechoic chamber. Also, we found a positive correlation between the maximum perceived distance and the auditorily perceived room size. We next performed a second experiment in which the same subjects of Experiment 1 were interchanged between rooms. We found that subjects preserved the responses from the previous experiment provided they were compatible with the present perception of the environment; if not, perceived distance was biased towards the auditorily perceived boundaries of the room. Results of both experiments show that the auditory environment can influence VDP, presumably through reverberation cues related to the perception of room size.

Performance of an Ambulatory Dry-EEG Device for Auditory Closed-Loop Stimulation of Sleep Slow Oscillations in the Home Environment

PubMed Central

Debellemaniere, Eden; Chambon, Stanislas; Pinaud, Clemence; Thorey, Valentin; Dehaene, David; Léger, Damien; Chennaoui, Mounir; Arnal, Pierrick J.; Galtier, Mathieu N.

2018-01-01

Recent research has shown that auditory closed-loop stimulation can enhance sleep slow oscillations (SO) to improve N3 sleep quality and cognition. Previous studies have been conducted in lab environments. The present study aimed to validate and assess the performance of a novel ambulatory wireless dry-EEG device (WDD), for auditory closed-loop stimulation of SO during N3 sleep at home. The performance of the WDD to detect N3 sleep automatically and to send auditory closed-loop stimulation on SO were tested on 20 young healthy subjects who slept with both the WDD and a miniaturized polysomnography (part 1) in both stimulated and sham nights within a double blind, randomized and crossover design. The effects of auditory closed-loop stimulation on delta power increase were assessed after one and 10 nights of stimulation on an observational pilot study in the home environment including 90 middle-aged subjects (part 2).The first part, aimed at assessing the quality of the WDD as compared to a polysomnograph, showed that the sensitivity and specificity to automatically detect N3 sleep in real-time were 0.70 and 0.90, respectively. The stimulation accuracy of the SO ascending-phase targeting was 45 ± 52°. The second part of the study, conducted in the home environment, showed that the stimulation protocol induced an increase of 43.9% of delta power in the 4 s window following the first stimulation (including evoked potentials and SO entrainment effect). The increase of SO response to auditory stimulation remained at the same level after 10 consecutive nights. The WDD shows good performances to automatically detect in real-time N3 sleep and to send auditory closed-loop stimulation on SO accurately. These stimulation increased the SO amplitude during N3 sleep without any adaptation effect after 10 consecutive nights. This tool provides new perspectives to figure out novel sleep EEG biomarkers in longitudinal studies and can be interesting to conduct broad studies on the effects of auditory stimulation during sleep. PMID:29568267

Detecting Functional Connectivity During Audiovisual Integration with MEG: A Comparison of Connectivity Metrics.

PubMed

Ard, Tyler; Carver, Frederick W; Holroyd, Tom; Horwitz, Barry; Coppola, Richard

2015-08-01

In typical magnetoencephalography and/or electroencephalography functional connectivity analysis, researchers select one of several methods that measure a relationship between regions to determine connectivity, such as coherence, power correlations, and others. However, it is largely unknown if some are more suited than others for various types of investigations. In this study, the authors investigate seven connectivity metrics to evaluate which, if any, are sensitive to audiovisual integration by contrasting connectivity when tracking an audiovisual object versus connectivity when tracking a visual object uncorrelated with the auditory stimulus. The authors are able to assess the metrics' performances at detecting audiovisual integration by investigating connectivity between auditory and visual areas. Critically, the authors perform their investigation on a whole-cortex all-to-all mapping, avoiding confounds introduced in seed selection. The authors find that amplitude-based connectivity measures in the beta band detect strong connections between visual and auditory areas during audiovisual integration, specifically between V4/V5 and auditory cortices in the right hemisphere. Conversely, phase-based connectivity measures in the beta band as well as phase and power measures in alpha, gamma, and theta do not show connectivity between audiovisual areas. The authors postulate that while beta power correlations detect audiovisual integration in the current experimental context, it may not always be the best measure to detect connectivity. Instead, it is likely that the brain utilizes a variety of mechanisms in neuronal communication that may produce differential types of temporal relationships.

Impaired prefrontal synaptic gain in people with psychosis and their relatives during the mismatch negativity

PubMed Central

Adams, Rick A.; Díez, Álvaro; Constante, Miguel; Dutt, Anirban; Hall, Mei‐Hua; Maestro Carbayo, Amparo; McDonald, Colm; Petrella, Sabrina; Schulze, Katja; Shaikh, Madiha; Walshe, Muriel; Friston, Karl; Pinotsis, Dimitris; Bramon, Elvira

2015-01-01

Abstract The mismatch negativity (MMN) evoked potential, a preattentive brain response to a discriminable change in auditory stimulation, is significantly reduced in psychosis. Glutamatergic theories of psychosis propose that hypofunction of NMDA receptors (on pyramidal cells and inhibitory interneurons) causes a loss of synaptic gain control. We measured changes in neuronal effective connectivity underlying the MMN using dynamic causal modeling (DCM), where the gain (excitability) of superficial pyramidal cells is explicitly parameterised. EEG data were obtained during a MMN task—for 24 patients with psychosis, 25 of their first‐degree unaffected relatives, and 35 controls—and DCM was used to estimate the excitability (modeled as self‐inhibition) of (source‐specific) superficial pyramidal populations. The MMN sources, based on previous research, included primary and secondary auditory cortices, and the right inferior frontal gyrus. Both patients with psychosis and unaffected relatives (to a lesser degree) showed increased excitability in right inferior frontal gyrus across task conditions, compared to controls. Furthermore, in the same region, both patients and their relatives showed a reversal of the normal response to deviant stimuli; that is, a decrease in excitability in comparison to standard conditions. Our results suggest that psychosis and genetic risk for the illness are associated with both context‐dependent (condition‐specific) and context‐independent abnormalities of the excitability of superficial pyramidal cell populations in the MMN paradigm. These abnormalities could relate to NMDA receptor hypofunction on both pyramidal cells and inhibitory interneurons, and appear to be linked to the genetic aetiology of the illness, thereby constituting potential endophenotypes for psychosis. Hum Brain Mapp 37:351–365, 2016. © 2015 The Authors Human Brain Mapping Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:26503033

Toward Automated Cochlear Implant Fitting Procedures Based on Event-Related Potentials.

PubMed

Finke, Mareike; Billinger, Martin; Büchner, Andreas

Cochlear implants (CIs) restore hearing to the profoundly deaf by direct electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve. To provide an optimal electrical stimulation pattern the CI must be individually fitted to each CI user. To date, CI fitting is primarily based on subjective feedback from the user. However, not all CI users are able to provide such feedback, for example, small children. This study explores the possibility of using the electroencephalogram (EEG) to objectively determine if CI users are able to hear differences in tones presented to them, which has potential applications in CI fitting or closed loop systems. Deviant and standard stimuli were presented to 12 CI users in an active auditory oddball paradigm. The EEG was recorded in two sessions and classification of the EEG data was performed with shrinkage linear discriminant analysis. Also, the impact of CI artifact removal on classification performance and the possibility to reuse a trained classifier in future sessions were evaluated. Overall, classification performance was above chance level for all participants although performance varied considerably between participants. Also, artifacts were successfully removed from the EEG without impairing classification performance. Finally, reuse of the classifier causes only a small loss in classification performance. Our data provide first evidence that EEG can be automatically classified on single-trial basis in CI users. Despite the slightly poorer classification performance over sessions, classifier and CI artifact correction appear stable over successive sessions. Thus, classifier and artifact correction weights can be reused without repeating the set-up procedure in every session, which makes the technique easier applicable. With our present data, we can show successful classification of event-related cortical potential patterns in CI users. In the future, this has the potential to objectify and automate parts of CI fitting procedures.

Reduced temporal mismatch negativity in late-life depression: an event-related potential index of cognitive deficit and functional disability?

PubMed

Naismith, Sharon L; Mowszowski, Loren; Ward, Philip B; Diamond, Keri; Paradise, Matthew; Kaur, Manreena; Lewis, Simon J G; Hickie, Ian B; Hermens, Daniel F

2012-04-01

Depression in older people has been consistently linked with a variety of neurobiological brain changes. One measure of preattentive auditory processing, the mismatch negativity (MMN), has not been previously examined in late-life depression. This study examined MMN elicited by duration deviant stimuli in older people with lifetime depression, and explored its relationship with neuropsychological functioning and disability. Twenty-two older health-seeking patients (mean age=65.2 years) with lifetime major depressive disorder and twelve age and sex-matched control participants (mean age=64.6 years) completed detailed clinical and neuropsychological assessments and the WHO-DAS as a measure of disability. MMN amplitudes were elicited using a two-tone passive auditory oddball paradigm and measured at frontal (Fz), central (Cz) and temporal (left and right mastoid: M1 and M2, respectively) sites. Patients with depression demonstrated reduced mean MMN amplitude at temporal (M1, t=3.1, p<0.01; M2, t=3.8, p<0.01), but not fronto-central sites. Reduced temporal MMN amplitudes did not relate to depressive symptom severity, but were associated with reduced semantic fluency and greater self-rated functional disability. The contribution of depressive symptom 'state' and medications on MMN need to be considered. Reduced mean amplitudes of mastoid MMN in older patients with lifetime depression may reflect underlying brain changes. This preattentive marker relates to neuropsychological probes of frontotemporal circuits, and importantly, is associated with disability. Longitudinal analysis of MMN in this group will determine its predictive utility as a biomarker for ongoing cognitive decline and illness chronicity. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Emotion Regulation and Aggressive Behavior in Preschoolers: The Mediating Role of Social Information Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Helmsen, Johanna; Koglin, Ute; Petermann, Franz

2012-01-01

This study examined whether the relation between maladaptive emotion regulation and aggression was mediated by deviant social information processing (SIP). Participants were 193 preschool children. Emotion regulation and aggression were rated by teachers. Deviant SIP (i.e., attribution of hostile intent, aggressive response generation, aggressive…

Relating Aspects of Adolescent Emotional Autonomy to Academic Achievement and Deviant Behavior.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Zeng-Yin; Dornbusch, Sanford M.

1998-01-01

Used a structural-equation model with latent constructs to differentiate the domains of adolescent emotional autonomy from parents and specify the intervening processes. Found that individuation was associated with lower academic achievement and higher rates of deviant behavior through the intervening effects of higher susceptibility to negative…

Investigating the role of visual and auditory search in reading and developmental dyslexia

PubMed Central

Lallier, Marie; Donnadieu, Sophie; Valdois, Sylviane

2013-01-01

It has been suggested that auditory and visual sequential processing deficits contribute to phonological disorders in developmental dyslexia. As an alternative explanation to a phonological deficit as the proximal cause for reading disorders, the visual attention span hypothesis (VA Span) suggests that difficulties in processing visual elements simultaneously lead to dyslexia, regardless of the presence of a phonological disorder. In this study, we assessed whether deficits in processing simultaneously displayed visual or auditory elements is linked to dyslexia associated with a VA Span impairment. Sixteen children with developmental dyslexia and 16 age-matched skilled readers were assessed on visual and auditory search tasks. Participants were asked to detect a target presented simultaneously with 3, 9, or 15 distracters. In the visual modality, target detection was slower in the dyslexic children than in the control group on a “serial” search condition only: the intercepts (but not the slopes) of the search functions were higher in the dyslexic group than in the control group. In the auditory modality, although no group difference was observed, search performance was influenced by the number of distracters in the control group only. Within the dyslexic group, not only poor visual search (high reaction times and intercepts) but also low auditory search performance (d′) strongly correlated with poor irregular word reading accuracy. Moreover, both visual and auditory search performance was associated with the VA Span abilities of dyslexic participants but not with their phonological skills. The present data suggests that some visual mechanisms engaged in “serial” search contribute to reading and orthographic knowledge via VA Span skills regardless of phonological skills. The present results further open the question of the role of auditory simultaneous processing in reading as well as its link with VA Span skills. PMID:24093014

Investigating the role of visual and auditory search in reading and developmental dyslexia.

PubMed

Lallier, Marie; Donnadieu, Sophie; Valdois, Sylviane

2013-01-01

It has been suggested that auditory and visual sequential processing deficits contribute to phonological disorders in developmental dyslexia. As an alternative explanation to a phonological deficit as the proximal cause for reading disorders, the visual attention span hypothesis (VA Span) suggests that difficulties in processing visual elements simultaneously lead to dyslexia, regardless of the presence of a phonological disorder. In this study, we assessed whether deficits in processing simultaneously displayed visual or auditory elements is linked to dyslexia associated with a VA Span impairment. Sixteen children with developmental dyslexia and 16 age-matched skilled readers were assessed on visual and auditory search tasks. Participants were asked to detect a target presented simultaneously with 3, 9, or 15 distracters. In the visual modality, target detection was slower in the dyslexic children than in the control group on a "serial" search condition only: the intercepts (but not the slopes) of the search functions were higher in the dyslexic group than in the control group. In the auditory modality, although no group difference was observed, search performance was influenced by the number of distracters in the control group only. Within the dyslexic group, not only poor visual search (high reaction times and intercepts) but also low auditory search performance (d') strongly correlated with poor irregular word reading accuracy. Moreover, both visual and auditory search performance was associated with the VA Span abilities of dyslexic participants but not with their phonological skills. The present data suggests that some visual mechanisms engaged in "serial" search contribute to reading and orthographic knowledge via VA Span skills regardless of phonological skills. The present results further open the question of the role of auditory simultaneous processing in reading as well as its link with VA Span skills.

Eye closure helps memory by reducing cognitive load and enhancing visualisation.

PubMed

Vredeveldt, Annelies; Hitch, Graham J; Baddeley, Alan D

2011-10-01

Closing the eyes helps memory. We investigated the mechanisms underlying the eyeclosure effect by exposing 80 eyewitnesses to different types of distraction during the witness interview: blank screen (control), eyes closed, visual distraction, and auditory distraction. We examined the cognitive load hypothesis by comparing any type of distraction (visual or auditory) with minimal distraction (blank screen or eyes closed). We found recall to be significantly better when distraction was minimal, providing evidence that eyeclosure reduces cognitive load. We examined the modality-specific interference hypothesis by comparing the effects of visual and auditory distraction on recall of visual and auditory information. Visual and auditory distraction selectively impaired memory for information presented in the same modality, supporting the role of visualisation in the eyeclosure effect. Analysis of recall in terms of grain size revealed that recall of basic information about the event was robust, whereas recall of specific details was prone to both general and modality-specific disruptions.

Cross-modal attention influences auditory contrast sensitivity: Decreasing visual load improves auditory thresholds for amplitude- and frequency-modulated sounds.

PubMed

Ciaramitaro, Vivian M; Chow, Hiu Mei; Eglington, Luke G

2017-03-01

We used a cross-modal dual task to examine how changing visual-task demands influenced auditory processing, namely auditory thresholds for amplitude- and frequency-modulated sounds. Observers had to attend to two consecutive intervals of sounds and report which interval contained the auditory stimulus that was modulated in amplitude (Experiment 1) or frequency (Experiment 2). During auditory-stimulus presentation, observers simultaneously attended to a rapid sequential visual presentation-two consecutive intervals of streams of visual letters-and had to report which interval contained a particular color (low load, demanding less attentional resources) or, in separate blocks of trials, which interval contained more of a target letter (high load, demanding more attentional resources). We hypothesized that if attention is a shared resource across vision and audition, an easier visual task should free up more attentional resources for auditory processing on an unrelated task, hence improving auditory thresholds. Auditory detection thresholds were lower-that is, auditory sensitivity was improved-for both amplitude- and frequency-modulated sounds when observers engaged in a less demanding (compared to a more demanding) visual task. In accord with previous work, our findings suggest that visual-task demands can influence the processing of auditory information on an unrelated concurrent task, providing support for shared attentional resources. More importantly, our results suggest that attending to information in a different modality, cross-modal attention, can influence basic auditory contrast sensitivity functions, highlighting potential similarities between basic mechanisms for visual and auditory attention.

An association between auditory-visual synchrony processing and reading comprehension: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence

PubMed Central

Mossbridge, Julia; Zweig, Jacob; Grabowecky, Marcia; Suzuki, Satoru

2016-01-01

The perceptual system integrates synchronized auditory-visual signals in part to promote individuation of objects in cluttered environments. The processing of auditory-visual synchrony may more generally contribute to cognition by synchronizing internally generated multimodal signals. Reading is a prime example because the ability to synchronize internal phonological and/or lexical processing with visual orthographic processing may facilitate encoding of words and meanings. Consistent with this possibility, developmental and clinical research has suggested a link between reading performance and the ability to compare visual spatial/temporal patterns with auditory temporal patterns. Here, we provide converging behavioral and electrophysiological evidence suggesting that greater behavioral ability to judge auditory-visual synchrony (Experiment 1) and greater sensitivity of an electrophysiological marker of auditory-visual synchrony processing (Experiment 2) both predict superior reading comprehension performance, accounting for 16% and 25% of the variance, respectively. These results support the idea that the mechanisms that detect auditory-visual synchrony contribute to reading comprehension. PMID:28129060

An Association between Auditory-Visual Synchrony Processing and Reading Comprehension: Behavioral and Electrophysiological Evidence.

PubMed

Mossbridge, Julia; Zweig, Jacob; Grabowecky, Marcia; Suzuki, Satoru

2017-03-01

The perceptual system integrates synchronized auditory-visual signals in part to promote individuation of objects in cluttered environments. The processing of auditory-visual synchrony may more generally contribute to cognition by synchronizing internally generated multimodal signals. Reading is a prime example because the ability to synchronize internal phonological and/or lexical processing with visual orthographic processing may facilitate encoding of words and meanings. Consistent with this possibility, developmental and clinical research has suggested a link between reading performance and the ability to compare visual spatial/temporal patterns with auditory temporal patterns. Here, we provide converging behavioral and electrophysiological evidence suggesting that greater behavioral ability to judge auditory-visual synchrony (Experiment 1) and greater sensitivity of an electrophysiological marker of auditory-visual synchrony processing (Experiment 2) both predict superior reading comprehension performance, accounting for 16% and 25% of the variance, respectively. These results support the idea that the mechanisms that detect auditory-visual synchrony contribute to reading comprehension.

Effect of subliminal visual material on an auditory signal detection task.

PubMed

Moroney, E; Bross, M

1984-02-01

An experiment assessed the effect of subliminally embedded, visual material on an auditory detection task. 22 women and 19 men were presented tachistoscopically with words designated as "emotional" or "neutral" on the basis of prior GSRs and a Word Rating List under four conditions: (a) Unembedded Neutral, (b) Embedded Neutral, (c) Unembedded Emotional, and (d) Embedded Emotional. On each trial subjects made forced choices concerning the presence or absence of an auditory tone (1000 Hz) at threshold level; hits and false alarm rates were used to compute non-parametric indices for sensitivity (A') and response bias (B"). While over-all analyses of variance yielded no significant differences, further examination of the data suggests the presence of subliminally "receptive" and "non-receptive" subpopulations.

Auditory integration training for children with autism: no behavioral benefits detected.

PubMed

Mudford, O C; Cross, B A; Breen, S; Cullen, C; Reeves, D; Gould, J; Douglas, J

2000-03-01

Auditory integration training and a control treatment were provided for 16 children with autism in a crossover experimental design. Measures, blind to treatment order, included parent and teacher ratings of behavior, direct observational recordings, IQ, language, and social/adaptive tests. Significant differences tended to show that the control condition was superior on parent-rated measures of hyperactivity and on direct observational measures of ear-occlusion. No differences were detected on teacher-rated measures. Children's IQs and language comprehension did not increase, but adaptive/social behavior scores and expressive language quotients decreased. The majority of parents (56%) were unable to report in retrospect when their child had received auditory integration training. No individual child was identified as benefiting clinically or educationally from the treatment.

Deletion of Fmr1 Alters Function and Synaptic Inputs in the Auditory Brainstem

PubMed Central

Rotschafer, Sarah E.; Marshak, Sonya; Cramer, Karina S.

2015-01-01

Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), a neurodevelopmental disorder, is the most prevalent single-gene cause of autism spectrum disorder. Autism has been associated with impaired auditory processing, abnormalities in the auditory brainstem response (ABR), and reduced cell number and size in the auditory brainstem nuclei. FXS is characterized by elevated cortical responses to sound stimuli, with some evidence for aberrant ABRs. Here, we assessed ABRs and auditory brainstem anatomy in Fmr1 -/- mice, an animal model of FXS. We found that Fmr1 -/- mice showed elevated response thresholds to both click and tone stimuli. Amplitudes of ABR responses were reduced in Fmr1 -/- mice for early peaks of the ABR. The growth of the peak I response with sound intensity was less steep in mutants that in wild type mice. In contrast, amplitudes and response growth in peaks IV and V did not differ between these groups. We did not observe differences in peak latencies or in interpeak latencies. Cell size was reduced in Fmr1 -/- mice in the ventral cochlear nucleus (VCN) and in the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB). We quantified levels of inhibitory and excitatory synaptic inputs in these nuclei using markers for presynaptic proteins. We measured VGAT and VGLUT immunolabeling in VCN, MNTB, and the lateral superior olive (LSO). VGAT expression in MNTB was significantly greater in the Fmr1 -/- mouse than in wild type mice. Together, these observations demonstrate that FXS affects peripheral and central aspects of hearing and alters the balance of excitation and inhibition in the auditory brainstem. PMID:25679778

Incidental Auditory Category Learning

PubMed Central

Gabay, Yafit; Dick, Frederic K.; Zevin, Jason D.; Holt, Lori L.

2015-01-01

Very little is known about how auditory categories are learned incidentally, without instructions to search for category-diagnostic dimensions, overt category decisions, or experimenter-provided feedback. This is an important gap because learning in the natural environment does not arise from explicit feedback and there is evidence that the learning systems engaged by traditional tasks are distinct from those recruited by incidental category learning. We examined incidental auditory category learning with a novel paradigm, the Systematic Multimodal Associations Reaction Time (SMART) task, in which participants rapidly detect and report the appearance of a visual target in one of four possible screen locations. Although the overt task is rapid visual detection, a brief sequence of sounds precedes each visual target. These sounds are drawn from one of four distinct sound categories that predict the location of the upcoming visual target. These many-to-one auditory-to-visuomotor correspondences support incidental auditory category learning. Participants incidentally learn categories of complex acoustic exemplars and generalize this learning to novel exemplars and tasks. Further, learning is facilitated when category exemplar variability is more tightly coupled to the visuomotor associations than when the same stimulus variability is experienced across trials. We relate these findings to phonetic category learning. PMID:26010588

Understanding response proclivity and the limits of sensory capability: What do we hear and what can we hear?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leek, Marjorie R.; Neff, Donna L.

2004-05-01

Charles Watson's studies of informational masking and the effects of stimulus uncertainty on auditory perception have had a profound impact on auditory research. His series of seminal studies in the mid-1970s on the detection and discrimination of target sounds in sequences of brief tones with uncertain properties addresses the fundamental problem of extracting target signals from background sounds. As conceptualized by Chuck and others, informational masking results from more central (even ``cogneetive'') processes as a consequence of stimulus uncertainty, and can be distinguished from ``energetic'' masking, which primarily arises from the auditory periphery. Informational masking techniques are now in common use to study the detection, discrimination, and recognition of complex sounds, the capacity of auditory memory and aspects of auditory selective attention, the often large effects of training to reduce detrimental effects of uncertainty, and the perceptual segregation of target sounds from irrelevant context sounds. This paper will present an overview of past and current research on informational masking, and show how Chuck's work has been expanded in several directions by other scientists to include the effects of informational masking on speech perception and on perception by listeners with hearing impairment. [Work supported by NIDCD.

Human engineer's guide to auditory displays. Volume 2: Elements of signal reception and resolution affecting auditory displays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mulligan, B. E.; Goodman, L. S.; McBride, D. K.; Mitchell, T. M.; Crosby, T. N.

1984-08-01

This work reviews the areas of monaural and binaural signal detection, auditory discrimination and localization, and reaction times to acoustic signals. The review was written from the perspective of human engineering and focuses primarily on auditory processing of information contained in acoustic signals. The impetus for this effort was to establish a data base to be utilized in the design and evaluation of acoustic displays. Appendix 1 also contains citations of the scientific literature on which was based the answers to each question. There are nineteen questions and answers, and more than two hundred citations contained in the list of references given in Appendix 2. This is one of two related works, the other of which reviewed the literature in the areas of auditory attention, recognition memory, and auditory perception of patterns, pitch, and loudness.

A Decline in Response Variability Improves Neural Signal Detection during Auditory Task Performance.

PubMed

von Trapp, Gardiner; Buran, Bradley N; Sen, Kamal; Semple, Malcolm N; Sanes, Dan H

2016-10-26

The detection of a sensory stimulus arises from a significant change in neural activity, but a sensory neuron's response is rarely identical to successive presentations of the same stimulus. Large trial-to-trial variability would limit the central nervous system's ability to reliably detect a stimulus, presumably affecting perceptual performance. However, if response variability were to decrease while firing rate remained constant, then neural sensitivity could improve. Here, we asked whether engagement in an auditory detection task can modulate response variability, thereby increasing neural sensitivity. We recorded telemetrically from the core auditory cortex of gerbils, both while they engaged in an amplitude-modulation detection task and while they sat quietly listening to the identical stimuli. Using a signal detection theory framework, we found that neural sensitivity was improved during task performance, and this improvement was closely associated with a decrease in response variability. Moreover, units with the greatest change in response variability had absolute neural thresholds most closely aligned with simultaneously measured perceptual thresholds. Our findings suggest that the limitations imposed by response variability diminish during task performance, thereby improving the sensitivity of neural encoding and potentially leading to better perceptual sensitivity. The detection of a sensory stimulus arises from a significant change in neural activity. However, trial-to-trial variability of the neural response may limit perceptual performance. If the neural response to a stimulus is quite variable, then the response on a given trial could be confused with the pattern of neural activity generated when the stimulus is absent. Therefore, a neural mechanism that served to reduce response variability would allow for better stimulus detection. By recording from the cortex of freely moving animals engaged in an auditory detection task, we found that variability of the neural response becomes smaller during task performance, thereby improving neural detection thresholds. Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/3611097-10$15.00/0.

A Decline in Response Variability Improves Neural Signal Detection during Auditory Task Performance

PubMed Central

Buran, Bradley N.; Sen, Kamal; Semple, Malcolm N.; Sanes, Dan H.

2016-01-01

The detection of a sensory stimulus arises from a significant change in neural activity, but a sensory neuron's response is rarely identical to successive presentations of the same stimulus. Large trial-to-trial variability would limit the central nervous system's ability to reliably detect a stimulus, presumably affecting perceptual performance. However, if response variability were to decrease while firing rate remained constant, then neural sensitivity could improve. Here, we asked whether engagement in an auditory detection task can modulate response variability, thereby increasing neural sensitivity. We recorded telemetrically from the core auditory cortex of gerbils, both while they engaged in an amplitude-modulation detection task and while they sat quietly listening to the identical stimuli. Using a signal detection theory framework, we found that neural sensitivity was improved during task performance, and this improvement was closely associated with a decrease in response variability. Moreover, units with the greatest change in response variability had absolute neural thresholds most closely aligned with simultaneously measured perceptual thresholds. Our findings suggest that the limitations imposed by response variability diminish during task performance, thereby improving the sensitivity of neural encoding and potentially leading to better perceptual sensitivity. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The detection of a sensory stimulus arises from a significant change in neural activity. However, trial-to-trial variability of the neural response may limit perceptual performance. If the neural response to a stimulus is quite variable, then the response on a given trial could be confused with the pattern of neural activity generated when the stimulus is absent. Therefore, a neural mechanism that served to reduce response variability would allow for better stimulus detection. By recording from the cortex of freely moving animals engaged in an auditory detection task, we found that variability of the neural response becomes smaller during task performance, thereby improving neural detection thresholds. PMID:27798189

Auditory detectability of hybrid electric vehicles by pedestrians who are blind

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-11-15

Quieter cars such as electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) may reduce auditory cues used by pedestrians to assess the state of nearby traffic and, as a result, their use may have an adverse impact on pedestrian safety. In order ...