The Experts below are selected from a list of 3801 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Arthur Wingfield - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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differences in hearing acuity among normal hearing young adults modulate the neural basis for speech comprehension
eNeuro, 2018Co-Authors: Arthur Wingfield, Ethan Kotloff, Murray Grossman, Jonathan E. PeelleAbstract:Abstract In this paper, we investigate how subtle differences in hearing acuity affect the neural systems supporting speech processing in young adults. Auditory sentence comprehension requires perceiving a complex acoustic signal and performing linguistic operations to extract the correct meaning. We used functional MRI to monitor human brain activity while adults aged 18–41 years listened to spoken sentences. The sentences varied in their level of syntactic processing demands, containing either a subject-relative or object-relative center-Embedded Clause. All participants self-reported normal hearing, confirmed by audiometric testing, with some variation within a clinically normal range. We found that participants showed activity related to sentence processing in a left-lateralized frontotemporal network. Although accuracy was generally high, participants still made some errors, which were associated with increased activity in bilateral cingulo-opercular and frontoparietal attention networks. A whole-brain regression analysis revealed that activity in a right anterior middle frontal gyrus (aMFG) component of the frontoparietal attention network was related to individual differences in hearing acuity, such that listeners with poorer hearing showed greater recruitment of this region when successfully understanding a sentence. The activity in right aMFGs for listeners with poor hearing did not differ as a function of sentence type, suggesting a general mechanism that is independent of linguistic processing demands. Our results suggest that even modest variations in hearing ability impact the systems supporting auditory speech comprehension, and that auditory sentence comprehension entails the coordination of a left perisylvian network that is sensitive to linguistic variation with an executive attention network that responds to acoustic challenge.
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dissociable patterns of brain activity during comprehension of rapid and syntactically complex speech evidence from fmri
Brain and Language, 2004Co-Authors: Jonathan E. Peelle, Murray Grossman, Corey T Mcmillan, Peachie Moore, Arthur WingfieldAbstract:Sentence comprehension is a complex task that involves both language-specific processing components and general cognitive resources. Comprehension can be made more difficult by increasing the syntactic complexity or the presentation rate of a sentence, but it is unclear whether the same neural mechanism underlies both of these effects. In the current study, we used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor neural activity while participants heard sentences containing a subject-relative or object-relative center-Embedded Clause presented at three different speech rates. Syntactically complex object-relative sentences activated left inferior frontal cortex across presentation rates, whereas sentences presented at a rapid rate recruited frontal brain regions such as anterior cingulate and premotor cortex, regardless of syntactic complexity. These results suggest that dissociable components of a large-scale neural network support the processing of syntactic complexity and speech presented at a rapid rate during auditory sentence processing.
Susanne Fuchs - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Speaker-specific breathing profiles during spontaneous speech
2013Co-Authors: Amélie Rochet-capellan, Susanne FuchsAbstract:Speech is organized in terms of the expiratory air flow from the lung" (Lieberman, 1967, p.52). This organization defines the breath group that corresponds to the chunk of speech produced on a single exhalation. Previous studies have found that in both read and spontaneous speech, the properties of the breath group, and their relations to inhalation parameters, are speaker-specific [1, 2] and varied with age [3] or cognitive load [4]. We previously analyzed the linguistic structure of the breath group in spontaneous speech produced by 26 native female speakers of German [5]. We found that most of the breath groups included 1-3 Clauses. In average, groups with 1-3 Clauses lasted 3.5 s and included 16 syllables. Half of these groups started with a matrix Clause; a quarter with an Embedded Clause and the last quarter with an incomplete Clause (continuation, repetition, hesitation). We also found that the amplitude and the duration of the inhalation varied as a function of the first Clause type and with respect to breath group length. Breath groups including vocalized hesitations also coincide with deeper inhalation. These average results demonstrate the interplay of speech-planning and breathing control in spontaneous speech: to some extent the linguistic structure of the breath group is anticipated during the inhalation phase. We also found large variability between speakers. This variability was found in the number of breath groups produced by each speaker. On average subjects realized 1 to 10 breath groups to summarize a short text. Speaker-specificity was also evident in the proportion of breath groups with hesitation, ranging from 0 to more than 50% according to the speaker. In this presentation, we will discuss in more details the characteristic of the breath group with respect to the speaker and discuss it in light of speech planning strategies.
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the interplay of linguistic structure and breathing in german spontaneous speech
Conference of the International Speech Communication Association, 2013Co-Authors: Amelie Rochetcapellan, Susanne FuchsAbstract:This paper investigates the relation between the linguistic structure of the breath group and breathing kinematics in spontaneous speech. 26 female speakers of German were recorded by means of an Inductance Plethysmograph. The breath group was defined as the interval of speech produced on a single exhalation. For each group several linguistic parameters (number and type of Clauses, number of syllables, hesitations) were measured and the associated inhalation was characterized. The average duration of the breath group was ~3.5 s. Most of the breath groups consisted of 1-3 Clauses; ~53% started with a matrix Clause; ~24% with an Embedded Clause and ~23% with an incomplete Clause (continuation, repetition, hesitation). The inhalation depth and duration varied as a function of the first Clause type and with respect to the breath group length, showing some interplay between speech-planning and breathing control. Vocalized hesitations were speaker-specific and came with deeper inhalation. These results are informative for a better understanding of the interplay of speech-planning and breathing control in spontaneous speech. The findings are also relevant for applications in speech therapies and technologies.
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INTERSPEECH - The interplay of linguistic structure and breathing in German spontaneous speech.
2013Co-Authors: Amélie Rochet-capellan, Susanne FuchsAbstract:This paper investigates the relation between the linguistic structure of the breath group and breathing kinematics in spontaneous speech. 26 female speakers of German were recorded by means of an Inductance Plethysmograph. The breath group was defined as the interval of speech produced on a single exhalation. For each group several linguistic parameters (number and type of Clauses, number of syllables, hesitations) were measured and the associated inhalation was characterized. The average duration of the breath group was ~3.5 s. Most of the breath groups consisted of 1-3 Clauses; ~53% started with a matrix Clause; ~24% with an Embedded Clause and ~23% with an incomplete Clause (continuation, repetition, hesitation). The inhalation depth and duration varied as a function of the first Clause type and with respect to the breath group length, showing some interplay between speech-planning and breathing control. Vocalized hesitations were speaker-specific and came with deeper inhalation. These results are informative for a better understanding of the interplay of speech-planning and breathing control in spontaneous speech. The findings are also relevant for applications in speech therapies and technologies.
Jonathan E. Peelle - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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differences in hearing acuity among normal hearing young adults modulate the neural basis for speech comprehension
eNeuro, 2018Co-Authors: Arthur Wingfield, Ethan Kotloff, Murray Grossman, Jonathan E. PeelleAbstract:Abstract In this paper, we investigate how subtle differences in hearing acuity affect the neural systems supporting speech processing in young adults. Auditory sentence comprehension requires perceiving a complex acoustic signal and performing linguistic operations to extract the correct meaning. We used functional MRI to monitor human brain activity while adults aged 18–41 years listened to spoken sentences. The sentences varied in their level of syntactic processing demands, containing either a subject-relative or object-relative center-Embedded Clause. All participants self-reported normal hearing, confirmed by audiometric testing, with some variation within a clinically normal range. We found that participants showed activity related to sentence processing in a left-lateralized frontotemporal network. Although accuracy was generally high, participants still made some errors, which were associated with increased activity in bilateral cingulo-opercular and frontoparietal attention networks. A whole-brain regression analysis revealed that activity in a right anterior middle frontal gyrus (aMFG) component of the frontoparietal attention network was related to individual differences in hearing acuity, such that listeners with poorer hearing showed greater recruitment of this region when successfully understanding a sentence. The activity in right aMFGs for listeners with poor hearing did not differ as a function of sentence type, suggesting a general mechanism that is independent of linguistic processing demands. Our results suggest that even modest variations in hearing ability impact the systems supporting auditory speech comprehension, and that auditory sentence comprehension entails the coordination of a left perisylvian network that is sensitive to linguistic variation with an executive attention network that responds to acoustic challenge.
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dissociable patterns of brain activity during comprehension of rapid and syntactically complex speech evidence from fmri
Brain and Language, 2004Co-Authors: Jonathan E. Peelle, Murray Grossman, Corey T Mcmillan, Peachie Moore, Arthur WingfieldAbstract:Sentence comprehension is a complex task that involves both language-specific processing components and general cognitive resources. Comprehension can be made more difficult by increasing the syntactic complexity or the presentation rate of a sentence, but it is unclear whether the same neural mechanism underlies both of these effects. In the current study, we used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor neural activity while participants heard sentences containing a subject-relative or object-relative center-Embedded Clause presented at three different speech rates. Syntactically complex object-relative sentences activated left inferior frontal cortex across presentation rates, whereas sentences presented at a rapid rate recruited frontal brain regions such as anterior cingulate and premotor cortex, regardless of syntactic complexity. These results suggest that dissociable components of a large-scale neural network support the processing of syntactic complexity and speech presented at a rapid rate during auditory sentence processing.
Alessandra Giorgi - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Toward a syntax of the subjunctive mood
Lingua, 2009Co-Authors: Alessandra GiorgiAbstract:In this paper I discuss the syntactic properties of the Italian subjunctive and their relevance at the syntax/semantics interface. The subjunctive mood plays a typical role in sequence of tense phenomena: languages that show the double access reading with the indicative, do not show it with the subjunctive, with some interesting exceptions. The double access reading is a peculiar interpretive effect having to do with the temporal location of the Embedded event. I analyze the syntax associated with subjunctive Clauses, and in particular the properties of the complementizer layer. I show that such properties systematically correlate with the interpretation assigned to the Embedded Clause, i.e., with the presence or absence of the double access reading. I argue that when the Embedded Clause has a double access interpretation, it contains a projection that is read off at the interface as pointing to the speaker's temporal coordinate. In the other, non-double access cases, such a projection is absent and therefore the speaker's coordinate does not intervene in the temporal interpretation of the Embedded Clause.
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A Syntactic Way to Subjunctive
2006Co-Authors: Alessandra GiorgiAbstract:In this paper I’ll discuss the syntactic properties of the Italian subjunctive and their relevance at the syntax/semantics interface. The starting point will be the consideration that the subjunctive plays a characteristic role in sequence of tense phenomena. Languages that show the Double Access Reading —henceforth, DAR—with the indicative, in general do not exhibit it with the subjunctive. 1 In this work I’ll discuss the syntax associated with subjunctive—in particular, the syntax of the CP layer—and show that in DAR languages its properties systematically correlate with the temporal interpretation assigned to the Embedded Clause. I propose, following ideas by Giorgi and Pianesi (1997, 2004a), that this pattern can be explained by means of the following hypothesis: the CP layer, when the Embedded Clause has a DAR interpretation, contains a projection that is read off at the interface as pointing to the speaker’s (temporal and spatial) coordinate. In the other, non-DAR, cases such a projection is absent and therefore the speaker’s coordinate doesn’t intervene in the temporal interpretation of the Embedded Clause. Even if this suggestion cannot explain the whole of the subjunctive phenomena, it nevertheless opens the way to a better understanding of some empirical observations.
Murray Grossman - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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differences in hearing acuity among normal hearing young adults modulate the neural basis for speech comprehension
eNeuro, 2018Co-Authors: Arthur Wingfield, Ethan Kotloff, Murray Grossman, Jonathan E. PeelleAbstract:Abstract In this paper, we investigate how subtle differences in hearing acuity affect the neural systems supporting speech processing in young adults. Auditory sentence comprehension requires perceiving a complex acoustic signal and performing linguistic operations to extract the correct meaning. We used functional MRI to monitor human brain activity while adults aged 18–41 years listened to spoken sentences. The sentences varied in their level of syntactic processing demands, containing either a subject-relative or object-relative center-Embedded Clause. All participants self-reported normal hearing, confirmed by audiometric testing, with some variation within a clinically normal range. We found that participants showed activity related to sentence processing in a left-lateralized frontotemporal network. Although accuracy was generally high, participants still made some errors, which were associated with increased activity in bilateral cingulo-opercular and frontoparietal attention networks. A whole-brain regression analysis revealed that activity in a right anterior middle frontal gyrus (aMFG) component of the frontoparietal attention network was related to individual differences in hearing acuity, such that listeners with poorer hearing showed greater recruitment of this region when successfully understanding a sentence. The activity in right aMFGs for listeners with poor hearing did not differ as a function of sentence type, suggesting a general mechanism that is independent of linguistic processing demands. Our results suggest that even modest variations in hearing ability impact the systems supporting auditory speech comprehension, and that auditory sentence comprehension entails the coordination of a left perisylvian network that is sensitive to linguistic variation with an executive attention network that responds to acoustic challenge.
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dissociable patterns of brain activity during comprehension of rapid and syntactically complex speech evidence from fmri
Brain and Language, 2004Co-Authors: Jonathan E. Peelle, Murray Grossman, Corey T Mcmillan, Peachie Moore, Arthur WingfieldAbstract:Sentence comprehension is a complex task that involves both language-specific processing components and general cognitive resources. Comprehension can be made more difficult by increasing the syntactic complexity or the presentation rate of a sentence, but it is unclear whether the same neural mechanism underlies both of these effects. In the current study, we used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor neural activity while participants heard sentences containing a subject-relative or object-relative center-Embedded Clause presented at three different speech rates. Syntactically complex object-relative sentences activated left inferior frontal cortex across presentation rates, whereas sentences presented at a rapid rate recruited frontal brain regions such as anterior cingulate and premotor cortex, regardless of syntactic complexity. These results suggest that dissociable components of a large-scale neural network support the processing of syntactic complexity and speech presented at a rapid rate during auditory sentence processing.