Dataset Information

Training-induced brain activation and functional connectivity differentiate multi-talker and single-talker speech training.

ABSTRACT: In second language acquisition studies, the high talker variability training approach has been frequently used to train participants to learn new speech patterns. However, the neuroplasticity induced by training is poorly understood. In the present study, native English speakers were trained on non-native pitch patterns (linguistic tones from Mandarin Chinese) in multi-talker (N?=?16) or single-talker (N?=?16) training conditions. We focused on two aspects of multi-talker training, voice processing and lexical phonology accessing, and used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure the brain activation and functional connectivity (FC) of two regions of interest in a tone identification task conducted before and after training, namely the anterior part of the right superior temporal gyrus (aRSTG) and the posterior left superior temporal gyrus (pLSTG). The results showed distinct patterns of associations between neural signals and learning success for multi-talker training. Specifically, post-training brain activation in the aRSTG and FC strength between the aRSTG and pLSTG were correlated with learning success in the multi-talker training group but not in the single-talker group. These results suggest that talker variability in the training procedure may enhance neural efficiency in these brain areas and strengthen the cooperation between them. Our findings highlight the brain processing of newly learned speech patterns is influenced by the given training approach.

SUBMITTER: Deng Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5953817 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Training-induced brain activation and functional connectivity differentiate multi-talker and single-talker speech training.

Deng Zhizhou Z Chandrasekaran Bharath B Wang Suiping S Wong Patrick C M PCM

Neurobiology of learning and memory 20180310

In second language acquisition studies, the high talker variability training approach has been frequently used to train participants to learn new speech patterns. However, the neuroplasticity induced by training is poorly understood. In the present study, native English speakers were trained on non-native pitch patterns (linguistic tones from Mandarin Chinese) in multi-talker (N = 16) or single-talker (N = 16) training conditions. We focused on two aspects of multi-talker training, voice process ...[more]

PMID: 29535043

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Project description:Spoken word recognition involves a perceptual tradeoff between the reliance on the incoming acoustic signal and knowledge about likely sound categories and their co-occurrences as words. This study examined how adult second language (L2) learners navigate between acoustic-based and knowledge-based spoken word recognition when listening to highly variable, multi-talker truncated speech, and whether this perceptual tradeoff changes as L2 listeners gradually become more proficient in their L2 after multiple months of structured classroom learning. First language (L1) Mandarin Chinese listeners and L1 English-L2 Mandarin adult listeners took part in a gating experiment. The L2 listeners were tested twice - once at the start of their intermediate/advanced L2 language class and again 2 months later. L1 listeners were only tested once. Participants were asked to identify syllable-tone words that varied in syllable token frequency (high/low according to a spoken word corpus) and syllable-conditioned tonal probability (most probable/least probable in speech given the syllable). The stimuli were recorded by 16 different talkers and presented at eight gates ranging from onset-only (gate 1) through onset +40 ms increments (gates 2 through 7) to the full word (gate 8). Mixed-effects regression modeling was used to compare performance to our previous study which used single-talker stimuli (Wiener et al., 2019). The results indicated that multi-talker speech caused both L1 and L2 listeners to rely greater on knowledge-based processing of tone. L1 listeners were able to draw on distributional knowledge of syllable-tone probabilities in early gates and switch to predominantly acoustic-based processing when more of the signal was available. In contrast, L2 listeners, with their limited experience with talker range normalization, were less able to effectively transition from probability-based to acoustic-based processing. Moreover, for the L2 listeners, the reliance on such distributional information for spoken word recognition appeared to be conditioned by the nature of the acoustic signal. Single-talker speech did not result in the same pattern of probability-based tone processing, suggesting that knowledge-based processing of L2 speech may only occur under certain acoustic conditions, such as multi-talker speech.

Dataset Information

Training-induced brain activation and functional connectivity differentiate multi-talker and single-talker speech training.

Publications

Training-induced brain activation and functional connectivity differentiate multi-talker and single-talker speech training.

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