Electroencephalographic evidence of vowels computation and representation in human auditory cortex
-
Mirko Grimaldi
Abstract
By exploiting the N1 component of the auditory event related potentials we aimed to measure and localize the processing involving the spectro-temporal and the abstract featural representation. We investigated the electroencephalography patterns of 11 Salento Italian speakers discriminating their native five stressed vowels [i, ε, a, ɔ, u]. Findings showed two distinct N1 sub-components: the N1a peaking at 125–135 ms, localized in the bilateral primary auditory cortex (BA41), and the N1b peaking at 145–155 ms, localized in the superior temporal gyrus (BA22) with a strong leftward lateralization. Crucially, while high vowels elicited higher amplitudes than non-high vowels both in the N1a and N1b, back vowels generated later responses than non-back vowels in the N1b only. Overall, these findings suggest a hierarchical processing where from the N1a to the N1b the acoustic analysis shift progressively toward the computation and representation of phonological features.
Abstract
By exploiting the N1 component of the auditory event related potentials we aimed to measure and localize the processing involving the spectro-temporal and the abstract featural representation. We investigated the electroencephalography patterns of 11 Salento Italian speakers discriminating their native five stressed vowels [i, ε, a, ɔ, u]. Findings showed two distinct N1 sub-components: the N1a peaking at 125–135 ms, localized in the bilateral primary auditory cortex (BA41), and the N1b peaking at 145–155 ms, localized in the superior temporal gyrus (BA22) with a strong leftward lateralization. Crucially, while high vowels elicited higher amplitudes than non-high vowels both in the N1a and N1b, back vowels generated later responses than non-back vowels in the N1b only. Overall, these findings suggest a hierarchical processing where from the N1a to the N1b the acoustic analysis shift progressively toward the computation and representation of phonological features.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Biolinguistic investigations on the Language Faculty vii
-
Section 1. Language faculty
- The biolinguistics program 3
- Symbol taxonomy in biophonology 41
- The centrality of speech for human thought 55
- Electroencephalographic evidence of vowels computation and representation in human auditory cortex 79
-
Section 2. Language variation
- Feature values and the expression of variation 103
- Object pronouns in the evolution of Romanian 125
- The interplay of silent nouns and (reduced) relatives in Malay adjectival modification 145
-
Section 3. Language (acquisition and) impairments
- A study on an alleged case of Spanish SLI and the founder effect 169
- Syntax and its interfaces at the low and high ends of the autism spectrum 195
- Communication in schizophrenia, between pragmatics, cognition, and social cognition 213
- Author index 235
- Subject index 237
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Biolinguistic investigations on the Language Faculty vii
-
Section 1. Language faculty
- The biolinguistics program 3
- Symbol taxonomy in biophonology 41
- The centrality of speech for human thought 55
- Electroencephalographic evidence of vowels computation and representation in human auditory cortex 79
-
Section 2. Language variation
- Feature values and the expression of variation 103
- Object pronouns in the evolution of Romanian 125
- The interplay of silent nouns and (reduced) relatives in Malay adjectival modification 145
-
Section 3. Language (acquisition and) impairments
- A study on an alleged case of Spanish SLI and the founder effect 169
- Syntax and its interfaces at the low and high ends of the autism spectrum 195
- Communication in schizophrenia, between pragmatics, cognition, and social cognition 213
- Author index 235
- Subject index 237
