The neural coding of speech across human languages

跨人类语言的语音神经编码

• 批准号: 10268977
• 负责人: Edward Chang
• 金额: $ 136.26万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-09-30 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10268977
• 关键词: Acoustics; Acute; Address; Aphasia; Auditory; Auditory area; Behavior; Brain; Brain Mapping; Brain Neoplasms; Categories; Central Hearing Loss; Chinese People; Chronic; Clinical; Code; Communication impairment; Comparative Study; Complex; Comprehension; Cues; Custom; Development; Disease; Dyslexia; Electrodes; Elements; Epilepsy; Equipment and supply inventories; Event; Goals; Human; Individual; Investigation; Knowledge; Language; Language Development Disorders; Language Disorders; Lateral; Light; Linguistics; Methodology; Modeling; Neurosciences; Neurosurgical Procedures; Noise; Participant; Patients; Pattern; Population; Process; Property; Research; Resolution; Signal Transduction; Site; Speech; Speech Sound; Stimulus; Stress; Surface; Temporal Lobe; Testing; Work; auditory processing; autism spectrum disorder; awake; base; bilingualism; density; diversity and inclusion; experience; innovation; insight; lexical; nervous system disorder; neuroimaging; neuromechanism; neurophysiology; non-Native; novel; novel diagnostics; phonology; programs; rehabilitation strategy; relating to nervous system; response; signal processing; sound; spatiotemporal; speech processing; statistics; temporal measurement; theories

PROJECT SUMMARY The basic mechanisms underlying comprehension of spoken language are unknown. We are only beginning to understand how the human brain extracts the most fundamental linguistic elements (consonants and vowels) from a complex and highly variable acoustic signal. Traditional theories have posited a ‘universal’ phonetic inventory shared by all humans, but this has been challenged by other newer theories that each language has its own unique and specialized code. An investigation of the cortical representation of speech sounds across languages can likely shed light on this fundamental question. Previous research has implicated the superior temporal cortex in the processing of speech sounds. Most of this work has been entirely carried out in English. The recording of neural activity directly from the cortical surface from individuals with different language experience is a promising approach since it can provide both high spatial and temporal resolution. Here, we propose to examine the mechanisms of phonetic encoding, by utilizing neurophysiological recordings obtained during neurosurgical procedures. High-density electrode arrays, advanced signal processing, and direct electrocortical stimulation will be utilized to unravel both local and population encoding of speech sounds in the lateral temporal cortex. We will examine neural encoding of speech in patients who are monolingual and bilingual in Mandarin, Spanish, and English, the most common spoken languages worldwide and feature important contrastive differences of pitch, formant, and temporal envelope. We will test a novel hypothesis that speech processing across languages will reflect a general auditory encoding of relevant phonetic properties, but that processing is modified by language-specific “tuning”. A cross-linguistic approach to the neural encoding of speech will powerfully advance our understanding of how the brain processes sound pattern variability within and across languages. This will provide fundamental insights into the shared mechanisms of auditory processing and experience-dependent plasticity in humans. The results may have significant implications for the development of new diagnostic and rehabilitative strategies for language and neurological disorders (e.g., aphasia, dyslexia, autism). Furthermore, this proposal strives to achieve a broader view of diversity and inclusion in the neuroscience of language.

项目摘要 口语理解的基本机制尚不清楚。我们才刚刚开始 了解人类大脑如何提取最基本的语言元素（辅音和元音） 复杂多变的声音信号传统的理论认为， 所有人类共享的库存，但这受到了其他较新理论的挑战，每种语言都有 它有自己独特的专门代码语音的皮层表征研究 语言可能会阐明这个基本问题。先前的研究表明，上级 颞叶皮层对语音的处理这项工作的大部分完全是用英语进行的。 直接从皮层表面记录不同语言个体的神经活动 经验是一种很有前途的方法，因为它可以提供高的空间和时间分辨率。这里我们 建议检查语音编码的机制，通过利用神经生理学记录获得 在神经外科手术中。高密度电极阵列、先进的信号处理和直接 电皮层刺激将被用来解开本地和人口编码的语音声音中， 外侧颞叶皮层我们将研究单语和双语患者的言语神经编码 汉语、西班牙语和英语是世界上最常见的语言， 音高、共振峰和时间包络的对比差异。我们将测试一个新的假设， 跨语言的处理将反映相关语音特性的一般听觉编码，但是， 通过语言特定的“调整”来修改处理。神经编码的跨语言研究 语音将有力地推进我们对大脑如何处理声音模式变化的理解， 和跨语言。这将提供基本的见解共享机制的听觉处理 和经验依赖的可塑性。这些结果可能会对未来的发展产生重大影响。 为语言和神经障碍开发新的诊断和康复策略（例如， 失语症、诵读困难症、自闭症）。此外，该提案力求实现对多样性的更广泛的看法， 包括在语言的神经科学中。