Listening as active process – probing a rhythmic mode of listening

人类的听觉行为被认为依赖于所谓的节奏感知模式。这一概念的提出基于两方面的证据：第一，基于动物的神经生理学记录，证明了听觉皮层兴奋性的节律性变化;第二，基于心理声学研究，表明我们检测或辨别声音的能力可以随着相对于参考时间点的明显节律性而变化。有节奏的倾听模式的概念基于这样一个普遍的想法，即感知是一个主动的过程，可以在不同的操作模式之间切换，并且依赖于感觉系统和运动系统之间的相互作用。 然而，尽管它在文献中的突出地位，以前的工作留下的核心问题，围绕着一个有节奏的倾听模式的出现和鲁棒性及其与积极行为的关系尚未解决。我们在这里解决以下问题及时使用人类心理声学研究，眼动跟踪和计算建模。首先，使用以前建立的任务，我们将提供强大的和可靠的数据的节奏感的感知报告在具有挑战性的听力任务中，在没有夹带的声音，以了解的条件下，一个假定的节奏模式出现。然后，我们测试的预测，节奏模式可以积极从事或脱离使用实验操作，并使用瞳孔测量链接听模式和听性能参与者的警惕性。然后，我们探讨如何自发和指示眼行为与听力模式和性能，以了解听力模式是否确实直接联系到主动感知帐户所假设的主动行为。最后，我们采用计算建模的行为数据来解离的感觉和决策层面的起源假定的节奏模式的行为数据。拟议的工作将巩固我们的理解，倾听作为积极的感知。这些知识对于理解感知的基本机制至关重要，但对于我们理解言语理解和相关缺陷也至关重要，这是老龄化社会的一个高度相关的话题。

Human listening behaviour supposedly relies on a so-called rhythmic mode of perception. This notion has been introduced based on two lines of evidence: first, based on neurophysiological recordings in animals demonstrating rhythmic changes in the excitability of auditory cortices; and second, based on psychoacoustic studies showing that our abilities to detect or discriminate sounds can vary with an apparent rhythmicity relative to a reference time point. The notion of a rhythmic listening mode rests on the general idea that perception is an active process that can switch between distinct modes of operation and which relies on the interaction between sensory and motor systems. Yet, and despite its prominence in the literature, previous work leaves central questions around the emergence and robustness of a rhythmic listening mode and its relation to active behaviour unresolved. We here address the following timely questions using psychoacoustic studies in humans, eye tracking and computational modelling. First, and using previously established tasks, we will provide robust and reliable data on the rhythmicity of perceptual reports in challenging listening tasks in the absence of entraining sounds, in order to understand the conditions under which a putative rhythmic mode emerges. Then, we test the prediction that a rhythmic mode can be actively engaged or disengaged using experimental manipulations, and use pupillometry to link listening modes and listening performance to participant’s vigilance. We then probe how spontaneous and instructed oculomotor behaviour relates to listening modes and performance, in order to understand whether listening modes are indeed directly linked to active behaviour as postulated by active sensing accounts. And finally, we employ computational modelling of the behavioural data to dissociate sensory- and decision-level origins of presumed rhythmic patterns in behavioural data. The proposed work will consolidate our understanding of listening as active perception. This knowledge is paramount for understanding the basic mechanisms underlying perception in general, but is also critical for our understanding of speech comprehension and related deficits, a highly relevant topic for an aging society.