Speech perception adjusts to stable spectrotemporal properties of the listening environment

Publication date: Available online 3 September 2016
Source:Hearing Research
Author(s): Christian E. Stilp, Paul W. Anderson, Ashley A. Assgari, Gregory M. Ellis, Pavel Zahorik
When perceiving speech, listeners compensate for reverberation and stable spectral peaks in the speech signal. Despite natural listening conditions usually adding both reverberation and spectral coloration, these processes have only been studied separately. Reverberation smears spectral peaks across time, which is predicted to increase listeners’ compensation for these peaks. This prediction was tested using sentences presented with or without a simulated reverberant sound field. All sentences had a stable spectral peak (added by amplifying frequencies matching the second formant frequency [F2] in the target vowel) before a test vowel varying from/i/to/u/in F2 and spectral envelope (tilt). In Experiment 1, listeners demonstrated increased compensation (larger decrease in F2 weights and larger increase in spectral tilt weights for identifying the target vowel) in reverberant speech than in nonreverberant speech. In Experiment 2, increased compensation was shown not to be due to reverberation tails. In Experiment 3, adding a pure tone to nonreverberant speech at the target vowel’s F2 frequency increased compensation, revealing that these effects are not specific to reverberation. Results suggest that perceptual adjustment to stable spectral peaks in the listening environment is not affected by their source or cause.



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Speech perception adjusts to stable spectrotemporal properties of the listening environment

Publication date: Available online 3 September 2016
Source:Hearing Research
Author(s): Christian E. Stilp, Paul W. Anderson, Ashley A. Assgari, Gregory M. Ellis, Pavel Zahorik
When perceiving speech, listeners compensate for reverberation and stable spectral peaks in the speech signal. Despite natural listening conditions usually adding both reverberation and spectral coloration, these processes have only been studied separately. Reverberation smears spectral peaks across time, which is predicted to increase listeners’ compensation for these peaks. This prediction was tested using sentences presented with or without a simulated reverberant sound field. All sentences had a stable spectral peak (added by amplifying frequencies matching the second formant frequency [F2] in the target vowel) before a test vowel varying from/i/to/u/in F2 and spectral envelope (tilt). In Experiment 1, listeners demonstrated increased compensation (larger decrease in F2 weights and larger increase in spectral tilt weights for identifying the target vowel) in reverberant speech than in nonreverberant speech. In Experiment 2, increased compensation was shown not to be due to reverberation tails. In Experiment 3, adding a pure tone to nonreverberant speech at the target vowel’s F2 frequency increased compensation, revealing that these effects are not specific to reverberation. Results suggest that perceptual adjustment to stable spectral peaks in the listening environment is not affected by their source or cause.



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Speech perception adjusts to stable spectrotemporal properties of the listening environment

Publication date: Available online 3 September 2016
Source:Hearing Research
Author(s): Christian E. Stilp, Paul W. Anderson, Ashley A. Assgari, Gregory M. Ellis, Pavel Zahorik
When perceiving speech, listeners compensate for reverberation and stable spectral peaks in the speech signal. Despite natural listening conditions usually adding both reverberation and spectral coloration, these processes have only been studied separately. Reverberation smears spectral peaks across time, which is predicted to increase listeners’ compensation for these peaks. This prediction was tested using sentences presented with or without a simulated reverberant sound field. All sentences had a stable spectral peak (added by amplifying frequencies matching the second formant frequency [F2] in the target vowel) before a test vowel varying from/i/to/u/in F2 and spectral envelope (tilt). In Experiment 1, listeners demonstrated increased compensation (larger decrease in F2 weights and larger increase in spectral tilt weights for identifying the target vowel) in reverberant speech than in nonreverberant speech. In Experiment 2, increased compensation was shown not to be due to reverberation tails. In Experiment 3, adding a pure tone to nonreverberant speech at the target vowel’s F2 frequency increased compensation, revealing that these effects are not specific to reverberation. Results suggest that perceptual adjustment to stable spectral peaks in the listening environment is not affected by their source or cause.



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A functional synergistic model to explain postural control during precise visual tasks

Publication date: October 2016
Source:Gait & Posture, Volume 50
Author(s): Cédrick T. Bonnet, Stéphane Baudry
In everyday life, individuals sometimes have to perform precise, or challenging, visual tasks in upright standing. Upright, one problem to perform precise saccades and fixations is that the body oscillates continuously in a mainly unpredictable way. Current cognitive models assume that the central nervous system should divide its attention to perform these ‘dual tasks’ because of limited attentional resources (keeping balance and performing the precise visual task). The problem with the concept of duality is that individuals (need to) succeed in precise visual tasks upright and should not be more unstable and inefficient – because of a division of attention – in these tasks. In our opinion, the central nervous system should work adaptively in a way that enables success in these tasks. Hence, instead of assuming ‘duality’ in cognitive processes, we suggest that i) a ‘synergy’ – or unification – between visual and postural processes may be required to succeed in precise visual tasks. Success in precise visual tasks upright would also require ii) the synergy to be based on two feedforward processes with the visual process being the leader; iii) individuals to reduce their postural sway to facilitate successful synergies; iiii) additional cognitive resources to link visual and postural processes. We discuss some literature findings consistent with these assumptions and summarize a recent validation of the synergistic model. In summary, both models of duality and synergy could be complementary and the present manuscript shows how they could be included in a higher-order, two directional, cognitive model of postural control.



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A validation of neural co-activation as a measure of attentional focus in a postural task

Publication date: Available online 3 September 2016
Source:Gait & Posture
Author(s): Toby J. Ellmers, Guilherme Machado, Thomson Wai-Lung Wong, Frank Zhu, A. Mark Williams, William R. Young
Postural threat can induce conscious involvement in movement control. This internal focus has been implicated in compromising attentional processing efficiency during postural control, leading to behavioral adaptations that might increase the risk of falling in the elderly. It is suggested that electroencephalography (EEG) coherence, or ‘communication’, between T3 (verbal-analytical) and Fz (motor-planning) regions may provide an objective measure of internal focus in learned movement skills. However, it is currently unknown whether this experimental technique can be applied to the control of gait and posture; skills which develop early in life, without the use of declarative knowledge/explicit verbal cues to guide performance. We validate the utility of the EEG T3-Fz coherence analysis in a postural task. A total of 24 young adults produced small voluntary swaying movements in medial-lateral or anterior-posterior direction under conditions that directed their attentional focus either internally or externally. Although EEG coherence was sensitive to voluntary changes in attentional focus, the lack of observed between-group (High/Low-trait-reinvestment) difference in coherence may suggest that younger adults cannot be assumed to utilize explicit verbal cues to control voluntary postural sway unless explicitly instructed to do so. As a result, while these results indicate that EEG T3-Fz is a valid technique for assessing attentional focus in postural tasks, our data do not support the clinical application of this method of analysis in providing an objective indication of trait-reinvestment in tasks involving voluntary postural sway.



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The threat of a support surface translation affects anticipatory postural control

Publication date: Available online 3 September 2016
Source:Gait & Posture
Author(s): Angel L. Phanthanourak, Taylor W. Cleworth, Allan L. Adkin, Mark G. Carpenter, Craig D. Tokuno
This study examined how postural threat in the form of a potential perturbation affects an individual's ability to perform a heel raise. Seventeen adults completed three conditions: i) low threat, where participants performed a heel raise in response to a “go” tone, ii) high threat, where participants either heard the same “go” tone, for which they performed a heel raise, or experienced a support surface translation in the medio-lateral direction that disturbed their balance, and iii) choice reaction time task, where participants either completed a heel raise in response to the same “go” tone or a toe raise in response to a lower pitched tone. For all heel raise trials, anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) were quantified from center of pressure (COP) recordings and electromyographic (EMG) activity from the tibialis anterior (TA) and soleus (SOL). Results indicated that participants exhibited larger APAs, as reflected by the greater backward COP displacement (p=0.038) and velocity (p=0.022) as well as a larger TA EMG amplitude (p=0.045), during the high threat condition. During the execution phase of the heel raise, an earlier (p=0.014) and larger (p=0.041) SOL EMG activation were observed during the high threat condition. These results contrast with previous findings of reduced APAs when the postural threat was evoked through changes in surface height. Therefore, the characteristics of the postural threat must be considered to isolate the effects of threat on anticipatory movement control.



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A functional synergistic model to explain postural control during precise visual tasks

Publication date: October 2016
Source:Gait & Posture, Volume 50
Author(s): Cédrick T. Bonnet, Stéphane Baudry
In everyday life, individuals sometimes have to perform precise, or challenging, visual tasks in upright standing. Upright, one problem to perform precise saccades and fixations is that the body oscillates continuously in a mainly unpredictable way. Current cognitive models assume that the central nervous system should divide its attention to perform these ‘dual tasks’ because of limited attentional resources (keeping balance and performing the precise visual task). The problem with the concept of duality is that individuals (need to) succeed in precise visual tasks upright and should not be more unstable and inefficient – because of a division of attention – in these tasks. In our opinion, the central nervous system should work adaptively in a way that enables success in these tasks. Hence, instead of assuming ‘duality’ in cognitive processes, we suggest that i) a ‘synergy’ – or unification – between visual and postural processes may be required to succeed in precise visual tasks. Success in precise visual tasks upright would also require ii) the synergy to be based on two feedforward processes with the visual process being the leader; iii) individuals to reduce their postural sway to facilitate successful synergies; iiii) additional cognitive resources to link visual and postural processes. We discuss some literature findings consistent with these assumptions and summarize a recent validation of the synergistic model. In summary, both models of duality and synergy could be complementary and the present manuscript shows how they could be included in a higher-order, two directional, cognitive model of postural control.



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A validation of neural co-activation as a measure of attentional focus in a postural task

Publication date: Available online 3 September 2016
Source:Gait & Posture
Author(s): Toby J. Ellmers, Guilherme Machado, Thomson Wai-Lung Wong, Frank Zhu, A. Mark Williams, William R. Young
Postural threat can induce conscious involvement in movement control. This internal focus has been implicated in compromising attentional processing efficiency during postural control, leading to behavioral adaptations that might increase the risk of falling in the elderly. It is suggested that electroencephalography (EEG) coherence, or ‘communication’, between T3 (verbal-analytical) and Fz (motor-planning) regions may provide an objective measure of internal focus in learned movement skills. However, it is currently unknown whether this experimental technique can be applied to the control of gait and posture; skills which develop early in life, without the use of declarative knowledge/explicit verbal cues to guide performance. We validate the utility of the EEG T3-Fz coherence analysis in a postural task. A total of 24 young adults produced small voluntary swaying movements in medial-lateral or anterior-posterior direction under conditions that directed their attentional focus either internally or externally. Although EEG coherence was sensitive to voluntary changes in attentional focus, the lack of observed between-group (High/Low-trait-reinvestment) difference in coherence may suggest that younger adults cannot be assumed to utilize explicit verbal cues to control voluntary postural sway unless explicitly instructed to do so. As a result, while these results indicate that EEG T3-Fz is a valid technique for assessing attentional focus in postural tasks, our data do not support the clinical application of this method of analysis in providing an objective indication of trait-reinvestment in tasks involving voluntary postural sway.



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The threat of a support surface translation affects anticipatory postural control

Publication date: Available online 3 September 2016
Source:Gait & Posture
Author(s): Angel L. Phanthanourak, Taylor W. Cleworth, Allan L. Adkin, Mark G. Carpenter, Craig D. Tokuno
This study examined how postural threat in the form of a potential perturbation affects an individual's ability to perform a heel raise. Seventeen adults completed three conditions: i) low threat, where participants performed a heel raise in response to a “go” tone, ii) high threat, where participants either heard the same “go” tone, for which they performed a heel raise, or experienced a support surface translation in the medio-lateral direction that disturbed their balance, and iii) choice reaction time task, where participants either completed a heel raise in response to the same “go” tone or a toe raise in response to a lower pitched tone. For all heel raise trials, anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) were quantified from center of pressure (COP) recordings and electromyographic (EMG) activity from the tibialis anterior (TA) and soleus (SOL). Results indicated that participants exhibited larger APAs, as reflected by the greater backward COP displacement (p=0.038) and velocity (p=0.022) as well as a larger TA EMG amplitude (p=0.045), during the high threat condition. During the execution phase of the heel raise, an earlier (p=0.014) and larger (p=0.041) SOL EMG activation were observed during the high threat condition. These results contrast with previous findings of reduced APAs when the postural threat was evoked through changes in surface height. Therefore, the characteristics of the postural threat must be considered to isolate the effects of threat on anticipatory movement control.



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via IFTTT

A functional synergistic model to explain postural control during precise visual tasks

Publication date: October 2016
Source:Gait & Posture, Volume 50
Author(s): Cédrick T. Bonnet, Stéphane Baudry
In everyday life, individuals sometimes have to perform precise, or challenging, visual tasks in upright standing. Upright, one problem to perform precise saccades and fixations is that the body oscillates continuously in a mainly unpredictable way. Current cognitive models assume that the central nervous system should divide its attention to perform these ‘dual tasks’ because of limited attentional resources (keeping balance and performing the precise visual task). The problem with the concept of duality is that individuals (need to) succeed in precise visual tasks upright and should not be more unstable and inefficient – because of a division of attention – in these tasks. In our opinion, the central nervous system should work adaptively in a way that enables success in these tasks. Hence, instead of assuming ‘duality’ in cognitive processes, we suggest that i) a ‘synergy’ – or unification – between visual and postural processes may be required to succeed in precise visual tasks. Success in precise visual tasks upright would also require ii) the synergy to be based on two feedforward processes with the visual process being the leader; iii) individuals to reduce their postural sway to facilitate successful synergies; iiii) additional cognitive resources to link visual and postural processes. We discuss some literature findings consistent with these assumptions and summarize a recent validation of the synergistic model. In summary, both models of duality and synergy could be complementary and the present manuscript shows how they could be included in a higher-order, two directional, cognitive model of postural control.



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A validation of neural co-activation as a measure of attentional focus in a postural task

Publication date: Available online 3 September 2016
Source:Gait & Posture
Author(s): Toby J. Ellmers, Guilherme Machado, Thomson Wai-Lung Wong, Frank Zhu, A. Mark Williams, William R. Young
Postural threat can induce conscious involvement in movement control. This internal focus has been implicated in compromising attentional processing efficiency during postural control, leading to behavioral adaptations that might increase the risk of falling in the elderly. It is suggested that electroencephalography (EEG) coherence, or ‘communication’, between T3 (verbal-analytical) and Fz (motor-planning) regions may provide an objective measure of internal focus in learned movement skills. However, it is currently unknown whether this experimental technique can be applied to the control of gait and posture; skills which develop early in life, without the use of declarative knowledge/explicit verbal cues to guide performance. We validate the utility of the EEG T3-Fz coherence analysis in a postural task. A total of 24 young adults produced small voluntary swaying movements in medial-lateral or anterior-posterior direction under conditions that directed their attentional focus either internally or externally. Although EEG coherence was sensitive to voluntary changes in attentional focus, the lack of observed between-group (High/Low-trait-reinvestment) difference in coherence may suggest that younger adults cannot be assumed to utilize explicit verbal cues to control voluntary postural sway unless explicitly instructed to do so. As a result, while these results indicate that EEG T3-Fz is a valid technique for assessing attentional focus in postural tasks, our data do not support the clinical application of this method of analysis in providing an objective indication of trait-reinvestment in tasks involving voluntary postural sway.



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The threat of a support surface translation affects anticipatory postural control

Publication date: Available online 3 September 2016
Source:Gait & Posture
Author(s): Angel L. Phanthanourak, Taylor W. Cleworth, Allan L. Adkin, Mark G. Carpenter, Craig D. Tokuno
This study examined how postural threat in the form of a potential perturbation affects an individual's ability to perform a heel raise. Seventeen adults completed three conditions: i) low threat, where participants performed a heel raise in response to a “go” tone, ii) high threat, where participants either heard the same “go” tone, for which they performed a heel raise, or experienced a support surface translation in the medio-lateral direction that disturbed their balance, and iii) choice reaction time task, where participants either completed a heel raise in response to the same “go” tone or a toe raise in response to a lower pitched tone. For all heel raise trials, anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) were quantified from center of pressure (COP) recordings and electromyographic (EMG) activity from the tibialis anterior (TA) and soleus (SOL). Results indicated that participants exhibited larger APAs, as reflected by the greater backward COP displacement (p=0.038) and velocity (p=0.022) as well as a larger TA EMG amplitude (p=0.045), during the high threat condition. During the execution phase of the heel raise, an earlier (p=0.014) and larger (p=0.041) SOL EMG activation were observed during the high threat condition. These results contrast with previous findings of reduced APAs when the postural threat was evoked through changes in surface height. Therefore, the characteristics of the postural threat must be considered to isolate the effects of threat on anticipatory movement control.



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Hearing impairment, cognition and speech understanding: exploratory factor analyses of a comprehensive test battery for a group of hearing aid users, the n200 study.

Hearing impairment, cognition and speech understanding: exploratory factor analyses of a comprehensive test battery for a group of hearing aid users, the n200 study.

Int J Audiol. 2016 Sep 2;:1-20

Authors: Rönnberg J, Lunner T, Ng EH, Lidestam B, Zekveld AA, Sörqvist P, Lyxell B, Träff U, Yumba W, Classon E, Hällgren M, Larsby B, Signoret C, Pichora-Fuller MK, Rudner M, Danielsson H, Stenfelt S

Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The aims of the current n200 study were to assess the structural relations between three classes of test variables (i.e. HEARING, COGNITION and aided speech-in-noise OUTCOMES) and to describe the theoretical implications of these relations for the Ease of Language Understanding (ELU) model.
STUDY SAMPLE: Participants were 200 hard-of-hearing hearing-aid users, with a mean age of 60.8 years. Forty-three percent were females and the mean hearing threshold in the better ear was 37.4 dB HL.
DESIGN: LEVEL1 factor analyses extracted one factor per test and/or cognitive function based on a priori conceptualizations. The more abstract LEVEL 2 factor analyses were performed separately for the three classes of test variables.
RESULTS: The HEARING test variables resulted in two LEVEL 2 factors, which we labelled SENSITIVITY and TEMPORAL FINE STRUCTURE; the COGNITIVE variables in one COGNITION factor only, and OUTCOMES in two factors, NO CONTEXT and CONTEXT. COGNITION predicted the NO CONTEXT factor to a stronger extent than the CONTEXT outcome factor. TEMPORAL FINE STRUCTURE and SENSITIVITY were associated with COGNITION and all three contributed significantly and independently to especially the NO CONTEXT outcome scores (R(2) = 0.40).
CONCLUSIONS: All LEVEL 2 factors are important theoretically as well as for clinical assessment.

PMID: 27589015 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Hearing impairment, cognition and speech understanding: exploratory factor analyses of a comprehensive test battery for a group of hearing aid users, the n200 study.

Hearing impairment, cognition and speech understanding: exploratory factor analyses of a comprehensive test battery for a group of hearing aid users, the n200 study.

Int J Audiol. 2016 Sep 2;:1-20

Authors: Rönnberg J, Lunner T, Ng EH, Lidestam B, Zekveld AA, Sörqvist P, Lyxell B, Träff U, Yumba W, Classon E, Hällgren M, Larsby B, Signoret C, Pichora-Fuller MK, Rudner M, Danielsson H, Stenfelt S

Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The aims of the current n200 study were to assess the structural relations between three classes of test variables (i.e. HEARING, COGNITION and aided speech-in-noise OUTCOMES) and to describe the theoretical implications of these relations for the Ease of Language Understanding (ELU) model.
STUDY SAMPLE: Participants were 200 hard-of-hearing hearing-aid users, with a mean age of 60.8 years. Forty-three percent were females and the mean hearing threshold in the better ear was 37.4 dB HL.
DESIGN: LEVEL1 factor analyses extracted one factor per test and/or cognitive function based on a priori conceptualizations. The more abstract LEVEL 2 factor analyses were performed separately for the three classes of test variables.
RESULTS: The HEARING test variables resulted in two LEVEL 2 factors, which we labelled SENSITIVITY and TEMPORAL FINE STRUCTURE; the COGNITIVE variables in one COGNITION factor only, and OUTCOMES in two factors, NO CONTEXT and CONTEXT. COGNITION predicted the NO CONTEXT factor to a stronger extent than the CONTEXT outcome factor. TEMPORAL FINE STRUCTURE and SENSITIVITY were associated with COGNITION and all three contributed significantly and independently to especially the NO CONTEXT outcome scores (R(2) = 0.40).
CONCLUSIONS: All LEVEL 2 factors are important theoretically as well as for clinical assessment.

PMID: 27589015 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Hearing impairment, cognition and speech understanding: exploratory factor analyses of a comprehensive test battery for a group of hearing aid users, the n200 study.

Hearing impairment, cognition and speech understanding: exploratory factor analyses of a comprehensive test battery for a group of hearing aid users, the n200 study.

Int J Audiol. 2016 Sep 2;:1-20

Authors: Rönnberg J, Lunner T, Ng EH, Lidestam B, Zekveld AA, Sörqvist P, Lyxell B, Träff U, Yumba W, Classon E, Hällgren M, Larsby B, Signoret C, Pichora-Fuller MK, Rudner M, Danielsson H, Stenfelt S

Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The aims of the current n200 study were to assess the structural relations between three classes of test variables (i.e. HEARING, COGNITION and aided speech-in-noise OUTCOMES) and to describe the theoretical implications of these relations for the Ease of Language Understanding (ELU) model.
STUDY SAMPLE: Participants were 200 hard-of-hearing hearing-aid users, with a mean age of 60.8 years. Forty-three percent were females and the mean hearing threshold in the better ear was 37.4 dB HL.
DESIGN: LEVEL1 factor analyses extracted one factor per test and/or cognitive function based on a priori conceptualizations. The more abstract LEVEL 2 factor analyses were performed separately for the three classes of test variables.
RESULTS: The HEARING test variables resulted in two LEVEL 2 factors, which we labelled SENSITIVITY and TEMPORAL FINE STRUCTURE; the COGNITIVE variables in one COGNITION factor only, and OUTCOMES in two factors, NO CONTEXT and CONTEXT. COGNITION predicted the NO CONTEXT factor to a stronger extent than the CONTEXT outcome factor. TEMPORAL FINE STRUCTURE and SENSITIVITY were associated with COGNITION and all three contributed significantly and independently to especially the NO CONTEXT outcome scores (R(2) = 0.40).
CONCLUSIONS: All LEVEL 2 factors are important theoretically as well as for clinical assessment.

PMID: 27589015 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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via IFTTT

Hearing impairment, cognition and speech understanding: exploratory factor analyses of a comprehensive test battery for a group of hearing aid users, the n200 study.

Hearing impairment, cognition and speech understanding: exploratory factor analyses of a comprehensive test battery for a group of hearing aid users, the n200 study.

Int J Audiol. 2016 Sep 2;:1-20

Authors: Rönnberg J, Lunner T, Ng EH, Lidestam B, Zekveld AA, Sörqvist P, Lyxell B, Träff U, Yumba W, Classon E, Hällgren M, Larsby B, Signoret C, Pichora-Fuller MK, Rudner M, Danielsson H, Stenfelt S

Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The aims of the current n200 study were to assess the structural relations between three classes of test variables (i.e. HEARING, COGNITION and aided speech-in-noise OUTCOMES) and to describe the theoretical implications of these relations for the Ease of Language Understanding (ELU) model.
STUDY SAMPLE: Participants were 200 hard-of-hearing hearing-aid users, with a mean age of 60.8 years. Forty-three percent were females and the mean hearing threshold in the better ear was 37.4 dB HL.
DESIGN: LEVEL1 factor analyses extracted one factor per test and/or cognitive function based on a priori conceptualizations. The more abstract LEVEL 2 factor analyses were performed separately for the three classes of test variables.
RESULTS: The HEARING test variables resulted in two LEVEL 2 factors, which we labelled SENSITIVITY and TEMPORAL FINE STRUCTURE; the COGNITIVE variables in one COGNITION factor only, and OUTCOMES in two factors, NO CONTEXT and CONTEXT. COGNITION predicted the NO CONTEXT factor to a stronger extent than the CONTEXT outcome factor. TEMPORAL FINE STRUCTURE and SENSITIVITY were associated with COGNITION and all three contributed significantly and independently to especially the NO CONTEXT outcome scores (R(2) = 0.40).
CONCLUSIONS: All LEVEL 2 factors are important theoretically as well as for clinical assessment.

PMID: 27589015 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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