This study examined the neurophysiological effects of acoustic degradation on auditory semantic processing. Event-related potentials were recorded to target words presented in a sentence context. Targets were semantically congruent or incongruent with the context, which was acoustically intact or low-pass filtered. In unaltered contexts, N400 amplitude was significantly greater for incongruent than congruent words. Filtering significantly reduced this effect, even though participants were highly accurate in interpreting the degraded stimuli, as shown by an anomaly detection task. This reduction in the N400 effect appeared to be driven by decreased N400 amplitudes over posterior electrode sites for incongruent targets. These results demonstrate that acoustic degradation influences the neural response to words in context by reducing the availability of semantic information in on-line sentence comprehension.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.2006.00448.x | DOI Listing |
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
Department of Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.
The auditory system is unique among sensory systems in its ability to phase lock to and precisely follow very fast cycle-by-cycle fluctuations in the phase of sound-driven cochlear vibrations. Yet, the perceptual role of this temporal fine structure (TFS) code is debated. This fundamental gap is attributable to our inability to experimentally manipulate TFS cues without altering other perceptually relevant cues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlzheimers Dement
December 2024
University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Background: Dementia exhibits abnormal network activity, including altered gamma frequency (30-100 Hz) in Alzheimer's disease (AD). A non-pharmacological, non-invasive approach to AD treatment involves stimulating sensory inputs using gamma band, with 40 Hz as the most effective in eliciting a robust EEG response. Light and sound stimulation at 40 Hz reduces AD pathology in mouse models and improves cognition in humans with AD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Appl Mater Interfaces
January 2025
College of Material, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, P. R. China.
Thermoelectric technology enables the direct and reversible conversion of heat into electrical energy without air pollution. Herein, the stability, electronic structure, and thermoelectric properties of methoxy-functionalized MC(OMe) (M = Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Hf, Ta, and W) were systematically investigated using first-principles calculations and semiclassical Boltzmann transport theory. All MXenes, except those with M = Cr, Mo, and W, can be synthesized by substituting Cl- and Br-functionalized MXenes with deprotonated methanol, with stability governed by the M-O bond strength.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEar Hear
January 2025
Department of Otolaryngology, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
Objectives: Hearing aids (HAs) are a widely accepted first-line treatment option for individuals suffering from both hearing loss and chronic tinnitus. Though HAs are highly effective at improving speech understanding, their effectiveness in ameliorating tinnitus symptoms is less clear. In recent years, several investigators have reported on attempts to predict HAs effectiveness on tinnitus symptoms using an array of variables.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHumans rarely speak without producing co-speech gestures of the hands, head, and other parts of the body. Co-speech gestures are also highly restricted in how they are timed with speech, typically synchronizing with prosodically-prominent syllables. What functional principles underlie this relationship? Here, we examine how the production of co-speech manual gestures influences spatiotemporal patterns of the oral articulators during speech production.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!