Journal article
How the Human Brain Recognizes Speech in the Context of Changing Speakers
The Journal of neuroscience, Vol.30(2), pp.629-638
01/13/2010
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2742-09.2010
PMCID: PMC2824128
PMID: 20071527
Abstract
We understand speech from different speakers with ease, whereas artificial speech recognition systems struggle with this task. It is unclear how the human brain solves this problem. The conventional view is that speech message recognition and speaker identification are two separate functions and that message processing takes place predominantly in the left hemisphere, whereas processing of speaker-specific information is located in the right hemisphere. Here, we distinguish the contribution of specific cortical regions, to speech recognition and speaker information processing, by controlled manipulation of task and resynthesized speaker parameters. Two functional magnetic resonance imaging studies provide evidence for a dynamic speech-processing network that questions the conventional view. We found that speech recognition regions in left posterior superior temporal gyrus/superior temporal sulcus (STG/STS) also encode speaker-related vocal tract parameters, which are reflected in the amplitude peaks of the speech spectrum, along with the speech message. Right posterior STG/STS activated specifically more to a speaker-related vocal tract parameter change during a speech recognition task compared with a voice recognition task. Left and right posterior STG/STS were functionally connected. Additionally, we found that speaker-related glottal fold parameters (e. g., pitch), which are not reflected in the amplitude peaks of the speech spectrum, are processed in areas immediately adjacent to primary auditory cortex, i.e., in areas in the auditory hierarchy earlier than STG/STS. Our results point to a network account of speech recognition, in which information about the speech message and the speaker's vocal tract are combined to solve the difficult task of understanding speech from different speakers.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- How the Human Brain Recognizes Speech in the Context of Changing Speakers
- Creators
- Katharina von Kriegstein - Wellcome Centre for Human NeuroimagingDavid R. R. Smith - University of HullRoy D. Patterson - University of CambridgeStefan J. Kiebel - Wellcome Centre for Human NeuroimagingTimothy D. Griffiths - Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- The Journal of neuroscience, Vol.30(2), pp.629-638
- DOI
- 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2742-09.2010
- PMID
- 20071527
- PMCID
- PMC2824128
- NLM abbreviation
- J Neurosci
- ISSN
- 0270-6474
- eISSN
- 1529-2401
- Publisher
- Soc Neuroscience
- Number of pages
- 10
- Grant note
- G0500221 / MRC; UK Research & Innovation (UKRI); Medical Research Council UK (MRC) Wellcome Trust; European Commission I/79783 / Volkswagen Stiftung; Volkswagen G9900362; G0500221 / United Kingdom Medical Research Council; UK Research & Innovation (UKRI); Medical Research Council UK (MRC) G0500221 / Medical Research Council; UK Research & Innovation (UKRI); Medical Research Council UK (MRC); European Commission
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 01/13/2010
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences
- Record Identifier
- 9984627342102771
Metrics
8 Record Views