Learning nonnative speech sounds changes local encoding in the adult human cortex

Han G Yi; Bharath Chandrasekaran; Kirill V Nourski; Ariane E Rhone; William L Schuerman; Matthew A Howard III; Edward F Chang; Matthew K Leonard

doi:10.1073/pnas.2101777118

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Learning nonnative speech sounds changes local encoding in the adult human cortex

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Learning nonnative speech sounds changes local encoding in the adult human cortex

Han G Yi, Bharath Chandrasekaran, Kirill V Nourski, Ariane E Rhone, William L Schuerman, Matthew A Howard III, Edward F Chang and Matthew K Leonard

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.118(36), p.1

09/07/2021

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2101777118

PMCID: PMC8433551

PMID: 34475209

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Abstract

Adults can learn to identify nonnative speech sounds with training, albeit with substantial variability in learning behavior. Increases in behavioral accuracy are associated with increased separability for sound representations in cortical speech areas. However, it remains unclear whether individual auditory neural populations all show the same types of changes with learning, or whether there are heterogeneous encoding patterns. Here, we used high-resolution direct neural recordings to examine local population response patterns, while native English listeners learned to recognize unfamiliar vocal pitch patterns in Mandarin Chinese tones. We found a distributed set of neural populations in bilateral superior temporal gyrus and ventrolateral frontal cortex, where the encoding of Mandarin tones changed throughout training as a function of trial-by-trial accuracy ("learning effect"), including both increases and decreases in the separability of tones. These populations were distinct from populations that showed changes as a function of exposure to the stimuli regardless of trial-by-trial accuracy. These learning effects were driven in part by more variable neural responses to repeated presentations of acoustically identical stimuli. Finally, learning effects could be predicted from speech-evoked activity even before training, suggesting that intrinsic properties of these populations make them amenable to behavior-related changes. Together, these results demonstrate that nonnative speech sound learning involves a wide array of changes in neural representations across a distributed set of brain regions.

Acoustic Stimulation

Adult

Brain - physiology

Evoked Potentials, Auditory - physiology

Female

Frontal Lobe - physiology

Humans

Language

Learning - physiology

Male

Middle Aged

Phonetics

Pitch Perception - physiology

Speech - physiology

Speech Acoustics

Speech Perception - physiology

Temporal Lobe - physiology

Details

Title: Subtitle: Learning nonnative speech sounds changes local encoding in the adult human cortex
Creators: Han G Yi - University of California, San Francisco
Bharath Chandrasekaran - University of Pittsburgh
Kirill V Nourski - Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
Ariane E Rhone - University of Iowa
William L Schuerman - University of California, San Francisco
Matthew A Howard III - Department of Neurosurgery, Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1089
Edward F Chang - University of California, San Francisco
Matthew K Leonard - University of California, San Francisco
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.118(36), p.1
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2101777118
PMID: 34475209
PMCID: PMC8433551
NLM abbreviation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
ISSN: 0027-8424
eISSN: 1091-6490
Publisher: National Academy of Sciences
Grant note: R01 DC012379 / NIDCD NIH HHS R01 DC015504 / NIDCD NIH HHS
Language: English
Date published: 09/07/2021
Academic Unit: Neurology; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Neurosurgery; Otolaryngology
Record Identifier: 9984256934302771

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