Familiarity modulates neural tracking of sung and spoken utterances

Nederlanden, Christina M. Vanden Bosch der; Joanisse, Marc F.; Grahn, Jessica A.; Snijders, Tineke M.; Schoffelen, Jan‐Mathijs

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119049

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 87 publications

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“…We found that the strength of neural synchronization depended on the familiarity of music and the ease with which a beat could be perceived ( Figure 5 ). This is in line with previous studies showing stronger neural synchronization to familiar music ( Madsen et al, 2019 ) and familiar sung utterances ( Vanden Bosch der Nederlanden et al, 2022 ). Moreover, stronger synchronization for musicians than for nonmusicians has been interpreted as reflecting musicians’ stronger expectations about musical structure.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Neural synchronization is strongest to the spectral flux of slow music and depends on familiarity and beat salience

Weineck

Wen

Henry

2022

eLife

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Neural activity in the auditory system synchronizes to sound rhythms, and brain–environment synchronization is thought to be fundamental to successful auditory perception. Sound rhythms are often operationalized in terms of the sound’s amplitude envelope. We hypothesized that – especially for music – the envelope might not best capture the complex spectro-temporal fluctuations that give rise to beat perception and synchronized neural activity. This study investigated (1) neural synchronization to different musical features, (2) tempo-dependence of neural synchronization, and (3) dependence of synchronization on familiarity, enjoyment, and ease of beat perception. In this electroencephalography study, 37 human participants listened to tempo-modulated music (1–4 Hz). Independent of whether the analysis approach was based on temporal response functions (TRFs) or reliable components analysis (RCA), the spectral flux of music – as opposed to the amplitude envelope – evoked strongest neural synchronization. Moreover, music with slower beat rates, high familiarity, and easy-to-perceive beats elicited the strongest neural response. Our results demonstrate the importance of spectro-temporal fluctuations in music for driving neural synchronization, and highlight its sensitivity to musical tempo, familiarity, and beat salience.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Neural synchronization is strongest to the spectral flux of slow music and depends on familiarity and beat salience

Weineck

Wen

Henry

2022

eLife

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“…This and future work have the potential to inform clinical interventions to help children who struggle to apply linguistic or musical knowledge in a domain‐dependent manner (Lepisto et al., 2008). A clear understanding of the differences between speech and song can be used to leverage features of music that are especially good at capturing attention (e.g., beat in music, Vanden Bosch der Nederlanden et al., 2020, 2022) to improve speech processing in children who struggle with language.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental changes in the categorization of speech and song

Nederlanden

Xin

Sequeira

et al. 2022

Developmental Science

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Music and language are two fundamental forms of human communication. Many studies examine the development of music‐ and language‐specific knowledge, but few studies compare how listeners know they are listening to music or language. Although we readily differentiate these domains, how we distinguish music and language—and especially speech and song— is not obvious. In two studies, we asked how listeners categorize speech and song. Study 1 used online survey data to illustrate that 4‐ to 17‐year‐olds and adults have verbalizable distinctions for speech and song. At all ages, listeners described speech and song differences based on acoustic features, but compared with older children, 4‐ to 7‐year‐olds more often used volume to describe differences, suggesting that they are still learning to identify the features most useful for differentiating speech from song. Study 2 used a perceptual categorization task to demonstrate that 4–8‐year‐olds and adults readily categorize speech and song, but this ability improves with age especially for identifying song. Despite generally rating song as more speech‐like, 4‐ and 6‐year‐olds rated ambiguous speech–song stimuli as more song‐like than 8‐year‐olds and adults. Four acoustic features predicted song ratings: F0 instability, utterance duration, harmonicity, and spectral flux. However, 4‐ and 6‐year‐olds’ song ratings were better predicted by F0 instability than by harmonicity and utterance duration. These studies characterize how children develop conceptual and perceptual understandings of speech and song and suggest that children under age 8 are still learning what features are important for categorizing utterances as speech or song.Research Highlights Children and adults conceptually and perceptually categorize speech and song from age 4. Listeners use F0 instability, harmonicity, spectral flux, and utterance duration to determine whether vocal stimuli sound like song. Acoustic cue weighting changes with age, becoming adult‐like at age 8 for perceptual categorization and at age 12 for conceptual differentiation. Young children are still learning to categorize speech and song, which leaves open the possibility that music‐ and language‐specific skills are not so domain‐specific.

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“…Neural tracking is also greater in sung than spoken sentences in adults listening to audio only stimuli (der Nederlanden et al, 2020;der Nederlanden et al, 2022). Furthermore, in adults, seeing a singer's face increases lyric comprehension (Jesse & Massaro, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…For speech stimuli, neural tracking is greater in both infants and adults when audiovisual information from the speaker's face is available (Tan et al., 2022). Neural tracking is also greater in sung than spoken sentences in adults listening to audio only stimuli (der Nederlanden et al., 2020; der Nederlanden et al., 2022). Furthermore, in adults, seeing a singer's face increases lyric comprehension (Jesse & Massaro, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infant‐directed song potentiates infants’ selective attention to adults’ mouths over the first year of life

Alviar

Sahoo

Edwards

et al. 2023

Developmental Science

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The mechanisms by which infant‐directed (ID) speech and song support language development in infancy are poorly understood, with most prior investigations focused on the auditory components of these signals. However, the visual components of ID communication are also of fundamental importance for language learning: over the first year of life, infants’ visual attention to caregivers’ faces during ID speech switches from a focus on the eyes to a focus on the mouth, which provides synchronous visual cues that support speech and language development. Caregivers’ facial displays during ID song are highly effective for sustaining infants’ attention. Here we investigate if ID song specifically enhances infants’ attention to caregivers’ mouths. 299 typically developing infants watched clips of female actors engaging them with ID song and speech longitudinally at six time points from 3 to 12 months of age while eye‐tracking data was collected. Infants’ mouth‐looking significantly increased over the first year of life with a significantly greater increase during ID song versus speech. This difference was early‐emerging (evident in the first 6 months of age) and sustained over the first year. Follow‐up analyses indicated specific properties inherent to ID song (e.g., slower tempo, reduced rhythmic variability) in part contribute to infants’ increased mouth‐looking, with effects increasing with age. The exaggerated and expressive facial features that naturally accompany ID song may make it a particularly effective context for modulating infants’ visual attention and supporting speech and language development in both typically developing infants and those with or at risk for communication challenges. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://youtu.be/SZ8xQW8h93A.Research Highlights Infants’ visual attention to adults’ mouths during infant‐directed speech has been found to support speech and language development. Infant‐directed (ID) song promotes mouth‐looking by infants to a greater extent than does ID speech across the first year of life. Features characteristic of ID song such as slower tempo, increased rhythmicity, increased audiovisual synchrony, and increased positive affect, all increase infants’ attention to the mouth. The effects of song on infants’ attention to the mouth are more prominent during the second half of the first year of life.

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Familiarity modulates neural tracking of sung and spoken utterances

Cited by 11 publications

References 87 publications

Neural synchronization is strongest to the spectral flux of slow music and depends on familiarity and beat salience

Neural synchronization is strongest to the spectral flux of slow music and depends on familiarity and beat salience

Developmental changes in the categorization of speech and song

Infant‐directed song potentiates infants’ selective attention to adults’ mouths over the first year of life

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