Vowel-speech versus pure-tone processing in healthy subjects

Hiroko Iino; Katsuya Ohta; Keiko Hara; Miho Miyajima; Minoru Hara; Eisuke Matsushima; Masato Matsuura

doi:10.1016/j.neures.2018.03.002

Vowel-speech versus pure-tone processing in healthy subjects

Neurosci Res. 2018 Dec:137:43-48. doi: 10.1016/j.neures.2018.03.002. Epub 2018 Apr 6.

Authors

Hiroko Iino¹, Katsuya Ohta², Keiko Hara³, Miho Miyajima⁴, Minoru Hara⁵, Eisuke Matsushima⁴, Masato Matsuura⁶

Affiliations

¹ Biofunctional Informatics, Biomedical Laboratory Sciences, Graduate School of Health Care Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan; Department of Clinical Laboratory, The University of Tokyo Hospital, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan. Electronic address: iinoh-lab@h.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
² Biofunctional Informatics, Biomedical Laboratory Sciences, Graduate School of Health Care Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan; Section of Liaison Psychiatry and Palliative Medicine, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan; Onda-daini Hospital, 302 Kanegasaku, Matsudo-shi, Chiba 270-2251, Japan.
³ Biofunctional Informatics, Biomedical Laboratory Sciences, Graduate School of Health Care Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan; Hara Clinic, 1-1 Urahuna-cho Minami-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 232-0024, Japan.
⁴ Section of Liaison Psychiatry and Palliative Medicine, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan.
⁵ Hara Clinic, 1-1 Urahuna-cho Minami-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 232-0024, Japan.
⁶ Biofunctional Informatics, Biomedical Laboratory Sciences, Graduate School of Health Care Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan.

PMID: 29630919
DOI: 10.1016/j.neures.2018.03.002

Abstract

To investigate the characteristics of speech perception, we evaluated the differences in mismatch negativity (MMN) between vowel change and frequency change. Additionally, we examined the effects of gender, age, and educational length on MMN. Forty healthy adults (21 females), who were native Japanese speakers, participated in the study. A Japanese vowel-speech pair (standard/a/vs. deviant/o/) and a pure-tone pair (standard 1000 Hz vs. deviant 1050 Hz) were constructed. MMN elicited by vowel-speech sounds was larger and earlier compared with pure-tone sounds. Larger and earlier MMNs for vowel-speech sounds than for pure-tone sounds suggest different processing of linguistically relevant information at the early stage in the auditory cortex. In conclusion, the factors influencing on MMN are different between vowel-speech sounds and pure-tone sounds.

Keywords: Age; Auditory; ERP; Gender; Language; MMN; Perception; Verbal.

MeSH terms

Adult
Auditory Cortex / physiology
Auditory Perception / physiology
Electroencephalography
Evoked Potentials, Auditory / physiology
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Speech Acoustics*
Speech Perception / physiology*