To Mu is to Move, to Tau is to Understand: a Possible Functional Role for Lower Alpha Oscillations in Human Speech Perception.

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event To Mu is to Move, to Tau is to Understand: a Possible Functional Role for Lower Alpha Oscillations in Human Speech Perception. Bernadine Cocks1, 2*, Graham Jamieson2 and Ian Evans2 1 University of South Australia, ITE&E, Australia 2 University of New England, BCSS, Australia Contemporary research suggests that the alpha band (8-12Hz) of the human EEG signal can be divided into functionally discrete sub-bands. Within the alpha range, at least two additional functional rhythms are proposed; tau (6.5-9.5Hz) and mu (7.5-12.5Hz). These sub-bands are primarily distinguished based on oscillatory activity at specific cortical sites; thus mu is associated with activity in motor/sensorimotor areas and tau with activity in auditory areas; thus event-related synchronisation/desynchronisation (ERS/ERD) to auditory stimuli in the lower alpha range by sources within the temporal lobes would be classified as a tau rhythm. Although tau has previously been associated with lower order sound processing, any involvement in higher order processing is unknown. To explore this further, the current study collected continuous 64 channel EEG from 27 participants as they undertook two tasks: (i) passive listening to a variety of animal noises; and (ii) a grammatical decision task involving both real and nonsense English word stimuli. Following FFT, significantly higher ERD was observed in the lower alpha, or tau range for human words and primate vocalisations when compared to other animal vocalisation types. This difference was independent of acoustic differences. The ERD data was then analysed via eLoreta with desynchronization localised to both primary and secondary auditory processing areas suggesting that tau responds to both lower and higher order processing. Given that this response was common to both human speech and primate vocalisations, with primate vocalisations and nonsense words evoking the greatest ERD, this suggests that tau may also be suppressed when identifying whether a complex sound is meaningful, that is speech related, and deserving of further language processing. Keywords: Speech Perception, EEG, tau, ERS/ERD, complex sound processing Conference: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Sensation and Perception Citation: Cocks B, Jamieson G and Evans I (2015). To Mu is to Move, to Tau is to Understand: a Possible Functional Role for Lower Alpha Oscillations in Human Speech Perception.. Conference Abstract: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00133 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 19 Feb 2015; Published Online: 24 Apr 2015. * Correspondence: Ms. Bernadine Cocks, University of South Australia, ITE&E, Adelaide, Australia, Bernie.Cocks@unisa.edu.au Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Bernadine Cocks Graham Jamieson Ian Evans Google Bernadine Cocks Graham Jamieson Ian Evans Google Scholar Bernadine Cocks Graham Jamieson Ian Evans PubMed Bernadine Cocks Graham Jamieson Ian Evans Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.