Abstract
Speech perception and production are intimately linked. There is evidence that speech motor learning results in changes to auditory processing of speech. Whether speech motor control benefits from perceptual learning in speech, however, remains unclear. This event-related potential study investigated whether speech-sound learning can modulate the processing of feedback errors during vocal pitch regulation. Mandarin speakers were trained to perceive five Thai lexical tones while learning to associate pictures with spoken words over 5 days. Before and after training, participants produced sustained vowel sounds while they heard their vocal pitch feedback unexpectedly perturbed. As compared to the pre-training session, the magnitude of vocal compensation significantly decreased for the control group, but remained consistent for the trained group at the post-training session. However, the trained group had smaller and faster N1 responses to pitch perturbations and exhibited enhanced P2 responses that correlated significantly with their learning performance. These findings indicate that the cortical processing of vocal pitch regulation can be shaped by learning new speech-sound associations, suggesting that perceptual learning in speech can produce transfer effects to facilitating the neural mechanisms underlying the online monitoring of auditory feedback regarding vocal production.
Highlights
On the other hand, the motor theory of speech perception posits that the speech motor system is crucial for the production of speech, but for the perception of speech as well[11,12]
Vocal pitch regulation involves the integration of auditory feedback in ongoing vocal motor control[4,9,10], it is possible that the online control of vocal production can likewise benefit from perceptual learning
The present study examined whether perceptual learning of new speech sounds alters the auditory-motor processing of perceived vocal pitch errors in auditory feedback
Summary
The motor theory of speech perception posits that the speech motor system is crucial for the production of speech, but for the perception of speech as well[11,12]. The discovery of mirror neurons that are active when individuals perform an action and listen to the sounds that are produced by that action[15], suggests that the motor system may be involved in the perception of auditory stimuli produced by voluntary movements in general Together, this growing body of literature indicates that perception and production of speech are intimately linked, and shares some neural processes and representations[16]. Changes in functional connectivity between the primary somatosensory cortex and the frontal motor areas were observed as a result of the somatosensory discrimination training[23] These studies suggest that perceptual learning can benefit movement and motor learning, at least for limb movements.
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