26,905 research outputs found
Perceptually relevant speech tracking in auditory and motor cortex reflects distinct linguistic features
During online speech processing, our brain tracks the acoustic fluctuations in speech at different timescales. Previous research has focused on generic timescales (for example, delta or theta bands) that are assumed to map onto linguistic features such as prosody or syllables. However, given the high intersubject variability in speaking patterns, such a generic association between the timescales of brain activity and speech properties can be ambiguous. Here, we analyse speech tracking in source-localised magnetoencephalographic data by directly focusing on timescales extracted from statistical regularities in our speech material. This revealed widespread significant tracking at the timescales of phrases (0.6–1.3 Hz), words (1.8–3 Hz), syllables (2.8–4.8 Hz), and phonemes (8–12.4 Hz). Importantly, when examining its perceptual relevance, we found stronger tracking for correctly comprehended trials in the left premotor (PM) cortex at the phrasal scale as well as in left middle temporal cortex at the word scale. Control analyses using generic bands confirmed that these effects were specific to the speech regularities in our stimuli. Furthermore, we found that the phase at the phrasal timescale coupled to power at beta frequency (13–30 Hz) in motor areas. This cross-frequency coupling presumably reflects top-down temporal prediction in ongoing speech perception. Together, our results reveal specific functional and perceptually relevant roles of distinct tracking and cross-frequency processes along the auditory–motor pathway
An Efficient Coding Theory for a Dynamic Trajectory Predicts non-Uniform Allocation of Grid Cells to Modules in the Entorhinal Cortex
Grid cells in the entorhinal cortex encode the position of an animal in its
environment using spatially periodic tuning curves of varying periodicity.
Recent experiments established that these cells are functionally organized in
discrete modules with uniform grid spacing. Here we develop a theory for
efficient coding of position, which takes into account the temporal statistics
of the animal's motion. The theory predicts a sharp decrease of module
population sizes with grid spacing, in agreement with the trends seen in the
experimental data. We identify a simple scheme for readout of the grid cell
code by neural circuitry, that can match in accuracy the optimal Bayesian
decoder of the spikes. This readout scheme requires persistence over varying
timescales, ranging from ~1ms to ~1s, depending on the grid cell module. Our
results suggest that the brain employs an efficient representation of position
which takes advantage of the spatiotemporal statistics of the encoded variable,
in similarity to the principles that govern early sensory coding.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures. Supplemental Information available from the
authors on request. A previous version of this work appeared in abstract form
(Program No. 727.02. 2015 Neuroscience Meeting Planner. Chicago, IL: Society
for Neuroscience, 2015. Online.
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