Phonological contrasts are maintained despite neutralization: an intracranial EEG study

The existence of language-specific abstract sound-structure units (such as the phoneme) is largely uncontroversial in phonology. However, whether the brain performs abstractions comparable to those assumed in phonology has been difficult to ascertain. Using intracranial electroencephalography (EEG) recorded during a passive listening task, this study investigates the representation of phonological units in the brain and the relationship between those units, auditory sensory input, and higher levels of language organization, namely  morphology. Leveraging the phonological neutralization of coronal stops to tap in English, this study provides evidence of a dissociation between acoustic similarity and phonemic identity in the neural response to speech. Moreover, leveraging morphophonological alternations of the regular plural and past tense, this study further demonstrates early (<500ms) evidence of dissociation between phonological form and morphological exponence. Together these results highlight the central nature of language-specific knowledge in sublexical language processing and improve our understanding of the ways language-specific knowledge structures and organizes speech perception in the brain

Spatiotemporal dynamics of word retrieval in speech production revealed by cortical high-frequency band activity.

Word retrieval is core to language production and relies on complementary processes: the rapid activation of lexical and conceptual representations and word selection, which chooses the correct word among semantically related competitors. Lexical and conceptual activation is measured by semantic priming. In contrast, word selection is indexed by semantic interference and is hampered in semantically homogeneous (HOM) contexts. We examined the spatiotemporal dynamics of these complementary processes in a picture naming task with blocks of semantically heterogeneous (HET) or HOM stimuli. We used electrocorticography data obtained from frontal and temporal cortices, permitting detailed spatiotemporal analysis of word retrieval processes. A semantic interference effect was observed with naming latencies longer in HOM versus HET blocks. Cortical response strength as indexed by high-frequency band (HFB) activity (70-150 Hz) amplitude revealed effects linked to lexical-semantic activation and word selection observed in widespread regions of the cortical mantle. Depending on the subsecond timing and cortical region, HFB indexed semantic interference (i.e., more activity in HOM than HET blocks) or semantic priming effects (i.e., more activity in HET than HOM blocks). These effects overlapped in time and space in the left posterior inferior temporal gyrus and the left prefrontal cortex. The data do not support a modular view of word retrieval in speech production but rather support substantial overlap of lexical-semantic activation and word selection mechanisms in the brain

Role of the lateral prefrontal cortex in speech monitoring.

The role of lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) in speech monitoring has not been delineated. Recent work suggests that medial frontal cortex (MFC) is involved in overt speech monitoring initiated before auditory feedback. This mechanism is reflected in an eventrelated potential (ERP), the error negativity (Ne), peaking within 100 ms after vocal-onset. Critically, in healthy individuals the Ne is sensitive to the accuracy of the response; it is larger for error than correct trials. By contrast, patients with LPFC damage are impaired in non-verbal monitoring tasks showing no amplitude difference between the Ne measured in correct vs. error trials. Interactions between the LPFC and the MFC are assumed to play a necessary role for normal action monitoring. We investigated whether the LPFC was involved in speech monitoring to the same extent as in non-linguistic actions by comparing performance and EEG activity in patients with LPFC damage and in aged-matched controls performing linguistic (Picture Naming) and non-linguistic (Simon) tasks. Controls did not produce enough errors to allow the comparison of the Ne or other ERP in error vs. correct trials. PFC patients had worse performance than controls in both tasks, but their Ne was larger for error than correct trials only in Naming. This task-dependent pattern can be explained by LPFC-dependent working-memory requirements present in non-linguistic tasks used to study action monitoring but absent in picture naming. This suggests that LPFC may not be necessary for speech monitoring as assessed by simple picture naming. In addition, bilateral temporal cortex activity starting before and peaking around vocal-onset was observed in LPFC and control groups in both tasks but was larger for error than correct trials only in Naming, suggesting the temporal cortex is associated with on-line monitoring of speech specifically when access to lexical representations is necessary

Acoustic and language-specific sources for phonemic abstraction from speech.

Spoken language comprehension requires abstraction of linguistic information from speech, but the interaction between auditory and linguistic processing of speech remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate the nature of this abstraction using neural responses recorded intracranially while participants listened to conversational English speech. Capitalizing on multiple, language-specific patterns where phonological and acoustic information diverge, we demonstrate the causal efficacy of the phoneme as a unit of analysis and dissociate the unique contributions of phonemic and spectrographic information to neural responses. Quantitive higher-order response models also reveal that unique contributions of phonological information are carried in the covariance structure of the stimulus-response relationship. This suggests that linguistic abstraction is shaped by neurobiological mechanisms that involve integration across multiple spectro-temporal features and prior phonological information. These results link speech acoustics to phonology and morphosyntax, substantiating predictions about abstractness in linguistic theory and providing evidence for the acoustic features that support that abstraction

An electroencephalographic study of speech monitoring

International audienceThe concept of “monitoring” refers to our ability to control our actions on-line. Monitoring involved in speech production is traditionally considered an inherent part of the language system, and hence specific to language. We probed this underlying hypothesis in two psycholinguistic experiments where we recorded electroencephalographic (EEG) activities. We looked at an electrophysiological component known as the error negativity (or error-related negativity, Ne) previously observed in linguistic and non-linguistic tasks. A component of seemingly comparable origin has been reported following correct non-linguistic responses also. This challenges the error-related theories accounting for the cognitive mechanism underlying the Ne. Here, we report the observation of a negativity following correct responses in linguistic experiments involving overt speech production and manual responses. Our results suggest that, in language production too, the Ne reflects on-line response monitoring rather than error detection specifically. This implies that at least part of the monitoring involved in speech production is subtended by a general mechanism

Acoustic and language-specific sources for phonemic abstraction from speech

Abstract Spoken language comprehension requires abstraction of linguistic information from speech, but the interaction between auditory and linguistic processing of speech remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate the nature of this abstraction using neural responses recorded intracranially while participants listened to conversational English speech. Capitalizing on multiple, language-specific patterns where phonological and acoustic information diverge, we demonstrate the causal efficacy of the phoneme as a unit of analysis and dissociate the unique contributions of phonemic and spectrographic information to neural responses. Quantitive higher-order response models also reveal that unique contributions of phonological information are carried in the covariance structure of the stimulus-response relationship. This suggests that linguistic abstraction is shaped by neurobiological mechanisms that involve integration across multiple spectro-temporal features and prior phonological information. These results link speech acoustics to phonology and morphosyntax, substantiating predictions about abstractness in linguistic theory and providing evidence for the acoustic features that support that abstraction

Role of the lateral prefrontal cortex in speech monitoring

The role of lateral prefrontal cortex in speech monitoring has not been delineated. Recent work suggests that medial frontal cortex (MFC) is involved in overt speech monitoring initiated before auditory feedback. This mechanism is reflected in an event-related potential (ERP), the error negativity (Ne), peaking within 100 ms after vocal-onset. Critically, in healthy individuals the Ne is sensitive to the accuracy of the response; it is larger for error than correct trials. By contrast, patients with lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC) damage are impaired in nonverbal monitoring tasks showing no amplitude difference between the Ne measured in correct vs. error trials. Interactions between the lPFC and the MFC are assumed to play a necessary role for normal action monitoring. We investigated whether the lPFC was involved in speech monitoring to the same extent as in non-linguistic actions by comparing performance and EEG activity in patients with lPFC damage and in aged-matched controls performing linguistic (Picture Naming) and non-linguistic (Simon) tasks. Controls did not produce enough errors to allow the comparison of the Ne or other ERP in error vs. correct trials. PFC patients had worse performance than controls in both tasks, but their Ne was larger for error than correct trials only in Naming. This task-dependent pattern can be explained by lPFC-dependent working-memory requirements present in non-linguistic tasks used to study action monitoring but absent in picture naming. This suggests that lPFC may not be necessary for speech monitoring as assessed by simple picture naming. In addition, bilateral temporal cortex activity starting before and peaking around vocal-onset was observed in lPFC and control groups in both tasks but was larger for error than correct trials only in Naming, suggesting the temporal cortex is associated with on-line monitoring of speech specifically when access to lexical representations is necessary

Antitumoral effect of non thermal plasmas: results and perspectives

International audienceApplications of Non Thermal Plasmas (NTP) in biology have grown considerably in recent years. Thanks to developments of atmospheric pressure discharges, new application areas have been opened, especially in the control of hemostasis, treatment of wounds and ulcers or dental care, next to older applications like sterilization or decontamination. Among the recent results obtained, the most striking is probably the evidence of an in vitro and in vivo antitumor effect of cold plasma. In this domain, we first demonstrate an antitumor effect of an in vivo Dielectric Barrier Discharge plasma treatment on U87-luc glioma tumors. Not only the treatment was safe for the animals, but we observed a strong bioluminescence decrease associated with a reduction of tumor volume in U87 glioma-bearing mice. Using a new device developed in the lab, the Plasma Gun [1], which allows plasma treatments at long distance from the discharge reactor, we then demonstrate effect of cold plasmas on heterotopic and orthotopic colon carcinoma [2]. That led to assess the antitumor effect of NTP alone or in combination with Gemcitabine, a reference chemotherapeutic agent with radiosensitizing properties, on pancreatic cancer for which, in most cases, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are only, up to now, palliative treatments. Experiments were carried out using the Plasma Gun both in vitro on MIA PaCa2-luc cell lines (ductal adenocarcinoma cells), then in vivo on orthotopically grafted tumor cells to induce a pancreatic carcinoma model in immune deficient nude mice. The striking results of these series of experiments is that, not only, the plasma treatment appeared more efficient than Gemcitabine alone, but that the combination of both (see Figure 1) led to a most effective tumor growth inhibition (mass reduction of 87 % at Day 36) supporting the possible interest to use NTP in combination with a chemotherapeutical agen