Dynamics of Vocalization-Induced Modulation of Auditory Cortical Activity at Mid-utterance

Background: Recent research has addressed the suppression of cortical sensory responses to altered auditory feedback that occurs at utterance onset regarding speech. However, there is reason to assume that the mechanisms underlying sensorimotor processing at mid-utterance are different than those involved in sensorimotor control at utterance onset. The present study attempted to examine the dynamics of event-related potentials (ERPs) to different acoustic versions of auditory feedback at mid-utterance. Methodology/Principal findings: Subjects produced a vowel sound while hearing their pitch-shifted voice (100 cents), a sum of their vocalization and pure tones, or a sum of their vocalization and white noise at mid-utterance via headphones. Subjects also passively listened to playback of what they heard during active vocalization. Cortical ERPs were recorded in response to different acoustic versions of feedback changes during both active vocalization and passive listening. The results showed that, relative to passive listening, active vocalization yielded enhanced P2 responses to the 100 cents pitch shifts, whereas suppression effects of P2 responses were observed when voice auditory feedback was distorted by pure tones or white noise. Conclusion/Significance: The present findings, for the first time, demonstrate a dynamic modulation of cortical activity as a function of the quality of acoustic feedback at mid-utterance, suggesting that auditory cortical responses can be enhanced or suppressed to distinguish self-produced speech from externally-produced sounds

Numerical Simulation of Discharge Process in the Single Screw Compressor

In the process of the single screw air compressor, the symmetrical grooves of the compressor are periodically connected with the discharge ports and the gas enters the discharge chamber or flows back from chamber, generating gas pulsation. The gas pulsation increases the flowing loss to bring additional energy loss, meanwhile the gas pulsation is the one of main reasons for the generation of vibration and noise. The thermodynamic model of the compression chamber and the discharge chamber of a single screw air compressor is established in this paper taking the discharge chamber structure and the flow resistance into consideration. The working process in discharge chamber is simulated base on the thermodynamic model. In addition, the influence of speed and back pressure on the pressure in the discharge chamber is investigated in detail. The analysis results provide a basis for optimum design of structure and reduction of vibration and noise

Transfer Effect of Speech-sound Learning on Auditory-motor Processing of Perceived Vocal Pitch Errors

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

Training of Working Memory Impacts Neural Processing of Vocal Pitch Regulation

Working memory training can improve the performance of tasks that were not trained. Whether auditory-motor integration for voice control can benefit from working memory training, however, remains unclear. The present event-related potential (ERP) study examined the impact of working memory training on the auditory-motor processing of vocal pitch. Trained participants underwent adaptive working memory training using a digit span backwards paradigm, while control participants did not receive any training. Before and after training, both trained and control participants were exposed to frequency-altered auditory feedback while producing vocalizations. After training, trained participants exhibited significantly decreased N1 amplitudes and increased P2 amplitudes in response to pitch errors in voice auditory feedback. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between the degree of improvement in working memory capacity and the post-pre difference in P2 amplitudes. Training-related changes in the vocal compensation, however, were not observed. There was no systematic change in either vocal or cortical responses for control participants. These findings provide evidence that working memory training impacts the cortical processing of feedback errors in vocal pitch regulation. This enhanced cortical processing may be the result of increased neural efficiency in the detection of pitch errors between the intended and actual feedback

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Alters Auditory-motor Integration For Voice Control

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common drug-refractory focal epilepsy in adults. Previous research has shown that patients with TLE exhibit decreased performance in listening to speech sounds and deficits in the cortical processing of auditory information. Whether TLE compromises auditory-motor integration for voice control, however, remains largely unknown. To address this question, event-related potentials (ERPs) and vocal responses to vocal pitch errors (1/2 or 2 semitones upward) heard in auditory feedback were compared across 28 patients with TLE and 28 healthy controls. Patients with TLE produced significantly larger vocal responses but smaller P2 responses than healthy controls. Moreover, patients with TLE exhibited a positive correlation between vocal response magnitude and baseline voice variability and a negative correlation between P2 amplitude and disease duration. Graphical network analyses revealed a disrupted neuronal network for patients with TLE with a significant increase of clustering coefficients and path lengths as compared to healthy controls. These findings provide strong evidence that TLE is associated with an atypical integration of the auditory and motor systems for vocal pitch regulation, and that the functional networks that support the auditory-motor processing of pitch feedback errors differ between patients with TLE and healthy controls

Stress Analysis Of Key Components And Vibration Property Research Of The Meshing Pair In Single Screw Compressors

The single screw compressor(SSC) is widely applied to air compression, refrigeration, petrochemical industry, waste heat recovery, etc. Among SSCs, the respective strength and stiffness of the casing, screw rotor and gaterotor, where relative motions occur, play a key role on the machine running and clearance fit. Dynamic properties of the meshing pair directly affect the SSC’s vibration, as well as gaterotor’s wear-out failure. In this thesis, the strength, stiffness and dynamic characteristics of the meshing pair under different operation conditions or with components made of different materials were analyzed. Analytical method and FEM were combined to calculate and analyze the issues above. Main contents and conclusions are as follows: Stress and deformation analysis of key components were implemented by ANSYS Workbench. The results show that both the maximum stress of the casing and the deformation of the gaterotor are basically linear to the discharge pressure. The first six natural frequencies and the corresponding vibration modes of the screw rotor and gaterotor were obtained to analyze and predict their respective vibration properties. It turned out that natural properties of the screw rotor change little on account of rotation speed and damping. Neither the screw rotor nor the gaterotor would resonate. Some exploratory work about the coupling interaction between gaterotor and its support was done. It is concluded that the gaterotor would suffer the support’s collision excitations consequently