Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, Canada; Centre for Research on Brain, Language and Music, Montreal, Canada.
Centre for Research on Brain, Language and Music, Montreal, Canada; School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, McGill University, Montreal, Canada; Department of Linguistics, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Brain Res. 2024 Dec 15;1845:149208. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2024.149208. Epub 2024 Aug 30.
There are documented individual differences among adults in the consistency of speech sound processing, both at neural and behavioural levels. Some adults show more consistent neural responses to speech sounds than others, as measured by an event-related potential called the frequency-following response (FFR); similarly, some adults show more consistent behavioural responses to native speech sounds than others, as measured by two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) and visual analog scaling (VAS) tasks. Adults also differ in how successfully they can perceive non-native speech sounds. Interestingly, it remains unclear whether these differences are related within individuals. In the current study, native English-speaking adults completed native phonetic perception tasks (2AFC and VAS), a non-native (German) phonetic perception task, and an FFR recording session. From these tasks, we derived measures of the consistency of participants' neural and behavioural responses to native speech as well as their non-native perception ability. We then examined the relationships among individual differences in these measures. Analysis of the behavioural measures revealed that more consistent responses to native sounds predicted more successful perception of unfamiliar German sounds. Analysis of neural and behavioural data did not reveal clear relationships between FFR consistency and our phonetic perception measures. This multimodal work furthers our understanding of individual differences in speech processing among adults, and may eventually lead to individualized approaches for enhancing non-native language acquisition in adulthood.
成年人在言语处理的一致性方面存在个体差异，无论是在神经水平还是行为水平上都有记录。一些成年人的神经反应比其他人更一致，这可以通过称为频率跟随反应（FFR）的事件相关电位来衡量；同样，一些成年人对母语语音的行为反应比其他人更一致，这可以通过二选一的强制选择（2AFC）和视觉模拟评分（VAS）任务来衡量。成年人在感知非母语语音方面的能力也存在差异。有趣的是，目前尚不清楚这些差异在个体内部是否相关。在当前的研究中，以英语为母语的成年人完成了母语语音感知任务（2AFC 和 VAS）、非母语（德语）语音感知任务和 FFR 记录会议。从这些任务中，我们得出了衡量参与者对母语语音的神经和行为反应一致性以及他们对非母语感知能力的指标。然后，我们研究了这些指标之间的个体差异关系。对行为测量的分析表明，对母语声音的反应越一致，对不熟悉的德语声音的感知就越成功。对神经和行为数据的分析并未显示 FFR 一致性与我们的语音感知测量之间有明显的关系。这项多模态工作进一步加深了我们对成年人言语处理个体差异的理解，最终可能会为成年后非母语语言习得的个体化方法提供依据。
