Learning nonnative speech sounds changes local encoding in the adult human cortex.

ABSTRACT: Adults can learn to identify nonnative speech sounds with training, albeit with substantial variability in learning behavior. Increases in behavioral accuracy are associated with increased separability for sound representations in cortical speech areas. However, it remains unclear whether individual auditory neural populations all show the same types of changes with learning, or whether there are heterogeneous encoding patterns. Here, we used high-resolution direct neural recordings to examine local population response patterns, while native English listeners learned to recognize unfamiliar vocal pitch patterns in Mandarin Chinese tones. We found a distributed set of neural populations in bilateral superior temporal gyrus and ventrolateral frontal cortex, where the encoding of Mandarin ton

SUBMITTER: Yi HG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8433551 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature